From the best fireworks spot to must-eat food, this Magic Kingdom two-day itinerary for adults will help you experience the best things at Disney’s Magic Kingdom!
My sister-in-law, her sister, and I recently visited Walt Disney World. We visited all four parks over three days.
We started our three days at EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. We used the park hopper pass to go to Magic Kingdom for the second half of two of the days.
Below, I’ve listed our itinerary for the two afternoons/evenings we spent in Magic Kingdom. I hope this itinerary helps you to experience all the best things to do at Disney’s Magic Kingdom!
Best place to stay for Magic Kingdom: Grand Floridian
For our trip to Walt Disney World, we stayed at Disney’s Grand Floridian.
Staying here was one of the best decisions of the trip. It was so luxurious. And the property was so relaxing to return to after a day at the parks.
Plus, by staying at the Grand Floridian, you can access Magic Kingdom by both monorail and a free boat ride. It made it so easy to get back and forth between the hotel and the park.
I highly recommend staying at the Grand Floridian when you visit Magic Kingdom. You can read my full review of the hotel here.
Day 1: Magic Kingdom Two-Day Itinerary
Figuring out the ride reservation process
Disney has introduced a fairly complex process for reserving rides. We made the mistake of trying to learn the process while we were actually in the parks.
Lesson Learned: We should have spent time learning the ride reservation process prior to going to the parks. We wasted some valuable time trying to figure it out.
To help you plan your own trip to Disney World, here’s what we learned about the ride reservation process:
You need to download the Disney Experience app.
The app allows you to book passes to get on rides faster (called “Lightning Lanes”).
In the app, the “Tip Board” in “My Disney Genie Day” gives you all the info you need.
This is where you get Lightning Passes.
Genie+ Lighting Lanes:
If you purchase Genie+ through the Disney Experience app, then you can reserve a Lightning Lane in advance for a ride. Disney changes the cost of Genie+ based on demand. It cost $20-$22 per person per day for us. You decide each day if you want to buy Genie+.
Individual Lightning Lanes:
Disney has some rides that are even more popular than others. These rides are not part of Genie+. If you want to use Lighting Lanes for these rides, you have to pay a separate amount per person per ride. I saw prices of around $11-$15 per person for these rides.
Virtual Queues:
There are some super, super popular rides that have Virtual Queues. Disney resort guests can enter the queue at 7AM to try to reserve that particular ride for the day. Disney changes which rides are in the Virtual Queues, but the Disney Experience app will tell you which rides currently have a Virtual Queue (such as Guardians of the Galaxy).
Hopefully, this information about the ride reservation process will help you as you plan your day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
EPCOT
For our trip to Disney World, we purchased park hopper passes.
We started the second day of our trip at EPCOT, with the plan to go to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon.
Lesson Learned: In the future, I’ll go to Magic Kingdom first and EPCOT later in the day. This is because many of the EPCOT shops and restaurants don’t open until 11AM.
After a morning and early afternoon indulging in all the delicious food at EPCOT (which you can read about here), we headed to Magic Kingdom.
Monorail to Magic Kingdom
Both EPCOT and Magic Kingdom are on the monorail. This makes it really convenient to transfer between these two parks.
So after calling it a day at EPCOT, we headed towards Magic Kingdom on the monorail!
Haunted Mansion
While we were on the monorail, we used our Genie+ to reserve a Lightning Lane for Haunted Mansion.
We arrived at Magic Kingdom at 5:10PM, which gave us plenty of time to reach the Haunted Mansion ride for our 5:45PM Lightning Lane reservation.
Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides at Disney World. I love the storytelling and old-style “haunted” decor used throughout the ride.
The ride unfortunately broke down a few times while we were on it. The stops weren’t too long and ended up adding to the “scary” ambiance of the ride, ha!
Pirates of the Caribbean
After we finished Haunted Mansion, we were able to get an immediate Lightning Lane reservation for Pirates of the Caribbean, so we headed toward that ride.
I always find this ride to be a lot of fun. The different scenes are interesting and I love a good boat ride!
Swiss Family Treehouse
Once we were done with Pirates of the Caribbean, we checked Lightning Lane times. The two rides we wanted to go on, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, didn’t have any reservations available until really late in the evening.
So we opted to just wander around Magic Kingdom for the rest of the night, jumping on rides without a queue.
After making this plan, our first stop was the Swiss Family Treehouse, which didn’t have any wait. The cool part about this attraction is that it has a bird’s eye view of Magic Kingdom. It’s fun to see the park from this viewpoint, especially at night, when attractions are lit up.
Spring Roll Cart
Then it was time for some food!
We had heard there was an amazing Spring Roll Cart on the edge of Adventureland, so we headed in that direction. Happily, Google Maps was very helpful in assisting us to find the location.
And the spring rolls did not disappoint!
I got cheeseburger spring rolls, which tasted like In-N-Out animal style. The spring rolls even had pickle relish in them.
I highly recommend stopping by the Spring Roll Cart when you’re in Magic Kingdom!
Fireworks
After our spring rolls, we decided to get in position for the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
The fireworks were at 8:15PM that night. We got to our spot at 7:30PM.
We located ourselves on the benches on the Tomorrowland Bridge.
While we had a decent view, it got pretty crowded and we did have to be in position 45 minutes before the show.
Our fireworks spot the next night was much, much better. (Read on below for the location!)
But the fireworks were amazing and I’m so glad that I got to experience them in person at Magic Kingdom.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
Once the fireworks were over, we rushed over to the PeopleMover. It was a good thing we did, because it was packed with a really long line when we left the ride.
This is a nice, relaxing ride. I love that it takes you through Space Mountain. This is a great ride to wind down the day.
Carousel of Progress
Next, we headed to the Carousel of Progress.
I was a little dubious about this ride. I thought I might fall asleep on a longer ride that doesn’t have much action.
But it ended up being pretty interesting. It’s one of the original rides that Walt Disney himself dreamed up, so it’s definitely worth seeing.
Silhouette Portraits Cart
At that point, we were done with rides for the day.
It was about 9:15PM, so we started heading towards the exit.
On the way, we passed the Silhouette Portraits Cart on Main Street and stopped to get our “shadow portraits” done. They turned out pretty cool.
Make-Your-Own Popcorn
Our last stop of the day in Magic Kingdom was make-your-own popcorn!
This spot can be found at the back of the Main Street Confectionary.
You choose a popcorn type (caramel, cheddar, or butter), syrup (milk, dark, or white chocolate), and toppings (such as Snickers, M&Ms, and other candies).
This was so good. Make sure to stop here while at Magic Kingdom!
Boat Ride to Grand Floridian
For the finale of the night, we took a lovely boat ride from Magic Kingdom back to our hotel, the Grand Floridian.
This was the perfect way to end the night. It was no extra cost and was a fun way to relax on the way back to the hotel.
Day 2: Magic Kingdom Two-Day Itinerary
Hollywood Studios
The next day, we started off at Hollywood Studios in the morning and headed to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon.
At Hollywood Studios, we loved the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride and the Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway ride.
You can find out more about our awesome day at Hollywood Studios here.
Ohana
This day, we had early dinner reservations for 4PM at the Polynesian Village Resort’s Ohana.
So before heading to Magic Kingdom, we took the shuttle bus from Hollywood Studios to the Polynesian.
Ohana has an all-you-care-to-enjoy meal filled with delicious things like savory noodles, potstickers, chicken wings, and bread pudding.
You’ll want to make your Ohana reservation in advance because spots do fill up quickly here.
Monorail to Magic Kingdom
The Polynesian Village Resort also has access to the Magic Kingdom by monorail or boat ride.
After dinner, we hopped on the monorail and headed to Magic Kingdom.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
We had booked advance Lightning Lane reservations for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, so headed there as soon as we got to Magic Kingdom.
We got to the park at 6:30PM and made it to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in time for our 7:00PM Lightning Lane reservation.
This is one of the more thrilling of Disney’s roller coasters and is a lot of fun. We rode it after dark, which added another element of surprise, as we twisted around dark corners.
Dole Whip
We ate a lot at Ohana, but I couldn’t go to Disney World without having some Dole Whip.
After Big Thunder Mountain Railway, we stopped at Aloha Isle Refreshments for some delicious Dole Whip.
There was zero line 7:30PM, so I had Dole Whip in hand almost immediately. Delicious.
Jungle Cruise
Our next Lightning Lane reservation wasn’t until 9:20PM on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Since that was about two hours away, we went on some other rides that didn’t have any queues.
Our first stop was Jungle Cruise. This is an oldie but a goodie. It’s fun to me how the Disney cast members really get into their roles.
Best spot to see fireworks at Magic Kingdom
After Jungle Cruise, we headed back to a spot we had seen earlier that night, which we thought would have a really good view of the fireworks.
The spot is in Frontierland, on the wooden walkway between Tom Sawyer Island and the Westward Ho snack bar.
This spot has a fantastic view of the fireworks! It’s not crowded and you can see the fireworks reflected in the nearby water.
You’ll love seeing the Magic Kingdom fireworks here!
It’s a Small World
After the fireworks were over, we hopped on the It’s a Small World ride.
My friends had been to the Disneyland version but wanted to see the Disney World version.
The ride was better than I remembered. It was fun identifying each of the different countries as we passed through the ride.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Then it was time for our 9:20PM Lightning Lane reservation at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!
This was a fun roller coaster, too. Since it is a newer coaster, the ride is a little smoother than some of the older Disney World roller coasters. There are also more visuals and storytelling throughout the coaster, which makes it fun.
I was also thrilled to use a Lightning Lane pass for this ride because I remember waiting for hours when this ride first opened.
Peter Pan’s Flight
After the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, we headed to Peter Pan’s Flight. There was no line at 10:00PM at night. A great reason to head to the park during the second half of the day!
I love that this is an aerial ride, with brightly colored visuals popping out in the dark. It’s like watching a bedtime story come alive.
Make-Your-Own Popcorn
And for our final stop at Magic Kingdom, we headed to Main Street Confectionary one more time. We couldn’t leave without having another round of make-your-own popcorn!
I got butter popcorn both times but switched from milk to dark chocolate syrup (not much difference), and Snickers to Twix (I preferred the Snickers) for this round.
Still delicious! Definitely one of the best food items at Magic Kingdom!
Boat Ride to Grand Floridian
Popcorn in hand, we headed to the boat launch area to take the boat back to the Grand Floridian.
It was a great way to end a wonderful day.
I hope this Magic Kingdom two-day itinerary will help you to plan an incredible trip to Walt Disney World.
I had an amazing time and hope you do, too!
Have a comment or a question? I’d love to hear from you! Visit me on Instagram at eastbymidwest or send me an email at pam@eastbymidwest.com.
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