Planning Your Disney Itinerary: Magic Kingdom Part 1

My list of must-dos at the Magic Kingdom is incredibly long, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one. Perhaps more than any other park, the Magic Kingdom needs a solid plan, particularly if you only have one day (I would recommend more than one, if you can). Like the other parks, you have a huge advantage if you arrive by rope drop to accomplish busy rides in that first hour. Unlike the other parks, however, it’s less clear where you should head first-thing, because there are so many places you could start! Read more

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Best Use of My Disney Fast Pass: Part 2, Magic Kingdom Park

Author’s Note: This 4-part series answers the question: when you are trying to make the most of your limited time at the parks, and the crowds are maddening, there may be times when you will have to choose which favorite ride you will get a fast pass for that day.  What would that ride be? Well, I definitely have my favorites at every park, each of which are covered under this title with parts 1-4.

When I only have limited time at the Magic Kingdom, I will always choose either Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as my fast pass; depending on the wait in the standby lines. Both of these rides are a must-do for family fun at the park.

About Splash Mountain

As you can see from this picture, my family and I have a lot of fun on this ride. Always up for a tour through the briar patch we are ready to go. We do sometimes wait until right before leaving the park if it is 50 degrees outside, though, as we do tend to get at least a little wet. Please note that it is possible to get quite wet. Read more

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Tuesday Disney Tips: Learning to Zig When Others Zag

One of the most important things to know when planning your days at Walt Disney World is that you may need to adjust your itinerary based on the habits of the other guests. Learning to zig while others zag is based on experiencing the parks on different days and at different times of the year with varying crowds. There are many books available that speak directly to planning your day in the parks, but what I am referring to is modifying your plan when you are faced with the unexpected. There are many ways to conform to your unique travel circumstances whether at the resort or at any of the four Disney parks.

If you have planned to have breakfast at 7:00 on your first day at the resort and you are greeted with no tables at which to sit, long lines of guests waiting to order and to pay for food, or a loud and chaotic environment, then you might want to rethink your breakfast time on day two. In this scenario, you may wish to plan to sleep in a little while, have breakfast at the resort at 9:30 or 10:00, and then stay at the park later. Conversely, you may want to get up extra early, have breakfast in the room then head out to early extra magic hours. The choice is yours.

Try to be flexible enough in your planning so that you can zig while everyone else zags. In other words, plan your time for less stress and more fun by not going with the flow. Two specific tips I can provide are based on your choice of resort and your choice of park ticket. If you are staying at a Disney resort, taking advantage of extra magic hours is a great idea. But, if you are not staying on Disney property, you will want to avoid the selected EMH parks on those days. Also, having park hopper tickets provides maximum flexibility, so if you can purchase these, I highly recommend it.

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