Comments on: Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World Part 4: Magic Kingdom

By: Travel Insights 100: What’s next in travel? | Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:41:51 +0000

[...] Lordy, now she can upload photos of her grandkids to her Facebook page while riding through “It’s A Small World After All” at Disney World! [...]

By: Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World Part 3: Disney-MGM Studios » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:17:20 +0000

[...] 2006 « Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World Part 2: Epcot | Home | Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World Part 4: Magic Kingdom [...]

By: Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World Part 3: Disney-MGM Studios » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 15:05:06 +0000

[...] Survivor’s guide to Walt Disney World Part 4: Magic Kingdom [...]

By: Seafarer

Seafarer — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 19:33:30 +0000

Gosh, John, thanks so much for such a detailed and useful comment!

I knew about the special parties/parades but we never got around to attending one and I did not know how the park preps for them. Sounds like a great way to see WDW in a unique way.

For readers, the Halloween and Christmas special events run for weeks, so you’ll probably have a chance to participate even if you won’t be in the parks exactly on the holiday date.

Note: the week between Xmas and New Year’s is one of the most crowded, and so is Thanksgiving week.

By: John Bigenwald

John Bigenwald — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:09:06 +0000

Love the pictures… and the site…One Disney tip I subscribe to — the Extra Magic Hours are a people magnet. If you do go to the park with the extra hours, get in early and hit the hot spots — then go to another park. Such a large percentage of visitors stay on-site, so the extra hours perk isn’t very exclusive. Most people will go for the extra hours, then stay the day.

A great way to see the Magic Kingdom without the lines is to go when Disney has an after hours party. I know they have Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party in October and something similar leading up to Christmas. We’ve been to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party two times. The party starts at 7pm, but we could get into the park at 4:30, with only the party admission ticket — NOT a daily ticket. This is not advertised, but if you ask your concierge they will know when they start allowing party guests in on that day. They shoo out anyone without a party ticket by 6pm, then usher everyone with a ticket into one land. One year it was Tomorrowland, another year it was Frontier Land. All the rides, shops and restaurants were open while they set up for the party in the rest of the park. By 7pm the rest of the park opens and it’s like having the park to yourself — with a couple thousand of your closest friends… We were able to ride the mountains (Space, Thunder and Splash) with no more than token lines, and they always have a special fireworks show for the parties.

The parties do require an extra ticket and extend the day beyond the stamina of most families. So when we go to a party night we don’t go into another park during the day. We will use that day to enjoy the hotel pool, go shopping or enjoy one of the 947 other things Disney World offers that we otherwise don’t have time for — I’m thinking of horseback riding at Fort Wilderness next time…

Reading the series, it sounds like the family enjoyed Disney World. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the place and try to do too much. Having a plan is a must — especially if you’re new to Disney World.