"Why did Obi-Wan grow a beard?" was the first thing our 4-year old uttered when he woke up this morning as we prepared to go to The Magic Kingdom here at Disney World.
The Magic Kingdom is the favorite for most kids. But to get the most out of it, you really have to get there as early as possible. By noon, hour and a half waits for the popular rides are not uncommon.
For us, that meant that we were basically finished with the park attractions by noon other than ones that allowed Fast Pass. My threshold of pain for waiting for a ride is about 20 minutes. Still, by getting in early we got to check out a lot of the rides the kids wanted to see.
I was interested in only one ride at The Magic Kingdom -- Space Mountain. I'd ridden it 20 years ago and it was the ride I remembered the most from when I was a kid. Unfortunately, while all the other roller coasters here require children to be 40 inches tall, this one required the child to be 44 inches and the 4 year old was just an inch too short. Since my wife had never ridden Space Mountain, I deferred to her to ride it with the 8 year old while me and the 4 year old found something to do with our unexpected bounty of time.
The Magic Kingdom really is a terrific place for small children. It is truly a "magical" place. For cynical adults such as myself, it's a mixed bag but today's ideal conditions (72 degrees, sunny and breezy) helped keep the negatives (long lines, overpriced and often bizarre food options, stupid parents) from dominating.
If you have children under 10 and can get them there before 9am, the Magic Kingdom is (not surprisingly) one of the absolute destinations. But for parents of older children or couples, it's purely a nostalgia run. The evening's electric light parade is worth seeing and be sure to make heavy use of Fast Pass.