What Are the Best Parts of a Magic Kingdom Visit?
When you visit the Most Magical Place on Earth, you’ll love every second that you’re there. Here’s what we’re wondering, though.
Which parts are the best of the best? So, we’re starting a new series today where we choose our favorite aspects of every park visit.
We’re going to jump right into the debate with the toughest park, too.
What are the best parts of a Magic Kingdom visit? There are no right or wrong answers here, but I’ve whittled down my list to 12 options.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad


Big Thunder Mountain
“The wildest ride in the wilderness” sets a tone for an entire Magic Kingdom visit.
When you visit the back of the park and explore Frontierland, you’ll feel like you’ve traveled back in time to the days of the Old West.


Photo: Disney
Also, you’ll quickly realize that train rides back then weren’t quite as comfortable as they are today. The Brightline has spoiled you!
On Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, you’ll cross rickety tracks at high speeds and feel like you could experience a runaway train at any second.
What’s more fun than exploring a ghost town on a failing mine cart anyway?
Dole Whips
We all know where to go to satisfy our Dole Whip fix.
We head to Adventureland and make a beeline for Aloha Isle, home of Disney’s most delicious concoction.
Doles Whips are nearly as Disney as Mickey Mouse, and no visit to Magic Kingdom is complete without one.
The Fireworks
The name of the show almost doesn’t matter.
Whether you love Fantasy in the Sky, Wishes, Happily Ever After, or some short-lived/limited-time fireworks display, the song remains the same.


Photo: Disney
Disney plays that song and lights up the night by punctuating the message via fireworks and digital projections on Cinderella Castle.
The ending of a Disney park visit never feels complete until we watch the fireworks explode in the night sky. It’s the most magical way to end the day.
The Haunted Mansion and Memento Mori
Yes, I’ve cheated here, but I honestly couldn’t pick between the two.
For my family and many others like us, a visit to Haunted Mansion and shopping at Memento Mori are inexorably linked.
At Haunted Mansion, Disney walks that fine line between spooky and silly as we enter a Jungle Cruise-ish world that happens to be supernatural in spirit.
So, the humor is occasionally dad joke intensive, but then a coffin suddenly opens and reminds us to be scared.
Also, the Doom Buggy is probably Disney’s greatest ride cart. It sets a malevolent tone for the entire experience.
Then, once you’ve finished, you can walk 100 steps to Memento Mori and buy all the merchandise of the characters who just scared you to death!
Jungle Cruise


Jungle Cruise
Speaking of dad jokes, Jungle Cruise is where the concept began at Disney.
Originally, cast members played the script straight, taking an all-too-serious tone for this trip down all the most dangerous rivers in the world.
Eventually, the mocking started, as you can only see a dead hyena statue a handful of times before you need to crack wise about it.
Over time, the script for Jungle Cruise has evolved into one of Disney’s crispest exhibitions of cast member creativity.


Photo: Disney
Some of the Skippers have proven so skilled at their line deliveries that they’ve later worked in Hollywood.
Admittedly, a few Skippers swing and miss with their humor, but I admire the audacity of anyone willing to try.
Jungle Cruise never fails to put a smile on our faces, whether it’s actually funny or not.
Main Street, U.S.A. — Main Street Bakery
I previously mentioned that a trip down Main Street, U.S.A. always puts a smile on my face.
That’s the beauty of the place. Walt Disney created a tribute to his small-town upbringing, the same concept that drives the popularity of every Hallmark movie.
As a people, we love thinking back to a simpler time when life seemed easier and somehow more colorful.
Magic Kingdom provides that dose of remembrance. But it somehow adds an even better sensory experience.
As you approach the Main Street Bakery, you cannot help but notice the fragrant aroma of the delicacies here.
Main Street, U.S.A. already offers the most magical sights and sounds. The Main Street Bakery adds the smells.
Meeting Mickey Mouse


Photo: Disney wiki
Speaking of this area, Disney understands what its fans want the most.
We’re visiting the park in hopes of meeting our favorite characters. So, Magic Kingdom makes it simple.
You walk through the front gate, you cross under the bridge for the train tracks, and you walk into Town Square Theater.
Mickey Mouse is here, and he’s ready to remind you yet again why you adore him.
The character interactions with Mickey – and sometimes Minnie – will start your Magic Kingdom visit the right way.
You’ve already checked the most important box!
PS: A few years ago, we were the last people to visit Mickey Mouse during the final night of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
By this point, it was around 1 a.m., and the cast member playing Mickey Mouse was exhausted.


(Mariah Wild, Photographer)
The person kept trying to sneak candy out of our bag, but their photographer wouldn’t let them. They were rather prude-ish about it.
We casually dropped a few candy bars in a spot where Mickey Mouse could see them but the photographer couldn’t.
That cast member looked the happiest I’ve ever seen Mickey.
Pirates of the Caribbean


Photo: Also Disney
Look, nobody will ever agree on the most important or iconic Disney attractions.
I write lists on these subjects regularly, and I accept the social media criticisms as the cost of doing business.


Photo: Renie Bardeau / Associated Press
People feel so strongly about these attractions because Disney matters so much to its fans.
Still, I suspect that any reasonable person’s top five list of most significant Disney attractions would include Pirates of the Caribbean.
The Magic Kingdom version lacks the history of the Disneyland ride, but it’s still essential to any park visit.
After all, you’re riding Pirates of the Caribbean in the place where they once ruled the seas!
Princess Fairytale Hall


Credit: Disney
Once you’ve met Mickey Mouse, you’re just getting started at Magic Kingdom!
You’ll find plenty of character greetings at the parks, most recently with the addition of Mirabel from Encanto.


Photo: DIsney
Disney knows you may not want to roam the park in search of all the characters, though.
So, Magic Kingdom has thoughtfully created a Disney Princess character spot at Princess Fairytale Hall.


Photo: Disney
Here, you can engage with four different Disney Princesses! It’s such a clever way to provide fans with several memorable experiences in a single locale.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train


(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
Sing it with me now. Heigh-hooooooooooooo!
Magic Kingdom has been the home to world-class roller coasters since Space Mountain debuted in 1975.
I didn’t list that attraction, though. My thought process here is that three other Magic Kingdom roller coasters better exemplify the park.
Specifically, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train combines a rockin’ mine cart experience with the story of Snow White and her loyal friends.


Credit: Disney
Disney has combined the quick coaster experience with a dark ride section that is absolutely breathtaking to behold.
Oh, and that moment where you hear the song as your coaster cart ticks up the hill is so thrilling!
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover


Credit: Disney
Simply stated, a Magic Kingdom visit isn’t the same for me unless I ride the PeopleMover.
Honestly, I prefer to ride the PeopleMover multiple times throughout the day so that I can enjoy the view and soak up the ambiance of Tomorrowland.


Credit: Disney
I find the PeopleMover particularly breathtaking at night, especially on those occasions when the fireworks occur in the background.
Everyone has an opinion, and nobody is right or wrong. To me, the PeopleMover embodies the best of Magic Kingdom.
Tron Lightcycle / Run


TRON
Virtually everything I’ve mentioned here qualifies as a Disney classic. I’ve leaned on the iconic attractions and experiences because they’re familiar.
Still, one of the hallmarks of Magic Kingdom is that it’s always changing and improving.


TRON Lightcycle Vehicles
Most recently, Disney added a roller coaster that American fans have craved since 2016.
That’s the year when Shanghai Disneyland opened. It featured some attractions Imagineers had never attempted before.


Look to the far right for the adaptive vehicle
Arguably the best of them is Tron Lightcycle Power Run, which we can now ride at Magic Kingdom.
Disney thinks so highly of this attraction that it redesigned the entire Tomorrowland skyline to accentuate Tron Lightcycle / Run.
This ride modernizes the entirety of Magic Kingdom, not just Tomorrowland.


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