Which Seven Rides Are Magic Kingdom Must-Dos?

In a perfect world, you’ll ride everything at Magic Kingdom in a single day.

Alas, unless you’re a billionaire who can afford to rent out the park for an evening, that’s impossible.

 

 

All the pesky other people stand in line, slowing you down and getting in your way.

Even when you buy Lightning Lanes, you cannot control it all during a park visit.

So, let’s triage the situation for you by identifying the best of the best.

Which seven rides are Magic Kingdom Must-Dos?

The Near Misses

This article is the first part of a series, and I’m intentionally starting with the hardest one. 

At some parks, picking seven rides is easy because that’s about all they have.

At Magic Kingdom, you’ll discover about 25 rides operating on a daily basis.

Realistically, unless you’re a seasoned pro or purchase Lightning Lane, you’ll be lucky to ride ten of them.

Some of the ones you choose will have short wait times, which is specifically why you’ll target them. Well, those lower wait times exist for a reason, as park guests know what’s good.

So, you won’t be checking any must-dos off your list that way, although every Magic Kingdom ride is terrific.

Simply stated, you must make some hard choices in selecting your Magic Kingdom attractions.

As proof, here’s a list of some of the rides I’m not listing as Must-Dos at Magic Kingdom:

• Jungle Cruise
• Mad Tea Party
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover

I could keep going, but those five reinforce the dramatic opportunity cost involved.

By listing only seven rides, I’m leaving out one of my absolute favorites, the PeopleMover.

Also, I’m hoping a dear friend doesn’t read this list. If she does, the Winnie the Pooh slander will not stand.

To that person, please remember I got you Winnie the Pooh merch for Christmas. Let’s call it even.

That’s the thing about arbitrary lists like this one. I’m gonna irritate/infuriate some people.

Keeping that in mind, here are my must-do rides at Magic Kingdom.

Haunted Mansion

You can probably guess most of this list since you already noticed the major cuts.

That’s the thing about Magic Kingdom, the most visited theme park in the world.

Even casual tourists know what’s good here, as Disney markets its best stuff year-round.

The company’s advertising cadence dictates that Magic Kingdom is always selling something.

So, several of the attractions listed here represent the product of previous ads.

The fourth entry on this list anchored Disney’s commercials for three straight years.

Not coincidentally, it’s been one of the top two rides at Disney since it opened.

Then, we have the classics, which comprise four of the first five rides on this list.

We’re starting with Haunted Mansion due to the alphabetization, but it’s also because I don’t want my wife to kill me.

She feels the same way about Haunted Mansion that I do about Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.

As long as we stay there and ride Haunted Mansion ten times during our trip, everybody’s happy.

During last year’s Mickey Madness, I listed Haunted Mansion as a two-seed.

In simplest terms, that was me suggesting that it’s one of the top eight attractions at Walt Disney World.

That sounds about right to me, and since the lines are shockingly reasonable, it’s definitely a must-do.

It’s a Small World

I’ll confess that this is the ride I came the closest to excluding from the list.

I engaged in heated debate over the PeopleMover, Peter Pan’s Flight, and this one.

Ultimately, I accepted that my own bias factored heavily into the argument.

While Peter Pan’s Flight is inarguably a classic and the PeopleMover a hidden gem, Occam’s Razor applies.

Everyone on this planet knows the song, It’s a Small World, and its connected attraction.

So, I couldn’t very well send you to Magic Kingdom and tell you not to ride It’s a Small World.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Similarly, Pirates of the Caribbean won Mickey Madness last year.

What kind of advice-giver be if I told you to skip the best ride at Disney World?

Pirates of the Caribbean isn’t just a classic; it’s The classic among all theme park attractions.

If I could only pick one must-do at Magic Kingdom, I’d still say Pirates.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Then, we have the one that means the most to my wife and me.

During the weeks leading up to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train’s opening, we tracked the ride carefully.

We spent eight days at Disney that May, yet we knew that we would miss the opening…by 72 hours.

That was tough to take, but the weekend before we left, hope arose.

Disney randomly performed a few sneak previews, with us narrowly missing a couple.

On our final day, only a few hours before we left Orlando, the stars aligned.

A Cast Member magically opened the line right as we walked by.

Not only did we get to ride before it officially opened, but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was basically a walk-on.

During the rest of the summer, guests would wait for 120+ minutes to ride…but not us!

Since then, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train has always been one of our rides, something personal to us.

Thankfully, the roller coaster has also proved to be the theme park alpha at Magic Kingdom for most of its existence.

This one’s just plain fun,

Space Mountain

Here’s another one I actually debated, believe it or not, as Space Mountain has grown a bit divisive.

While undeniably a classic in every sense of the word, it’s also a bit…aggressive.

People with bad backs or those prone to headaches may not love this one.

For everyone else, Space Mountain represents a rite of passage at Magic Kingdom.

For more than half a century now, guests have gone on a ride into the void of outer space.

The empty vacuum causes disorienting sensory deprivation, just as it did in 1975.

Remarkably, the execution of this concept still works every bit as well more than 50 years later.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Here’s one that some may deem controversial, but I most assuredly do not.

For many years, Splash Mountain provided plenty of laughs while drenching guests.

Today, a better version of the ride exists, one with impeccable theming and joyous music.

Even better, Imagineers have integrated impeccable Audio-Animatronics and digital effects.

So, while Splash Mountain had been a throwback to an earlier era of Disney, the new ride is modern to its core.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure delights from the moment you enter Tiana’s office until you reach the party at the end.

This one’s wildly underrated, which is remarkable for Disney’s finest wet ride.

TRON Lightcycle / Run

Finally, we have another one that only narrowly made the list, and you likely know why.

This list consists of many classics, with the second-“youngest” ride opening more than a decade ago.

TRON Lightcycle / Run is the new kid on the block at Magic Kingdom, and it’s a bit divisive.

As with Slinky Dog Dash and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Imagineers built a short roller coaster.

That’s not a new premise by any stretch. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith only lasts 80 seconds.

Still, fans waited for several years for TRON due to pandemic-forced delays.

Once it finally opened, the thrill ride proved eerily similar to the movies: shiny but rather vanilla.

I’m not an idiot, though. TRON is the new hotness at Magic Kingdom, the ride everyone covets.

So, while you will wait in line longer here than anywhere else, it’s still an absolute must-do!

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