Chapter 11: Getting Acquainted with Walt Disney World
Table 11-4
Other Walt Disney World Ticket Prices
Ages 3–9
Ages 10+
Typhoon Lagoon & Blizzard Beach
$28
$34
DisneyQuest
$28
$34
Pleasure Island
N/A
$21
Wide World of Sports Complex
$7.25
$9.80
WDW considers everyone 10 and older an adult, and the prices that I give
you don’t include 6.5 percent sales tax. Also, fluctuating attendance fig-
ures and new multimillion dollar rides continue to escalate the single-day
admission fee. (It’s now $60 for adults, $48 for kids 3–9, but I expect that
price to continue rising, so check before your trip for up-to-the-minute
costs.) You can save an average of 10 percent off the regular prices of all
passes by ordering online in advance at www.disneyworld.com.
As with many of the attractions in the area and across the state, Florida
residents can take advantage of additional and special savings. Inquire
about these savings when ordering your tickets.
The average family will spend $100 to $125 per person per day on park
admissions, midday food, snacks, and souvenirs alone.
Getting the Most Out of Your Trip to the World
The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney–MGM Studios usually open at
9 a.m. (sometimes earlier) throughout the year. They’re open at least
until 6 or 7 p.m. and often as late as 11 p.m. or midnight during peak peri-
ods (holidays and the summer months). Animal Kingdom usually opens
at 8 or 9 a.m. and closes at 5 or 6 p.m. It’s a safe bet that the longer a park
stays open, the more people visiting that day, so planning your schedule
before you get to the park is essential. Unfortunately, hours of operation
vary greatly, so it’s always wise to call % 407-934-7639 ahead of time, or
to check the official calendar on Disney’s Web site at www.disneyworld.
com. When you arrive at the park, pick up a Times and Information guide
to use for the rest of your stay.
Beating the lines
Everyone’s looking for a shortcut, and no wonder — lines at Disney and
the other big parks can be incredibly long and irritating if you come at
the wrong time. Twenty minutes is considered cruising when it comes
to line time, and 45 minutes to one hour is common at the primo rides,
unless you use FASTPASS. In peak periods — summer, holidays, week-
ends, and other times when kids are out of school — it can take an hour,
sometimes longer, to reach the front of the line and in three or four min-
utes, the ride is over.
176 Part IV: Exploring Walt Disney WorldHere are the best tips I can give you to beat the long lines:
Come during off-season periods.
Arrive as early as possible — the crowds pour in beginning at
around 11 a.m. and only get worse from there.
Plan to spend the morning in one section, and the afternoon in
another. That way, you won’t waste time and energy running back
and forth.
Spend two days in the park if time and your budget allow.
Ask about or read the health and height restrictions before you get
in line to avoid wasting time on a ride that isn’t for you.
Disney parks have tip boards that provide up-to-the-minute infor-
mation on show times and ride waits. You can find the boards at
Main Street, U.S.A., near Casey’s Corner in the Magic Kingdom, on
Hollywood Boulevard near the entrance to Sunset Boulevard in
Disney–MGM Studios, in the southwest quadrant of Innoventions
Plaza near Epcot’s Future World Fountain, and in Discovery Island at
Animal Kingdom.
Don’t want to stand in line as long as other guests, yet not flush enough
to hire a stand in? Disney parks have installed a ride-reservation system
called FASTPASS where you go to the primo rides, feed your theme-park
ticket into a small slot, and get an assigned time to return. When you do,
you get into a short line and climb aboard. Here’s the drill:
Hang on to your ticket stub when you enter and head to the hottest ride
you want. If it’s a FASTPASS attraction (they’re noted in the guide map
you get when you enter), feed your stub into the waist-level ticket taker.
Retrieve your ticket stub and the FASTPASS stub that comes with it.
Look at the two times stamped on the latter. You can return during that
one-hour window and enter the ride with almost no wait. In the mean-
time, you can do something else until the appointed time.
Note: Early in the day, your one-hour window may begin 40 minutes after
you feed the FASTPASS machine, but later in the day it may be hours,
especially at Epcot’s Test Track (see Chapter 13). Initially, Disney allowed
you to do this reservation system on only one ride at a time, but now,
your FASTPASS ticket has a time when you can get a second FASTPASS,
usually two hours later, even if you haven’t yet used the first pass. And
be prepared, FASTPASS tickets do run out. They are limited in quantity
and often run out by noon so be sure to get yours as soon as you can.
Using E-Ride tickets
The Magic Kingdom’s E-Ride Nights — a three-hour window after regular
closing time where you can ride that park’s nine most popular rides, such
as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear’s
177Chapter 11: Getting Acquainted with Walt Disney World
Space Ranger Spin, as many times as you want — are a bargain for Disney
hotel guests who are persistent enough to track down tickets. Characters
wander the park to pose with visitors, and some shops and fast-food
restaurants stay open. Better still, Disney admits only 5,000 guests (about
20 percent of the normal day’s park attendance) into the park on E-Ride
Nights.
E-Ride tickets cost $12 adults, $10 kids 3 to 9 and are sold on a first-come,
first-served basis at the Guest Relations desks in the Disney hotels and at
the Magic Kingdom ticket window (the latter sells them only on the day
of the E-Ride Night). In order to purchase an E-Ride ticket, you will be
required to show a Disney Resort Guest ID or proof of stay at an Official
Hotel, and a valid multiday admission pass. After 4 p.m. on the day of
your E-Ride Night, take your ticket and park admission pass to one of
three locations — City Hall on Main Street, U.S.A.; Splashdown Photo in
Frontierland; or Tomorrowland Arcade — to get a special wristband that
you must wear in order to remain in the park after closing. Call % 407-
934-7639 for details and dates when E-Ride Nights are scheduled.
Taking advantage of Extra Magic Hours
Each day a particular park offers either admittance one hour early or up
to three hours after closing for Disney Resort Guests and those staying
at an Official Hotel. To take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, your
ticket must be good for the participating park or you must have the Park
Hopper option (allowing you to enter any of the four major parks). At
press time, the Magic Hours schedule was: Magic Kingdom, Sunday and
Thursday; Animal Kingdom, Monday and Friday; Disney–MGM Studios,
Tuesday and Saturday; and Epcot, Wednesday. Get a show schedule
when entering the park
Getting a show schedule (it’s part of the handout guide map) as soon
as you enter the park is essential. Spend a few minutes looking it over,
noting where you need to be and when. Many of the attractions in Walt
Disney World are nonstop, but others occur only at certain times or
once a day. You can find maps and schedules at counters on one side
or the other of the turnstiles; sometimes at both. They’re also found at
most Disney shops.
Avoiding the Crowds
Crowds are a fact of life at Walt Disney World, but that doesn’t necessar-
ily mean you’ll have to stand in long lines at all the rides and attractions.
Forward thinkers can definitely decrease their risk of encountering a
major swarm of tourists. In addition to FASTPASS (see the section “Beating
the lines,” earlier in this chapter), here are some facts to keep in mind as
you plan your crowd-avoiding strategy:
178 Part IV: Exploring Walt Disney WorldMondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are the busiest days in The
Magic Kingdom. Tuesdays and Fridays are the busy days at Epcot.
Sundays and Wednesdays are crowded at Disney–MGM Studios,
and Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are beastly at Animal
Kingdom.
Although it isn’t guaranteed, the parks tend to be less crowded
from mid-April (or after the Easter Holidays) to late May and from
September through November, except for Thanksgiving. You also
have a better chance of avoiding crowds if you go in the middle of
the week. Also, while most people steer clear on rainy days, the
parks can be less crowded, and you won’t miss much other than
parades. (There’s plenty of good stuff indoors.)
Finally, if you dine at Disney, make Advanced Dining Reservations
early in the day, or before you arrive at the park, to lock in the time
you want to eat. (See Chapter 10 for more on Advanced Dining
Reservations.)
Chapter 12Magic Kingdom
In This Chapter
Locating resources and services in Magic Kingdom
Checking out the fun: rides, shows, and attractions
I
f you have kids or a soft spot for vintage or classic Disney, make your
way to this WDW signature park first. Magic Kingdom is the most
popular of Mickey’s enterprises, attracting more than 40,000 people a
day, with good reason. Be prepared for long lines, and lots of ’em.
Proof of the staying power of Magic Kingdom lies in the fact that the
park has changed very little during its 30-plus years of existence. Most
of its newer attractions, such as Mickey’s PhilharMagic, are hardly the
adrenaline generators you encounter at other theme parks, but Magic
Kingdom remains the fairest of them all.
Managing Magic Kingdom Logistics
Yes, you can find rides, shows, and characters galore, but you also need
to know some practical items about Magic Kingdom. This section gives
you the lowdown on prices, hours, and services.
Buying tickets and making reservations
Ticket prices (at printing time) for a one-day admission are $60 for
adults, $48 for kids 3 to 9, but these change frequently, so call ahead.
(See Chapter 11 for more information on park admission prices.)
Tickets aren’t the only thing you’ll spend big bucks on. Magic Kingdom
(and the other parks) nails you to the tune of $2 or more for a soda
or milk, $1.25 to $2 for bottled water, $2.40 for an ice-cream bar, and
$1.70 for a cup of coffee or cocoa. Note: If you’re on a tight budget,
whenever you can, bring bottled water from the outside world, where
you can often get an entire six-pack of bottles (freeze them the night
before so they’re really cold) for less than just two bottles at the parks.
A big bag of snacks costs far less and go a lot further as well.
When you first show up, make your Advanced Dining Reservations
immediately (if you haven’t done so before arriving) if you want to have
180 Part IV: Exploring Walt Disney WorldMagic Kingdom
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