With the most rides of any park at Walt Disney World, you’re bound to skip something at Magic Kingdom. That’s just a reality if you only have a day or two in the park, as it’s impossible to see and do everything. This top 10 list covers the ‘controversial’ borderline ones that fans often recommend first-timers avoid with our perspective on what to do and not do.
Let’s start by addressing why some fans say you should avoid certain attractions. The first is popularity and wait times. Specifically, are certain rides “worth it” in terms of the long lines they command or do they fall short of the hype and leave guests saying “that’s it?!” at the end.
The second is age or datedness. Walt Disney World’s first park was Magic Kingdom, and that’s now over 50 years old and still has some opening day attractions. In our view, many are classics that stand the test of time; in the view of many first-timers, they can be antiquated. The challenge is determining which attractions have lasted so long for good reason, and what’s just managed to evade replacement over the decades.
The final one is quality or uniqueness. Things that anyone with limited time could skip because they don’t bring enough to the table. Rides you could find elsewhere, and don’t require the innovation or excellence of Walt Disney Imagineers to pull off. However, even some of these are classics–there’s nothing that’s necessary special about Mad Tea Party or Dumbo.
But are you really going to visit Walt Disney World and not fly high on the back of the eponymous elephant?! Same goes with the teacups. The photos alone make both worth doing! It’s a similar story with “it’s a small world.” Sure, the earworm song played on repeat may get stuck in your head and the dead-eyed dolls are nightmare fuel…but are you really going to miss out on something that has so permeated pop culture? (Nightmares build character.)
Suffice to say, choosing the rides to skip in Magic Kingdom can be more difficult than meets the eye. With that in mind, here are the attractions we usually skip in Magic Kingdom…
Magic Kingdom Attractions We Skip
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
Magic Kingdom is home to three spinner rides, which is a lot of the same ride system that simply flies around in circles. Of these, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin is the most skippable.
Very few families will do all three. If you’re only going to do one or two, the “hooks” of Dumbo and Astro Orbiter are better. This does offer the chance to ride a magic carpet above Adventureland, so there’s that, but it’s less impressive than that might sound and there’s little (if any) suspension of disbelief.
Most small children won’t even think they’re actually flying on a magic carpet. Obviously this is a sample size of one, but our daughter (Megatron) is a toddler who loves Dumbo, but the Magic Carpets of Aladdin isn’t even on her radar. We can walk right past it (and we do!) without her even batting an eye at the “flying” carpets. (Probably should add a “knock on wood” as I’d like this trend to continue!)
Monsters Laugh Floor
This spot was previously occupied by the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which is still the most skippable Fantasyland dark ride for most families, especially given its quality vs. average wait times. However, our daughter has become part of Pooh’s Posse, and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is now a nonnegotiable for us. My appeals to logic, and the argument that Pooh’s rides at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland are superior, are unpersuasive to a toddler.
Since its debut, we’ve been defenders of Monsters Laugh Floor. We’ve long argued that the interactivity usually works, and humor that appeals to a wide range of audiences. Repeatability is above-average, as the jokes change depending upon the audience. It can be a lot of fun, and we used to do it all the time.
Admittedly, that has changed in the last ~5 years. Even before Megatron, who we try to keep as screen-free as possible (an impossible task at theme parks, but this is wholly screen-based). We went from doing Monsters Laugh Floor most visits to Magic Kingdom to maybe doing it once per year.
The last time Sarah and I did Monsters Laugh Floor together was at least 4 years ago. We don’t necessarily have a strong aversion to it, we’ve just lost interest. The novelty has worn off a bit and the attraction is showing its age. It seems unlikely that Monsters Laugh Floor will continue to exist post-Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which is probably for the best. Time has passed it by.
Tomorrowland Speedway
The silver lining of Cars Land replacing Rivers of America is that it means Tomorrowland Speedway is on borrowed time. There’s just too much overlap between the Cars rides and this, and the new attraction will make this look even more archaic by comparison. At least, that’s my hope.
We dread the day that our daughter learns Tomorrowland Speedway exists. Worse yet, that like so many kids, she falls in love with the wish fulfillment ride that puts little ones in the driver’s seat and lets them race into the future. Well, not so much ‘the future’ as a past that predicted we’d all be stuck on noisy and stinky roads with poor drivers. So basically, the present.
The ride is loud and the exhaust fumes are awful. As someone who doesn’t have any brain cells to spare, doing Tomorrowland Speedway and getting dumber with each ride probably isn’t the wisest move. Adding insult to (cognitive) injury, it’s absolutely nothing special; Tomorrowland Speedway is a dime-a-dozen go-cart ride that you can find just about anywhere.
On the other hand, Tomorrowland Speedway is a rite of passage attraction. For kids, sitting in the driver’s seat and steering through a car course is really cool. It’s an attraction that’s really memorable and repeatable, and (for parents like us) that presents a bit of a dilemma. For everyone without small children, Tomorrowland Speedway is an easy skip. It’s not even a remotely close call.
Swiss Family Treehouse
I hate including Swiss Family Treehouse on the list, as I love the idea of this attraction and that it’s managed to survive for so long. Its existence in the middle of Walt Disney World’s busiest theme park is improbable, and I appreciate the escapism it offers.
Swiss Family Treehouse is really well done, and a nice reminder of a different era at Walt Disney World. With that said, and at the risk of offending its diehard fans, we usually skip the treehouse. I know I’m probably going to get my “Parks Purist” card taken away, but the last time we did this together was several years ago.
Skipping Swiss Family Treehouse will probably make sense to a lot of first-timers and infrequent guests. You’re already likely to log over 15,000 steps, which is far more than at home. Do you really want to add several flights of stairs to that total? It’s just a lot to add, and result in hitting a wall faster or being too tired to keep going earlier.
I still love that the Swiss Family Treehouse exists and recognize that it would never be built today. And with this being the closest thing to a “play area” in Magic Kingdom now, I’m sure we’ll stop skipping it at some point in the future when Megatron needs to burn off some steam!
Barnstormer
One of my Walt Disney World “confessions,” for lack of a better term, is that I sometimes ride Barnstormer to pad my stats when doing research runs. I don’t enjoy Barnstormer at all and it’s awkward to do as a solo adult man, but if you time it right, it can take under 3 minutes from entering the queue to exiting to add a ride to your count. It’s the attraction with the lowest time commitment, even better than Mad Tea Party or Dumbo.
And that’s precisely the problem. Barnstormer is over as fast as it begins, with a short duration, lackluster visuals, and overall unsatisfying experience being its key characteristics. Unless you are a small child who is too short for other coasters, Barnstormer is skippable. It fulfills its role as a rite-of-passage roller coaster, but does the bare minimum to check that box. If it weren’t for that, we’d say everyone should skip Barnstormer.
Astro Orbiter
We do Astro Orbiter more often than Magic Carpets of Aladdin, but not by much. The issue is almost the same–how many spinners do you really need to do?
Our rides on Astro Orbiter for personal enjoyment are always strategic, and we seldom ride during the daylight hours. That’s because the line is long, boring, slow-moving, and entirely unshaded. Astro Orbiter is not the least bit worth it, especially during the day when Dumbo is the superior alternative.
After dusk, it can be a totally different story. Tomorrowland is awash with neon glow and pulsating with kinetic energy, from the swoosh of the TRON Lightcycles to the gentle gliding of the TTA PeopleMover. Pair that with Astro Orbiter having little to no wait and the ride can be an unexpected delight at night.
Honorable Mention: Space Mountain
I would never skip Space Mountain. Sarah always would. Consequently, I skip Space Mountain when we travel together and ride it repeatedly when it’s just me. For her, the problem with Space Mountain is the roughness of the ride, which is physically uncomfortable and headache-inducing. She views Space Mountain as an antiquated thrill ride that time has passed by.
I’m the exact opposite. If I were forced to choose between TRON Lightcycle Run and Space Mountain, and could only ride one of the two for the rest of my life, I’d pick Space Mountain. To be sure, that’s the objectively incorrect pick. And one I might end up regretting once age catches up with me and Space Mountain starts hurting my back and giving me headaches.
For me, it mostly comes down to nostalgia. Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom was the ultimate rite of passage for me when I was a kid, and I’ve loved it ever sense. When we started visiting together (back before it got the best of her), we’d ‘loop’ Space Mountain repeatedly at the end of Extra Magic Hours. There are days when we rode it a dozen times.
I love the old school effects in the queue, star tunnel music, dual track layout, and even the post-show scenes. It’s the most complete version of Space Mountain from start to finish, and that plus nostalgia scores it big points in my book. I’m pleased the PeopleMover goes through Space Mountain, because someday that’ll be how I get my “fix” once my body starts saying no to the herky-jerky wild mouse coaster.
“Borderline” Magic Kingdom Rides We Never Miss
Peter Pan’s Flight
We love Peter Pan’s Flight. It’s a truly timeless ride and flying high over London and Neverland never gets old. The first scene is arguably one of the most iconic in all of Walt Disney World–I still remember it from when I was a kid.
The problem is that Peter Pan’s Flight commands long lines and high wait times, while also being very dated. It feels very much like a ride from the 1970s, and the substance of it hasn’t been updated much. So it’s jarring to go from newer rides with smooth tracks and awe-inspiring Audio Animatronics to the jerky ships and static figures of Peter Pan’s Flight.
There are few attractions at Walt Disney World with greater potential for “that’s it?!” reactions from first-timers exiting after waiting over an hour. We’d never wait that long for it (always do it during Early Entry, via Lightning Lane or at the end of the night) and recognize that it’s a “warts and all” classic.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
This is the attraction we do more than any other at Walt Disney World. On the one hand, I love the PeopleMover for the laid back experience it offers. On the other hand, there are so many opportunities for plussing the show scenes, narration, and atmosphere. At its core, the TTA PeopleMover is a leisurely transportation attraction, but little fixes could elevate it into so much more.
While its unrealized potential bothers me, we love that the Peoplemover “forces” us to slow down, decompress, and converse. It’s the ultimate change of pace attraction, and for us, it presents the perfect opportunity to embrace why we visit Walt Disney World in the first place: to have fun together.
The TTA PeopleMover is whatever you want it to be. If you want a place to enjoy the nighttime ambiance of Tomorrowland, it’s that. If you want an attraction for socializing, it can be that. If you want to get off your feet and feel a nice breeze, it’s that. If you want a leisurely place to catch up on work emails, it can be that. However, if you want a ride that actively engages and wows you with thrills, Audio Animatronics, or scenes to see…it’s definitely not that.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
This is the second longest line at Magic Kingdom, with an average wait time range of 65 to 120 minutes. Much of that line is outdoors in the sun, making it feel even less pleasant. After TRON Lightcycle Run, it’s the newest ride in the park–even though it’s a decade old. It’s still the newest family-friendly thrill ride. That alone goes a long way in explaining its popularity.
Despite its popularity among the park-going public, we’d argue that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is underrated among Walt Disney World fans–and is a modern classic! This family roller coaster’s strengths are its Audio-Animatronics, themed design, music, and novelty level. Its biggest weakness is its duration followed, for some, by its lack of intensity (leading to “that’s it?!” reactions).
We usually do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train either during Early Entry (although that can be a gamble) or at the end of the night (always a surefire success). Waiting less than 20 minutes and not in the direct sunlight makes the whole package of the ride much more enjoyable. If we had to wait 2 hours during the middle of the day…we wouldn’t!
Carousel of Progress
No attraction better exemplifies the tension between fans and first-timers. If you’re new to Walt Disney World, you might hear the emphatic praise for Carousel of Progress from people like me, and be shocked to see it yourself. You might even think you’ve been Punk’d. Why does anyone love these dated robots talking about the past, and a version of the future that is also, pretty much, the past?!
Carousel of Progress has a rich history, and although that’s part of its place as an undeniable classic, that only plays a small part in why I love it so much. First of all, there’s personal nostalgia. I remember frequent visits here as a child. Thanks to that, the Carousel of Progress family feels like actual family.
That feeling also exists, and even endures, because the Carousel of Progress characters have so much character. This is something I’ll get into more with the next attraction, but I’m really drawn to attractions that develop their characters, and give them personality.
Probably more than any other attraction at Walt Disney World, the ‘Progress’ family has this, and it’s always enjoyable to grow old with them, so to speak. This is the big thing, and why we recommend Carousel of Progress even to first-timers–because it still “clicks” with a good number of them, so long as they know what to expect.
Honorable Mention: Country Bear Musical Jamboree
The original Country Bear Jamboree would’ve made this list for us, but the new version wouldn’t. However, our daughter absolutely loves CBMJ. Megatron is a Country Bear connoisseur, having now seen the original show, Country Bear Vacation, Country Bear Christmas, and Country Bear Musical Jamboree.
She loves each and every single version, but Country Bear Musical Jamboree gets the biggest reaction out of her thanks to the more recognizable music. Beyond that, she loves the bears, themselves. Country Bear Musical Jamboree is one of Megatron’s favorite Disney attractions in the world…which also makes it one of our favorites, and one we never skip as a family.
As a whole, this list of attractions to avoid and not skip at Magic Kingdom comes down to setting expectations. From the above descriptions, hopefully you have a better idea of whether Carousel of Progress or Space Mountain or Swiss Family Treehouse is right for you. There’s no one size-fits-all answer to any of this, but hopefully the above gives you a better idea of what might “click” for you and what definitely won’t, and you can make personalized judgment calls on that basis!
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Your Thoughts
Which attractions do you skip at Magic Kingdom? Are there are rides that you recommend first-timers to Magic Kingdom don’t do or actively avoid? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!