Sometimes you don’t have a full day to dedicate to Magic Kingdom. Maybe your flight didn’t arrive in time, or maybe you are at EPCOT waiting for your virtual que return time for Guardians. Either way, can you still have a good day when you can’t get to the Magic Kingdom until after 4 pm?

Yes! And here’s how.

1. Do not buy Genie +

Yes, you read that right. This is the only time I will recommend you not bother to buy Genie + for Magic Kingdom. (For a full day it’s really helpful.) You aren’t going to buy it because you will not need it. We are going to use a whole ‘nother strategy.

2. Do not get on any ride with a long wait time when you arrive

Trust the process, young grasshopper. Now is the time to do the People Mover, Hall of Presidents, Monsters Laugh Floor, or Carousel of Progress. The key is to knock out some things that you want to do, but only things that don’t have long waits. (Don’t worry. I will get you on Peter Pan, later. I promise.)

3. Mobile order food at Columbia Harbour House

We are choosing this restaurant because if you mobile order and eat it upstairs, you can eat quickly and still have a great view, away from those crowds. The key to the Perfect day is time management and crowd management. We are using our time wisely and avoiding those crowds that slow us down.

4. Did someone say Haunted Mansion? Let’s ride! (But beware. A ghost will follow you the rest of the night)

I can’t resist the Haunted Mansion. Any perfect day requires me to ride it at least twice. What can I say? I am greedy. This time of day is perfect for hitchhiking ghosts and us. The waits are usually right around 30 minutes, which is much lower than the over 60 you will see earlier in the day.

5. Main Street, USA

What’s this? You haven’t shopped or seen the Castle? We must have both on the perfect half day. Wander up to the hub and take some pics. Go into all the shops on Main street and grab a treat from the Bakery. The crowds are going to be much lower at this time of the day. Catch the Adventure Friends Cavalcade as it rolls by. Enjoy just being at the Magic Kingdom. It is good to be you today!

6. Ride or do anything that has a lower wait

It should be about 7 pm at this point. Check out the Disney app and see what’s available that is not too time consuming. We are not going to stake out a spot for the Fireworks tonight, because that takes about 1-2 hours of our precious half day. We are going to be doing things while people are sitting and waiting. Now is a great time to ride It’s A Small World, The Little Mermaid, and Pirates, then grab a dole whip and people watch. Is that not perfect, or what?

7. Head to Splash Mountain Bridge at 9:10 pm

You read that right. 9:10 pm for Fireworks. We are going to watch them from behind the Castle, but we are strategically placed for Big Thunder and Splash Mountain. (I am setting you up for success, can you tell?) They pipe in the sounds so you’ll hear the whole thing, and it’s pretty cool to see the fireworks popping off to your left. It feels more like a 4th of July celebration, and no crowds. Win-win.

8. Enchantment is over-You are doing Big Thunder and Splash Mountain

I legit walked right onto both. Is there anything better than Big Thunder at night, with the view of the Magic Kingdom and the Castle?

9. Next up: Haunted Mansion and Winnie the Pooh

The waits are going to be really low still. The crowds run to Big Thunder and Splash, but you are a Disney baller and you’ve got those done. If you don’t like Winnie (for one, we can’t be friends, and two, why?) then try Peter Pan if it’s not too bad. When the fireworks are done, you’ve got about an hour to knock out the crazy long line rides before the crowds are back, and Peter Pan is no exception.

10. The EPIC Ending: Peter Pan and Mine Train

Peter Pan’s wait will be about 45 mins. I hate to wait for a short ride for anything longer than 30 mins, but if it’s on your perfect day, then Peter Pan it is. The key to this whole thing is to leave yourself at least ten minutes before park close so that you can bipity-bopity-boo yourself onto Mine Train. As long as you are in line before the clock strikes 11, you are in like Flynn, baby. Why pay $12 a person to ride Mine Train when you can do it at night for free? I have done this almost every night at Magic Kingdom and I have never waited for longer than 30 minutes with this strategy. You’re welcome. (And I will see you in that line then!)

Congratulations! You just had the perfect half day at Magic Kingdom, and you didn’t have to spend extra to do it, either. Now that the park is closed, you can do anything non-ride related. Whatever you do, do not leave the park at park close. Your perfect half day will be ruined by the crowds all leaving at the same time. Visit Main Street. Linger. Let them kick you out. You’ve only had a half day here. Soak up every last second and wander out when you want to wander out.

Here is how my perfect half day went. I promise you that you can do this, too!

• Arrived at Magic Kingdom at 4pm. Caught the Rainy Day Cavalcade on Main Street USA. (The Festival of Fantasy Parade was canceled due to rain. But rain does not stop a perfect half day. We roll on.)
• Went on Carousal of Progress twice. (They have new clothes. I filmed a YouTube and then watched it again purely for my own happiness.)
• Went on the People Mover and enjoyed the new narration. (Catch my YouTube of that at the end of the post)
• Mobile Ordered from Columbia Harbour House and ate at a table facing the Haunted Mansion.
• Rode the Haunted Mansion (wait time was 20 mins). Went on It’s A Small World with a ten minute wait. Walked over to The Little Mermaid and rode that because I was stuffed to the gills (pun intended). Wait time was 20 minutes, which was longer that Small World, oddly enough.
• Wandered down Main Street and into the shops. Said Hello to my Castle.
• Veered to the left to ride Pirates, then stopped for a Coconut Dole Whip float, then walked down by the Tree House and ate there, watching the crowds head to Main Street to stake out their spot for Enchantment. It was then that I decided that the cure for my depression is clearly a coconut dole whip and people watching at the Magic Kingdom.

• Rode Pirates again (I am greedy, as already stated) then was on the Splash Mountain bridge at 9:10 pm.
• Watched Enchantment and oh-ed and aw-ed.
• Rode Big Thunder as a WALK ON. Really, I could have rode it again but went to Splash and walked onto that. Total wait time for both rides? Zero minutes.
• Rode Haunted Mansion as a WALK ON.
• Rode Winnie the Pooh with a five minute wait.
• Went back to the People Mover instead of Peter Pan because I wanted to film the new narration at night for YouTube. (This was the second greatest part of my night. Dole whip, you are number 1, baby.)
• Got in line for Mine Train at 10:45 and was on the ride by 11:05 pm.

Pros:

• I got to do everything I wanted to do. The only thing I didn’t ride was Peter Pan only because I choose to ride the People Mover again.
• I didn’t feel rushed, and I wasn’t constantly waiting for my next Genie +. I went where I wanted to go, when I wanted to go.
• I did not get annoyed by people at all on my prefect half day, because I was not a part of long lines or big-waiting-on-fireworks-crowds. You ever have days when you just can’t do people? Today was that day for me, so it was perfect.
• I didn’t spend very much money. I didn’t have to pay extra for the rides and was so relaxed and happy I just enjoyed being at the Magic Kingdom, without having to buy stuff. It was a “pinch-me-I-am-so-blessed-to-be-here” kind of day.

Cons:

• I would rather catch Enchantment from in front of the Castle. I missed the projections. But since I am a local, I am blessed to be able to go whenever I want, so it was a good trade off for me. If you are only visiting once a year, you might have to choose between rides and an Enchantment view. It all depends on what you think is a perfect day.
• I missed out on a couple things that I usually do in a full day, like Monster Laugh Floor and Buzz Lightyear. I just ran out of time. I also am greedy (as previously stated) and like to ride things more than once. On a full day I usually ride Haunted Mansion three to four times. (My family is aware that I am really not normal. Hence, the name of the blog.)
• You are unable to do the Festival of Fantasy Parade or the Mickey’s Friendship Faire at the Castle, as these two things eat up a lot of time. It was raining on and off on the day I went so they did not have them, anyways.

Things accomplished with only a half day:

• Carousal of Progress twice
• People Mover twice
• Haunted Mansion twice
• Pirates twice (I love the smell of that ride)
• It’s A Small World
• The Little Mermaid
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Winnie the Pooh
• Mine Train
• Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
• Rainy Day Cavalcade
• Adventure Friends Cavalcade
• Main Street USA and the Castle
• Dole Whip and people watching

I hear you saying “It was probably a slow day at the Magic Kingdom.” Wrong-O. It was worse than that, it was 4th of July weekend. I only had a half day because I needed to get back home to rest up for a trip elsewhere (who knew I could travel to other places?!) and it was CROWDED. The crowds are back at Magic Kingdom, but do not let that deter you from coming. You can still have an EPIC, PERFECT day.

You just gotta know how to do it, and hopefully I helped you plan your perfect half day at the Magic Kingdom. You can switch this around for the things that you like. For example I didn’t do Jungle Cruise or Space Mountain, but to you those might be must do rides for you. Swap things around as needed.

I hope to see you there real soon. And don’t worry if you only have a half day. It will still be magical. Crowds, rain, not much time, and all those kinds of things will not deter you. Because you know how to do Disney.

Amy Tangerine

The People Mover is life, IMHO. Watch it here, or head to YouTube and you can catch the night one, too, on my channel. Both were filmed on my perfect half day. And now you are a part of it, because you know the background!

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