A true place of magic!!!

"Which way should we go?....."

That's a good question. Well, here is some good answers.

My advice is to make several 1/2 day trips to the Magic Kingdom over your vacation if your hopefully staying more then one day. Magic Kingdom is best in the early morning well the crowds are still tucked in bed, eating breakfast, or trying to get to the parks. We always start at Fantasyland, you can go on about everything in under an hour right at park opening(the key is to be in the park before it opens and right up by the castle as they open the rides). And since the little ones love this area, it is a great place to repeat rides. Experience has also taught me that crowds RUN to Splash, Thunder, and Space Mt. So often if you go a little after opening you have a shorter wait -unless you have your track shoes on.

Views of Splash Mt., my kids and hubby in the 3rd seat
click here to listen to music from Splash Mtn.

Now, this is where you start your different day plans approach. One day head to Tomorrowland (like on page1)followed by Mickey's Toontown a.k.a Mickey's Starland. Not a whole lot to do here, especially for older kids that may well want to skip it. It is however home to Mickey's Barnstormer (recommended age for this ride is 3 and older, no height restriction). This is a wonderful 1st rollercoaster!!!

View of Mickey's Barnstormer

If your kids are not use to thrill rides start with this one, again often no long waits. If your child hates this, well no more thrill rides for him/her, and this one is very short - I would say about 1 min. long. If he/she loves it, have them ride a few times build confidence, then move on to Star Tours (in Studios) or Thunder Mt next. Toontown also is home to Donald's boat which has fountains for the kiddies to play in(bring a Little swimmers for the toddler -and throw out after-great place for them to cool off)Mickey and Minnies houses that you can tour, and, Toontown Hall of Fame, wait in line to get autographs from your favorite characters.

View of Big Thunder Mt.

About the time you have done all the the above the Magic Kingdom should be packed, and you may be real hungry. So have a early lunch at the park or hotel and take a pool and nap break,and head to Epcot or Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. Come back to the Magic Kingdom on another morning start again in Fantasyland then head to Frontierland this time. Ride Splash then Thunder Mt (note you must be atleast 40" to ride) after that head to the Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square then cut over to Adventureland(you can cut through by Country Bear Jamboree)and head to the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. Sometimes we go on the Jungle cruise right at 9am if we were at the Magic Kingdom for Early Entry morning, then head to Splash.. After you have done the "big" rides try Swiss Family Treehouse, or the new Enchanted Tiki Birds, or Country Bear and the Hall of Presidents(the last 3 are great places to rest feet and they are nice and cool inside, also tend to have very short lines).

View of the Magic Moments Parade
click here to listen to Remember the Magic

The afternoon parade starts about 3pm everyday. Would you like your child to be in the parade?
Well, your best bet is to be on Main St. about 1 hour before well they are setting up for it. A Cast member will head down the street and hand out stickers, if you get one your in the parade.

View of the start of the Spectromagic Parade
click here to listen to music from Spectromagic

Spectromaic is my favorite of the Disney parades. I know, I know, right now it is NOT showing at the Magic Kingdom. It has been replaced for a limited time by the Main Street Electrical Parade ( click here for more info. on the MSEP)

anyways, both are a MUST see event!!! Get your spot atleast one hour before (sometimes we have done this almost 2 hours before when the parade is only once a week) Sometimes I bring a beach towel to sit on, and one of the group will bo get a fast food dinner and we sit and have a picnic. The late arriving crowd can be very rude and may try to push into your space -so guard it well! I made the mistake of being polite once and (I thought) allowing someone to get up on the sidewalk(I thought they were going behind me) well, they stayed put between me and my 7 year old who was in tears. They would not move and almost spoiled the perfect night! If something like this EVER happens to you -get SECURITY! they will help you.
I love to watch the parade on Main St the best, just because it seems more special. However for a less crowded viewing head to Frontierland, I have never had any problems with crowds in that area.