We find that the days closest to the weekends (Friday and Monday), as well as the weekends themselves, are the busiest days at Walt Disney World. Because Magic Kingdom is often the number one park on visitors' lists, they'll hit it first on their trip. If they arrive on a weekend, that makes it a Sunday or Monday!
There's too much in the park to easily do in a single day. It's probably more of a one-and-a-half or two-day park. That said, this is a one day itinerary post, and there are a few approaches you can take to have one very good nearly perfect day at Magic Kingdom.
A surge of early birds arrive before or around opening time but are quickly dispersed throughout the empty park. After the initial wave is absorbed, there's a lull lasting about an hour after opening. Then the park is inundated for about 2 hours, peaking between 10 a.m. and noon.
Wednesdays are good days to go to the Magic Kingdom. Without extra crowds there to make a long weekend trip – extended with a Monday or Thursday – Wednesdays have lighter crowds.
On nights with a party, you can expect the parks to close for guests with regular park tickets as early as 6 pm. There are also a few nights each year when Magic Kingdom has been rented out for a corporate party or even a Cast Member appreciation event. On those nights, Magic Kingdom will close early as well.
The new wrinkle is that Disney Enchantment now has a second showtime each night, with a nightly performance of the fireworks at 11 pm. This is in addition to the 9:20 pm showtime, which remains on the schedule and doesn't move (because it can't really be moved forward–ask as meteorologist or astronomer as to why.
For the 12:00PM showing of the parade, you can get a Genie+ reservation from 11:45AM-12:15PM. After it's booked, you'll return to the Castle courtyard during that time window and find a parade-viewing Cast Member. The entrance to the reserved parade viewing will be on the east side of the castle area.
Arriving at the Magic Kingdom 30–60 minutes before official opening ensures the shortest possible waits for rides. Off-site guests, who aren't eligible for Early Theme Park Entry, should arrive 30 minutes before official opening on all days.
However, most people can also go and take a nap and then come back and enjoy the extra magic hours at night. So you're more likely to have more people during the nighttime extended hours than daytime. However, it is still less crowded at night, and the weather is better once the sun goes down.
Go EarlyIf you want to avoid long lines there's no simpler way than to wake up early and get to the park before it opens. Whether you have access to early entry or not, being at the park entrance before it opens will save you lots of time. Usually, you can get in 2-3 rides during the first hour of park operation.
During the afternoon peak hours, you can get more done at other theme parks and spend less time in a queue, plus Magic Kingdom is spectacular at night! Think glowing lights, even spookier rides and shorter lines. Here are 5 reasons to visit Magic Kingdom at night: 1.