5 Disney World rides you must do and 5 you can skip during your vacation without regret
By Brian Miller
Magic Kingdom is the original park of Disney World in Orlando and is the one park that rarely sees low crowds.
When you first arrive at Magic Kingdom you are typically left wondering what you should and shouldn't do first. If you are a seasoned veteran you have your favorites but what if you have only been once or twice? What if it is your first time? What should you focus your plans on?
To start, the two must rides at Magic Kingdom are simple. You should get to Tommorowland and ride one of the oldes rollercoasters at any Disney park, Space Mountain.
You can't miss the white exterior of Space Mountain as it is easily seen from the monorail and from the boat as you approach the parks entrance. To the right of Main Street U.S.A. the towering cylindrical building is easy to find.
The ride is fun and the wait can be one of the shorter in the park at times but if it rains, expect bigger lines as most of the ride wait is inside. While waiting, enjoy the feel of a space port that gives you something to do with your time. It isn't interactive like other rides, but it is interesting and visually appealing.
The 2nd must-ride attraction at Magic Kingdom is a bit more of a controversy and up to personal preference. We will go with TRON: Lightcycle Run because it is newer.
I yelled behind me to ask my kids and they both said Tron but for me, the wait time vs. the ride length, a mere 110 seconds from start to finish, makes this long wait less worth it. My kids liked the idea of the ride but I would argue you might get more out of The Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride instead.
Both rides will have long wait times and you could choose both and be perfectly happy hitting those three and skipping these longer wait times for two other rides.
Peter Pans ride is one of the longest lines at Magic Kingdom. Sometimes the time stretches to more than an 1:45 minutes and that is not worth it. There is something to like about Peter Pan but it is mostly nostalgia instead of the ride itself that whisks you up in the air on an overhead track instead of a floor track and takes you out of London to Neverland.
The final ride you can skip is one of those that honestly, you really shouldn't.
It's a Small World is not a ride you have to take at Magic Kingdom and I have done it enough times in my life to know that when I go with first-timers or never-riders, it's more of a torture than anything outside of getting out of the sun.
The song is a broken record sung in different dialects as you weave through the countries that are represented by animatronic children. It's a song that sticks in your head for at least an hour if not more and I have know kids to start singing it later in the day and parents groan out of frustration knowing that it is now back in their brain.
While you can 100% skip the ride, you know you are going to ride it...we...just...know...it! So do you!