Magic Kingdom Itinerary With Small Kids- Ride Strategy, Dining Tips, Best Entertainment

Taking children to Disney World may seem like a difficult challenge. If you’ve never gone before, you may not be sure where to even start.

Here at Mickey Visit, we have multiple Disney parents on our team that know the ins and outs of visiting the Most Magical Place on Earth with little ones in tote. We’ve come up with a step-by-step itinerary to help you tackle a park day at Magic Kingdom with your young child.

Besides a strategy on how to approach your day, we’ve also included helpful information and tips on visiting Disney World with small children.

Things to Do in Advance

Before you and your little one head to Magic Kingdom, you’re going to want to do some advanced planning. By following these simple steps, you’ll set yourself up to have a successful and magical day.

• In order to enter the park, you’ll need to have valid theme park tickets. We recommend purchasing your tickets from Get Away Today, our favorite Disney-approved reseller. Get Away Today offers the best discounts on Walt Disney World tickets. After purchasing your tickets, they will be sent to you electronically, making the process both easy and convenient. Depending on the age of your child, they may not need a ticket at all. Children ages 2 and younger get into the parks for free!
• Once your tickets are secured, you’ll want to download the My Disney Experience app. This app will be your go-to tool for the entirety of your Magic Kingdom day. On the app, you’ll be able to access your tickets, order food, check wait times, make reservations, view your photos, mobile checkout at stores, and manage Lightning Lane Passes.
• Before arriving, you should familiarize yourself with the park. On the app or Walt Disney World website, you can view maps, park hours, entertainment schedules, menus, and information about the rides and attractions.
• When the time comes, you’ll be able to make advanced reservations, if you so choose. Dining reservations and most Enchanting Extras can be booked 60 days in advance. Lightning Lane Passes can be reserved 7 days in advance for Guests staying on property and 3 days in advance for Guests staying off property.

Starting Your Day

Don’t forget that little ones wake up full of energy. Take advantage of that! By waking up early and getting a head start to the day, you’ll be able to accomplish a lot during your time at Magic Kingdom.

I recommend feeding your children before heading to the park. Unlike adults who can get by on a grab-and-go pastry or breakfast sandwich, coffee, or nothing at all in the morning, kids need the fuel of a good breakfast to keep themselves going. This is something that stays true throughout the day as well. In order to keep energy levels up and attitudes at bay, make sure that you take the time for proper meals and for lots of snacks in between.

It also saves valuable park time when you feed them beforehand. Whether they eat while everyone’s getting ready, at one of the hotel restaurants, or on the way to the park, you’ll be glad that you can immediately start doing activities when you get to Magic Kingdom.

Rope Drop

Now that everyone’s dressed and little tummies are full, it’s time to head to the Most Magical Place on Earth! Magic Kingdom usually opens at 8:00am or 9:00am. Park hours vary, so make sure that you check the app or website prior to your visit to make sure you have the correct time. 

Guests staying on property at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel are able to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry. This means that they’re allowed in the park 30 minutes before it opens up to the general public. While this isn’t a huge amount of time, I highly recommend taking advantage of this early access to get a head start on the day! This is a great time to get some of the more popular rides done before the lines start to build up.

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Making a Plan

Since Disney days can be unpredictable (and so can children), it’s almost impossible to make a step-by-step itinerary that you’ll without a doubt be able to follow to a tee. However, it’s still a good idea to have a general idea of what you’d like to do throughout the day.

Take a moment to figure out which rides and attractions are top priorities for you. When planning your day, we recommend taking into consideration the popularity of the rides as well. Since this itinerary is being made with small children in mind, we can luckily bypass some of the most popular Magic Kingdom rides due to height requirements. That being said, some of the more thrilling rides do have lower height requirements that some young children are able to meet. When planning your day, you’ll need to base your itinerary off of your child’s specific height.

The most popular Magic Kingdom rides that children are able to ride are:

• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (40”)
• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (38”)
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Jungle Cruise
• Haunted Mansion
• Big Thunder Mountain (40”)

These are the rides that you’re going to want to keep in mind when creating a plan for your day.

Tiana's Bayou Adventure

If your child is tall enough to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and it’s a ride that you want to ride, it should be considered your top priority. As Walt Disney World’s newest attraction, it’s an extremely popular ride. Currently, there are two ways to ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. You can either book a Lightning Lane Multi Pass or join a Virtual Queue.

Since the ride is in such high demand, the Lightning Lane passes tend to go quickly. If you aren’t able to secure a pass or aren’t wanting to pay for Lightning Lanes in general, you can try to get on this ride by joining the Virtual Queue.

There are two opportunities throughout the day to join the Virtual Queue – once at 7:00am and again at 1:00pm. Guests do not need to be inside Magic Kingdom to join the 7:00am queue, but do need to be in the park in order to join the 1:00pm queue.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

The next ride that you should be thinking about is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Again, this will be dependent on if your child is tall enough for the ride. If this is a ride that’s in the cards for you and your family, this is where you’re going to want to head as soon as you enter Magic Kingdom. The line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train gets extremely long almost instantly after the park opens and remains this way throughout the day. The best way to avoid a long line is to beat the crowds and make this your Rope Drop ride. If you don’t rope drop it, you’ll be left with two options – wait in a long line or pay to ride it with a Lightning Lane Single Pass.

Peter Pan's Flight

Peter Pan’s Flight is the next on our agenda. This is the first ride that we’re discussing with no height requirement that all kiddos are able to ride! The queue for Peter Pan’s Flight fills up extremely quickly and sees high wait times all day. While this classic Disney dark ride is cute, fun, and extremely nostalgic, some might say that the wait isn’t worth it. Not because it isn’t a good ride, but because it’s so short. Many can’t warrant waiting a long time for a ride that lasts just a little over 2 minutes.

That being said, Peter Pan’s Flight is available on Lightning Lane Multi Pass. If you’re utilizing the Lightning Lane service, this is one ride that you’ll want to try to reserve in advance. If you aren’t able to secure a reservation prior to your trip, it should be the first Lightning Lane that you try to book while you’re at the park. For those who aren’t using Lightning Lanes, if you don’t plan on rope dropping Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight should be the first ride that you head to in the morning. This will give you an opportunity to get in the line before it becomes extremely long.

Continuing Your Morning

After you’ve knocked out these initial rides, you’ll be able to move on with the rest of your morning. Keep in mind that there are still a few of the more popular rides that you’ll want to be thinking about as you plan the rest of your day.

Whether you’re using Lighting Lanes or not, you’re going to want to work through the rest of the day by balancing popular rides and “filler rides”. Filler rides are the ones that have lower wait times and can be used to fill in the time between the bigger name attractions. I also like to consider location when planning my day. A lot of time can be wasted by bouncing back and forth from one side of the park to the other.

To complete the rest of the most popular rides before they start to experience afternoon crowds, I would recommend heading to Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise, continuing to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (if your child is tall enough), and then finish off in Liberty Square by riding Haunted Mansion. After you’ve gotten all of the heavy hitters out of the way, you can focus on some other rides!

From Liberty Square, take a short walk to Fantasyland and enjoy an undersea adventure on Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid. Afterwards, continue to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Both of these dark rides are filled with familiar stories, popular characters, and are great for little kids. While these two rides aren’t on the list of most popular rides at Magic Kingdom, they too can rack up pretty long waits on a busy day. If you can get them done in the morning, prior to the lunch rush, it’s going to be a great day!

Magic Kingdom Lunch For Small Children

Speaking of lunch, those little tummies are most likely starting to grumble by now. There are multiple locations in Magic Kingdom that have great lunch offerings for children. For lunch, I’d recommend eating at a quick service location. This way, you can take a break, refuel, and continue your day without taking too much time away from activities. If you’d like to enjoy a full service sit down meal, I’d recommend doing this at dinner time instead. (Also, if you’re planning on doing a full service meal, make sure to get your dining reservation booked in advance!)

For lunch, I would recommend taking little ones to Casey’s Corner, Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, or Pinocchio Village Haus. At Casey’s Corner you’ll find hot dogs and mini corn dogs. Cosmic Ray’s offers chicken strips, mac & cheese, a grilled chicken sandwich, and a turkey sandwich kid’s pack. Pinocchio Village Haus has a pepperoni flatbread, chicken strips, a ham and cheese kid’s pack, and a turkey sandwich kid’s pack.

Kids can enjoy entertainment while eating at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café when Sonny Eclipse, an animatronic lounge lizard, performs some jazzy tunes. Additional entertainment is also available at Pinocchio Village Haus. Try your luck to score a seat by the big picture window. Rather than having views of the outside, you can see right down into the loading area of “it’s a small world”! Kids can enjoy waving to Guests as they pass by on their boats. Sometimes fun signs are even available to hold for the Guests to enjoy.

Afternoon Itinerary

When you’re ready to get back at it, head on over to Tomorrowland. Here you’ll ride Astro Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Astro Orbiter is a simple spinner ride like Dumbo, but the wait for this ride can get quite long. Kids love this version of the ride since it’s located up off of the ground. Your little one will feel like they’re flying over Tomorrowland as they take off in their spaceship. If you only have time for one of the spinner-style rides, try to prioritize this one as it’s more unique than the others.

Once you’ve finished these two rides, it’s a good time to head over to Adventureland. Next up on the list is Pirates of the Caribbean. While Pirates of the Caribbean is an extremely popular ride at Magic Kingdom, it doesn’t seem to struggle as much as others when it comes to keeping a low wait time. It’s not uncommon to see Pirates with a wait of 30 minutes or less. While you’re in Adventureland, you can also take your kiddo on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. This, again, is another spinner-style ride. If you’re not interested in riding all of them, that’s ok. Just pick which one you’d prefer to ride and prioritize that one.

By this point, it’s getting later in the day. Before heading off to dinner, swing by Fantasyland to fit in a couple smaller rides that your little one is sure to enjoy. “it’s a small world” and Prince Charming Regal Carrousel both offer relaxing fun and lower wait times. They’re also conveniently located right next to each other.

Magic Kingdom Dinner For Small Children

One fantastic dinner location for children at Magic Kingdom is Crystal Palace. In regards to food, this restaurant is perfect since it’s a buffet, providing multiple options for everyone – even the pickiest of eaters! Not only is the food sure to please at Crystal Palace, your kiddos can also enjoy the company of friends while they eat! Favorite friends from the Hundred Acre Wood walk around visiting Guests during their meal. Your little one can look forward to visits from Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore.

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant is another great dinner choice. Immersing kids in the middle of the movie The Lady and the Tramp, this restaurant provides a calm and relaxing atmosphere while serving up delicious Italian cuisine. Here, your child can enjoy dishes such as grilled chicken, spaghetti, mac & cheese, and pizza.

Evening Itinerary

After you finish dinner, it'll be the perfect time to go find a spot to watch the fireworks. It's quite common to leave Magic Kingdom once the fireworks are over. However, if your little one is able to stay up a bit longer, this is a great opportunity to get more accomplished. Since so many Guests leave after the nighttime spectacular, the wait times go down quite a lot.

The good news is, the remaining rides are all on the same side of the park and don’t usually get crazy long lines. Immediately after the fireworks, head over to Storybook Circus in Fantasyland. Here, your little one will be able to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant and The Barnstormer. Some children may not be able to ride The Barnstormer as it has a height requirement of 35”. However, those who are able to are in for a treat. This is a great beginner coaster for little ones and is sure to be even more exciting in the dark!

After these rides, you’re going to head back towards Tomorrowland. While you’re on your way there, you’re going to stop for a spin on Mad Tea Party. Once that ride is finished, and you make it to Tomorrowland, you’re going to ride your final two rides – Tomorrowland Speedway and Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. If you can, try to ride Tomorrowland Speedway first. This ride is exceptionally fun for little kids since they get a chance to drive a car! The PeopleMover makes for a fantastic final ride since it provides beautiful nighttime views of Magic Kingdom and is extremely relaxing. You’ll have no problem getting your kiddo ready to go to sleep after they wind down on this ride.

Fun For Children

After putting together an itinerary like this, it may seem like your day will only be filled with back-to-back rides. However, that’s not true at all! There will be plenty of opportunities for you and your child to enjoy other activities and even take time to play.

While it’s important to let your child take breaks and rest whenever they need to throughout the day, it’s equally important to let them play and get some energy out. Since they are continuously having fun with the park activities, it’s easy to forget that they’re not getting many chances to just run around and be kids. Luckily, there are multiple locations at Magic Kingdom where they can do just that.

If you go to Storybook Circus and enter the queue for Dumbo the Flying Elephant, you’ll find that there’s an indoor play area for young children. This area gives them a space to run around, climb, jump, and get all of their natural energy out. The best part about this area is that it’s air conditioned! While little ones play, grown ups get an opportunity to sit down and enjoy the cool air.

Right across from Dumbo the Flying Elephant is the Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station. As the name implies, this is a water play area. Kids love having the opportunity to splash around and cool off here, especially in the hot days of summer. If you’re on the opposite side of the park, kids can also get wet in Adventureland. Right outside of Jungle Cruise, there’s an area with tribal totems. These spit out water and mist and provide Guests with an opportunity to get wet. The camel in front of The Magic Carpets of Aladdin also spits water!

Magic Kingdom Characters

If your child loves characters, there’s a large number of character interactions that are available at Magic Kingdom. Besides character meals being available at Cinderella’s Royal Table, Crystal Palace, and Be Our Guest Restaurant, there are also many meet and greet opportunities.

Here’s a complete list of character meet and greets at Magic Kingdom:

• Belle – Enchanted Tales with Belle in Fantasyland
• Ariel – Ariel’s Grotto in Fantasyland
• Cinderella, Princess Tiana, and Guest Princesses (usually Rapunzel and Elena of Avalor) – Princess Fairytale Hall in Fantasyland
• Donald, Goofy, Daisy and Minnie dressed as Circus Stars – Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Fantasyland
• Character Greeting Near Buzz Lightyear’s Star Command in Tomorrowland (past meetings have been with Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, Buzz from the movie Lightyear, and Chip ‘n’ Dale in space costumes
• Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie – Adventureland
• Mickey Mouse – Town Square Theater on Main Street, U.S.A.
• Mirabel – Fairytale Garden in Fantasyland
• Peter Pan – Fantasyland
• Winnie the Pooh and Tigger – The Thotful Spot in Fantasyland

Entertainment

There’s also a variety of entertainment that kids are sure to enjoy. Multiple times throughout the day, a stage show takes place in front of Cinderella Castle called Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire. This show includes a plethora of characters, singing, dancing, and even a small amount of fireworks. More characters and music can also be enjoyed during the cavalcade and parade. Currently, Guests can enjoy the Disney Adventure Friends Cavalcade and Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade.

Make sure that you take time to enjoy Happily Ever After, the amazing fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, with your child. There’s something so special about Disney World fireworks and it makes it even more magical when you get to share that moment with your little one.

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