Magic Kingdom Tips & Photos

(“To all who come to this happy place, welcome!” Walt Disney)

While planning for our Disney vacation, I knew there was so much to do at Magic Kingdom that we couldn’t possibly do it all in one day. So we ended up doing two days here! (We did one day on Tuesday, and ended our trip with our second day here on Friday.)

Outfits of the day:

Day 1:
- Blair:
  - Live Fit Hoodie
- Me:
  - Disney Kid Shirt
  - Minnie Ears
- Braxton:
  - Mickey Shirt

Day 2:
- Blair:
  - Christmas Monogram Shirt
- Me:
  - Christmas Monogram Shirt
  - Mickey Nerd Tank Top. Bought a few years ago on shopdisney.com. No longer available.
  - Minnie Ears
- Braxton:
  - Christmas Monogram Shirt

Fastpasses:

Dumbo the Flying Elephant: Such an iconic ride, and it was so fun to do together as a family. I was worried Braxton would get scared of being so high up, but he loved it and even used the joystick to make the elephant go up higher. (Usual wait time, about 25 minutes. FP wait time was about 5 minutes.)

Peter Pan’s Flight: Another iconic ride. So fun and such great animation. (Definitely one to get a FP for. Usual wait time is at least 60-90 minutes. FP wait time was less then 5 minutes.)
Under the Sea-Journey of The Little Mermaid: I had never had been on this ride before and it was so cool to see for the first time with my family! (Usual wait time is at least 30 minutes. FP wait time was less then 5 minutes.)

Haunted Mansion: I was also worried Braxton would get scared of this ride, and he was a little scared of how dark the ride was. But I really wanted to do this ride, and I figured I could always cover Braxton’s eyes if I needed to. (Usual wait time is at least 30 minutes. FP wait time was about 5 minutes.)

(Funny story: Blair and I went to Disneyland in 2015 before we had kids. We went on the Haunted Mansion Ride there, and before we got in line, Blair asked me if it was going to be really scary because he didn’t want to get scared. He was being serious. Then, while waiting in line, he looked at me and said, this isn’t scary at all. He thought the line going through the yard and walking through the house was the ride.)

Jungle Cruise: This ride was decorated for Christmas time and renamed the “Jingle Cruise.” Braxton absolutely loved this ride! (Usual wait time is at least 45 minutes. FP wait time was less then 5 minutes.)

(This boy was a trooper! He spent an entire week having to take naps in his stroller and he had no problems with it, nor did he ever get fussy!)

Pirates of the Caribbean: It was so cool to go on this ride and see how it inspired the movie. And in turn how the movie has changed the ride! (Usual wait time is at least 30 minutes, FP wait time was about 5 minutes.)

(Somehow we always end up in the back row of rides and therefore you can’t see Braxton sitting in-between us.)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: This was one of my favorite rides. It was so cute, and the line for the ride was so interactive and fun! Even though we had a FP, we went back to just play in the line! (Usual wait time is at least 25 minutes, FP wait time was less then 5 minutes.)

(These are from the play area that is at the start of the line for the Winnie the Pooh ride. So fun!)

Other Attractions: (Rides we went on without a FP)

It’s a Small World: Braxton’s absolute favorite ride of the trip. It was a really long ride too. It was nice to just sit and relax for awhile. The lady behind us on the ride said she enjoyed watching Braxton more then the ride itself because he was so excited the whole time! (Wait time without a FP was only 15 minutes for us.)

(At the end of the ride, there are signs that say goodbye to each of the passengers on the boat by name. We were so shocked and confused by how it knew our names. Technology is amazing these days!)

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin: Similar to the Dumbo ride. Braxton loved playing with the joystick and making the carpet go up higher. Watch out for the camel, it spits! (This was the longest wait for us the entire trip. Still not bad though, only a 25 minute wait without a FP.)
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress: Not exactly a ride, more like a show. I was worried since it was 20 minutes long, and it wouldn’t exactly be easy to leave/get off since it’s inside a carousel that moves, but he did really well on it and we stayed the whole time! “It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow!” (No wait.)
Character Meet & Greet: I would have loved to get more photos with characters, but I knew Braxton didn’t love it. But we did get to meet Buzz Lightyear! (Only about a 10 minute wait.)

(You can also meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody together at Hollywood Studios, but the line for that was over 50 minutes long so we were happy to get to meet Buzz at Magic Kingdom!)

Food & Drink:

Tortuga Tavern:
- Turkey Leg: It was huge and enough to feed all 3 of us! (About $8)
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe:
- Nachos: The best value! We bought chicken nachos that seemed pretty boring, but then they have a HUGE free “toppings bar” that includes guacamole, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, cheese, and more. With all the toppings, one plate of nachos was plenty enough for both of us. (About $8)
The Friar’s Nook:
- Hot Dogs: We bought a meal for each of us, and it came with chips and a drink. Not a bad price and pretty tasty for a hot dog. (About $12 per person)
Mickey Pretzel: We loved this snack so much, we bought it at least twice on this trip. Comes with cheese dip. (About $6)
Popcorn: They had this at each of the parks, and we bought at least 2-3 refills each day. ($1.50 refills)
Popsicle: Braxton loves popsicles, and since it was so hot the first day, we bought him one to cool down. He wouldn’t let it go. He was obsessed. (About $4)
Just FYI, they don’t sell any alcohol at Magic Kingdom. It’s the only park out of the 4 that doesn’t sell alcohol.

(There are ducks everywhere at Disney. Braxton loved them!)

Tips:

Refilling Water: Fair warning. Magic Kingdom has THE WORST water in their water fountains. It tastes awful. We felt like it tasted like chlorine. We went to Starbucks to get some coffee, and luckily if you buy coffee there, you can ask for some free water so I’d recommend getting water this way. They do have water refill stations in Tomorrowland, but it tastes horrible too.
Shows: There are so many wonderful shows at Disney! Our favorites were the ones that were onstage at the Castle. It was nice to not have to wait in line for a show. We were able to just grab some food, watch when we wanted to, and leave when we wanted to. Same with the parades. If you want front row seating for the parade, (meaning you don’t have to stand behind someone), you have to stake out a spot sometimes an hour or so before the parade starts though.

Backpack/What we took everyday into the parks: I’ve had some people ask what we carried around with us each day. We of course had our stroller everyday, but we also took a backpack into the park and here’s what was inside.
- Braxton’s Backpack Leash
- Popcorn Bucket (This and his leash weren’t actually inside this backpack. We had a “Mommy Hook” on the stroller and carried them around this way.)
- Wallet (Your magic band connects with your credit card, so we only took our wallet with cash inside the parks. We left our actual credit cards in the hotel room safe.)
- Phones
- Phone Portable Charger
- Camera
- Water Bottles
- Diapers (We took about 4-5 each day and tried to stop every 2 hours to change his diaper. They had amazing baby care centers at each park. The baby care center was usually near the front of the parks by the first aid center. They were a great place to change diapers, get out of the heat, make bottles, or nurse if needed. They also sell diapers, wipes, formula, etc here.)
- Wipes
- Extra change of clothes for Braxton
- Sweatshirt/jacket for Braxton and myself

We had to leave Magic Kingdom around 6-7pm each night. During our time there, they had a special event at night from 7-midnight that you had to have an extra ticket for. (Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, select nights November 9-December 22) Although I would have loved to experience this, the ticket price was about $80 on top on your normal ticket price. Plus it was already sold out on one of the nights we were there. We still hung around to watch the lighting of Cinderella’s castle each night and took our time leaving when they announced that the park was closing for the party.

We did so much in only 2 days at Magic Kingdom, but there was still more that we could have done! I can’t wait to go back someday! Thanks for following along on our Disney Vacation, see the links below to go back to other Disney parks!