Welcome to my final blog post dedicated to my fall 2019 trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Be sure to check out my blog for the other posts if you missed them. This one is dedicated to all the rides Magic Kingdom. While I don't think we did every single ride the park has to offer, we did hit quite a few of them. As with other parks, Magic Kingdom is broken down into different areas or lands. I will do my thoughts on the rides by land below (in no particular order).
Tomorrowland
The is area is a futuristic theme. Picture below from Unsplash.
Space Mountain
My husband was excited to ride this indoor roller coaster, as it was being refurbished on his only other trip to Disney World. This one you sit down and a bar come across your lap. You are then zipped through an indoor arena in a dark coaster with lights to make it seem like you are traveling through the stars. A fun ride and I can see why its a classic.
People Mover
I know from the Disney's groups I follow, this ride gets made fun of a lot. People seem to love or hate it. I personally enjoyed it. Its nothing thrilling. You sit in a cart that is makes you feel like you are in a small open air monorail as you go above Tomorrowland. You even go inside the Space Mountain building some while on this ride. I liked it because it was a nice way to take a break in the afternoon and sit down for a few minutes and just people watch at the crowd below. Their was zero wait time as well when we were there.
Fantasyland
This is the area that seemed to be themed by some of the classic Disney cartoon characters and movies.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
This was a cute and fun roller coaster. It was themed very well as if you are one of the dwarf's about to partake in a days work. No super big drops or anything. I will warn you it tends to have a super long wait time, but it is worth it to ride it at least once while you are visiting. Fast passes are hard to get on this one as well. My recommendation would be to plan to try and get it early or maybe do it after a meal while letting your food digest. The queue while you wait is nice with some great interactive stations along the way. It was one of my favorite queue's in all the parks.
Under the Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid was my favorite Disney move when I was younger. I can remember one summer watching it practically every day (sometimes more than once a day). This ride you sit in a clam-shell cart and it takes you through the story from the movie using displays and animatronics. The props were well done and it was nice to live through a favorite movie of mine. My picture below turned out somewhat blurry but you can get an idea of what you may see on this ride.
Its a Small World
Classic ride with the song and was a must for our first visit. You float along a river in a boat while various puppets and dolls from around the world sing that famous tune in their language. I thought it may be sort of silly but ended up enjoying it a lot. I loved trying to identify what part of the world we were in. I found all the dolls cute and vintage. Plus overall I loved the meaning. It is a small world with vastly different cultures, but we should learn to respect that and work together for a better world. Picture below taken by me.
Peter Pans Flight
In this ride you sit in a small ship that is then sprinkled with fairy dust that lifts you off like you are flying. You feel part of the classic cartoon movie as you soar above England and Neverland; seeing scenes below you from the movie. The displays were nicely done and the queue before the ride is done well to make you feel you are entering Wendy's London home. Personally, I have never been a big fan of Peter Pan. I always thought he was kind of a bully. The show Once Upon a Time, proved he was the bad guy in my defense also! Overall an ok ride for me. It can get long wait times. It is not one I would wait more than 20-30 minutes to ride.
Liberty Square
Haunted Mansion
I was really excited about this ride. I knew it wouldn't be a scary haunted mansion type ride, but I expected something fun. The building on the outside is really cool and the queue is a lot of fun. I loved reading all the tombstones and their funny sayings as I waited in line. However, I was really let down by the ride itself. They relied too heavily on black lights in my opinion and nothing jumped out at me as wow or cool during this one. I know a lot of people really love this ride, but I really do not get the hype. I'll try it next time I visit and see if I can change my mind about it, but I think Disney needs to put some work on the inside of this. Below is a picture I took through the day on the outside which is really cool to look at and even better lit up at night.
Adventureland
Jungle Cruise
This boat takes you along a jungle river cruise. The stops along the way are basically statues of various creatures and people. The captain of the boat tells you lots of cute anecdotes filled with puns. The humor may be on the cheesy side, but it works in this setting very well. I really enjoyed this tour. My only complaint was the wait time. We got in line when it said 30 minutes but the wait was well over an hour. Hopefully something that doesn't happen to often.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Another boat road, but this one is indoors. It offered a break from the afternoon heat as you go through the Caribbean like you are part of a pirate ship. Scenes of the islands play out as the pirates pillage and hunt for treasure. Of course Jack Sparrow makes some appearances as well. Overall a fun ride, but I am prone to the indoor boat ones. I wanted to revisit this one during Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, as I heard its modified for the event, but the line was always longer than I was willing to wait. Picture I took below of those trying to get the keys form the dog.
Frontierland
Though only 2 rides we did in this area of the park, these two were probably my favorite two out of the entire Magic Kingdom.
Big Thunder Mountain
A roller coaster shaped like train that takes you through sort of an old west feel mining mountain. The props are good as you would expect. There is some dark tunnels you go through, but no big drops. You mostly go from up to down by fast side turns. Nothing too fast or bad. As I may have said before, Disney roller coaster's are pretty tame if you a big thrill seeker. Picture of the coaster below from Unsplash.
Splash Mountain
I heard this one is getting a redo to be The Princess and the Frog themed. I am excited to see how it turns out! I'll admit when we were there, I had no clue who the characters featured were. They definitely were something before my time. However, I still really loved the ride and enjoyed the beautifully created sets and story they told as we floated along. I am a fan of log flume rides and this one was one of the best I've ridden. The big drop at the end isn't the biggest that I've been on, but it was big enough to be enjoyable. Plus I didn't get soaked with water either (not that there wasn't some water, but it wasn't bad where I needed a poncho).
There you have it. I do want to say that overall Disney has some good rides. They may not be high adrenaline but they really make most of the rides an experience.They start with the queue in most of them with fun displays and some that have interactions. The rides stick to whatever theme they have and really do a good job on the design. Plus you actually feel like you get to enjoy a ride. I've been to amusement parks where I wait over an hour for a ride that lasts less than 1 minute. You don't get that at Disney; were most rides feel as if you get an enjoyable amount of time for the wait.
My blog posts about Disney now are coming to and end. I do plan to return some day and hope to share more. Feel free to share your favorite Disney rides, shows, characters, and food with me!
