The iconic park (Magic Kingdom)

Member Name: mrmojorisin04

Product:	Magic Kingdom
Date:	07/09/08 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Something for everyone

Disadvantages: Can be really busy, especially getting out

The iconic park. Based around Cinderella's Castle, this is still the park that you want to see the most and will come back to time and time again.

Before arrival:
Allow plenty of time to get to the park. Arriving at the car park entrance is just the start. You'll then be directed to a space, catch a tram to the Ticket and Transportation Centre (TTC) and from there catch either a monorail or a ferry to (near the!) the park entrance.

I stayed offsite in a villa approx. 15 mins drive to the WDW entrance sgins, but needed to allow a good 45/60 mins door to door to actually get into the park.

You can see the Castle from the ferry and the monorail and it really is a lovely sight, as are the nearby hotels.

From the main entrance you go up Main Street and then have a choice of lands to visit.

Fantasyland.
Best for the little ones - many people head straight here to go on the Dumbo ride before it gets too busy. I don't quite understand this as it's a bog standard go up in the air and round and round thing, but if you do want to ride it you have to go early as the queues get huge. There are other similar rides in the park (Magic Carpets, Astro Orbiters) and also in many other parks as well.

Not to be missed in Fantasyland:
Mickey's Philharmagic. This is a 3D movie that should really be called Donald's Philharmagic as he's the star, and it is just awesome. The sort of thing that only Disney can do. If there was one thing that I would take a newbie on to show them what Disney is all about it's this. Nobobdy else could do this like Disney. Having said that it's a good one to save until later in the day when the park fills up as I've never had to wait more than 10/15 minutes to see it.
Peter Pan's Flight. A lovely, gentle ride around the world of Peter Pan. Gets very busy so one to do early.
It's a Small World. Goes on a bit too long, and the song gets stuck in your head, but the little ones love the cute boat trip aroud the world.
Cinderella's Carousel. A gentle horse roundabout. Good when the park is busy as the queues are always pretty quick.
Ariel's Grotto. A meet and greet with Ariel, but the queue goes much slower than you think.
Pooh Ride. Train ride around Pooh's Grand Adventures. Perfect for the little ones. This does have fastpass but it's only really worth it if the queue is 30mins+ as the fastpass queue is often as long as the normal queue. One to ride early if possible.
Apparently the first person into the Tinkerbell treasure shop gets to wake Tink up. Didn't experience this as there seems to be a bit of a scrum to do it.

Toontown:
Isn't supposed to open until 10am, although it actually opened at 9:45am when we were there. That was a pain as sometimes Goofy will ride the Barnstormer with the first rider of the day, and although we thought we were getting there early we were actually too late :-(.
The later opening does mean that you can do some rides and still be at Toontown to be the first ones there though, which helps with the queues.

Not to be missed in Toontown:
Goofy's Barnstormer. A kiddie coaster, but don't be fooled - it's pretty whizzy and is too much for a lot of the kids. It's over very quickly though. If your little one is adventurous they'll love this - get there early to ride it several times before the crowds come.
The Judge's Tent and Mickey and Minnie's houses have character and Princess meet and greets. These are in private rooms, which is nice, but again get there early to beat the crowds. As you can't see who's there ask a cast member first to make sure you're not disappointed.

Tomorrowland
Where most people go first as it's the home of Space Mountain.

Not to be missed in Tomorrowland:
Space Mountain. Showing it's age a bit now - the one in Paris is much whizzier - but I love this one as it's fast but doesn't have any big drops. As a ride it's probably tame enough for most kids, but it's in the dark which can be daunting for them, and you have to ride behind each other rather than side by side. This is one that it's definitely best to fast pass - send someone off to get them first thing while you meet somewhere else (probably Dumbo!).
Buzz's Space Ranger Spin. Good fun, shooting at the Z's. Can be fast passed if needed, but early on it's a fast moving queue.
Indy Speedway. Let's the kids steer a car which they always like. Can be pretty slow offloading.
Tomorrowland Transport Authority. A monorail around Tomorrowland and through Space Mountain. A nice way to relax and queues move quickly.

Adventureland:
This side of the park can be pretty quiet for a while as most head off to Fantasyland or Space Mountain initally.

Not to be missed in Adventureland
Pirate of the Caribbean. Can be a bit dark for some smaller kids. I have always found the queues here to be very small, so don't rush to do it.
Magic Carpets. A Dumbo alternative that can be ridden with lttle ones while the bigger ones do Pirates
Jungle Cruise. Cheesy jokes from your cheery cpatin, but it's worth doing at least once

Frontierland
Home of the other two mountains - Thunder and Splash.

Not to be missed in Frontierland:
Splash Mountain. Beautifully themed, three ever increasing drops, the last one is pretty impressive. Be prepared to get wet. Perhaps one to fast pass and then do on your way out.
Thunder Mountain. A very tame coaster, good for little ones but does have dark sections and can be noisy.

Liberty Square
Became one of my favourite places for one thing - riding up front with the captain on the riverboat.

Not to be missed in Liberty Square:
Haunted Mansion. Do this during the Halloween party if possible. It's a very well done and atmospheric ghost train at any time, but during the Halloween party (which is an additional fee party that takes places on certain nights from Sept-Nov) there is an extra eerie atmosphere that is superb.
Liberty Square Riverboat. This is a gentle cruise around the lake, but if you ask to ride with the captain you can go into the Captain's Quarters and help him ride the boat. My kids actually steered the boat with the big wheel and blew the whistle (the boat is on rails, but don't tell them that). One of the highlights of the holiday.

Others:
You can ask to ride up front on the TTC Monorail - best in the afternoon when it's quiet. There's a special waiting area at the front and if there's no-one there then you can ride up front (max 4 people). The monorail drivers can be a bit hit and miss when it comes to people skills!

Try and get to the park as early as possible. As 8:45am there's an opening show where Mickey and others officially open the park with Magic Dust. A family (I think of 4) is chosen to help every morning.

The steam train has stops in most areas and is a good way of getting from one side of the park to the other.

The afternoon parade was less impressive than Paris I thought, but worth seeing all the same. Get to the beginning or end of the routes for quieter spaces, around the Castle is crazy busy.

The evening parade is an electric one and is very pretty. The same advice for finding space applies.

The evening fireworks are fantastic. Anywhere in front of the castle gives a good view, but if you go to the bridge to Tomorrowland you get to see Tink fly overhead. If the fireworks are the last thing before the park closes then it's pandemonium getting out. You can wait a while for Main Street to ease but there will still be queues for the Monorail (try the resort one instead of the TTC one in this case) and worst of all for the trams. Another advantage of getting there early (if you're going to stay all day) is that you might park close enough not to need a tram.

I did try watching the fireworks from the TTC ferry to be the first out, but wouldn't recommend this - they're not the same without the music. A spot at the end of Main Street may be best to get away early.

Restaurants. There's plenty of them, but I can only comment on the Crystal Palace breakfast which is a character interaction with the Pooh gang. This was fantastic and highly recommended. My daughter made Tigger a card and he was wonderful with her.

I'd recommend doing the last placing (10:30am) as it's quieter then, you get a chance to do some bits in the park first and you can fill up for an early lunch. Cost was approx. £50 for a family of 5 plus tip.

Parking is $12 a day if you stay offsite. This covers any park if you're hopping.

One final bit of advice. If you get there early then it's generally possible to go everything you want by the afternoon parade. You can then leave and have a break /food and return again on the evening for the evening parade and fireworks.

Summary: Just do it