Walt Disney World Park Review
Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom…four parks and so little time. This is a dilemma that every Disney guest most likely experiences and I’m not even factoring in Disney Springs. There is just so much to see and do at Disney World that it makes it impossible to accomplish it all. I’m sharing my TAKE on what we loved and didn’t love in all the from the perspective of kids aged 8 - 2.5 with some bonus material for the adult minded travelers.
Before I get into reviewing rides and shows at the parks I want to call out something that should be utilized if traveling with little kids. Disney offers a program called Rider Switch. This means that if you have a child shorter than the height limit or perhaps a child who just doesn’t want to go on the ride, Disney will allow the grown ups to switch positions. This allowed the kids to go on some of their favorite rides 2x in a row and allowed for my husband and I to experience all the rides with the kids. We did this only when we had Fast Passes for the ride and the Cast Member checking fast passes would secure this for us by adding an additional fast pass onto the kids Magic Bands. In some cases we could do an Inside Rider Switch, this was the best case scenario but only works if your non-riding child meets the minimum height requirement for the ride. The Inside Rider Switch is preferred because it reduces time for all parties involved but whether inside or not the Rider Switch is a huge benefit for families with small children and should be taken advantage of!
Magic Kingdom - Magic Kingdom is the most popular park at Walt Disney World and for good reason too, it really appeals to all ages and has some of the most beloved rides. We spent the most time here and it was probably the kids favorite park as there was something for all of them. Our 2.5 year old loved the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (tea cups), Dumbo (there is an interior play area while you wait), Peter Pan, The Jungle Cruise and It’s A Small World. She was a trooper and went on almost everything else even The Haunted Mansion (she covered her eyes) but those were here favorite rides which we did multiple times on separate days. As for the big kids they loved all of the Fantasyland rides too but Big Thunder Railroad, the Barnstormer, Tomorrowland Speedway and the Seven Dwarves Mine Train topped their list. Seven Dwarves Mine Train was their absolute favorite (adults liked it too) and I’d highly recommend securing a Fast Pass for it.
We did spend quite a bit of time meeting characters and getting autographs, mind you the characters don’t just walk around and greet guests so you most likely, will need to wait in line to greet them. Some wait times will be posted in the app like in FairyTale hall and others like Merida, Gaston and Alice in Wonderland have set times they are available. Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell, Ariel and Merida were some of the most personable characters we met!
Magic Kingdom also has a spectacular fireworks show (Happily Ever After) each night with music and light projections against Cinderella’s Castle. Main Street gets pretty crowded at this time but the bridges from the castle to Tomorrowland are a little less crowded and offer prime viewing of Tinkerbell at the end. Pro tip: if you spend a couple of evenings at Magic Kingdom and have seen the fireworks show before it’s a great time to try and hit up a couple of rides that will certainly have a shorter wait time during the show. We went on Peter Pan during the show one night and waited for 5 minutes and after the fireworks the wait had shot back up to 50 minutes.
As for dining in Magic Kingdom I wasn’t overly impressed with anything but would say that the character dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table is worth it. Perhaps not the food exactly, but the experience of eating in the castle. We had a dinner seating and the kids got to meet Cinderella and four other princesses. Jasmine and Snow White were the favorites! The kids were gifted wands and swords, the meal was a respite from chicken tenders and wine was ordered with dinner. Our meal was at quite a late hour for the kids but it did provide the added benefit of being in the park after closing hours and it’s quite something to walk Main Street with only a handful of other people compared to the thousands in the morning hours.
Epcot - A lot of Epcot is currently under construction so aside from enjoying the Seas with Nemo & Friends, Soarin’ and the World Showcase we didn’t see much of the park. However, the World Showcase has always been my favorite part of Epcot. Each country has amazing food, speciality drinks, entertainment, cultural experiences, customized shops and possibly a few Disney character. We dined both in Italy and France (definitely secure advance reservations) for dinner…the kids preferring Via Napoli in Italy for the pizza and spaghetti and maybe France for the post-dinner glacee.
There are limited rides within The World Showcase aside from Frozen Ever After in Norway and the Gran Fiesta tour featuring Three Caballeros in Mexcio. We didn’t have a chance to spend time in Mexico but Frozen Ever After was a huge hit with our kids. I would try and secure a Fast Pass for this ride unless you sneak in close to park close (and during the fireworks) which we did and the kids were able to ride it twice in a row with virtually no wait. A Ratatouille themed ride will be opening in France during the summer of 2020 similar to the one available in Disneyland Paris. Aside from spending a bit of time in Norway because of course, we had to meet Anna and Elsa at the Royal Sommerhus the kids also loved the trains in Germany.
Epcot also has a popular fireworks show called Epcot Forever complete with jet skis and special effects displayed on the World Showcase Lagoon each night that is worth a viewing. On our next visit I hope we can spend more time in the World Showcase collecting stamps in our World Showcase Passports, sampling more foods and visiting the Kidcot activity centers.
Hollywood Studios - I have vivid memories of this park as a kid especially of an Aladdin parade and the Indiana Jones Stunt show as a kid. It’s still one of my favorite parks and seems to be everyone else’s too with the addition of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge so be prepared for crowds.
Fast Passes were the hardest to secure in this park because you could essentially one ride and the rest of the options were all shows. This is changing in late Feb/early March 2020 so this should make it easier to score some passes on the popular rides including the soon to open Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
The kids all loved Toy Story Land. The scale of everything is so playful and while we never made it onto Slinky Dog Dash (biggest bummer of the trip) we did hit up the Alien Saucers and Toy Story Mania twice. IMHO Toy Story Mania far exceeds the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Magic Kingdom! The older kids also loved Star Tours and Lighting McQueen’s Racing Academy. There are also a lot of 25 minute shows to watch throughout the park such as re-enactments of Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast and Frozen as well as a Disney Jr Dance Party and the Indiana Jones stunt show which are really popular and allow for a few minutes off your feet.
Sunset Boulevard was one of favorite strips of the park as it offered plentiful outdoor seating and a plethora of quick service restaurants all in a setting reminiscent of California. Of course, the frozen margaritas available on the boulevard could have swayed my logic but seriously, this is a great place to dine as it’s less crowded than Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land.
As for Galaxy’s Edge…it exceeded expectations. While we didn’t ride the Millennium Falcon we did secure boarding passes to Ride of the Resistance (on our 2nd day of trying) and it was pretty incredible. My husband loves Star Wars and the older two kids are starting to get into it so I know on our next visit I will have to spend time trying to secure reservations at Olga’s Cantina and the Droid Depot. But for this trip it felt like a huge coup to get boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance as you have to be in the park and on the app at park opening in order to secure and only a select number are available daily. It’s certainly worth it just plan to wake up early and be through the gates prior to park opening.
Animal Kingdom - This was my first time visiting Animal Kingdom and it far exceeded my expectations. This park is beautiful and all sections of lands of the parks are linked through Discovery Island which showcases the stunning Tree of Life. The Tree of Life features 325 carvings of existing and extinct animal species…I’m not sure we even came close to finding 20 but we gave it a shot!
If your kids love nature and animals I’d recommend grabbing Wilderness Explorers’ guide books soon after entering the park. We did this near the Tree of Life and throughout the park there are locations in which kids can learn something and can collect badges. Guests may recognize that Wilderness Explorers originated in the Disney Pixar movie Up!
Unfortunately, we spent the least amount of time in this park. It’s most popular attraction is probably Pandora - the Wold of Avatar and the Na’vi River Journey which we skipped as fast passes were impossible to come by and my kids aren’t yet aware of Pandora. We did however, spend a decent time in Africa at the Festival of the Lion King and on a Kilimanjaro Safari. Both were really well received and great for all ages. I’d recommend securing a fast past for the Safari as it is very popular. The tour guides are amazing and we saw almost every animal on our list…the jeeps are a bit bumpy but altogether quite comfortable.
My biggest mistake at Animal Kingdom and probably of all fast pass bookings was Expedition Everest. My kids were quite excited for this roller coaster before riding but absolutely hated it. I think perhaps if Lucy and George had been a bit older they would have liked it but it’s certainly more aggressive than their favorite Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with it’s speeds, backwards movements and intimidating Yeti. So that was a learning experience.
We did spend a little bit of time in Dino Land U.S.A. which has rides appropriate for younger kids and is chock full of character meet and greet locations. Had we not had a fast pass across the park in Africa we would have spent more time in this section. We didn’t spend time eating in Animal Kingdom as the pool and naps were calling our names but Flame Tree Barbecue and Jiko are both supposed to be some of the best places to dine in the park.
Disney Springs - We didn’t have a chance to visit Disney Springs on this trip but I think if we took a day off from park hopping this is where we would end up for dinner. It’s essentially an outdoor mall with restaurants, a movie theater, Disney merchandise shops as well as Lego and others. The NBA Experience is located here as well as a couple of restaurants that would be on the top of my list: Frontera Cocina, Wine Bar George and Chef Art Smiths’ Homecomin’.
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