Magic Kingdom

 

Magic Kingdom, well this is it, the main park if you will, it’s the first to open for Walt Disney World. This is a park where you can’t let the looks deceive you, it’s not just for kids, there is plenty for adults to enjoy in this park. You have thrill rides, the classic’s like Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan’s Flight, there is lots to explore within Magic Kingdom, along with plenty of chances to see some great characters as well. So let’s start off with breaking it down by Land’s inside of the Kingdom; you have

Adventure Land, Fantasy Land, Liberty Square, Frontier Land, and Tomorrow Land.

We’ll start with Adventure Land, which is off to the left after you head down Main St USA, here you will find Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride, The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (walkthrough), Aladdin & Jasmine photo-op, The Jungle Cruise, & Pirates of the Caribbean. Depending on your level of thrill, for the most part none of these rides are thrill rides, the treehouse might give those with height issue a problem but aside from that no big drops or anything like that. There are also plenty of shops scattered around Adventure Land for those that love to browse, also you are going to want to stop by Aloha Isle and get a Dole Whip, these are some of the must-try treats you find at Disney. Once you go through Adventure Land, you usually end up riding Pirate’s of The Caribbean last, as you get off that ride and go through yet another gift shop, yes parents they did this on purpose. Anyway, as you leave Pirate’s, you will head to the left again and you will come out in Frontier Land.

Frontier Land, here is where the thrill rides will start as you come out to Splash Mountain. This ride you might want to judge with the weather, nothing like riding a ride where you get wet on a nice cold day. So from there if you feel like relaxing for a bit, you can hop on the Walt Disney Express, at the station right past Splash mountain. If you would rather continue on the thrill rides, then continue you past the station and hit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I myself don’t enjoy the thrill rides but have heard that they are all fun to ride. You can also catch a raft over to Tom Sawyer’s island if you feel like seeing a different side of the Kingdom, here you can catch different views of the Castle, Haunted Mansion, and other castle’s that inhabit this vast land. From Frontier land, you will hit Liberty Square.

Liberty Square, here you can go back to the colonial times with the shops and restaurants, as for the rides in this part of the Kingdom. There is the Hall of Presidents, and The Haunted Mansion, then there is the relaxing boat ride of the Liberty Square Riverboat, which will take you around Tom Sawyer Island and give you some interesting views of Magic Kingdom. As you continue on your stroll through the Kingdom, you will next enter Fantasy Land.

Fantasy Land, here you are walking into the Kingdom itself. You have, the famous It’s A Small World, you have to go on this ride if it’s your first trip to Magic Kingdom. Next, we have Peter Pan’s Flight, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, Princess Fairytale Hall (Cinderella, and other princess’s), Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid, Ariel’s Grotto (pictures with), Mad Tea Party (The Tea Cups). Down in the Circus section, there’s Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Barnstormer. Now that your feet are getting tired, you can head to Tomorrow Land.

Tomorrow Land, here you can find Tomorrow Land Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, and Space Mountain the roller coaster that everyone goes crazy for in Magic Kingdom.

As you exit Tomorrow Land you will find yourself back on Main St USA, with all the lovely eateries and shops to visit. There will always be changes being done and coming to the Magic Kingdom, even at the time of print there is building going on for the new Tron light cycle coaster. Since I have been going to Walt Disney World there have been changes. Fantasy Land didn’t exist when I first went in 2008, which is thanks to my lovely wife, who is the Disney addict in this relationship and I am the Star War addict. Anyway, if you go to the WDW website and look at the maps that they have on there or if you download the My Disney Experience App on your phone, you will notice that at where you had the choice of going left or right, we went left, it tends to work out in the end, since the majority of people will go to the right so they can get to the coasters, you go left and enjoy the family rides first, then work yourself that way. But it will also depend on how you want to play out your Fastpass for the day.

Now for places to eat inside the Magic Kingdom, there are lots of different choices to pick from. One thing you will want to keep in mind is your budget as well, if you didn’t book through Disney and didn’t have the option for a Dining package, then the food options can get kind of pricey. For those that do have the dining package, you have a little more freedom with how you choose to eat.

So for sit down dining/table service, you have  Be Our Guest, Cinderella’s Royal Table, The Crystal Palace, The Plaza, Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen, Liberty Tree Tavern, The Diamond Horseshoe, Tomorrow Land Terrace. Along with those, there are plenty of quick-service options all throughout the park. I will say this is also a park that you will want to be at for what they call Rope Drop, it’s an early morning show they put on right before they open the park to everyone.

They also have a 3 o’clock parade, that is always fun to catch if you don’t happen to have a fast-pass to get to. Also if you enjoy firework shows, then you are going to want to make sure you catch the Happily Ever After show. This firework display is incredible, accompanied by a digital light show overlaid on Cinderella’s castle. You have 2 options of viewing this show, one is to purchase the Desert viewing package they offer on the website, we have done this and it’s worth it for the cost. The other option is to find a nice spot on Main St USA, or around the Hub and camp out for at least an hour before the show will start, for best results we suggest 2 hours prior to the start of the show. When we go that route we will swap back and forth, one sits saving the spot, while the other can walk around and go on a ride or shop. Don’t get me wrong, you can see the fireworks from pretty much anywhere in the park, but our personal preference is to have the view of the over the castle, and so have found that it is also the most popular view choice throughout everyone