How to keep the Magic in the Magic Kingdom (Part I)

Another Friday, another blog post.  So for this week’s post I thought we’d move on from bad foreigners and ways to give yourself alcohol poisoning inside of 4 hours.  Let’s go with something that may be more useful to a broader audience, how to actually tour these four huge parks.  We’ll take them one at a time.


We’ll start with the Magic Kingdom.  It’s classic, it’s the one park everyone wants to do when they go to WDW, it’s the beast in the East.  And touring it like a schmuck can also be a beast, especially with kids.  

Magic Kingdom Park Map

Tip: You don’t want to be that person that forces their child to stay in the park from open to close regardless of how loud they are screaming.  Do yourself and everyone else around you a favor and take a break.  Sure you might miss out on an extra ride or two by leaving for a couple of hours, but your overall trip experience will be better because you were smart and took a break.  


This also goes along with the simple fact that most travelers fail to wrap their heads around:

Tip: You can’t do everything.  The parks are too big.  As soon as you accept that fact, again, the better your trip experience will be.

The most common piece of advice people give is “Start in the back and work your way forward” Yeah… Thanks Chief!  That’s about as broad as saying, “Hey remember to inhale before you exhale.”  

Tip:  Realistically, you need to make a game plan.  Decide what is most important for your group to see.  

But here is how I would tour around Magic Kingdom: 

First, get your butt out of bed and make it to rope drop (the big production each morning as the park opens).  I don’t care if you’re not a morning person, you can be grumpy all the way to the front of the park and then I promise you’ll perk up, or else you have no soul.  After watching the park opening show you’ll be allowed to move into the park. 

Rope Drop- Part of the Show

Now I’ll be honest, I don’t get into the characters much, so I’m going to skip a lot of those.  But I do know that Rapunzel is HOT right now and the wait to see her gets long.  If seeing her is a must for your group, then you will want to hit her first.  Not literally, it’s still considered battery in WDW.  Although…you would have a one of a kind Photo Pass opportunity.  She meets with the other princesses at Town Hall. 

Photo Credit

Ok enough of that.  The first actual ride you’ll want to head straight to is probably still Peter Pan, which ironically is in the back of the park.  With the opening of New Fantasyland and the dueling Dumbo’s, it has released a lot of pressure off of the other Fantasyland attractions.  But the lines for Peter Pan still get long quick, so either go there first thing or grab a Fast Pass (FP) for it and hit another attraction first thing.  I personally would FP Peter Pan, and head for New Fantasyland to knock out Dumbo (if you must ride it) and the Great Goofini roller coaster.  From there I would come back and knock out the rest of the Fantasyland attractions that strike your fancy, including using your FP for Peter Pan.  


Now here is where you have a decision to make, Tomorrowland or Frontierland.  With Big Thunder Mountain Railroad being closed for refurbishment for so long, it’s VERY popular.  Waits are hitting TRIPLE digits.  I know what you’re thinking, “Bleep that!”  Me too.  So I would probably head over that way and grab a FP for BTMR and then ride Splash Mountain.  If you don’t want to get wet or you hate the song “Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah” skip Splash Mountain and head to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain. 

Splash Mountain

Space Mountain is another big headliner, so you’ll want to head straight there.  The waits shouldn’t be bad yet so the stand by line may be the right option here.  If its 20 minutes or less, I say go for it.  Otherwise, head to Buzz Lightyear, People Mover, Tomorrowland Speedway (if you must), Tea Cups, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor and Stitch’s Great Escape.  Once you’ve done the rides you want over here, if you haven’t already been on Space Mountain, hopefully you can pull a FP for it now.  If you can get a FP or if you’ve already ridden it, it should be getting close to lunch time. 

Space Mountain

It might be a good time to grab a bite to eat before heading back over to BTMR to use your FP.  I personally recommend Columbia Harbor House.  While it’s not especially close to where you currently are, it’s worth the little walk over.  The food is good and different from the hamburger/hotdog norm served everywhere else and seating upstairs is plentiful.  Either way, use your FP for BTMR and then head back over to Liberty Square and knock out the Haunted Mansion. 

This is the point in the day where I would use the FP for BTMR and then head straight to the bus and back to my resort.  Remember, taking a break is critical.  It’s also early afternoon, when the park is at its busiest and hottest.  Go back, take a nap, lay by the pool.  Relax.  Enjoy the fact that you’re kicking back while others are suffering through crowds, Florida heat, and Brazilians.  By the time you’re heading back to the park, most of them will be filing out with their screaming kids in tow.


(Stay tuned for Part II, coming somewhat soon.)


(Also, thanks to Mrs. Gish for formatting/adding pictures.)