The magical spires and turrets of Cinderella’s castle make it arguably one of the world’s most iconic buildings and put it at the top of many a child’s wish list of places to visit. The gateway to the fairytale adventures of Fantasyland, the swashbuckling escapades of Adventureland, a glimpse of the future in Discoveryland and the wild west landscape of Frontierland, Magic Kingdom offers adventures and excitement of many kinds. As you walk through the entrance to the park, to the sounds of Disney music, you get that tingle up your spine that tell you that yes, you are really here and your trip to the Magic Kingdom has begun. These are our Top 10 Favourites of all the 4 parks. My children are 9, were not restricted by any height issues and love the adrenaline rides, me – not so much!
GETTING THERE
We arrived at Magic Kingdom by both ferry and monorail from the Grand Floridian hotel. The ferry affords you a trip across one of the many lakes of Disneyworld – you see the castle behind the trees in the distance and there is a welcome breeze of fresh air. We also parked one morning at the Grand Floridian, had breakfast there and then took the monorail to the park enjoying spectacular views of the lake and the resorts around it. Arriving is part of the fun.
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES MINE TRAIN, FANTASYLAND
One of the most popular rides in Disneyworld, we fastpassed this a couple of times as the queues can be up to 80 minutes long. This ride is not at Disneyland Paris, which makes it a must to do at WDW. A rollercoaster suitable for younger children, it takes you through the seven dwarves’ diamond mine where you can admire the dwarves at work and then you are off on a high speed adventure. Great fun and worth doing more than once if you can. FP available.
BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD, FRONTIERLAND
My favourite ride in Magic Kingdom, we rode this several times. High speed and a good long ride make this a rip-roaring ride with lots of laughs through a Frontierland gold mining town. FP available.
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR’S SPACE RANGER SPIN, DISCOVERYLAND
A favourite of ours in DLP, it’s a different version but still a family competition as you compete to score points by shooting lasers as you travel through space in your car that spins 360 degrees. A technicolour, big, bright, marvellous alien world awaits. A must do for us, FP available.
ITS A SMALL WORLD, FANTASYLAND
A Disney classic, it has to be done! Look out for your name on the screens at the end and spot the different countries as you travel by slow boat through a myriad of small worlds. Fabulous theming and Disney magic. Hum the song for the rest of the day #earworm. Also at DLP. FP available.
SPACE MOUNTAIN, DISCOVERYLAND
Confession, I didn’t ride this as it’s not for me – rollercoasters in the dark are not my bag. But my kids *love* it and did it a couple times. Also at DLP, albeit different to the DW version. FP available.
SPLASH MOUNTAIN, FANTASYLAND
A log flume ride through the story of Brer Rabbit and friends. This ride is surprisingly long, put your poncho on beforehand if you don’t want to get wet! 950,000 gallons of water and a 5 storey waterfall await. FP a must, this is one of the most popular rides in Magic Kingdom.
CRYSTAL PALACE BREAKFAST WITH POOH AND FRIENDS
We had an ADR booked for 8.15am so that we could arrive at the park before it opened to the general public and walk down an uncrowded Main Street. Unfortunately the journey by car (from the Beach Club Resort) and then the ferry trip took a little longer than anticipated as we had to wait for the boat to fill up before it set sail. We just made it to our ADR on time, leaving not much wiggle room for that meander down Main St we had planned! We had allowed 45 mins for the journey which seemed plenty considering we were staying on the park but in hindsight should have allowed longer. Perhaps later in the day when the ferries are fuller it takes less time. We took the monorail from Grand Floridian the next time and it was quicker.
Breakfast with Pooh and Friends was a delicious breakfast buffet with the speciality being Pooh ears- a bit like doughnuts! Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet wander amongst the tables but it can take a while for the characters to get to you. DD loves Eeyore and we had to wait for him to have a break and come back before he made it to our table, by which time we were ready to leave the restaurant really.
PARADES
Disney parades are quite simply breathtaking, whichever ones you see whilst you are there. The music,pumped through hidden speakers, the characters and the colours all make the parade come to life. Watching your children’s favourites come past and wave to them and seeing the looks on the kids’ faces is priceless.
CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW’S PIRATE TUTORIAL, ADVENTURELAND
This was an unplanned stop and so much fun. Captain Jack was hilarious, exactly like the Pirates of the Caribbean film and invited children up on stage to learn to become pirates. Our children managed to shoehorn themselves onto the stage to join in and earned a pirate certificate in the process.
That’s a wrap! They are our Top 10 Favourites for a spellbinding day in the Magic Kingdom.
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