Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is the most popular of the Disney World parks and it is also my favorite. It is the park that is the most like Disneyland. It was very similar but yet there were enough differences to make it unique. To me, it was like someone picked up Disneyland, shook it around a bit, took out a few attractions, and added a few. It seemed very familiar and I knew my way around the park. But it also was different enough that I found myself walking in the wrong direction outside of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It's in a totally different place in Tomorrowland than I'm used to!

Fast Pass+
Magic Kingdom has more fast pass+ rides than any of the other parks. You can choose any 3 of the following:

Ariel's Grotto
The Barnstormer
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Festival of Fantasy parade
The Haunted Mansion
It's a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Main Street Electrical Parade
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor
Peter Pan's Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Princess Fairytale Hall: Meet Cinderella and a Visiting Princess
Princess Fairytale Hall: Meet Anna and Elsa from Frozen
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Tomorrowland Speedway
Town Square Theater Mickey Mouse Meet and Greet
Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
Wishes Nighttime Spectacular

As you can see, there are many choices. You can choose form most rides and also character experiences and parades.

I would recommend getting fast passes for some of the bigger rides like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, or Splash Mountain. The lines for those rides usually get pretty long so it's always good to have fast passes for those. If you have a princess fan in your family, it's a good idea to book fast passes to meet either Cinderella or Anna and Elsa. Without a fast pass, you're looking at a wait that's at least an hour on a good day.

When we went to Disney World last year, I booked my fast passes 30 days before our trip. All of the fast passes to meet Anna and Elsa were already booked! Crazy, right! With me being the persistent person that I am, I was determined to get fast passes. So I checked every day and I split our family up a little. It's hard to book 6 fast passes at the same time, especially for something that goes quick. Somehow I ended up booking all 6 fast passes to meet the Frozen sisters within the same window. They weren't all at the exact same time but there was about a half hour that overlapped with all of our passes. So we only had to wait 10 minutes to meet them! The wait time posted was over 2 hours!

The best thing I can recommend with the fast pass+ at Magic Kingdom is to book the rides or attractions that you really want to experience first thing in the morning. Once you've used those fast passes, check the wait times on your My Disney Experience app to see which rides have the longest wait. Then go to a kiosk and book a fast pass+ for one of those rides and then head to that ride. Once you've ridden that, do it again. We did this over and over. We probably used about 10 fast passes in one day. The longest we had to wait in line that day was about 15 minutes. Keep in mind that it was raining that morning so that affected the crowds. But I'd say we had a very successful day!

Here are some of my favorite things about Magic Kingdom:

Enchanted Tales with Belle
If you get a chance, you definitely need to do this. It's a character experience and a show combined. They choose volunteers to act out the story of Beauty and the Beast. Belle comes into the room and all of the volunteers retell the story. It only takes about 5-10 minutes for the show and then Belle takes pictures with everyone who participated. My husband was a lucky "volunteer" who got chosen. Anyone who knows him knows that he hates being the center of attention or doing anything like this. It was so fun and we loved it! The wait for this is sometimes pretty long so if this is a priority then I would recommend getting a fast pass+ for this.

Festival of Fantasy Parade
This was a really awesome parade. We really loved it! It featured most of the Disney characters including Elsa and Anna. You definitely need to check this parade out if you get a chance.

Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor
This was one of the highlights of our trip. This is an interactive show with the characters from Monster's Inc. You're watching the characters on the screen but they're interacting with the audience and choosing people to pick on. They pick a few people from the audience to give a hard time to throughout the whole show. It's really funny! The best part was when they showed "Boo" from Monster's Inc. and I looked up at the screen and saw my adorable little girl! Who wouldn't want their child featured as one of the cutest characters ever? They also picked my son from the audience to tell him some jokes. This was definitely a really fun show, and not just because my kids were featured!

Talking Mickey
Have you ever met a Mickey Mouse who talks? Well in Town Square you can meet talking Mickey. It was kinda crazy to hear him talk but it was so much fun. Definitely worth waiting in line for.

Favorite food at Magic Kingdom
We ate at Columbia Harbour House and ordered a Lobster Roll which was really good.

We also ate at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. Their selection includes hamburgers, barbecue pork sandwiches, and chicken sandwiches. My daughter fell down outside of this restaurant and started crying. One of the employees felt bad for her so they gave her a free brownie. That's one of the things I love about Disney! They make everyone feel special.

You also need try to a Dole Whip at Aloha Isle. This was the first time I've ever had one even though I've been to Disneyland multiple times. I thought it was good but my daughter got the Dole twist with orange and I liked that a little better than the Dole Whip Float.

Favorite Rides
Hands down, my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom is Splash Mountain. There's something very nostalgic about that ride that brings me back to my childhood. We love all of the rides at Magic Kingdom but some of our other favorites include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain. Unfortunately, Seven Dwarfs' Mine Train was not open yet when we were there so my kids were super bummed about that. That just means we need to go again, right?