The Magic Kingdom

Purpose of our park coverage

This book’s coverage of the Magic Kingdom should be treated like a “with little kids” supplement to a guide book covering the park. There is so much you need to know about the Magic Kingdom that this book doesn’t cover.

But other guides neglect many of the questions parents with little kids have and this chapter zooms in on those questions.

Our park coverage is also not designed to get you excited about the park. The attractions we cover are very exciting! But the point of these chapters is to point out all the info related to going with little kids.

I recommend you read up on the parks from other books and websites first, then come back to this book to help plan which attractions can work for you after learning about them elsewhere first.

Short Overview

The Magic Kingdom is the most famous Disney World park with Cinderella’s castle right in the center. There’s a lot to do here with little kids and you may want to spend more than one day here.

Attractions

The major attractions are broken up into 3 sections:

1. No worries for little kids
2. Borderline for little kids
3. Bad for little kids

Within each category, the attractions are sorted from ‘of least concern’ to ‘of most concern’. So the last attraction in ‘Borderline for little kids’ is almost in ‘Bad for little kids’

No worries for Little Kids

Liberty Square Riverboat

Steam boat ride, no concerns.

Walt Disney World Railroad

Train that circles the park with 3 stops. You can ride indefinitely. No concerns.

Princess Fairytale Hall

No concerns.

The Hall of Presidents

Animatronic US Presidents talk for 20 minutes. No scary concerns, but may bore kids.

Carousel of Progress

Seated show of animatronic families in their living rooms. Not scary, but may bore kids.

it’s a small world

Slow boat ride with singing / dancing dolls, no concerns.

Prince Charming Regal Carrousel

Traditional carrousel, no concerns.

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Crowd-interactive play with Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Not scary.

Swiss Family Treehouse

Not scary. Lots of steps. You may not be able to exit quickly because it’s a slow moving walking line exploring the treehouse.

Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover

Seated elevated ride, not scary.

Evening fireworks

It might take an hour to exit with the crowds.

Are fireworks shows scary? Maybe should should watch this from outside the park, like at the Transportation and Ticketing Center.

The time of the fireworks show will be listed on the Times Guide leaflet available all over the park.

Frontier Shooting Arcade

Shooting gallery. Not scary. Parents who don’t want their kids playing with guns might want to avoid it.

Borderline for little kids

Tom Sawyer Island

Explorable outdoor play area, no scary concerns. Not ideal for exploring with a stroller because it’s unpaved.

The Barnstormer

Height requirement: 35 inches (2’ 11”)

Roller coaster for pre-schoolers, lasts 57 seconds. Probably not scary, it’s not designed to be scary. If you child meets the height requirement, this could be an excellent introduction to ‘fast’ rides for them.

Dumbo

Spinning/flying ride. Probably fine for your kids. If it would be scary I expect your child will no advance from just looking at spinning.

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Dumbo-like ride, probably not scary.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

Seated, interactive comedy show.

Probably not scary if your kids are not already scared of the Monsters, Inc. characters. If you aren’t familiar with Monsters, Inc. they are “monsters” who are much more cute, and aren’t scary.

Tomorrowland Indy Speedway

32 inch height requirement to ride in car. 54 inch height requirement to drive car.

You drive a car (slowly) on a track, no scary concerns.

Adults can rider switch¹

Country Bear Jamboree

Animatronic bears (plus a mounted head Bison and Moose) talk and sing a country music show. Probably not scary for little kids, but might be. Might be boring for little kids.

Peter Pan’s Flight

Dark ride where you pass Captain Hook. Probably you’ll have no scare issues, but you might. This is a great ride to test the waters with your little kid over if they can handle dark rides.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Dark ride where you enter a psychadelic-colored Pooh dream scene about heffalumps and woozles. Probably you’ll have no scare issues, but you might.

Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid

Dark ride. Ursula and eels are scary-ish.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

Slow 2-person ride, mostly in the dark, intense colors, you shoot lasers at targets along the way. Could scare little kids, but probably won’t.

Enchanted Tiki Room

Seated show of talking birds and angry gods. Could be frigtening when the gods get angry with darkness and thunder. 10-minute show.

Mad Tea Party

Spinning cups you sit in together. Kids will likely love it, but could be scary. The cups can spin pretty fast, and if your kid hates it you just have to wait out the ride.

Mickey’s Philharmagic

3-D movie with some intense in-your-face effects. I don’t expect it would scare a little kid, but it could.

Astro Orbiter

Dumbo-like ride but higher up and faster. It has made some parents stomach-sick. Ride Dumbo (or Aladdin) first before attempting this one.

Jungle Cruise

Slow guided boat ride through various jungle scenes. Some scenes are light-heartedly frightening. Scary elements: animatronic hippopotamus, angry jungle natives appear, some large snakes. The scary parts are not dark or enveloping. I don’t expect little kids to be terrified, but it could happen.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Dark boat ride with some scary and intense scenes. Could easily scare kids.

Bad for Little Kids

The Haunted Mansion

Not that scary for adults, but could easily freak out little kids. Other riders screams during the ride might also terrify your kids.

Seated 2-person ride in dark with holographic ghosts and scary noises.

Splash Mountain

40 inch height requirement.

Boat ride with some dark scenes, a couple small drops, and one large drop. You can see riders coming down the large drop from in front of the attraction and your child should watch the large drop with you before getting in the line.

We prepped our 3-year-old for this ride by letting her watch the Youtube movie of it, and she wanted to try it and made it without getting _too scared.

Adults can rider switch²

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

40 inch height requirement.

Roller coaster, kinda jerky, nothing that fancy but could be intense enough to scare your little kids.

Not themed to be scary.

Adults can rider switch³

Space Mountain

44 inch height requirement.

Dark and fast roller coaster, probably not for your little kids even if they are tall enough.

Adults can rider switch⁴

Stitch’s Great Escape!

40 inch height requirement.

A very scary attraction. Avoid, avoid, avoid (with little kids).

Adults can rider switch⁵

Other attractions

There is a lot more to do than these attractions like meeting characters, shows, parades, play areas, dining, shops and street entertainment. It’s all great, but I’m not covering it because none of it excludes little kids, or would might scare them, or if it did scare them you could just walk away.