Do you need a Magic Kingdom Plan for your Disney World Trip? Sure you do. In fact, if you are going to be at Disney World during a busy time of year it’s essential that you have a plan and a good plan. But Dad, I hate planning. Me too, but coming up with a plan for the Magic Kingdom is easy and fun. Yes, Fun. Trust me.
Below, you’ll find some strategies for creating a plan for almost any family. If you have young children your plan will be very different than if you have teenagers. Check it out.
Arrive when this happens
Photo by Jeff_B.
Arrive Early for the best touring
Dad recommends you arrive early for the best touring. This works for every plan no matter what age you or your children are. Yes, even teenagers will have a better day if they get to the park when it opens. They can ride all three mountains before in one hour on most mornings, but after noon, it will take over an hour to ride each one.
This is Dad’s top tip for avoiding crowds at the Magic Kingdom. It also should be a big part of your Magic Kingdom Plan.
Dad’s tips for avoiding Magic Kingdom Crowds
The Magic Kingdom for Younger Children
Photo by dziactor
If you have younger children, you will want to start your day in Fantasyland. (Like you didn’t already know that.)
With the new upgrade, you’ll probably don’t have to go directly to Dumbo anymore. (Even Touringplans.com and the Unofficial Guide to WDW changed the order of attractions to see for families with younger children. Because of the new FASTPASS, the interactive queue and the extra ride vehicle the lines on Dumbo are much shorter.
So, if you have younger children, you will probably want to start your day in Fantasyland (or maybe grab a ride on Astro Orbiter). You will probably spend a big part of your day in Fantasyland. There is a lot to see and do even with all the construction.
Lines for Peter Pan’s Flight and the Mad Tea Party grow pretty rapidly so you might want to hit those early.
Where you go from there ….
Dad’s Fantasyland page
Dad’s Two Lap Plan
Mrs. Mom is a very linear type of person. Her plan would be to start in one land and proceed linearally around the park ride by ride. While this sounds like a fine plan, it doesn’t take the growing lines in to account. The line at the Carousel of Progress is going to be the same length (none) at 9:00 am as it is at 3:00 pm.
Dad’s Magic Kingdom plan is to circle the park 2 times. The first time to get all the long line rides, then the second time will be to relax and catch all the other rides. Are your ready?
Nine by Noon
Dad thinks he can do 9 rides by noon. (Mrs. Mom told me I couldn’t count riding Buzz Lightyear 9 times in a row. Spoiled Sport.) Here is the plan we’re going to follow to accomplish Dad’s lofty goal (subject to change when Mrs. Mom reads this) –
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Done by Noon –
Photo by Express MonorailSpace Mountain
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (no Dad, you can’t ride more than once)
- Stop by The Great Goofini and take a picture (since we’re too tall to ride)
- Dumbo – (we may not ride but we will check out the new Storybook Circus)
- The Mad Tea Party (Mrs. Mom may twist my arm and get me to ride, but she has to promise not to spin the cup)
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- The Haunted Mansion
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Country Bear Jamboree (by this time Dad will need to get off his feet for a bit)
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Jungle Cruise
- Enchanted Tiki Room
End of Lap 1
That’s a pretty ambitious Magic Kingdom Plan for the morning for 2 slow walking old people, but I think it’s doable. The good thing about this is it hits almost all of the long lines for the day and we can go back and pick off the other rides at our leisure.
Yes, Splash Mountain isn’t on the list. Normally we would grab a FASTPASS as we walked by for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and hopefully ride after Country Bear Jamboree (we might have to throw in a dollar or two at the Shootin’ Arcade to pass a little time). This trip, we are going to skip Splash Mountain. Yes, I said skip it. Dad is not of fan of falling and Mrs. Mom doesn’t want to get wet, so skip it we will.
Photo by Express Monorail
Touringplans.com
You might be asking why Dad doesn’t just go over to Touringplans.com and choose one of their great Magic Kingdom plans over there? Good question. Dad is a planning professional and can make his own plan thank you very much. The truth is, Dad will be plugging his plan into Touringplans planning tool and tweaking it over the next few days. Dad wants to test it out how the planning software works with the Lines app when he gets to the park. (Dad talks about the Magic Kingdom Plan and how it comes out on Touringplans)
Dad’s Touringplans.com page
Lunch
Lunch is a bit in flux right now. We were planning to try Tomorrowland Terrace if it was open (it’s supposedly open seasonally whatever that means). If the Terrace isn’t open, we’ll probably just grab something at Casey’s Corner or the nearest Quick Service restaurant whenever lunch time arrives.
The Afternoon
After a grueling morning, it’s time for lap 2 and enjoying some of the best things at the Magic Kingdom.
- Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor
- Tomorrowland Transit Authority
- Carousel of Progress
- We will skip Stitch’s Great Adventure …
- Winnie the Pooh
- Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel (Mrs. Mom will ride and Dad will grab a snack)
- Mickey’s Philharmagic (yes, we will probably use a FASTPASS on this one)
- It’s a Small World (I will take earplugs)
If everything goes perfectly with Dad’s Magic Kingdom Plan it will just be time for the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade. We’ll start back to the hotel right after the parade.
Photo by Don Sullivan
The Evening
After checking in to our hotel and resting for a bit, we’ll come back to the park for dinner and the evening activities. We have a reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern for a little after 6 (if you see us waiting say hello).
- Liberty Belle Riverboat
- Hall of Presidents (time for a nap after dinner)
- Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade
- The Walt Disney World Railroad
- Finish anything we missed from the morning/afternoon and …
- Watch the Main Street Electrical Parade
After the Parade we will high tail it back to our hotel so we can watch …
Wishes
Our Magic Kingdom Plan will end in our Magic Kingdom view room at the Bay Lake Towers where we will watch Wishes from the comfort of our balcony while Dad Tweets/Facebook/Blog’s live from Disney World.
Dad’s Wishes page
Dad’s Crowd Strategies
Dad has talked before about his Magic Kingdom crowd strategies. Arrive early, ride the big rides first, etc. To see what Dad suggests go to …
Dad’s Magic Kingdom Crowds page
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Dad’s Bottom Line
This is the current Magic Kingdom Plan for Dad and Mrs. Mom’s Disney Palooza 2012. It’s a rough draft and will probably change about 3000 times in the next 150 or so days. Let me know what you think.
