Disney World Part 2: Magic Kingdom

All photos are from the Disney World website.

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom (MK) is the biggest park at Walt Disney World, and it is the most popular. It is always busy. We spent most of our day in Tomorrowland, Adventureland, and Fantasyland. Frontierland doesn’t have much going on right now (in fact it might be closed as of April 2024), and Main Street seems to be mostly for shopping and photo ops. Our big focus was on rides. We could have spent more days at the park if we wanted to focus on other things too, such as character meet and greets and dining experiences.

Rides

We focused our day at MK on going on as many different rides as possible. Here are all the rides that I went on with my daughter, in roughly the order we went on them (morning mood and afternoon mood maybe making a difference in her experience).:

Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland, and my daughter was ok with it. It was all indoors and in the dark with bright lights and glow-in-the-dark effects. Each cart has two laser guns that you can use to shoot at targets. My daughter liked to press the trigger and also jiggle the joystick that made the car spin, but overall, I think the effects were on the heavy side. By the way, this was my nephews’ (ages 6 and 9) favorite ride, and they went on it three times the same day

Next, we went on the Tomorrowland People Mover, which is not much of a ride but more of an elevated tour of Tomorrowland. It is a relatively slow ride, most of it is outdoors, and you can see the attractions throughout this section of the park. There were some parts that were indoors and dark, but they passed quickly. My daughter enjoyed it.

After lunch, we went on Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid, which takes you through the entire store of the Little Mermaid. It was indoors and mostly dark, with bright lights shining on the familiar characters. My daughter enjoyed seeing all the colorful fish, but she did not like the spooky parts of the ride with Ursula and the eels. It did not help that the ride got stuck during that scary part for us. By the way, throughout the day, we got stuck in the middle of the rides three times out of eight rides. So this seems like something you should expect to happen.

My daughter’s favorite ride was Jungle Cruise, where she saw lots of (animatronic) animals, called out their names, and made their animal sounds. This is a slow and smooth outdoor ride without any big surprises. I would recommend it for young toddlers. Also, if you happen to be traveling as part of a larger group, this is one of the only rides where all the riders are somewhat facing each other on a large boat, so it is a nice group experience.

Jungle Cruise

I think Pirates of the Caribbean was my daughter’s least favorite ride. It was indoors, dark, and spooky. She held onto me the whole time. I would not recommend it, even for pirate fans, because it was more about showing the dark, dirty side of pirate-life (as opposed to the fun cute side with pretend sword fights and the stuff that kids like).

My daughter was also not that impressed with it’s a small world, even though there was nothing scary or spooky about it. It was indoors and pretty dark, I suppose, with no recognizable characters. Maybe I should have practiced singing the song with her beforehand. Although, we did this ride toward the end of our day, so she may have just been pooped. There was an infant sitting right behind us, and he slept through the entire ride.

The Disney World Railroad is not really a ride, but it is a 20 minute train ride around the perimeter of MK. It is fully outdoors, and it narrates the various sections of the park. My daughter enjoyed this easygoing ride.

Walt Disney World Railroad

Shows

We did not prioritize any shows at MK. However, we came upon some of them out of convenience.

In the afternoon, it was so hot and we needed a break from the sun, so we went into the Enchanted Tiki Room, which is a 15-minute show of fake singing birds. This show is entirely skippable. My daughter was not really a fan either, although she didn’t have any problems with it.

The Festival of Fantasy Parade started at 3p, and we happened to be walking along its route while it went by. It was fun to watch in passing, but I don’t think I would have regretted missing it. Maybe this would have been different if our daughter was more into the Disney characters.

Festival of Fantasy Parade

Finally, the Carousel of Progress, which I think is described as a ride but felt more like a show to me, provided another air-conditioned relief for us that day. The circular stage is split into four scenes describing the common technology of various periods throughout the century, and your section of seating rotates around every few minutes to view each scene. I did not find it that exciting or entertaining, but my nephews seemed to enjoy learning about the history of consumer technology. My daughter thought it was fine.

Also, my sister’s family watched Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory show, and my nephews said that it was just ok, but mostly that it was a good break from the heat.

Food

We ate breakfast in our hotel room, and we would need to be back at the resort in time for our daughter’s bedtime, so our only meal in the park was lunch. After doing some research, we decided to go to Columbia Harbor House to get fried seafood. My husband and I shared the trio platter and a lobster roll with fries, and they were very good. It also helped that this restaurant had indoor seating, so we could get a break from the heat. My daughter ate some fries along with some fruit and snacks that I had packed.

In the afternoon, we got the world famous pineapple Dole Whip from Aloha Isle, and it was worth the wait. There was also an orange Dole Whip available at Sunshine Tree Terrace, and the line was much shorter there.

Dole Whip

Final Thoughts on MK:

• If you want to go on a lot of rides, get Genie+. If you don’t want to wait in line for more than 5-10 minutes at a time, get Genie+. On the Friday that we went in April 2024, Genie+ for MK was $28 per person.
• The rides that have the longest wait times in the morning will continue to be the highest in demand throughout the day. In fact, wait times for most rides get longer throughout the day until after dinner time. So don’t put off a ride thinking that you might have better luck if you wait until the afternoon.
• The best air conditioning (aside from the indoor shows) is in the souvenir shops on Main Street.
• The Festival of Fantasy parade starts at 3p, and it lasts about 12 minutes from start to finish. The parade starts in Frontierland and ends down Main Street, so if you are waiting in Main Street to see it, you will be waiting a little while after 3p.