One Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary with Toddlers 2026

Heading to the Magic Kingdom with kids under the age of 6?
You’ve probably noticed that the sea of information out there can quickly become overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to make sure your young adventurers have a magical day (on your, ahem, PRICEY vacation).

If you’re holding out for the most important need-to-know information, ranging from what the heck a Lightning Lane is down to which kid-friendly snacks to add to your must-try list, you’re in the right place.

Our itineraries are not just a labor of love; they are also research-backed and tested – thanks to Thrill-Data and our decades’ worth of Disney World experience!

This itinerary focuses on anyone taking kids under the age of six, visiting for one day, and works if you’re planning on using the Lightning Lane Multi Pass (a paid addition to your ticket that allows you to bypass the regular standby lines – more below!), or if you’re foregoing it to save some dollars (understandable).

Know that we’re not focused on getting you on things like Space Mountain and TRON in here. If you are going to be doing both toddler-focused rides AND sprinkling in the thrill rides for adults, you’ll want to check out our Adult-Focused Itineraries for Magic Kingdom Lightning Lanes to help you with that.

This itinerary will focus on attractions that aren’t thrill rides and have little to no height requirements. We’ll also cover the park basics and dive into the best kid-friendly rides, entertainment, and tips to ensure your day is filled with magic, fun, and as few meltdowns as possible.

Heads up: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad are closed for refurbishment until further notice (sometime in 2026).

Magic Kingdom Basics

Planning a visit to a park like Magic Kingdom, which offers almost 40 attractions (including rides, shows, character greetings, and more), can be overwhelming.

For how much you’re paying to be there, we understand the desire to squeeze everything you can into your Disney visit. But with most visitors planning for just one day at Magic Kingdom, attempting to experience everything becomes almost impossible.

The best thing you can do is have a good game plan, no matter what you’re age group is.

The next best thing is knowing ahead of time what you want to get out of your visit because while some experiences cannot be missed, others can be saved.

Rides

While there are a few thrills, the rides at Magic Kingdom – a little over 20 in total – tend to err on the family-friendly side. 

With the Lightning Lane Multi Pass and not having to hit every coaster and thrill ride in the park, your day will actually be pretty easy if you follow our itinerary.

We do almost always recommend the LL Multi Pass if you can swing it in the budget, but if it’s not a packed time of year, you can pull off this itinerary with mostly low waits.

Entertainment

The entertainment options range from the Castle shows throughout the day to the afternoon parade to the fireworks, for which times and locations can be found easily in the My Disney Experience app.

The Festival of Fantasy Parade is one of those experiences at the Magic Kingdom that’s perfect for younger kids (and every Disney lover, really).

It’s a lively parade with colorful floats and familiar characters that little ones will love seeing up close. Plus, it’s a nice break in the day where everyone can just sit back and rest for a bit.

Finding a spot along the parade route is worth it—your kids will be thrilled to see their favorite Disney characters waving at them as they pass by.

Once we get more into the itinerary, we’ll talk about the best viewing spots for the parade.

Character Greetings

For those looking to give their favorite character a hug, there are two ways to find them:

• “Official” greetings are listed as attractions (and many offer Lightning Lanes).
  
  
• “Unofficial” greetings are not listed under the attractions but can be found by going to the park map and selecting “Characters” under the dropdown menu. 

We’re going to throw some of the main character greetings into the itinerary, and you can do them or skip them if your kids aren’t into those characters.

If you’re planning on meeting lots of characters as part of your day, you’re going to want to keep an eye on the times, which can be found on the My Disney Experience app. 

While we’ll get into specifics, to avoid long waits, you’re generally going to try and fit these meet-and-greets during off-peak times, like mid-morning or late afternoon.

Food

Trying new, weird, and delicious foods is easily one of the best parts of a Disney trip.

The Magic Kingdom isn’t known for exceptional food, but there are definitely some solid snacks and singular items that are well worth it. Don’t worry, we’ll go over these!

Lightning Lanes

Lightning Lanes, Multi Passes, Single Passes … what the heck is going on? 

There is a definite art to making the most of the Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP) system, but for the sake of this itinerary (and if you’re using this itinerary, you’re purchasing and using LLMP!), let’s review the basics:

• Lightning Lane Multi Pass: As we mentioned before, the LLMP is a paid addition to your park ticket that allows you to bypass the regular standby line for participating attractions.
  
  
• Lightning Lane Single Pass: Single Passes are designated to certain rides (usually high-priority attractions) as a paid “à la carte” option for guests regardless of whether or not they’ve purchased LLMP, allowing you to bypass the regular standby line.

Lightning Lane Multi Pass Must-Knows

We almost always recommend the LLMP for Magic Kingdom because not only does it offer you the most attractions to ride, but most attractions (even “kiddie” rides like Peter Pan’s Flight and Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) draw long lines.

Using the LLMP most days of the year will shave hours off your wait times throughout a park day, so we highly recommend including it in your budget here.

Ideally, you’re pre-booking your first three LL selections at 7 am EST when your pre-book window opens (3 or 7 days in advance).

You can initially hold one Tier 1 and two Tier 2 attractions. For groups with young kids, we highly recommend these priorities:

• Tier 1: Peter Pan’s Flight
• Tier 2: Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Tier 2: Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
  
  Alternatives: Jungle Cruise or your choice of thrill ride (Tier 1), Pirates of the Caribbean (Tier 2)

At the time of writing, these are the priority attractions we recommend. Since Lightning Lane return times on the day of can be difficult to find, booking them in advance is critical.

Lightning Lanes Single Pass Must-Knows

Currently, there are two Single Pass options at Magic Kingdom: 

• TRON Lightcycle Run
   
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  

TRON has a height requirement of 48”, so most families with young kids will skip it. If you have adults who want to do it, we highly suggest purchasing the Single Pass for them. They’ll skip the line this way, as opposed to having to figure out a standby strategy, where the average wait is 45-60 minutes most days.

If you decide to purchase LLSP, we recommend opting for afternoon return times between 12 pm and 5 pm (give or take).

This gives you major attractions to fill your time with when everything else in the park is busy, and LLMP return times are pesky and hard to get for immediate use.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, with a height requirement of 38”, was designed to be a themed coaster but also gentle enough to be a starter coaster for many kids. The nearby Barnstormer is the real starter coaster—and SDMT would be the next step if they want more.

SDMT typically holds the longest line of the day, so hitting it FIRST thing at Early Entry or buying the Single Pass is your best option if you plan to ride.

Note: If Lightning Lane sounds like a lot, we feel you. The system can be confusing, especially at first glance. But learning it is half the battle and puts you ahead of the 90% of Disney World visitors who do no research! If you want to visit Disney like a pro and skip waiting in long lines, check out the Lightning Lane Masterclass.

Itinerary: Start Here

For the record, this is not a step-by-step itinerary. We will be breaking your day down into sections and you’re going to sketch out your plan from there. 

Don’t worry; you’ll still know what to do and when, and this will put you ahead of other guests (who don’t do any research or follow proven itineraries!)

• Morning Strategy
  • When to arrive
  • Early Entry
  • Rope Drop
  • First 2 hours of park time
  • Morning Must-Knows
  • Setting up the rest of your day
    
    
• Midday: Explore & More
  • Lunch
  • Midday Must-Knows
  • Setting up the rest of your day
    
    
• Evening Strategy
  • Dinner
  • Fireworks
  • Post Fireworks
  • Nighttime Ride Strategies
  • Park Close

Morning Strategy

We know, we know; you’re on vacation. But the earlier you can get to Magic Kingdom, the better! If this is the only park you set an alarm for, it’ll be worth all of the things you’ll be able to knock off your list in the first few hours before the crowds get bigger. 

When to arrive

If you’re on Disney property, transportation (buses, monorail) will start about 90 minutes before Early Entry. If you want to be first, be at your resort transportation stop then. But you don’t have to be!

This is only necessary if you want to be first for an attraction like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. 

If you’re planning to hit any other attraction first, don’t worry about being the VERY first in line for Early Entry.

And once you go through the itinerary, you can decide the best time to arrive. 

However, we do recommend getting to the park within an hour of opening to be able to follow this itinerary easily. It’d be impossible to create itineraries for all different times of arrival, so these best work with a start near park open.

Early Entry

Early Entry, a perk reserved for those staying on Disney resort property, grants visitors access to the parks 30 minutes before the official opening. It helps to know that the park opens almost an hour before that, and you can line up. 

Note: All guests, regardless of whether they have EE or not, will be allowed in Magic Kingdom. This means if you’re staying off-property, you can get in the park before things open! You’re also still lining up for the park opening rope drop (see below), which will put you ahead of other guests.

Some attractions even start operating a few minutes before the official Early Entry starts! It’s never anything crazy early, but sometimes 5-10 minutes in advance. You might as well be there if you’re going to be up early. 

For Early Entry, you’ve got a few choices based on which Lightning Lanes you’ve booked first (and how much of a crowd you want to deal with):

1. Hit Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: This is the #1 pick for most visitors, and it can get wildly crowded, so you’ll need to be there early. But you will skip having to pay for the Lightning Lane Single Pass and not have to deal with the standby queue later that remains one of the longest lines almost all day.
   
   
2. Hit Tomorrowland: This is the much more chill way to start the day. Adults can feel free to hit Space Mountain, but if you’re focused on the kids, hit Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear, and the Tomorrowland Speedway (assuming you didn’t get Lightning Lanes for any of these—you want to use this time to do use standby lines which will basically be walk-on).
   
   
3. Hit Peter Pan’s Flight and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: If you secured Lightning Lanes for these, you don’t need to do this option. But if you didn’t, this is a great plan if you want to knock out two classic rides that can be tricky when it comes to getting a LL later.
   

If you opt for Option 3, go to Peter Pan FIRST, as this standby line will grow quickly.

Pro Tip: Don’t always trust the posted queue, though. Just minutes into Early Entry, Disney will sometimes falsely increase the wait time. This means if it’s only five minutes into Early Entry and the posted wait jumps to 30 minutes, it’s highly unlikely it actually is 30 minutes; it’s more likely it’s less than 10 minutes.

Rope Drop (A.K.A. Park Opening)

After Early Entry, you’ve got the regular park opening when the entire Magic Kingdom opens and all guests will be let in. Whether you’re using EE or not, it’s important to know what you’re doing around this time!

Note: If it’s your first time visiting or your group would get a kick out of seeing the characters first thing, the Let the Magic Begin Welcome Show happens 5 minutes before the park opens, and it’s super exciting and cute. We think it’s worth sticking around for, or maybe even coming back to the front of the Castle for, if you’re doing Early Entry.

By the time the park officially opens, some of the attractions that were open for Early Entry will have already grown in wait times (Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight in particular). If you’re arriving at the park after EE, these rides will be out of the question (if you don’t want to wait in mega-long lines).

But the beauty of the Magic Kingdom is with so many different attractions drawing people in different ways, many wait times will actually stay pretty reasonable for at least the first 1-2 hours of park operation. Do you see why we recommend getting there early?

First 2 hours of park time – with Lightning Lanes

Once the park officially opens, you’re going to have two priorities:

• Scan into your first Lightning Lane so you can start booking more
  
  
• Hit high-demand character greetings early before the lines get long (if they’re a priority)
  

Hopefully, you’ve snagged an early return time for at least 1-2 Lightning Lanes, so go ahead and scan into at least one of those (like Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, or Buzz).

Immediately after scanning in, book your next Lightning Lane for one of these that has a close return time:

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• “it’s a small world”
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

After scanning into at least one Lightning Lane, plan to queue to meet the Princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall shortly after 9/9:30 am.

Next, if you want to meet Ariel or the characters at Pete’s Silly Sideshow, be ready to hit them when they open. Check the app for official hours, but typically they open around 10 am.

Remember: You ideally want to use your first Lighting Lane within the first hour of official park opening, even if the standby waits are short, so you can “unlock” the Tiers and start booking more for later in the day.

First 2 hours of park time – Standby (Not using Lightning Lane)

Once the park officially opens, you’re going to have two priorities:

• Hit high-demand character greetings early before the lines get long (if they’re a priority)
  
• Whether you’re meeting or skipping characters, you will want to knock out Fantasyland attractions as early as possible, and as many as reasonable (our rec!). See the next section for the best order to do this in.

If characters are a priority, plan to queue to meet the Princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall shortly after 9/9:30 am.

If you want to meet Ariel or the characters at Pete’s Silly Sideshow, be ready to see them when they open, usually around 10 am. Always check the app for official hours!

Morning Must-Knows

Once 11 am rolls around, standby lines for most rides will grow, and the park will begin to feel more crowded. Hopefully, by now, you have used your first Lightning Lane and booked the next one to use if using Multi Pass. 

You will want to continue to take advantage of short standby waits (posted wait less than 20 minutes) as long as you can while using Lightning Lanes that have close return times.

Remember, too, that you can book a Lightning Lane and then attempt to modify it to an earlier time. I highly recommend trying that for at least a minute or two.

You’ll want to continue to check off these rides in Fantasyland, in this order, doing standby or Lightning Lanes—whichever makes sense strategically:

• Enchanted Tales with Belle
• “it’s a small world”
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
• The Barnstormer
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Mad Tea Party

As the park gets busier and we get closer to noon, you’ll want to take the time to focus on refueling (with snacks or food!), checking out the entertainment options, or “anytime attractions” that are perfect for filling in downtime. 

After you’ve gotten through a bunch of attractions in the morning, you’re probably going to need a snack break/rest for the kids. 

We like Gaston’s Tavern (kids love the LeFou’s Brew and cinnamon rolls) for treats as well as Sleepy Hollow. Both are kid-friendly.

Setting up the rest of your day with Lightning Lanes

Once you get through Fantasyland in the morning, it’s time to start booking Lightning Lanes for the rest of the afternoon! (If you’re not using Multi Pass, you can skip to the next section, “Mid Day”.)

“Circling” your way around the park will often work out well strategically speaking, so consider booking LLs in this order for the rest of the day:

• Tomorrowland (afternoon is ideal):
  
  • Space Mountain (for adults or older kids)
    
  • Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
    
  • Tomorrowland Speedway
    
    
• Adventureland/Frontierland/Liberty Square:
  
  • Jungle Cruise (not a priority for us, but some swear by it)
    
  • Pirates of the Caribbean (warning: can be dark and scary)
    
  • Magic Carpets of Aladdin
    
  • Haunted Mansion (warning: can be dark and scary)
    

*If Lightning Lanes appear sold out and you have some patience, use the “Refresh Trick” on your Tip Board. Hopefully, you can get lucky!

Lightning Lanes for some non-headliner attractions tend to be easier to get with quicker return times once 6 or 7 pm hits. If you’re flexible and Lightning Lanes are showing return times that aren’t great, you can save that attraction or that part of the park for the evening.

Example: Pirates of the Caribbean at 1 pm might have a Lightning Lane return time of 7 pm – six whole hours out! Not ideal. This might make you think, “Wow, it’s going to sell out in a few hours,” but this is not how it always works! At 7 pm, Pirates of the Caribbean might still have availability (if it’s not peak busy season), and return times would then be 8 pm or so – much closer and easier to use back to back! 

Midday: Explore & More

Lunch

If you’re like us, food is probably one of the most important parts of your vacation. Magic Kingdom may not be the best park at Disney World as far as food is concerned, but there are still some decent options.

One thing we’d suggest if you have a full day at Magic Kingdom (especially when it’s hot) is to consider taking the time for a sit-down lunch at a table-service restaurant. 

It’s a great way to avoid the bulk of the crowds and recharge for an exciting evening of hitting the rest of the attractions on your list.

Here are the best table-service options with young kids:

• Crystal Palace for a character meal (buffet with Winnie the Pooh characters—super cute)
  
  
• Cinderella’s Royal Table (the classic dining at the Castle with the princesses meal)
  
  
• The Plaza (chill and more affordable)
  

If you’d rather stay in the park to maximize your time, you’ll want to do an easy quick-service option for the little ones (with a menu for picky eaters). 

The best spots are Columbia Harbour House, Pinocchio’s Village Haus, or Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe (we prefer the latter for both convenience & picky eaters, or Pinocchio’s for pizza).

Midday Must-Knows

From about 12 pm to 4 pm, crowds and wait times will peak at Magic Kingdom. You’ll find that Lightning Lane return times will also be pushed out further because of the crowds.

You won’t be able to do as many rides back to back as you did in the morning, and you’ll find yourself with some downtime between LL return times or long standby waits. This is the perfect time to check out some of the more laid-back attractions and entertainment.

Live Entertainment 

We consider the Magic Kingdom entertainment options another great way to enrich your park experience when you’ve got some downtime.

Take some time to watch the afternoon parade or see the Castle show that takes place numerous times a day.

All the entertainment times will be listed in your My Disney Experience app, so be sure to check it out.

Parade Must-Knows

Depending on the time of year, there is almost always one afternoon parade but often two showings. Feel free to go to whichever makes sense for your schedule.

As far as viewing, you’ve got two options:

• Watch from Main Street USA. Some people prefer this because they want pictures with the Castle in the background, or they just like this classic area.
  
  
• Watch from Frontierland/Liberty Square.
  

Here’s what to know about both viewing options:

• The parade starts near Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and makes its way to the very front of the park near the entrance, so keep that in mind as far as timing. The parade won’t even get to the end of Main Street until ~20 minutes after the start time, so you don’t want to be wasting time standing around.
  
  
• For the reason above, we prefer to watch in Frontierland/Liberty Square. We also find last-minute viewing AND grabbing a front-row spot is a bit easier. We like the area across from Diamond Horseshoe and near the Hall of Presidents.
  
  
• If you do want to watch on Main Street, we like being near the hub, around the statue of Walt & Mickey. You’re not waiting forever for the parade, and there is a decent amount of room versus being near the shops on Main Street.

If you don’t need a front-row spot, you can typically grab a good spot 15-20 minutes in advance (add to that during HIGH season). 

If you want a front-row spot for your little one, try and get there 30 minutes before (or more if it’s busy).

“Anytime” Attractions

These lesser-priority attractions can easily be slotted throughout the day without a specific strategy. Consider these a way to avoid long lines for the more popular rides while taking advantage of your park time.

• Swiss Family Treehouse*
  
• Carousel of Progress
  
• Country Bear Jamboree*
  
• Hall of Presidents
  
• Mickey’s Philharmagic*
  
• Enchanted Tiki Room*
  
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor*
  
• Ride the PeopleMover*
  
• Ride the WDW Railroad*
  
• Ride the Carousel in the middle of Fantasyland*

*These are the best for young kids and toddlers. The other ones tend to be a bit “boring.”

Fair warning: many of these are niche and campy, like Carousel of Progress and the Country Bear Jamboree. We wouldn’t necessarily consider them a priority, but more of an “if you have the time” type of experience (or you’re genuinely interested in the weirder, more classic Disney attractions!).

Evening Strategy

Once 3 to 4 pm hits, you can start touring the parts of the park you may not have been to yet (like Adventureland).

And bonus—even some of the smaller “kiddie” rides, like Dumbo and Magic Carpets, have short waits again. This means if the kids are begging to re-ride anything, this can be a great time!

At this point in the itinerary, it is more challenging for us to give exact instructions, as we can’t determine which attractions you have accomplished by now.

As we mentioned before, we prefer to tour Fantasyland again in the evening when using LLMP, as return times are typically sooner, and it’s not jam-packed and we can knock more attractions off the list. That goes for standby lines as well. And, it’s beautiful in the evenings! Who doesn’t love nighttime castle photos?

And if you took a midday break back to your resort and are returning at this time? Here’s what we recommend starting late afternoon or early evening:

• Ride Magic Carpets of Aladdin (if you’re returning from a break, this ride is a good place to start).
  
• Ride Pirates of the Caribbean if desired, and the wait isn’t long (otherwise, save for later in the evening when the line dies down).
  
• Head back to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear (if the wait is still high, you could have dinner now and ride afterward).
  
• Ride the Tomorrowland Speedway (32″).

Dinner

Essentially, we want to rehash our lunch recommendations here. With young kids, we prefer to do one sit-down per day and one quick-service per day. So we’d suggest whichever you didn’t do for lunch.

If you want to go with an easy tried-and-true park staple that all ages tend to love, we love an order of the corn dog nuggets and cheese fries from Casey’s Corner any time of day!

And if you’re sick of catering to just the kids, get a reservation at Skipper Canteen for dinner. It’s the best food for adults in the park, and we love having a salty Margarita or Jungle Bird cocktail (or two…!).

*While you can sometimes get into the restaurants last minute, you almost always want a reservation in hand at Disney. You can try to find more last-minute reservations by “stalking the app” or refreshing and checking for times throughout the day, just like you would with Lightning Lanes (although not as incessantly or frequently!).

Fireworks

We consider the fireworks at Magic Kingdom to be incredible and definitely should not be missed!

The “when” and “where” of viewing them can get a little tricky, especially when you take into account the corresponding projections on both the Castle and down Main Street USA. 

Here are a few of our preferred spots to take in the action:

• If you’re a smaller group, we like to go to the left of the Partners statue (the Walt & Mickey statue in front of the Castle), closer to the sidewalk where a red snack cart will be. You can usually squeeze in and get a great spot about 15-20 minutes before the show starts. But if it’s a busy holiday, double the times we recommend.
  
  
• If you’re a larger group, consider being anywhere on Main Street USA, knowing that the closer to the entrance (further from the Castle) will have more room. You’re still going to get a great view here, especially near the flagpole.
  
  
• If you insist on being closer to the Castle, you’ll want to consider getting a spot at least 45 minutes to an hour before. We don’t like this or recommend it because it’s cutting into your precious park time, but YMMV, if fireworks are a priority!
  
  
• If you don’t care about the projections, don’t like people, or are losing your patience after a long day at MK (hey, it’s normal!), consider watching from behind the Castle! Most of the fireworks will actually end up being BEHIND you, so it’s a little weird, but there’s a lot of space, the music is piped in, and it’s gorgeous with the Carousel all lit up.

Post Fireworks

The park is typically open another hour or two after the fireworks, and since a lot of guests leave after the show, you’ll find wait times shrink, and it’s a great time to hit some rides. You can also still find some lingering Lightning Lanes that people might cancel.

Most groups traveling with babies and young kids won’t have the energy to stay after the fireworks, and that’s fine. Just be mentally prepared for the post-rush if you decide to leave right after the show. 

If you do decide you want to stay, read on!

After the fireworks is when you’ll usually find reasonable waits for those rides on the left side of the park. So, if you skipped any earlier in the day or the grownups need an excuse to ride Big Thunder Mountain, riding after dark is an even better experience.

Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and many of the slower “dark rides” in Fantasyland will all have reasonable waits again (if it isn’t a wildly busy time of year, but even then, it will be better than earlier in the day!).

Nighttime Ride Strategies

We are fans of specific ride strategies, and we’re laying ’em out below if you want to use them.

Note that these all have height requirements and are coasters, so skip if you’re not interested. But you can queue up last minute for ANY ride that’s open until the park closes.

Post Fireworks Strategy

Remember that these are meant for IMMEDIATELY after the fireworks. You may even want to consider leaving the viewing area and start walking before the show ends to hit some of these with the lowest wait.

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: If you don’t want to deal with fighting your way to this ride during Rope Drop or you’d rather not pay for a LLSP, aim to hit this before the end (or at the very end) of the fireworks. This works best if you’re in the immediate area, however, so plan to watch the show from behind the Castle. If you wait too long after the fireworks, this strategy will backfire, and you’ll find a long line.
  
  
• Space Mountain: A lot of people will beeline here after the fireworks, so we recommend watching the fireworks from the left side of the Castle for easier access. If you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of a view during the show (though this is not necessary), watch from the Tomorrowland Bridge so you can dart over after.
  
  
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: This one is a little further from the Castle, but if you head for it before the end of the fireworks or set off at a good pace immediately after, you can make it with a reasonable wait time.
  
  Bonus: You can usually hit the nearby Pirates of the Caribbean for a shorter wait afterward!

End of the Night Strategy

If you didn’t want to be up super early for Early Entry or Rope Drop, consider getting in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (or your ride of choice) in the last few minutes of the park being open.

For example, if the park closes at 9 pm, you can get in line for an attraction up until 9:00:59 pm (although if you have anxiety like us, we don’t recommend cutting it THAT close!). 

The actual standby wait time is usually a fraction of the posted wait time (which is often hyperinflated to help with crowd control at the end of the night).

This is probably our favorite method for riding just about anything at Disney World, and it works especially great for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!

Park Close

If you’re newer to Disney or it’s been a while, know that you won’t get kicked out of the park right at close. Queues to attractions and almost all food vendors will close by then, but the park itself and shops will stay open an hour after closing. You won’t start getting shuffled out by Cast Members until then!

That means you can linger in a favorite area, get those nighttime Castle pics (everyone will be doing it, but it’s beautiful at night), take in the lights of Main Street USA, and hit the stores! To be fair, the stores get crowded, but it’s still a fun experience. 

It’s great to be in the park after it closes, so consider that timing when you’re thinking about your overall day.

In Conclusion, Class

If that felt like a lot, it’s because it is. There is a lot to know before you head into the parks, but don’t let that overwhelm you. 

Most people book their trips and don’t research anything, which equates to long lines, short tempers, and what is potentially a total waste of a very expensive trip. You’re already way ahead of the curve!

And if we’ve got you sold on strategy being the key to a line-skippin’, snack-eatin,’ magical visit to Walt Disney World, be sure to check out the Complete Parks Strategy Playbook for a run-down on the best way to visit all four Disney parks.