...and "maximizing" may be different for everyone. For us, it was minimal melt-downs (ha!) and eating as much yummy food as possible > riding every. single. ride. Follow along if #same! (and hey, we still rode a TON of rides...)
1. Arriving to Magic Kingdom early is key (or getting to any park early is key).
Try to get there as close to park opening as possible! "Do not pass go, do not collect $200" Seriously. Main Street will be filled with balloons and all the things to tempt the kiddos, but no worries bc they're still there with the same balloons/souvenirs at 8pm at night. We were just a few minutes past opening and zoomed straight through temperature check + the gates and headed down Main Street as quickly as possible towards the castle.
Now if you make any stops, this is definitely the best time to stop at the Walt statue and/or in front of the castle for a pic since this is sure to be the least crowded you'll see it all day (aka less people in the background of your photos. PRO TIP: taking photos standing directly in front of the castle - especially close up - won't necessarily give you the best pics. I've got another post coming up with my best spots for castle photos!).
Anyhoo, don't waste too much time taking those photos once you walk in. Seriously, you need to book it straight up through the castle until you see the carousel. If you have a stroller, walk to the left of the carousel and you'll see "stroller parking" towards the left back. Drop the stroller there and look over to your left - you'll see Peter Pan's Flight. That's your first ride! As tempting as the carousel may be ... no worries, it's never that crowded so you can come back to that later. Peter Pan's Flight almost always has a long wait and most trips, we would use a fast pass for this one. We walked on this ride back in November, then we went immediately across to It's a Small World.
**all rides I mention us riding during this day at Magic Kingdom, my four year old niece rode every single one (aka she was tall enough) and most my two year old nephew rode too!
After Peter Pan's Flight, you can get a family member to grab your stroller while you and the kiddos walk down towards Adventureland (you go under almost a bridge and there's a bathroom there - good time for bathroom break) Once the family member meets ya with the strollers, hop in and book it over to Jungle Cruise! We did that next since the lines were known to be long.
After Jungle Cruise - Pirate's of the Caribbean. We skipped Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad in Adventureland because we had little ones. After PofTC we hit up Aladdin's Magic Carpet with no wait and then we scooted over to Haunted Mansion. Our kid's ages were 9, 5, 4, and 2 and they all rode Haunted Mansion with no problem. It's really not that scary. A slow ride, not super dark. That's a good one to hit up next or one that's fine to skip too IMO.
After that we walked through Liberty Square. I wish the lines for the cheeseburger spring rolls had been shorter, because my mom wanted one so bad. I've heard they're delish! We still grabbed a soda and sat down to rest a bit + eat a snack since this was mid morning at this point.
The bridge from Adventureland across the middle of Magic Kingdom back towards the castle is where this epic pic was taken...
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| my sister's cute tee is actually from my shop, Sugar. CLICK HERE to purchase and then she just paired it back with Lilly Pulitzer Ocean Trail shorts (great for theme parks because they're quick dry, like running shorts) . I'll link up Macy's full "birthday outfit" at the end of the post too :) |
After our "rest" , we went straight across back in front of the castle (where we saw a few cavalcades - this is the "parades" they have now where the kids can see the characters) and we went to TomorrowLand. We actually stopped yet again in front of Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe which also has Chesire's Cafe directly in front of it. Ok, so here me out. Yes, I was boujee and wanted the Chesire Cat Tail snack BUT Chesire's Cafe is closed. SO I learned you could mobile order the Chesire Cat Tail from Starlight Cafe , which I did and got the kids some frozen smoothies too (and my sister a coffee too. ha! #momlife)
It was definitely delish and tasted like a chocolate croissant pastry / chocolate eclair. Now that we were refueled we hit up The Many Adventures of Winnie & the Pooh ride then went over to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (because we were trying to let our food settle before the tea cups! HA). Buzz Lightyear is one of our favorite rides!!!! Do not miss this one.
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| Linking Macy's outfit at the bottom of the post // Cade's Mickey Tee HERE and Charlie's set is older from Etsy, but similar HERE |
and at this point at Buzz's ride we definitely had close to a 30 minute wait. It started to get super crowded, hence why early early morning is KEY.
We skipped the Speedway in Tomorrowland because if you've been to Dollywood and rode their speedway ride, I mean basically the same thing. It smells like gas and it's just not my fav. I know I may be alone on this but yep, we had done it so we skipped! We didn't even wait at Astro Orbiter , we took another bathroom break and then waited in line for the tea cups and then the carousel. Ok so at this point it was almost 1 ? 1:30? and my mom, sister/bro in law and their kids had lunch reservations at The Plaza on Main Street. (since we booked this trip last minute, I couldn't even grab us a reservation for ALL of us to eat together....aaaand that's on 35% capacity so yeah, thanks covid. Usually if all restaurants were open and it was back to max capacity, you wouldn't have a problem).
The boys and I were still full off snacks so we kept trucking it over to FantasyLand.
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| CLICK HERE for my exact "Gucci inspired" mask I purchased on Etsy :) My mickey ears are from DisneyStore, also similar lesser priced version HERE from Amazon. |
We hit up Dumbo and then skipped Barnstormer so we could come back later with my sis and the kids, but we did walk down and walk right on to The Little Mermaid ride. This ride usually never has a long wait, or a wait at all so it's a good one to hit up multiple times.
After all that we were getting pretty hungry for a legit meal so we walked back down to Starlight Cafe and I placed yet another mobile order for burgers, corn dogs and fries for me and the boys. We sat inside and it reminds me of Chuck E Cheese with this character playing a piano and singing as you eat. Certainly keeps younger kids entertained while you scroll your phone and catch up on the rest of the day's plans!
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| I got the special "holiday chicken sandwich" and it was delish! |
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| I got the boys hot dogs and they were HUGE, as in they definitely could have split one! |
We needed a break and after our yummy meal, we walked back around down to Main Street, watched more calvacades and met back up with my mom, sis and fam. This was mid-November and guys, it was HOT mid day around 3pm. The littlest were fading fast so we thought it may be best to take the bus back over to the hotel just to rest for a bit and then come back over around 5:30ish at sunset to spend the rest of the evening.
So that's what we did and once we were back in the park , we rode Barnstormer, Dumbo again, and The Little Mermaid again and walked them around Beauty and the Beast castle so they could see (great place to eat but they only have lunch and dinner now + it's soooo expensive / hard to get reservations) . Next, while my Charlie + nephew Skip went to watch the light show (projections) on the castle with mama & sis ... me, my oldest Cade, bro-in-law and fearless birthday girl niece Macy got in the (what seemed like FOREVER) line for Seven Dwarf's Mine Train. This rollercoaster is THE most popular in Magic Kingdom and any other time we've visited we've always had a fast pass. The lines of course look extremely long because of social distancing but there's always a castmember at the end of the line to tell you an approximate wait time. It said close to 50 minutes , so we thought oh well what the heck surely it won't be that long. WELL it was almost every bit of that - even enough time for one of us to hop out of line and sneak a mickey ear ice cream. But y'all it is so worth it this coaster is SO fun - it just mostly sways back and forth - and for any age, as long as they're 38 inches tall.
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| these two didn't mind skipping Mine Train at all! Just give them aaall the snacks. The projections on the castle were so fun for the holiday season! |
So after all this, the park was close to closing and we chalked it up to a day.
Did we ride every single ride? NO.
Did we wait in long lines for every ride? NO.
Really only one, maybe two if you count Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger spin.
We breezed through the day and enjoyed it with as little meltdowns as possible, having four kids under the age of nine. As they get older, I know they won't even want to ride the "little rides" and they'll be all about the rollercoasters / bigger rides but this is where we're at now and it's definitely perfect for those traveling with kids ages six and under.
So let's revisit our ride itinerary for the day:
1. Peter Pan's Flight
2. It's a Small World
3. Jungle Cruise
4. Pirates of the Carribean
5. Magic Carpets of Aladdin
6. Haunted Mansion
7. Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
8. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
9. Mad Tea Party Tea Cups
10. Carousel
11. Dumbo
12. Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid
**REST BREAK AT HOTEL**
13. Barnstormer
14. Dumbo (again)
15. Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid
16. Seven Dwarf's Mine Train
we really did everything I really wanted the newbies (my sis's fam + mom) to experience except I would recommend Mickey's Philarmagic show which is over by the carousel , next to Peter Pan's flight. It's a SUPER cute 3d glasses show that our kids have always LOVED. Great way to rest in the a/c too and cool off!
2. Mobile ordering is your best friend.
Ya gotta download Disney's mobile app. It literally is your lifeline when at Disney! It can be your hotel key to your map, your mobile ordering system , etc...
When mobile ordering , you can just type in the restaurant under "Dining" and then click mobile order, selecting your food for each family member. You submit and pay with the CC linked to your Disney account. Once it's ready , it will send you a notification I'm pretty sure and then you walk up to the # counter that it tells you too. Easy, peezy.
3. If you think you've packed enough snacks... pack more.
While mobile ordering IS super easy, there's LESS restaurants open in Magic Kingdom right now. Less snack stands. Less everything, so therefore the lines for those can be long throughout the day. You can take all the snacks you want in Magic Kingdom. (Well a few restrictions of course : read HERE) The only thing you've got to remember is you have to be sitting in a rest area to remove your mask and eat snacks. AKA : nope you can't just snack while in lines for the rides!
*another random tip: make sure you put a big bow or marker (some bright string/a balloon/etc) to mark your stroller bc it will likely be sitting in a "sea of strollers" when you exit a ride and need to find where you parked it.
4. Take multiple masks and different "types" of masks.
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| Skip's tee is from one of my favorite online t-shirt small biz, Happily Ever Tees! |
5. While it's fun to have a plan, ya gotta be willing to "go with the flow" whenever you're at any Disney park because things change daily and it's all about the experience vs. the rigid "park schedule/plan". Have fun, let loose and soak up every sweet minute. Especially when you're taking little ones for the first time. Seeing the magic through their eyes is the most indescribable experience! You're sure to have a memorable time no matter how many rides you ride or what meals you eat.
Hope everyone has a fabulous Spring Break trip and if you're visiting Disneyworld, be sure to comment below or let me know any other questions ya have :)
Oh and the birthday girl's outfit! I styled every bit of this, except my sis did find the super cute Converse shoes. Here's a few links if you want to recreate...
Minnie Denim Jackets HERE and HERE
Best Birthday Ever Tee from this Etsy site Grey Little Arrows // you can customize what color tee you'd like
Her cute "Tulle Skort" (has stretchy shorts connected/built in underneath is the Jumping Beans brand from Kohls. Here's similar HERE and HERE.
Pink Converse Sneakers HERE and HERE.
Light pink sequin Minnie ears are from Disney store years ago. Here's similar on Etsy HERE !!
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