It’s the Most Magical Place on Earth.
As the original park, Magic Kingdom is the embodiment of Disney World, along with one of the most visited places on earth. But, like anything, it’s not all magical. We asked our readers on AllEars Facebook what their least favorite parts of Magic Kingdom were…here’s what they said.
Crowds and Wait Times
As one of the most widely visited places on the planet, it’s not shocking that Magic Kingdom can be crowded. But, those crowds (and the accompanying high wait times for rides) were named in a lot of the comments as their least favorite thing about Magic Kingdom.
So, what can you do to avoid them? Well, if you’re looking to avoid high wait times, Genie+ is a paid option that can let you do just that. The price for this service changes daily based on demand, but it gives you access to skipping a variety of rides through Lightning Lanes so you don’t have to experience a Standby wait.
Additionally, you can plan your trip to Magic Kingdom during less busy times of the year. This means avoiding holidays, spring break, runDisney weeks, etc. While crowds will never be at zero, visiting during a slower time of the year makes a huge difference in the amount of people you find yourself with at Magic Kingdom.
Cost
There’s simply no denying the fact that Disney World is an expensive place to visit. However, recently we saw Disney change the way they do ticket pricing, making it so your ticket can be even more expensive depending on when you visit.
In December of last year, Disney introduced surge pricing for 1-day, 1-park tickets, meaning you can no longer buy just one ticket that can be used at any of the theme parks.
As you may have guessed, Magic Kingdom is the most expensive of the parks through this new system. So, how can you avoid it? Well, an easy way to do that is to check out our list of the cheapest days to visit Disney World in 2023, so you can plan your trip that way.
Additionally, if you plan on visiting multiple parks during your trip, you can buy multi-day park tickets and make Park Pass reservations for each day of your visit. You can also keep an eye on discounts for tickets, rooms, and more — we’re always sharing the latest!
Transportation & Ticket Center
If you’re a Disney World newbie visiting Magic Kingdom for the first time, there may be one major question on your mind — why doesn’t Magic Kingdom have a parking lot?!
Unlike the rest of the Disney World parks that have a parking lot that leads to the park entrance, Magic Kingdom requires a second mode of transportation to get into the park — and this is something many readers noted as a least favorite part of the experience!
Now, there are walking paths that you can take from Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, and Disney’s Contemporary Resort that will let you walk right up to the entrance of Magic Kingdom. However, for everyone else, other modes of transportation are required.
If you are driving, you will park at the Transportation and Ticket Center, where you will be able to take the Monorail or a ferry over to Magic Kingdom. Staying at a Monorail Resort? Along with walking, you can take the Monorail, or a boat (from the Polynesian or Grand Floridian) over to Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Lodge also offers a boat from the hotel to Magic Kingdom.
If you’re staying at a non-Magic Kingdom resort hotel that is on Disney World property, you’ll be able to take a bus over to the park.
Make sure to read our transportation tips so that you can have the best possible experience getting from one place to the next!
Looking for more on Magic Kingdom? Check out our ranking of the Magic Kingdom rides, along with our favorite spots to eat in the park!
What is your favorite (and least favorite!) part of Magic Kingdom? Let us know in the comments.
You should also explain there is not a parking lot at the Magic Kingdom. What Disney’s vision was that people would arrive at the parking lot and then be transported to a magical new world, the Magic Kingdom! Originally, only the monorail would be the way to get there. He saw this as people being flown through the air to a new world. He actually calls the monorail drivers the monorail “Pilots”. When crowds got too heavy for the monorails to handle they added the ferries, and much later The buses. And today you can even pay extra for the “Minnie” vans transport. Walt Disney loved trains. And, for many years the monorail was a real train. In recent years they have been computerized and is now more like one of the Disney rides instead of a real train. I was a monorail pilot when the conversion was being made. So, the “Pilot” today is not much more than a ride operator.