A Free Ride Sheet For Magic Kingdom to Help You Plan
Magic Kingdom is the busiest theme park in the world. The park is packed with classic attractions, rides (new and old), entertainment offerings, and plenty of character meet-and-greets. With so much to do, it is by far the most difficult park in which to formulate a plan. Quite frankly, it would be difficult to do everything the park has to offer. Most will want to plan a minimum of two days at Magic Kingdom.
So to help you plan, I created a Magic Kingdom ride spreadsheet. The spreadsheet lists attractions, height requirements, character meet-and-greets, Lightning Lanes, and significant entertainment offerings. It also has tabs containing the same information for the other three Walt Disney World theme parks. Our spreadsheet was prepared with Google Sheets, so you will need a free Gmail account to access it on your computer or mobile device. You can request a copy toward the end of this article. However, there are a few things you’ll want to know ahead of time.
Getting Started with Our Spreadsheet
When you request access, you’ll receive an email with a link to the spreadsheet. You must have a Google account to access it. If you’re using a mobile device, you must download the Google Sheets app and sign in via your Google account (Gmail) to access it. After that, you can open the Google Sheets app and select the sheet.
If you open the link to the spreadsheet on a regular computer, it opens in a Google browser (as long as you use Google as your preferred search engine). It is then automatically saved to your account. To access it later from a desktop computer or laptop, select the waffle icon in the top right-hand corner of your screen. Then, scroll down and select “Sheets” from the list. You should now see the spreadsheet.
Note: This particular spreadsheet is not editable, so please do not request to make a copy of it. When we become aware of park changes, we make those adjustments. You’ll also want to be aware of these things.
- Many changes will occur at Walt Disney World over the next five to ten years. Some rides or areas of certain parks might be under construction or down for refurbishment. If you’re looking forward to a specific ride, we recommend checking Disney’s Ride Refurbishment Calendar before your visit.
- Characters and entertainment are subject to change. We always recommend checking the My Disney Experience app on the day of your visit to locate characters. Here’s an excerpt I put together with instructions. (All the character meet-and-greets we’ve included on the spreadsheet meet regularly. But it’s important to stress that things can change.)
How to Locate Characters in the My Disney Experience App
- Open the MDE app and select the pin drop at the bottom of the home screen.
- Select the “Characters” category at the top middle of the screen. (The default is “Wait Times”.)
- After selecting characters, use the park filter to select the park on the top left side of the screen.
- Then, on the top right side of the screen, select “Show List.”
- Scroll through the list of characters with their times and locations.
*As the day passes, you might notice that characters disappear from the app. When their last scheduled time passes, the meet-and-greet automatically disappears. A new schedule won’t be loaded until the following day. It is essential to check the app for meet-and-greets on the day of your visit.
How to Use the Spreadsheet
Once you open the spreadsheet, you’re greeted with a “Start Here” tab that briefly explains how it works. If you’re familiar with spreadsheets, the rest is pretty self-explanatory. But we’ll go over it to help you get your bearings. (If the idea of using a spreadsheet sounds intimidating, don’t worry. We’ll continue with step-by-step instructions and screenshots.)
Since we’re focusing on Magic Kingdom, we’ll look to the bottom of the spreadsheet and select the tab titled “Magic Kingdom.” I’ve placed a red arrow on the screenshot below to help identify where to look.
When we select that tab, our Magic Kingdom spreadsheet appears. I’ve color-coded a few things to help you differentiate them.
The first column is titled Magic Kingdom. Below that column, some rows have a dark blue shade. The dark blue row indicates a specific land or area of the park. For example, our first set of lands is Adventureland. All of the rides and attractions for Adventureland are grouped together. If you use this spreadsheet in the parks, it makes for a quick reference of what’s available in the same area. With a park as big as Magic Kingdom, we like to implement a “tour where you’re at” strategy as much as possible instead of constantly backtracking.
The next column highlights the rides, attractions, and character meet-and-greets for Magic Kingdom. You might notice Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is the first ride in the Frontierland section. If you look over one column, you’ll see that this attraction has a 40″ height requirement. You can quickly look through that column to review rides that have a height requirement.
Character meet-and-greets are shaded in a light blue color. Most lands will have a couple of character opportunities. For example, you can meet Aladdin and Jasmine in Adventureland. They are a wonderful meet-and-greet and provide an excellent photo opportunity. But you’ll want to be prepared, they often have exceptionally long waits.
The next column is for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. This field indicates if an attraction is part of Disney’s Multi Pass Lightning Lane service and its tier. You might notice that Jungle Cruise is a Tier 1 attraction and Pirates of the Caribbean is a Tier 2 attraction. You will only need to know that when planning your initial Lightning Lane choices. If you’re not yet familiar with how Lightning Lanes work, please see the guide listed below.
Related: The One-Stop Disney World Lightning Lane Guide
You might notice the Magic Kingdom spreadsheet has two rows highlighted in red. These rows indicate rides that offers Lightning Lane Single Pass, which is an extra cost. At Magic Kingdom, both Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run are Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions. (We would elect to save money and experience Seven Dwarfs Mine Train via the standby line. If you haven’t experienced TRON (and are interested) you might splurge on the purchase.
Next, we have a column for Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours. These columns may or may not apply to you. You can check the highlighted articles above to determine your eligibility. If you are eligible, you’ll want to:
- a.) Take advantage of these extra hours in the park.
- b.) Be aware of what attractions are available during these special hours.
*Extended Evening Hours are pretty consistently held at Epcot on Monday evenings and Magic Kingdom on Wednesdays evenings throughout most of the year. They sometimes shift to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom during the Fall.
It’s important to be aware of these things when forming a plan. For example, if you’re visiting Magic Kingdom for early entry, you’ll need to know that Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are the only two lands that open early. So not only do you need to arrive early, but you’ll want to have a plan on what you’ll ride first and how to get to that ride.
If you slide over to the last column, I’ve added a few tips and references for each item. These are things that I’ve learned from personal experience that might help you in the planning process. For example, you might notice that The Magic Carpets of Aladdin has a note that says: This is a spinner-style attraction that makes for an excellent first ride for little ones. If you’re visiting with small children and have no idea where to start, this is a good ride. (Of course, this attraction is not open during Early Entry, so you might try Dumbo, The Flying Elephant, which is an almost identical ride.)
Get the Resorts Gal Ride Spreadsheet for Magic Kingdom
Sign up below, and we’ll send you a copy of the spreadsheet along with our best resources for planning. You’ll also receive access to the Resorts Gal Ride Selector, one of our most popular planning tools!
*Note: The spreadsheet is for all four parks. We’ve listed the instruction guides for the other parks below.
Final Thoughts
We hope you find this spreadsheet helpful in your planning process. Here is the list of guides for the other parks:
- Epcot Ride Spreadsheet
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios Ride Spreadsheet
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Ride Spreadsheet
Or you might like to preview our Magic Kingdom Planning Guide.
In the Comments
What do you think? Did you enjoy this planning spreadsheet for Magic Kingdom? Did you find it helpful, or did we miss anything? We would love to hear your feedback. Let us know below in the comments.