Magic Kingdom for kids part 2

Now that we have had our nap or swim we can head back to the Magic Kingdom. Hopefully it will be around 3 or so and the worst of the afternoon heat has passed and we can enjoy our evening in the park. One thing you will notice is the people who are not staying on property will try to suffer through and stay the whole day but those with little ones will not make it. The crowds will remain pretty heavy until dinner time and then you will notice a pretty good decline in people with small children. These families think going into the day they can make the whole day but the crowds and heat will eventually take its toll. So here is how to attack your second half of the day.

1. When you first enter the Magic Kingdom head down Main Street USA and toward the end (before you get to the castle) on the left side you will see an information board. This board is constantly monitoring the wait times at the attractions and will list those wait times on the board. Go to the board and see what the wait times are for most of the rides to judge how crowded the park is or isn't. If most attractions are under 45 minutes you are in good shape so pick something and go for it.

2. If the wait times are really long then go to something that is a constant move ride. What I mean is that the vehicles are moving and the lines go quickly. I would suggest Pirates if the line is less than 30 minutes because the wait will be cool and sheltered. After that I would head over to the Tiki birds which some do not like but it is inside and cool and never has a line. Then head over to the Swiss Family Treehouse which is a walk through attraction so no line at all and it is pretty cool to see if you have never been. It is probably dinner time so check your reservation time and if you don't have one grab a quick bite to eat. Before you go to the meal grab a fastpass to Jungle Cruise which is usually about a 30-45 minute wait and come back to ride that after dinner.

3. After dinner come back use your fastpass to Jungle Cruise and ride Aladdin Magic Carpets. The magic carpet is the exact ride as Dumbo but instead of riding and elephant you guessed it magic carpet. Normal people would say we have done that already but kids are not normal and you will not escape so just get in line. The line here is normally 15-20 minutes so why it is like an hour at Dumbo who knows? Now you have completed Adventureland, Fantasyland, and part of Tommorowland you have two choices and it really depends on your kids and if they are daredevils?

4. Frontierland offers two of the best rides in the park in Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain railroad but both have minimum height requirements so make sure you check those out before you head over. My oldest daughter loves speed so these rides are a must do and she has loved them since she was 5 but my soon to be 5 year old hates them both! Please do not make them ride if they are scared because no one on the ride wants to hear a child screaming in fear it is heart wrenching. If these rides are both no gos for your family then you can head over to Liberty Square and ride Haunted Mansion and both my kids love it, but it took riding like 10 times before they weren't scared at all. We would ride and they would cover their ears and bury their heads in our lap until the ride was over. They never cried but they didn't look either and that is OK because parents can ride and enjoy while the kids hide their eyes.

5. If none of these are an option I would suggest story time with Belle which is a cute little show around the side of the castle with Beauty and the Beast. It is a quaint little show with no more that 50 or so people and the cast picks kids out of the audience to portray Chip, Lumiere, etc. from the movie and at the end of the little play you get to meet and take pictures with Belle. After that you could go see some characters for pictures, ride the tea cups, and stand in line to ride the race cars. All of these things are right beside each other so there will be limited walking and other than the race cars there will be minimal wait times! Do not wear yourself out because the best of Disney still awaits at dark!

The next topic will cover one of the greatest things you will ever see in your life with your children so do not miss this!