Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom is one of four theme parks in Walt Disney World located in Orlando, Florida. Cinderella's Castle serves as the central hub of the park. The castle is surrounded by different themed lands: Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square. There is a wide variety of rides and attractions to appeal to all ages. One day may not be enough time to see everything this park has to offer.

Model Itinerary

Getting Started:
The park opening time is the time the rides and attractions will begin operating. Typically, the parks will allow visitors to go through security and go through the ticketing process up to an hour before the stated opening time. If you want to get the most out of your day, you should plan on arriving 30-60 minutes before the opening time. Arriving early allows you to ride more rides and spend less time waiting in line. Upon arriving I like to go straight to Pirates of the Caribbean then head to the Haunted Mansion. From there check the Disney App and look for nearby rides with the shortest wait.

FastPass+:
Disney World has a FastPass+ system available that allows you to save your spot in line and ride at a specified time. Using the FastPass system can save you hours of time waiting in long lines. Check the Disney World website for updated information about how the FastPass+ system works and which rides offer the FastPass ticket. The best way to utilize the FastPass system is to reserve your FastPass tickets on-line before your vacation. You can reserve your FastPass 30 days in advance and 60 days in advance if you are staying at a Disney Resort. You can reserve up to 3 FastPass selections at a single park for each day of your stay and you can reserve a FastPass for all members of your party.

Making the most of your day:
When the park opens the wait times at most rides can be just 5-10 minutes so there is no need to use a FastPass first thing in the morning. The park starts to fill up around 11:00 so I recommend scheduling your FastPasses for 11:00, 12:00 and 1:00. After you have used your third Fastpass you can use the app or kiosks in the park to get another FastPass. After you use your 4th FastPass you are free to reserve another and can continue using one at a time for the rest of the day. Use your FastPasses for rides like the 7 Drawfs Mine Train and Space Mountain that will have long stand-by lines during the day.

Restaurants:
One of our favorite things to do is to take a lunch break around 1:30 and sit down for a nice meal. I recommend making reservations ahead of time for a table service restaurant instead of trying to deal with the crowds and lines at the counter service restaurants. Some of our favorite places to eat are Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast, lunch at Be Our Guest Restaurant and lunch or dinner with Winnie the Pooh & friends at The Crystal Palace. If you have a 1:30 lunch reservation you should be finished in plenty of time to go find a spot to watch the 3:00 parade!

Nighttime Shows:
Check the park calendar for parade and showtimes. Two popular nightime shows are the Happily Ever After Fireworks Show and Once Upon a Time Show at the Castle. If you want to find a good spot in front of the castle you should plan to be there at least an hour before showtime. We also like riding The Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the evening.

Hotel:
We have stayed both on and off of Disney Property and we enjoy both options. My favorite Disney property is Disney's Wilderness Lodge. The hotel will remind you of being in one of America's National Park Lodges. There is both a bus and a boat that provides transportation to the park entrance. The Disney Carribean Beach Resort is a pretty property, but it is very large and we had problems finding room on the shuttle buses to take us back and forth to the parks. On several trips we have rented a condo near the park entrance and if you are only going to the parks for 3-4 days this is a nice option so that you can have a rest day throughout the week.