Magic Kingdom: Ride-Free Options

Are you concerned about going to Disney World when you have someone with you who won't or can't ride rides? Are you worried that they will be bored or that they will feel left out? Put those fears to rest because Disney World is packed full of options for those who can't ride typical theme park rides. In this article, we discuss all of the options in detail for Magic Kingdom. For a brief overview of all of the parks, check out our general post on Disney ride-free guide.

Magic Kingdom (MK) is a theme park geared to all Guests. From the tiniest infant to the great-grandparents. Disney is also very conscious about making sure their parks are accessible for all. At MK, there are the more thrilling rides like Space Mountain and TRON, but there area also a ton of slow moving attractions that allow for infants to ride while being carried by a parent. While, yes, these are technically rides, I'm including them due to the fact that even people with medical restrictions can ride them. All of these rides move extremely slowly, have no drops, no spinning, no quick acceleration/deceleration, and no height or medical restrictions. Some of these rides allow for you to remain in your own wheelchair or ride on in your ECV, while others you must transfer into a manual wheelchair, which will be provided at the ride. Unfortunately, neither Peter Pan nor PeopleMover have accessible access to get to the ride and you must walk to the ride cars. I recommend all of these rides for people who can't do typical rides.

-Peter Pan's Flight (no wheelchair access. Must walk to ride)

-it's a small world

-Haunted Mansion (disclaimer that this ride does have a seizure warning)

-Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid

-Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (no wheelchair access. Must walk to ride)

-Jungle Cruise (may remain in wheelchair/ECV)

-Liberty Square Riverboat (may remain in wheelchair/ECV)

-The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (note that there are small "bumps")

These rides are all perfect for people who want to experience attractions as a family, but can't do typical amusement park rides for whatever reason. The oldest ride in all of the parks is a carousel directly behind Cinderella Castle. I didn't include it on the list because it does rotate, which can make some people dizzy (including me!) This is was built in 1917 and was used in in two different locations before being purchased by Disney to be used and an opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom in 1971. Here at Carousel of Castles, we're pretty partial to carousels!

Additional rides include Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. These all use the same ride system. For these, if you get dizzy going around in a circle, then avoid these. If not, try Dumbo. They are all the same system, but Dumbo is the best. The queue for Dumbo actually takes you into a huge indoor playground inside of the big top tent. You will go through the line and receive a buzzer while you wait. This is a great way to let the kids simply be kids and run and play and burn off all of that energy. There is also seating for the adults to take a break. The Kiddo still loves to play in there, even as a teenager. She was actually pretty upset on our last trip when a younger kid told her that she was too old to play anymore and the area was for kids. Parents, don't listen to that little kid. If your teenagers are being respectful and not running or pushing the little kids, then you go ahead and let them play!!! There will come a day when they don't want to play anymore, so you let them as play as long as they want. Ok, rant over.

One of the things that sets Disney apart from any other amusement park is the streetmosphere. This is why you feel all of the "feels" when walking into Magic Kingdom. We've entered the front gates and have played a bowling game with Cast Members. The Dapper Dans harmonize beautifully as a barbershop quartet on Main Street USA. You can see stage shows right in front of the castle or wave to your favorite characters as you see them ride by in perfectly themed floats. If you enter the parks early enough in the morning, you can ride an old time car or trolly from the entrance, down Main Street USA, all the way to Cinderella Castle! I was so happy to finally check this off of my Disney Bucket List last year!

If I've said it once, I've said it 100 times... look up, look down, look all around. Theming is everywhere in Disney. When I have solo days in the parks, I love to just take time and stroll around and look at all of the details that the imagineers put into building each specific land. If you are just sitting around waiting on your family to ride something, take that time to go explore the area. You'll see details that most people miss.

Shows are some of my personal favorite parts about Disney. Ok, so yes, Carousel of Progress (my blog's namesake) is classified as a "slow ride", but it's mostly a show. You are sitting in a theater, and instead of the show on the stage moving through the scenes, every few minutes you slowly rotate to the next scene. It is a 20-minute long show, which translates into 20-minutes of air conditioning!!! Other indoor shows are Enchanted Tiki Room, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. The Hall of Presidents is one where The Hubby and I always get eye rolls from The Kiddo. Yes, it's educational, but it's also a fantastic show. I'm going to add that it's another 20-minute long blast of AC. If you lost count, that's a total of six indoor, air-conditioned shows for you to watch. We like to hit these in the hottest part of the day between 1pm-6pm or while it's raining (which is every afternoon in the summer and fall).

Disney also has a daytime parade that starts in the back of the park at the former Splash Mountain, travels through the park, and ends at the front of the park. My pro tip on this is to watch it near the start. Make sure you get there about 20-30 minutes before the start if you want to have front row viewing. There are also stage shows that happen several times throughout the day on the stage in front of Cinderella Castle. We rarely watch these because it's just sooo hot standing in the open right in front of the castle in the middle of the day. But it's a cute show and everyone should see it once. Another thing that happens at the castle is the nightly fireworks show. This year, Disney brought back the much loved Happily Ever After nighttime show, but with a few updates. There is only one viewing of this show every day and pretty much everyone in the park wants to see it. We are a house divided on where the best viewing area is for this show. The Hubby likes to be in The Hub are, which is the area right in front of the castle. I prefer to be down Main Street. If you are close to the castle, you get a better view of the light projection show that is happening on the castle. If you are down Main Street, then you get a better view of the actual fireworks. Neither is right or wrong, just a difference in what you want to see. Whichever viewing spot you choose, just know that we usually get to our spot an entire hour before the show starts. It gets very, very crowded because the whole park is trying to fit into a small viewing area. This is when your Play Disney app or Heads-up game on your phone will come in handy.

PLEASE DO NO PUT YOUR KIDS ON YOUR SHOULDERS!!! Everyone wants to see. Be respectful and allow everyone to enjoy the show. Place your children on your hips so that they are shoulder to eye level with you instead of having them 2 feet above.

Walt Disney LOVED trains. There's a theory out there that the reason Walt built Disneyland in the first place is so that he could have a life size train set and his wife couldn't object. I guess we will never really know the answer to that. Walt knew that he definitely wanted a train at The Florida Project, just like in Disneyland. With the completion of TRON, guests can once again ride the Walt Disney World Railroad around the parameter of Magic Kingdom. These open air seating cars are pulled by one of four vintage steam trains. This train system is a great way to get from one area of the park to another with stations right at the entrance of the park, one at Frontierland near Splash Mountain, and the last one in Fantasyland near Dumbo. If you are using a wheelchair or ECV, they will move those in the storage area. Accessible cars are available for those who can not transfer.

Character meet and greets are another aspect that makes Disney quintessentially Disney. Popular characters can draw lines of an hour or more. Check out our guide to meeting your favorite characters at Disney World.

One thing you have to do at Disney is eat. At some point, food is going to be a necessity. Instead of just simply eating for the sake of filling you stomach, make your meal time an experience. While we can't recommend Be Our Guest anymore due to vendor/supplier and menu changes last month (it's so bad we had a manager at our table, which is how we learned about the changes), we can still recommend lots of other restaurants and food items. Unfortunately, Magic Kingdom is the worst park when it comes to dining options. They simply put too much money into theming and not enough into flavor and taste of the food. If you budget allows, we definitely recommend everyone eat at Cinderella's Royal Table at least once. No, the food is not going to be worth what you are paying, but when else will you be able to dine inside of a castle, and with Disney Princesses too? For a Thanksgiving feast all year long, check out Liberty Tree Tavern. To learn about different dining options available, click here.

Shopping is something that everyone in our party always enjoys, even the Mother In Law, who won't ride ANY rides or watch ANY shows. Magic Kingdom is the ultimate Disney store. As soon as you walk through the gates of MK, you are greeted by a row of stores. You can find everything from your generic Disney souvenirs such as ears and tee shirts up to one of a kind custom jewelry. Shops are located throughout the park also. Our favorite store is Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, located in Liberty Square near Hall of Presidents. We come home with multiple Christmas ornaments every trip. We are so close to having enough to fill an entire tree with nothing but Disney ornaments.

Hopefully you now have a good understanding of everything that Magic Kingdom has to offer beyond the rides. I'm sure there are even more things that I am missing. Disney is constantly changing up their offerings, so make sure you check the website or app for current, up to date offerings during your travel time.

I hope this helps to give you a starting point when trying to plan your Walt Disney World Vacation. For help booking a room and park tickets check out Jillian with Destination Dreaming Travels. She's a FREE travel agent waiting to help you book your most magical vacation ever.

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