With the largest ever expansion to The Magic Kingdom, the all new Fantasyland, it is almost doubling in size, is well on it’s way and should begin it’s opening in the latter part of 2012.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride will be the first of it’s kind system taking you through the million diamoindshine mine themed set with music, a little speed and new swing action, delivering you right to Snow White and all of The Dwarfs.

The Princess Fairytale Hall will be a smash hit for all of the girls. Aurora, Cinderella and all of the other Princess’s will be there to meet and greet their guests in their elegant new Royal Court home.

The Two Dumbo rides are alongside the all New Storybook Circus, with the Old Favourite, The Barnstormer, featuring Goofy as the Circus leader Goofini!!

The all new Major attraction, Under The Sea, The Little Mermaid will take the young guests on an exciting adventure both above and below the Sea with the music backdrop from the Movie.

A Castle of The Beast will stand on a hill just across from the old stone bridge from Ariel’s new home. A new restaurant will feature a lavish dining experience in the elegant Ballroom, Gallery and Mysterious Castle. It will be Fast food by day and full table service by evening. Just outside of The Village is Belle’s Cottage and The Enchanted Tales with Belle. An all new Magical Mirror is the doorway to a captivating new kind of Storytelling experience with interactive features. All great news for the Young Ones, it will be even harder for us parents to plan the day out at Magic Kingdom.

Happy Holidays,

Mary & Larry

All the parks have seasonal opening hours so it’s a good idea to check on the website before you go –www.waltdisneyworld.com.  Most people buy their Disney tickets before they leave home but you can also buy them at the entrance to all the parks or from places such as Wal-Mart where there’s a dedicated attraction ticket shop inside the store.

Drive into Disney and follow signs to the Magic Kingdom

You’ll need $14 for the car park and make a note of where you’ve parked! It’s very easy to lose your car!

Take the monorail or the boat into Magic Kingdom (both only go there so you can’t get lost and often the characters are on there)

There’s a bag search at the entrance, then you’re in!

Remember to collect a map with show time guide as this changes daily.

Everyone usually walks up to the castle and turns left so if it’s really busy and you want to avoid all the queues turn right instead.

As with all the Disney parks the most popular rides use a “fast pass” system. You go to the ride put your park entrance ticket into the machine and it will give you a time to go on the ride (this is usually on a sign above the machines). This means you go straight to the front of the queue and can save a lot of time. Whilst you’re waiting for the allotted time you will probably have time to go on other rides, have something to eat or do a bit of shopping. There’s usually a separate entrance to the ride for people with fast passes so be sure to get in the right line. Sometimes there’s a time on the fastpass that tells you when you can get another fast pass for another ride so if you know where you want to go next you can plan ahead.

Must Sees at  Magic Kingdom (lots of other rides too!)

Tomorrowland

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin 
Be a superhero and fire your laser cannon at interactive targets to help Buzz Lightyear, star of Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story,” save the toy galaxy from the Evil Emperor Zurg!

Space Mountain  (height restrictions)
Rocket into another galaxy aboard this rollicking high-speed roller coaster space adventure.

Honey I shrunk the audience

Great show

Star Tours

Simulator –ride through space

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor 
Join Mike Wazowski and his pals in this new interactive comedy showcase inspired by Disney·Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.

Frontierland

Big ThunderMountain Railroad

Great train ride

SplashMountain

Log flume –exciting with good drop

Adventureland

Pirates of the Caribbean

Log flume –very gentle (now based on the film)

Fantasyland

Mickey’s PhilharMagic 
Immerse yourself in a magical 3-D adventure show starring Mickey Mouse and a surprise “con-DUCK-tor”.

It’s a small world

Mad Tea Party

Peter Pan flight

Liberty Square

The Haunted Mansion 
Ride through the most haunted mansion ever with a ghost host, ghouls galore — and some ghastly surprises(Very clever and not too scary)

Wishes Nighttime Spectacular Be dazzled by the biggest, brightest fireworks  - a great end to the day

This is best viewed from Main Street – usually at 9pm