The Magic Kingdom wasn’t Disney’s first theme park, but as the heart of the sprawling vacation destination known as Walt Disney World, it’s the most important of the 12 parks that bear the Disney name around the globe. It’s a bigger, busier version of the original Disneyland, with variations on many of the same attractions, and some original additions of its own. (Curiously, though, despite a much larger footprint, it has less total attractions than Disneyland.) It might not be as quaint or as cute as the Anaheim original, but there’s something to be said for being overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the significantly larger castle that sits at the center of the park.
As usual when I write a list like this, I’m considering the current state of the attractions at the time of publication. Rides naturally wear down over time and need periodic maintenance and upgrades to offer the kind of experiences they’re designed for. If a ride has been neglected for too long, and it’s too hard to ignore, that’ll hurt it on this list, even if it’s one of the best concepts to ever come out of Imagineering. Case in point: the second entry on this list, rocketing in at number 11. Also, some of the best rides at Disneyland exist in inferior form at the Magic Kingdom. The original It’s a Small World is an amazing work of art; the version you’ll find at Disney World is fine, but a notable step down from Disneyland’s. That’s the same reason the truncated Florida version of Pirates of the Caribbean lands midway on this list, instead of near the top.
Also, yes, Magic Kingdom’s newest attraction, Tron: Lightcycle Run, is now open. I have ridden it. It’s fun. It’s good. It doesn’t make this list. I’m a sucker for the classics, but also Tron’s just a little too short to qualify. It comes to a stop right when it should be discovering its next gear. It’s absolutely worth riding but you should do everything else on this list first.
12. Tom Sawyer Island
I’ve been reluctant to add Tom Sawyer Island to this list in the past because it’s not really a single attraction. It’s billed that way, but it’s more like a distinct area with its own set of attractions—like Tomorrowland or Frontierland, only with a number of walkthrough exhibits instead of any rides. I hate to not give it its due, though, so it makes the list now that Splash Mountain is officially closed. (Who knows how long it’ll last here, though, with Tron: Lightcycle Run opening in April 2023, and Splash Mountain reopening with its new theme in 2024.) Transporting guests to a different time or place is one of the chief aims of a theme park, and Tom Sawyer Island probably does that better than any other part of the Magic Kingdom. Once you step onto the raft that takes you across the Rivers of America, it’s like you’re leaving the Magic Kingdom altogether to go explore this secretive little island based on Mark Twain’s book. Once there you can walk through a working mill, bounce along a barrel bridge, explore creepy caves, and, on the busiest days of the summer, maybe even get a sandwich at the seasonal restaurant Aunt Polly’s Dockside Inn. The centerpiece is Fort Wilderness, an 1800s-style wooden fort with a number of rooms to explore, a handful of animatronics, and a hidden underground exit. You’ll likely spend more time than you expect on Tom Sawyer Island, especially if you’re able to lose yourself in the fantasy of visiting an older version of America (which, I acknowledge, is not a fantasy everybody shares, and not necessarily a healthy one for anybody to share). If you can get past the thorny historical issues, and approach Tom Sawyer Island for what it is, you’ll understand why Tom Sawyer Island is so beloved by longtime Disney fans.
11. Space Mountain
Space Mountain is one of the very best rides to ever exist at a Disney theme park. Unfortunately the current state of the Disney World version makes it hard to recommend. The basic concept—an indoor roller coaster in the dark, surrounded by stars and the vastness of space, as cool sci-fi music plays in the background—is an all-time winner. When it’s not maintained well, though, you wind up with what you’ll find at Magic Kingdom. The coaster feels bumpy and rickety, the stars are dim and hard to see, and these cars don’t have the on-board speakers you’ll find in Disneyland. So it’s not as smooth as the California version, and the effects and audio aren’t nearly as vivid and powerful.
And yet it still makes this list.
Again: the concept is timeless and will bewitch anybody in love with the cosmos and the idea of space travel. And for coaster fans, well, it’s far from the fastest or most extreme roller coaster out there, but the darkness makes it unpredictable, which amplifies its thrills. Even the least impressive Space Mountain is still hard to pass up, and if you’ve never ridden any of the others, you won’t realize how much this one falls short. Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain could be much better, but the park would be far worse if this coaster didn’t exist at all.
10. PeopleMover
The PeopleMover doesn’t seem like much to a lot of people. Originally it was less of a ride than an example of a potential mass transit system that Disney was working on. (It would’ve been a crucial component of the original EPCOT, which wasn’t a theme park but an actual planned city that was never built.) Many view it simply as a way to get off your feet for a few minutes during a day at the park. You won’t realize how much you’ll miss the PeopleMover until you go to a park that doesn’t have one, though. Disneyland shut its PeopleMover down in 1995, and Disney’s other castle parks never had one. That’s a shame: this is a classic piece of Disney history that ties the whole Tomorrowland concept together and helps distinguish it from the other lands in the park.
If you haven’t ridden them before, imagine a fleet of small trams on a conveyor belt that never stops moving. They whisk you throughout all of Tomorrowland, offering a glimpse of the other attractions in the area, including a nice preview of Space Mountain’s lift hill. It isn’t just a relaxing detour that rarely has a line: it’s an attraction that perfectly fits the futuristic city theme of Tomorrowland, while also reiterating that theme parks aren’t just a collection of rides but one large, intertwined experience made up of smaller, individual experiences. Oh, it also lets you look at an early prototype for that original EPCOT concept, which is fascinating for fans of Disney history.
9. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Magic Kingdom’s newest roller coaster is also the most popular ride in the park at the moment. It deserves its popularity, but it also could have been so much more. The extreme wait times are only part of why it’s not higher on this list; the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is two-thirds of an amazing ride that ends abruptly just as it should be hitting its peak.
As a coaster it’s nothing too exciting—it’s basically a family-friendly ride that’s less intense than either Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It has one novel gimmick, in that the cars sway back and forth as they speed around the track. The best part of the ride is the first of two set pieces featuring Audio-Animatronics. The train slows to a crawl as it heads inside the mine, where the Seven Dwarfs are singing “Dig-a-Dig-Dig” and messing around with some brightly colored gems. It’s a beautiful real-life recreation of a movie scene that people have been watching for over 80 years now. At the very end of the ride you pass by the cottage that Snow White and the Dwarfs live in; they’re dancing inside, although it can be hard to get a good look as the train pulls into the station. You can see an Animatronic of the Evil Queen in her witch guise standing outside the cottage door at the very end of the ride; it’s the only time you see her, which is a big change from the old Snow White dark ride, which featured the movie’s villain at almost every turn.
What’s here is fantastic, but it’s such a short ride, and one that always requires a very long wait, unless you’re able to get a Fast Pass online weeks in advance. It simply feels unfinished, showing only part of the story and suddenly ending before Snow White even meets the Witch. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is an example of the world-class work Disney Imagineers are capable of producing, but also of Disney’s unflattering stinginess when it comes to budgeting new projects. With a little bit more money and an extra 30 seconds or so of ride, this could’ve been one of the best Disney rides of all time.
8. Peter Pan’s Flight
If you like the classic Fantasyland dark rides that can be found at Disneyland, and that used to make up Magic Kingdom, you might be disappointed today. The original Snow White ride is gone, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was ripped out over 20 years ago, and the Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland rides from Disneyland were never built in the Magic Kingdom. Peter Pan’s Flight is here, though, and it’s just as magical—and popular—as the California original.
Peter Pan’s Flight is a beautiful dark ride that flies you through the full story of Disney’s Peter Pan aboard replica pirate ships. The night-time view of London spreading out beneath you remains one of the most striking visuals in any Disney ride, and the Never Land portion is just as memorable. Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland lacks much of the charm of Disneyland’s, but Peter Pan’s Flight is equally great in both parks. The only problem is the extreme lines you’re likely to encounter—this is always one of the most popular rides at the park.
7. Jungle Cruise
When I originally ranked the best rides at the Magic Kingdom, I had two whole paragraphs about how parts of the Jungle Cruise were outdated and racist and needed to be changed. Disney finally removed the most questionable scenes from the ride last year, without losing either its evocation of an exotic 1930s adventure or its 1960s family-friendly corniness. It didn’t lose anything with the changes, and in fact has gained a great deal from them, primarily the ability to enjoy the ride without thinking “oh geez, that’s racist as heck” two or three times along the way. (Thankfully they didn’t add any overt references to the 2021 movie based on the ride, which was like if a bot was fed Indiana Jones and The African Queen and spat out 140 minutes of incoherent CGI with The Rock in it.)
The Jungle Cruise has seen many changes over the years, but conceptually the experience has remained largely unchanged since the early ‘60s, when jokes were originally added to the spiel at Disneyland. That’s the version that opened alongside the Magic Kingdom in 1971. I wouldn’t use the word “funny” to describe those jokes (although your five-year-old might disagree) but the entire package remains surprisingly charming. It’s a quaint glimpse into the past, at the kind of family-friendly entertainment that our parents might’ve enjoyed when they were young, and hopefully a ride that’ll never change too much.
6. Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
Here’s another classic Disney attraction in desperate need of an update. Walt Disney himself oversaw the creation of this Audio-Animatronic look at how technology changed the typical American home throughout the 20th century, which debuted as a pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair before relocating to Disneyland and then the Magic Kingdom. It’s not a ride, but a show inside a revolving theater. You sit and watch vignettes from four different time periods, starting with the 1900s and then moving ahead 20 years per scene. The fourth vignette was originally set in the ‘60s, when the attraction was built, but was updated five times between 1967 and 1993 to keep pace with recent technological developments. That final scene is now incredibly outdated, full of ‘90s fashion and a supposedly high-tech videogame that looks like something you’d play on a Sega 32X. The solution should be to add a permanent ‘80s or ‘90s vignette, and then end on a fifth scene that can be easily and cheaply updated every few years. Failing that, they should just revert it back to its original ‘60s state, and end it when the attraction was built. It’d be less about progress than a time capsule at that point, but it’s probably more practical than having to account for the ceaseless march of time.
You’re probably wondering why an entry so high on this list would start with a thorough summary of its problems. It’s only because they’re unmistakable to modern eyes. The quaintness and charm of the first three scenes smash hard against that ‘90s update, which is portrayed as the present by the narration. Even just updating that script to reflect that this final tableaux is decidedly out of date would be a nice improvement.
Here’s the thing, though: despite all that, the Carousel of Progress is still a beautiful summation of what Tomorrowland (and, later, EPCOT’s Future World) was intended to be. It’s a celebration of how technology has helped make our lives better. That might sound naive today, but at a time when tech companies try to disrupt society not to make life easier but simply to make money, it’s good to be reminded how beneficial technology can actually be, and how much it advanced our way of life in the 20th century. Also each vignette is a wonderfully designed diorama of the past, with classic Audio-Animatronics and great music from the Sherman Brothers. Disney himself supposedly considered this his all-time favorite attraction that his company ever developed, and it’s easy to see why: it was a technological marvel at the time, suffused with midcentury optimism and a “we can do anything” spirit right out of the Space Age. That’s all still here, even if the final scene is so outdated.
5. Pirates of the Caribbean
The Magic Kingdom version of Pirates is vastly inferior to the original in Disneyland. It’s a shortened version that was built in a hurry to meet demand after the park first opened in the early ‘70s, and was never actually supposed to exist in Disney World. It’s missing so much of what makes Disneyland’s so great. It doesn’t have the serene twilit opening behind the Blue Bayou restaurant, its Dead Man’s Cove is noticeably shorter, and the entire final scene in the village storehouse is gone. This is how great Pirates is, though, both in its concept and execution: despite missing all that, this diminished version still one of the best rides at the Magic Kingdom. Most of the ride’s iconic moments are here, from the fortress bombardment, to the (now changed) auction scene, to the three prisoners trying to coax the dog into giving them the key to their cell. If you don’t know what you’re missing (as I didn’t know until I was in my 30s), Magic Kingdom’s version of Pirates is amazing. And if you do, what’s here is still tremendous.
4. Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room
There are obviously some deep and legitimate problems with turning real-world human cultures into cartoons. I readily admit that. I also fall in love with the Enchanted Tiki Room more every time I visit it, purely for the unabashed, innocent schmaltz of the whole thing. If you want to feel blasted back to your grandparents’ time, just check out this show, in which a bunch of mechanical birds and wall decorations put on a show full of Borscht belt humor, bad stereotypes and cheesy songs. The first attraction to use Audio-Animatronics, it’s another timeless Disney classic, and one that will hopefully always have a home within the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. There’s also almost nothing better for giving your feet a break.
3. Country Bear Jamboree
When I go to a Disney theme park, I want to see Audio-Animatronics. Country Bear Jamboree isn’t a ride, but it’s a legitimate Audio-Animatronic tour de force, with a large cast of entertaining characters and a great soundtrack of classic country songs. It’s also one of the best places to take an air conditioned break during a long, hot Florida day, but that doesn’t weigh into the rankings here. Country Bear Jamboree is a classic bit of Disney showmanship, an absurd but adorable pop cultural oddity that remains a must-watch.
2024 update: Country Bear Jamboree is currently closed for a refurbishment that will introduce a new show with new music. It should reopen later this year.
2. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
I’ve been riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for over 30 years—it was the first roller coaster I ever had the courage to ride—and yet I admire it more and more every time I ride it. It was always second to Space Mountain for me, both because I tend to like space stuff more than cowboy business, and because the darkened nature of Tomorrowland’s major ride makes it more thrilling. I would still rank a well-maintained Space Mountain above a well-maintained Big Thunder, but that gap is growing closer by the year. And it’s all because of the theme part of a theme park.
Space Mountain fits its theme perfectly, but so does Big Thunder. And Big Thunder is simply a far brighter and more active space, one that has to cram details into every corner and every part of the track. Big Thunder is a beautiful synthesis of aesthetics and practical design choices, from the way the mountains that the track weaves through seem to have been there long before the ride was built, to how there’s almost always a small detail or bit of visual storytelling to look at whenever the train isn’t roaring hard through a turn or speeding down a hill. Big Thunder turns a roller coaster into an almost likelike journey through a specific time and place, making it a masterpiece of theme park design. And as great as the Magic Kingdom version is, the one at Disneyland Paris is even better.
1. Haunted Mansion
It pains me to say this, as a kid who grew up in Florida and feels a strong tie to Disney World, but Haunted Mansion is the only ride at both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom where the Florida version is better—and just barely.
Florida’s gets the nod for a couple of reasons. First off, it has an interactive queue full of whimsical games and gadgets. This is deeply controversial among some Disney fans, of course—these additions are relatively new, and every single change Disney makes will upset somebody. They have the same darkly comic sensibility of many of the gags found inside the ride, though, and anything that gets guests to interact with their surroundings instead of their phones is a good idea, in my book.
Secondly, this Haunted Mansion features every part of the original (except for the recent return of the long-lost Hatbox Ghost), and more. The stormy hallway you walk through in Anaheim, with the framed portraits that turn demonic when lightning strikes, is incorporated into the ride itself. There’s also an entirely original room that resembles an M.C. Escher print, with staircases winding in all directions, and spectral footprints that defy gravity.
The kicker, though, is that this version of the Haunted Mansion exists year-round. You will always hear the original Ghost Host, tour the original dinner party with the creepy organ music and dueling portraits, and wind up in the original graveyard as “Grim Grinning Ghosts” blasts through the room. Disneyland turns its unique spook show into a Nightmare Before Christmas tie-in for almost a full third of the year. As fun as that version is, it pales in comparison to the Disney original. (Seriously, if you only plan one visit to any Disney park in your entire life—basically, if you’re my wife’s family when she was young—do not go to Disneyland between September and January. You’ll miss out on the real Haunted Mansion experience, one of the most perfect pieces of art ever made by this company.)
Haunted Mansion is not just one of the best theme park rides ever designed, but a beloved piece of American pop culture, and even though it wasn’t the first, Magic Kingdom’s version of it is the best.
