Magic Kingdom, Disney World

It's good to plan ahead because the park is often crowded. Firstly, try to visit during off- peak times- definitely avoid school holidays. Weekdays are the best, but weekends are ok too if it's not a holiday period.

Most of all, be the first at that park! Arrive at the parking lot half an hour early. By the time you catch the shuttle, the park will have opened. Then you'll have a few hours of non-crowded ride time. These will be your best hours at the park because you can catch any of the rides with a wait time of only about ten minutes or less. Go to the most popular rides at this time because any other time of day the wait will be too long: Splash Mountain (bring a poncho because you get soaking wet), Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, and any new rides. Or just choose the area of the park that most interests you and ride as many rides as you want with no wait times!

The rest of the day, to ride the popular rides, use the Fast Pass system. This makes you avoid any wait! You put your park ticket into the machine near the ride and then you come back at the time specified. You go in front of all the poor dudes waiting in line! The only drawback is that you have to walk all the way back to the ride at the specified time, and you might be on the other side of the park.

The park is huge so wear good walking shoes, and bring or rent a stroller at the park (this costs $15 and the strollers they rent you are great).

The food at the park is disgusting. This really added a bad feeling to our day. Not only is it nasty but it's also very expensive- over $40 for bare minimum food for a family of four. The best place to eat if you don't have reservations is Pinocchio Village Haus in Fantasyland. Peco Bill's in Adventureland is ok. Avoid Columbia Harbor House at all cost- yuckiest meals ever (and we each had something different on the menu). Though it's inconvenient, if you want to avoid the depressing experience of eating horrible food, bring your own. I felt it is a real shame and also surprising that the food is awful at Magic Kingdom because everything else is done so perfectly. Also, on a long day of walking and waiting in lines, mealtimes can be a lovely change of pace- but not here.

If you have a very young child, three or under, choose the non-scary, non-dark rides at first so you don't turn them off the park from the beginning. These are: It's a Small World, Mad Tea Party (you can control how much the cup spins), Buzz Lightyear (a little scarier), Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (a show), Liberty Square Riverboat, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Jungle Cruise, and Town Square Theater to meet Mickey and the princesses. Avoid Snow White's Scary Adventures and Stitch's Great Escape- way too scary. Winnie the Pooh is super fun but does have one slightly scary part.

If you can stay for the fireworks, it is worth it, and the day does pass pretty quickly because there's so much to do. Things you can do for some downtime in the middle of the day are: ride the railroad around the park through the greenery, ride the Transit Authority Peoplemover through Tomorrowland, take the riverboat, ride It's a Small World, and go see shows. At some point, the piped in music starts to drive you mad! Run as fast as you can from Tomorrowland and find a quiet spot by one of the bridges between the lands. Here you can have a snack and just unwind. Bring some snacks so you don't spend even more time in lines when you need food. Also you will save a ton of money.

The Magic, the Memories and You show before the fireworks at the end of the day is beautiful- everyone gathers on Main Street to watch. The castle is lit up in all kinds of creative ways, as an outline, in neon colors, with photos of guests who came that day. And the music is mellow, which is nice for a change. Main Street becomes very crowded though.

The Goofy Dance Party, also on Main Street, at different times of day, is fun for kids. But only stay for the first two songs or so, because the pace never winds down and after a while, kids become frantically over-stimulated. This leads to major meltdowns!

Everything is beautiful at Magic Kingdom- the flowers, the water everywhere, the castle towering above, the architecture in Liberty Square and Fantasyland, and the tropical vegetation and exotic atmosphere in Adventureland. The ferryboat ride from the parking shuttle to the park is lovely too.

Some things are so great they are not to be missed: Mickey's PhilharMagic, which is an amazing 3D show featuring favorite songs from the movies; It's a Small World, a classic ride that shows the wonder in the world through costumed dolls and magical lands; Winnie the Pooh (only worth it if you Fast Pass it- when we were there the wait time was listed as 20 minutes but it took 45 minutes), Pirates of the Caribbean (absolute must-do!), Magic Carpets of Aladdin (this looks tame but it's actually really fun to be high up over beautiful Adventureland), Jungle Cruise (the humor is terrible but the atmosphere evoked by the ride is worth it), Splash Mountain (despite the fact that you get wet, this thrill ride is super fun), Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (this is very cleverly done), Buzz Lightyear (amazingly colorful ride), Astro Orbitor (this looks tame but is actually pretty exciting at the end), and Mad Tea Party (the whole group will have fun on this one).

Rides/shows that we didn't think were that great: Space Mountain (it's 100% dark), Peter Pan (you don't see much), Carousel of Progress (very slow-paced and old-fashioned but some kids like it).
If your child is three or under, Magic Kingdom is definitely the best choice because it has plenty of non-dark, non-scary rides. Teens, however, find it boring. If your child is four or over, I'd recommend Epcot over Magic Kingdom- it's more fun because it's less crowded.

Have fun!

When you stay in Orlando, choose a resort. This will add so much to your vacation because the resorts in Orlando are amazing, like those in Hawaii. And if you bid on priceline, the cost is often the same as a boring old hotel room. One of my favorites is Hyatt Grand Cypress. Leave a whole day open to spend at the resort. This is a great way to combine mellow activities with theme park mania on your vacation. Other things you could do on a rest day are: sit by the lake at the Harry Leu gardens, walk around the small, fascinating Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, or eat at a French cafe and sit by the rose garden and fountains in wonderful Winter Park town. Once you've rested for a day, check out one of the other Disney parks such as Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, or one of the Universal parks such as Islands of Adventure.

Magic Kingdom opens at 9am and closes at 9pm. Some days it opens early or stays open late for Disney hotel guests.

Florida residents can find highly discounted passes on the park's website. Other guests can save money by buying multi-day passes. Cost is about $80 per person for a one-day ticket. The most money can be saved by bringing your own meals, snacks, and drinks into the park because food ends up costing way more than expected if you buy it there.