FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

3. Magic Kingdom (Walt Disney World, Florida)

Cinderella Castle looking massive from a low perspective
Image: Disney

The Best: Bigger can mean better

Walt Disney may have only agreed to build Magic Kingdom as necessary fuel for his true passion project, E.P.C.O.T., but that didn’t mean he intended for the Magic Kingdom to be a mere clone of Disneyland. Though Walt didn’t live to see the opening of Walt Disney World, a number of significant improvements were incorporated into the design for Magic Kingdom, such as the inclusion of the utilidor system to allow cast members to travel through the park without breaking theming or immersion.

Most notably, the location for Walt Disney World provided a significant advantage over Disneyland—Disney could go bigger on major attractions and with the park overall, both in terms of flexible height restrictions and in allocating overall space.

Once you’ve experienced Magic Kingdom, it’s hard not to feel like many of Disneyland’s major landmarks feel tiny in comparison. Sleeping Beauty Castle feels a bit like a dollhouse compared to the towering spires of Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle. Both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain have a bit more space at Walt Disney World, allowing for both more ride elements, like the way Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain has five drops instead of three.

The most significant example of “bigger is better” at Walt Disney World is found in New Fantasyland. In 2012, Disney completed a substantial overhaul of Fantasyland that transformed it from a dated children’s fair to one of the most gorgeous and immersive areas in Walt Disney World, a celebration of Disney classics from Snow White to Tangled and beyond. Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland is positively massive, seamlessly allowing guests to drift between iconic worlds in a way that baffles the senses. The area dedicated to Beauty and the Beast is one of the most impressive additions, adding The Beast’s castle as a secondary major landmark for the park, and even familiar classics like Dumbo were improved with upgraded queue areas and a much-needed roof to block the scorching Florida heat.

Whereas it was once easy to write off Fantasyland as easily skippable for families without young children, the area is now an essential stop for guests of all ages visiting Magic Kingdom. In this example among others, Magic Kingdom proves bigger really can mean better.

The Worst: Crowds and The Transportation and Ticket Center

Monorail entrance at Transportation and Ticket Center
Image: Jett Farrell-Vega

This is probably the most common general complaint about Disney parks overall, but it seems like the issue is particularly pronounced at the Magic Kingdom—crowds can be a real pain in the neck at this park and finding a day without them is becoming increasingly challenging.

Magic Kingdom remains Walt Disney World’s most popular park, and the intense crowds it draws make their presence known in a number of uncomfortable ways. For one thing, the park is extremely attraction-heavy compared to its counterparts in the rest of Walt Disney World, which can result in both long lines and feeling like a trip through the park involves a non-stop cycle of fighting your way through a sea of bodies, strollers, and scooters. Standby lines in Magic Kingdom have gotten particularly bad since the arrival of Genie+. During peak times, Disney has been known to allocate as much as 90% of ride capacity to Genie+ and Lightning Lane users, which can badly throw off standby wait times. Crowd congestion can also be a major issue in the park.

…and then there’s the Transportation and Ticket Center.

The Transportation and Ticket Center often feels like the most unmagical place at the Most Magical Place on Earth. It’s the home to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, monorail and ferry transfer stations, as well as the primary hub where non-Disney busses and rideshare services drop off patrons. While this marvel of transportation planning is to be commended, the TTC suffers from one major flaw: it’s located well over a mile and a half away from the actual park.

While you could theoretically walk from the TTC to Magic Kingdom via a meandering path through the Polynesian and Grand Floridian resorts, for most guests, a stop at the TTC is going to mean joining crowds to wait for either a monorail or ferry to take you to the actual park. It’s a bottleneck that has thrown off more than one Disney day with lengthy delays, and it definitely adds in a layer of inconvenience to visiting Magic Kingdom if you aren’t traveling to the park by Disney bus (the only mode of transportation that can drop you off at the park gates).

4. Epcot (Walt Disney World, Florida)

Monorail in front of Spaceship Earth
Image: Disney

The Best: The food!

There is a lot to love about Walt Disney World’s most enigmatic park, from its balanced attraction line-up (including heavy hitters like Test Track, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, and Frozen Ever After) to its gorgeous gardens.

However, these areas pale next to the fact Epcot has the best food line-up in Walt Disney World.

Food is part of the magic at Epcot, and there is seriously something for everyone. Even the pickiest eaters have no need to settle for corn dogs and chicken tenders thanks to crowd-pleasers like Regal Eagle Smokehouse, Sunshine Seasons, and Tutto Italia. The selection of cuisine across the park is phenomenal, particularly in the World Showcase pavilions. You could easily plan to visit Epcot every day of your vacation and try something different and delightful every day, from Mediterranean delights at Spice Road Table, to sumptuous pub fare at the Rose and Crown, to a German feast to bring a tear to your Oma’s eye at The Biergarten Restaurant.

Epcot’s restaurant lineup is already excellent, but Disney has leveled things up over the past decade by making Epcot’s seasonal festivals available nearly year-round. At just about any given time, you can take a culinary adventure touring Epcot’s festival booths trying delicious small plates that vary from festival to festival, and some of the offerings are incredible. More than once, we’ve put together impressive meals from nothing but festival sampler plates, which can make for a very fun way to tour the park.

The Worst: Drinkers who forget it’s a family park

Epcot’s eclectic culinary scene does come with one caveat—the park’s expansive selection of alcohol sometimes draws a rowdier crowd than might be ideal in a theme park.

I want to clarify that I’m not picking on everyone who imbibes in alcohol at Epcot—sampling drinks from around the world is something Disney makes available, and plenty of guests who do so know their limits and remain respectful of others. However, Epcot does have a way of drawing large parties who treat the park like their own personal pub crawl, something you tend to see more of later in the evenings and on weekends.

There’s no question that some Epcot visitors—particularly some larger groups visiting for the specific purpose of drinking around the world—seem to forget Epcot is ultimately a family park. As the day goes on, it can become harder not to run into crews of marathon drinkers whose tongues and manners are loosed beyond what is appropriate with small children around. Navigating around these groups can sometimes be frustrating. Cast members do cut disruptive guests off, but the threshold is often high enough that a few bad actors slip through the cracks. It’s rarely enough of an issue to prove a deal-breaker in the park, but it can lead to some less-than-comfortable encounters for families.

And now, last but not least, Disney's Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios...

 
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

Add new comment

About Theme Park Tourist

Theme Park Tourist is one of the web’s leading sources of essential information and entertaining articles about theme parks in Orlando and beyond.

We are one of the world’s largest theme park guide sites, hosting detailed guides to more than 80 theme parks around the globe.

Find Out More About Us...

Plan Your Trip

Our theme park guides contain reviews and ratings of rides, restaurants and hotels at more than 80 theme parks worldwide.

You can even print them.

Start Planning Now...