We visited the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World on August 27, as the first day of our Focus on Florida tour. It is the most visited theme park in the world, attracting over 20 million visitors every year.
Before we had even reached the park, the day was already off to to a magical start, as we boarded a ferry from the parking lot to the entrance. It was such a wonderful way to arrive, seeing the castle gradually growing bigger and bigger as we approached.
On arrival at the park we strolled up Main Steet, U.S.A. stopping briefly at the Main Street Bakery for a Starbucks coffee and a pastry before gathering in front of Cinderella Castle for the new Let the Magic Begin opening ceremony. This special welcome from Mickey and Minnie, along with a touch of magic, was a such a lovely moment and set the tone for what was to come.
Our first ride of the day was the iconic Space Mountain indoor roller coaster, and we headed here first as it is one of the most popular rides at the park and one we didn't have a FastPass+ slot for - more on that later. The original Space Mountain is a brilliantly fun experience from start to finish and different from any of the later versions at other Disney theme parks, with single-file seats in the trains and two tracks (Alpha and Omega). It's a thrilling blast through space, whizzing past stars, comets, meteors and asteroids - not to be missed.
We followed this up with Splash Mountain and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad over in Frontierland, both using FastPass+. Splash Mountain is no ordinary log flume, it's also a huge dark ride and therefore probably our favorite log flume, with this version having a whopping 10 minute ride time and 5 drops. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is the ultimate runaway train, imitated around the world, offering a wild ride through canyons and tunnels, but missing the explosive finale added to other versions.
The park had only been open for an hour and we had already conquered the big three mountains!
Before moving on, we took some time out from the big rides to hop on a raft over to Tom Sawyer Island and loved exploring the pathways, tunnels and bridges of this Mark Twain-inspired hideaway.
Next up, Adventureland, where we ticked off another two major park attractions, Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise, neither with FastPass+ but we queued no more than 20 minutes for each.
Pirates of the Caribbean is a classic Disney dark ride, as the inspiration for the blockbuster film series, and features the memorable soundtrack "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)". This is the shortest version of the animatronics heavy ride and lacks some of the more dramatic scenes. Over on the Jungle Cruise, our tour guide delivered a typically joke filled boat trip down the rivers of Asia, Africa and South America populated with animatronic jungle animals.
For younger explorers there is even more to see and do here; they will enjoy taking flight on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, watching the tropical singing birds in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and climbing the Swiss Family Treehouse.
By now we had worked up an appetite so stopped for lunch at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn which has a not-too-spicy menu with nachos, fajitas, burritos and burgers. Yum!
With a full stomach, we were ready to brave the ghosts and ghouls at the Haunted Mansion in nearby Liberty Square. Set inside a Gothic-revival style manor, an array of animatronics and clever effects bring the haunting story to life. We also liked the interactive features in the graveyard queue. After this we took a leisurely trip around the Rivers of America aboard the Liberty Square Riverboat, offering lovely views of the park from the decks of this charming paddle steamer.
The other important mode of transport to enjoy is the 1.5 mile long narrow-gauge Walt Disney World Railroad, which we used to navigate the park. There are stations in Frontierland, Fantasyland and Main Street, U.S.A.
Later in the day we returned to Tomorrowland to enjoy some more of the attractions, including the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress and live comedy show Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. This futuristic land is also home to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Stitch’s Great Escape, Astro Orbiter and the Tomorrowland Speedway. We particularly enjoyed the Carousel of Progress revolving theater and love how it has been brought up to date with the technology of today.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon in Fantasyland, where classics such as Peter Pan’s Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and “It’s a small world” have been joined by newer additions including Mickey's PhilharMagic, Under The Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. There are so many rides and attractions for children that it feels like the heart of the Magic Kingdom, and it has three distinct areas; Castle Courtyard, Enchanted Forest and Storybook Circus.
It was our first time riding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train family roller coaster and although we found it to be a bit short, the overall experience was brilliant. The attraction looks superb inside and outside, the animatronic dwarfs are hyper realistic and the tilting trains offer a unique twist. It's a very popular attraction as it's suitable for almost all ages so we made use of a FastPass+.
We finished the day with the new nighttime spectacular Happily Ever After followed by the new projection show Once Upon A Time. The latter would have better served as a warm up to the main event, but was a delightful culmination of bedtime classics, projected on to Cinderella Castle. Happily Ever After, with it's bringing together of music, projection, lasers, searchlights and fireworks accompanied by narration, was INCREDIBLE. The show includes characters from a wide array of Disney films, and is far better than any show before it, flowing effortlessly through seven main 'acts'.
What an end to a fantastic day at "The Most Magical Place on Earth". Throughout the day all of the staff (Disney calls them Cast Members) were nothing but friendly and helpful, and at the same time very efficient, keeping wait times to a minimum. The paperless ticket and FastPass+ system, combined with the excellent My Disney Experience app, was so easy to use and made planning our day a breeze.
