A COMPLETE GUIDE TO WALT DISNEY WORLD
MAGIC KINGDOM TIPS
 | Get a photocard from Disney photographers - they give you this when you have a picture taken and you can view and download them back home for 28 days. Thanks to Peter for this tip! |
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You write of the pleasures of viewing the fireworks from the plaza view terrace and we did that and it was excellent. We found, quite by accident, an even better place the following night. We were exiting Mickey's Philharmagic just as the fireworks began. The view from the area between Philharmagic and the Carousel is just phenomenal!!! Almost all of the fireworks explode directly above your head as you stand in an area that seems to be in broad daylight. Almost all of the fireworks explode directly above your head as you stand in an area that seems to be in broad daylight. Thanks to Jon for this tip! |
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We
watched the Spectromagic parade from near its starting point, near at
Town Hall . When the end of the parade passed us, we jumped up and raced
to
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WDW has a special event that occurs in the MK on certain days of the week this time of year - it is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. They close the park at 6:00pm on these days and escort the daily visitors out of the park at this time and reopen the park at 7:00pm for ticketed visitors. So if you visit at this time of year, be SURE to check out the daily calendar or times guide for the MK and plan accordingly. There are other nights of the week where you can stay late on your normal ticket - so be sure that you pick one of these nights if you don't plan to spend more for the extra ticket to the MVMCP. Thanks to Arlen for this tip! |
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We
watched the Fireworks from near Cinderella’s Castle and my 7-year-old,
who had been full of energy until that point, got very drowsy once we
actually stopped running from ride to ride, then getting him through the
crowds and out of the park was a challenge. For people watching the
Fireworks with kids: consider watching near Town Hall so that if the
kids become very tired during the fireworks “downtime,” you don’t
have too far to drag them to the monorail. |
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If visiting MAGIC KINGDOM on a hot day, don't miss the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square - there is rarely a long line, it's air conditioned, and honestly it's a great show! My 9-year-old loved it! Thanks to Steve for this tip! |
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We just returned from DisneyWorld's Magic Kingdom and were pleased in particular with Mrs. Potts Cupboard in FantasyLand. The ice cream sundaes were to die for and the prices were great! If your family likes ice cream, then this is the place to go. It beats the pre-made ice cream stands found all over the park. Thanks to Breanne for this tip! |
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A great place to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom is from the ferry. If you time it right, you can see the whole display clearly and miss the crowds for the transport afterwards. Thanks to Liz for this tip! |
| Here's a good tip for riding the Magic Kingdom Mountains. Go to Space Mountain first in the morning. Most people go to Frontierland because 2 of the mountains are there. Space Mountain is less crowded and you can ride it 2 to 3 times in a row without the line being over 20 minutes (just make sure you get to Magic Kingdom before the park actually opens). Get to Frontierland at about lunch time. The ride line will be a lot shorter because most people will be eating. If you want to ride Splash Mountain twice, I suggest get a fastpass, get in the stand-by line, and ride it. When your done, if there's time left, go to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and by that time, you can get in the fastpass line for Splash Mountain. Thanks to Gabriella for this tip! |
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If you stay at the Magic Kingdom through the fireworks show to park
closing, you will be leaving with thousands of others also trying to get
to the main parking lot and their cars. As you exit the Magic Kingdom,
you'll no doubt notice huge lines to get on the Disney Transportation
Buses, the Steamboats across the Lagoon, and especially up the ramp to
the Monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center. What you will also
notice is that while those three transportation methods have lines and
long waits comparable to the most popular rides, the one ramp that is
sparsely used is the Monorail to Resorts. Save yourself lots of
time, pushing, shoving, short fuses and all around inconvenience after a
long day of walking - Take the Monorail to the Resorts. First stop is
the Contemporary Hotel, second stop? you may have guessed it by now, The
Transportation and Ticket Center! Since the sign reads To Resorts,
people looking to get to the TTC follow that sign.
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| We recently visit WDW 4/2/04 to 4/10/04. We learned of a new service that just open a few weeks prior, called "Kiddie Concierge". It was located in Tomorrowland at the MK. The purpose is to give a break to preschool and younger children, as well as their parents. It was a clean, quiet, air conditioned room with a cast member at the front desk, who helped us to look up dining availability. There was a large room with beanbag chairs for the kids, couches for the kids and/or adults, while a movie was playing. There was a play area with some toys for toddlers. There were men's and women's bathrooms, with a door you could lock for privacy. There was a diaper changing room and yet another small room with rocking chairs, which I assume was there for nursing mothers. There was a kitchenette with a microwave to heat a bottle, a refrigerator, which I assumed had ice and a water cooler with hot and cold water, as well as cups. We changed our 2 yo son's diaper there, but stayed for about 15 minutes, just enjoying the quiet break from the walking and the heat. Thanks to Brian for this tip! |
| A couple of years back a friend and I had gone to the Magic Kingdom on her birthday. We went to guest services to activate tickets we already had and found out that they will give you a birthday pin if you are there on your birthday. They also said that every park has their own birthday pins designated for the individual park. The one from the Magic Kingdom has Mickey Mouse in front of Cinderella's Castle and it reads "Today is My Birthday." Everyone imaginable wished her a happy birthday and the barbershop quartet sang happy birthday to her. Each park does something special. We only discovered the Magic Kingdom end of it. Thanks to Jennifer for this tip! |
| The only ride we were disappointed in was the Winnie-the Pooh ride in the Magic Kingdom. We'd read it was one that shouldn't be missed. When we got in line, the sign said the wait for the ride would be 45 minutes. It was more like an hour and a half and the ride lasted maybe 2 or 3 minutes!! My advice: skip it! The Buzz Lightyear Ride is much more fun!!!! The kids loved that one. Thanks to Kathy for this tip! |
| A great place to watch the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom is from the dining terrace at the Plaza Pavilion. You get to sit in an uncrowded area with the added benefit of having Tinkerbell coming right at you! Send someone from your party to Main St to get pastries, ice cream, coffee, etc, to fill the time before and after the fireworks. Thanks to Chris for this tip!!! |
| Ok, so you have no interest in waiting around to see a parade in the Magic Kingdom. But make sure you are in the area of the park you want to be when the parade starts. Traveling around the park especially on the parade route becomes next to IMPOSSIBLE. I was at the Haunted Mansion and needed to go to ride Splash Mountain because I had a fastpass, and it took me at least 20-30 minutes to make that short trip simply because of the parade. However if your not where you want to be, don't be afraid to cross the street during a parade, sure you may not be supposed to but if the crowds are so large they can't tell where you wander off after, this will allow you to get to your destination slightly faster than staying on the same side of the street and meandering along the sidewalk to go from one land to another. Thanks to Chris Shumeyko for this tip!!! |
| Here's a great tip for riding the 3 Mountains! Get in line for the mountains later at night right before the parade and fireworks start, so probably around 7:30 the lines will die down somewhat because of people eating dinner and getting ready for the parade. Leave Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain for the night and ride Space Mountain during the day. This is a good plan because standing in line for Splash and Thunder can get HOT during the day where as Space Mountain has an indoor line which is air conditioned. This will pay off because there are no lines during Spectromagic and the Fireworks at night on any of the Mountains! So hit the smaller rides during the day and save the mountains for later at night! This really does save on time and you get more rides out of it! Thanks to Mark for this tip!!! |
| During a parade - walk through the shops as much as possible. You can walk almost all of Main Street inside if you stay on the right hand side (right side as you are looking at the entrance). Thanks to Jennifer for this tip!!! |
| I highly recommend if traveling to the Magic Kingdom with children under two years old going the month of October because crowds are small and the weather is not too hot. Thanks to Julio for this tip!!! |
| Try to see Mickey somewhere else other than in the Judges Tent in Toontown. We were there in January and there were only about 15 people in front of us in line. We still waited about 15-20 minutes. Our kids were restless. Although we got pictures, it really wasn't worth the wait. Thanks to David for this tip!!! |
| At the MK, don't sit in front of Cinderella's castle for the fireworks. They are shot from behind the castle, and you don't see much if you are in front. Thanks to Bobbie for this tip!!! |
| Don't miss the new show Disney puts on in front of Cinderella's Castle. You will see about 2 dozens of Disney characters and after the short show they come down and walk around with the people there. Thanks to Miros for this tip!!! |
| I just recently went to Disney World and I found that the best place to sit for the Spectromagic parade is on the balcony of the train station, right as you enter the park. Try to get there 2 hours before. People take the chairs and tables that are up there. If you sit there you can see the castle for the fireworks perfectly and also be able to watch the parade sitting in a chair and up high so you won’t have to over look anyone. Thanks to Larry for this tip!!! |
| To get a curb seat for the SpectroMagic parade, you must line up 2 hours before. We lined up 1 ½ hrs before and couldn't find a curb seat. Thanks to Toni for this tip!!! |
| We got to see the Magic Kingdom Parade in Frontier Land and that is where the parade started. It was wonderful and we had a great spot...my youngest daughter got to participate in the parade with one of the mice from Cinderella and that made her week. I don't know if it starts there every time but it did that day around 3 or 4 p.m. Tuesday seemed like a great day to visit the Magic Kingdom because on Monday it seemed like that is where everyone was headed. So I would wait until after Monday before visiting Magic Kingdom. Thanks to Robin for this tip!!! |
| Right before closing of the Magic Kingdom (it was 9 the day we were there) about 8:45 we ran to the Judges tent where the characters are- not Mickey of course- but others. And there was no one there--no lines at all. There ended up being about 10 of us in there and all the characters! It was great. There was Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Cinderella, Daisy & Perla, Chip & Dale and Minnie Mouse. And because no one was there they hung out all together and played with the kids. It was so neat! Tigger was doing Cart-Wheels and playing with my son (who got a little scared ). It was so neat. The don't close the doors till actual closing time so go anytime even a minute before you can still get in. We didn't want to stay too long as they all needed to go to bed, but it was really fun. Thanks to Diane for this tip! |
| Do not visit the Magic Kingdom on a Monday. It is packed! Pushing a stroller through a jam-packed park can ruin anyone's day. On our last trip (3/00), we went to the Magic Kingdom on Monday with a 6 month old and a 2 yr. old. We were there all day and all we go to do was the Pooh ride, Bear Country Jamboree, Tiki Birds, Haunted Mansion, dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern (we had reservations), and the Electrical Parade (we caught it right after dinner). We pretty much wasted a whole day. Thanks to Christine for this tip! |
| At the Magic Kingdom, get there early. Visit Space Mountain first. (Our wait was 20 min.) Then head straight to Splash Mountain. There was no wait at all and we walked right through! Thanks to Megan for this tip! |
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Avoid using the restrooms near Fantasyland if you can help it. They are also packed, dirty and there are line-ups. Thanks to Anne for this tip! |
| Get to the "Mountains" early (Space/Splash/Thunder). The lines on these get long later on. |
| If you plan to eat at the Liberty Tree Tavern, try and plan your dinner so that you are done 20 minutes before the Electric Light Parade starts; just step out onto the porch for a great view. Thanks to John and Karl for this tip! |
| It seems that in space mountain the right line is the scarier side. The left side seems not as scary. Thanks to Sandy for this tip! |
| There is no need to push and shove once you are in an attraction. They only let enough people though the turn stall that will fit into the theater or ride. Every view is a good one and you will get a seat. Once you are in the first set of doors you will get a seat. So, on these types of attractions once your in, let everyone push by you. I sometimes stand alone in the back because everyone else is huddled together near the front and get a great view. Thanks to Jeremy for this tip! |
| At the Magic Kingdom people leave early when the fireworks go off. During some parts of the year, the fireworks don't always go off at closing time. Since most people don't know that, they leave once the fireworks are over. This leaves the park empty until the real closing time. Thanks to Jeremy for this tip! |
| When you are going to the parks. Like the Magic Kingdom get there about 30minutes before the park open. Why you should do this is because you will have time to ride all of your favorite rides before the crowds come. Especially the popular rides like Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and the popular Space Mountain. Thanks to Marilyn for this tip! |
| When everyone is leaving the Magic Kingdom the monorails tend to get very crowded. The Disney Staff will tell you to use the Transportation and Ticket Center monorail. It is always crowded. Use the resort monorail. This takes you to the Contemporary but stay on and you'll get to the transportation and ticket center a lot faster. Thanks to Evan for this tip! |
| If you want to experience Splash Mountain but don't want to wait in line or use fast pass, just go to other rides until about 10:00pm or later then come back to it. My friends and I walked right through with no one in front of us and got on. Sure it was a little colder but worth it! Thanks to Ryan for this tip! |
| When entering the Magic Kingdom while the 3:00 parade is going on, hop on the train and take it to Frontierland and you miss all the crowds leaving after the parade. Thanks to Susan for this tip! |
| When arriving or departing from Magic Kingdom, you may be able to sit if the front car with the driver of the monorail, especially during the non-peak hours. Ask a CM when boarding the monorail. Depending on monorail driver, they may even let one of your children drive the monorail for a few seconds. Thanks to Kennith for the tip! |
| E-ride nights. You get out of the park around 1:00 a.m. tired and ready to get to your room only to find the tram isn't in the parking lot to pick you up. One finally did arrive after 10 min. The driver got off for some reason with no explanation. We had to walk to our car It took us about 10 min. to get to our car and there was still no sight of the tram SO remember you may have to walk to your car on E-nights. Thanks to the Carr Family for this tip! |
| If you are an old hat at Disney and would like a little twist, ride Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain at night. We hit Splash Mountain late one night because we were avoiding the long lines and wow it was gorgeous and a little mysterious too. Thanks to Sarah K. for this tip! |
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