How to Make the Most of One Day in the Magic Kingdom
If you only have one day to dedicate to the Magic Kingdom during your vacation, there’s so much to cover from rides to shows. Here’s how to get the most out of one day in the Magic Kingdom!
Plan Out Your Must-Dos
First things first: talk to your travel party and prioritize which attractions, shows, and eats matter most to the group. This way, you can ensure that you squeeze in everyone’s favorite rides or book any advanced dining reservations you may need. Walk-ups aren’t common for the Magic Kingdom table service restaurants, especially Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest, so be sure to book your dining 60 days before your check-in date. We recommend using the Unlocked Magic Dining Reservation Finder to make this process a breeze!
Stay at a Magic Kingdom Resort
To make the most of your day, it helps to be as close to the park as possible. This way, you spend less time on transportation and more time enjoying the Magic Kingdom. The best places to stay for a day in the Magic Kingdom are the monorail loop resorts (Bay Lake Tower, the Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian) or Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge, which are just a ferry boat ride away from the park.
Take Advantage of Early Theme Park Entry
A perk of staying at a Disney Resort is that all Disney Resort guests can enter the theme parks 30 minutes before the official park opening to enjoy select attractions or merchandise and food and beverage locations. This is a great opportunity to ride a popular attraction or two, such as Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, before the lines become long.
Stay for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours
An additional benefit that’s specific to Deluxe Disney Resorts, like the DVC resorts, is Extended Evening Theme Park Hours in the Magic Kingdom, which gives guests two extra hours in the park after the official park closing. This gives you extra time to catch any attractions you may have missed during the day. Plus, lines tend to be shorter since there are fewer guests in the park. These extra hours typically fall on Mondays for the Magic Kingdom, but keep an eye on the schedule for specific dates and times. The extra hours will be available through the end of 2023.
Purchase Genie+/Individual Lightning Lanes
If Extended Evening Theme Park Hours are not offered on the night that you are visiting, or you’re not enough of a morning person to make it for Early Theme Park Entry, another option is to purchase Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes to help reduce your wait times, so you can ride more attractions in one day. These add-ons that you can purchase in the My Disney Experience app are the replacements for the former FastPass+ system, which helped you minimize wait times for attractions.
Genie+ is essentially a paid, digital version of FastPass+ that allows you to reserve a time slot to return to an attraction and have a minimal wait time. Top tier attractions like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are not included in Genie+ and are instead sold separately as Individual Lightning Lanes. Resort guests can begin making Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane selections in My Disney Experience at 7am the day they are visiting the park. More details on how to use Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes can be found here.
If you want to start planning your visit to the Magic Kingdom, check out some of the great confirmed reservations for the Magic Kingdom resorts at the DVC Rental Store, or look for future availability.
