This park is currently undergoing a major overhaul. As a result, there  were a large number of things shut down over the past few years – and this park can easily be covered in a day (even a half day if you’re motivated enough). At some point in the second half of 2018, Toy Story Land will be opening, and then in 2019 Star Wars Land is opening. Expect HUGE crowds in this park after those open.

The nighttime fireworks show is Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular. This is my #1 night show at Walt Disney World (and second only to World of Colour at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim). The Star Wars show incorporates fireworks with projections, music, lights and lasers – it’s so cool.

They offer another nighttime show, Fantasmic – which is inside a large amphitheater built for the show. Lots of characters, pyro, lights – it’s worth seeing.

You can catch a boat from just outside the main gate which makes stops at the Swan & Dolphin, Beach Club/Yacht Club, Boardwalk Resort and finally Epcot (in that order).

• Boneyard – a playground for kids with hidden “dinosaur” bones for them to discover
• Conservation Station – Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Tons of animals to be seen here, and also a little petting zoo. Features the conservation efforts of the Disney company, and how this park is run. You need to take a little train to get there, but it’s a nice way to escape the crowds, and there’s a cute little petting zoo out there.
• Dinosaur                                       – similar to Indiana Jones ride at DL, but Indy is way better. A bumpy, shakey, dark ride with dinosaurs. On-ride photo is snapped when the dinosaur screams at you. Lines can be long.
• Expedition Everest                                         – located in Asia. Hands down my favourite Disney ride. Fast-paced roller coaster that actually goes backwards at one point.  No inversions, but great hills and turns and speed. Photo is snapped after the shadow Yeti scene. Lines can be long – grab a fastpass or go first thing in the morning or the last thing at night.
• Finding Nemo: The Musical – a 40 minute Broadway-style show based on Finding Nemo. Songs were written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (the couple behind the Frozen soundtrack and the Book of Mormon broadway show). It’s cute!
• Flight of Passage – one of the new Avatar rides. Wait times are often in the 2-3 hour range, but the ride is actually that good! I would never wait that long personally, but it is the best ride I’ve ever been on in my life..
• Gorilla Falls Walking Trails – We always enjoy this walking trail. You see Silverback Gorillas, naked mole rats, meercats…
• It’s Tough to be a Bug – This is worth it just because you get to see the Tree of Life up close, as the theater for this is inside the base of the tree. It’s a 4D show that lasts about 10 minutes. Line is never too bad.
• Kali River Rapids – A water ride, you will get wet. Usually shuts down for the month of January for refurbishment. It’s a much shorter ride than I was expecting, and I was disappointed with it.
• Kilimanjaro Safaris – Grab a fastpass, there are usually long lines for this. A guided tour on an open-air bus through “Africa”. I find animals more active in the mornings. Have your camera ready, there are lots of animals to see – lions, warthogs, hippos, alligators, giraffes, birds, elephants etc. The safe animals like giraffes can walk right up to your bus, you’ll sometimes need to stop and wait for an animal to cross the road in front of you. Very cool. Worth doing at least once – but the animals are free-roaming and not forced to be in any one location at one point, so riding again is encouraged because you might see animals you missed the last time. Also – you won’t see actual cages. The lions are separated from everything else by hidden moats and caging, but you can’t see that. Same for the hippos, cheetahs, etc.
• Maharajah Jungle Trek –  a walking trail to see animals. The star of this one – tigers!
• Navi’ River Journey – the other new ride in Avatar land. A slow-moving boat ride with some of the best animatronics ever built. I wish it was longer, and I wouldn’t waste a fastpass on it or wait more than 20 minutes for it (unless you have small children that can’t ride the bigger rides)
• Primeval Whirl – A crazy-mouse style roller coaster. I like it, I’d say worth going on once if you have the time – and I wouldn’t wait any longer than 20 minutes for it
• TriceraTop Spin – Dumbo ride with dinosaurs!
• Wildlife Express Train – a little train that takes you from the Africa section of the park to Rafiki’s Planet Watch (7minutes).
• Festival of the Lion King                   – located in Africa. Amazing. A stage show that included larger-than-life animatronics and Cirque-du-Soleil style performers. Worth seeing without a doubt. It’s my favourite show at WDW

• The American Adventure – located in the American pavilion.  It’s a mixture of animatronics and video that talks about the history of the United States. It’s about 20 minutes long. It is in a dark, air-conditioned large room so it’s a good spot for a quick nap. You’ll usually just need to wait for the next show to start, so never too long of a wait.
• The Circle of Life – not 100% sure what this is. It’s located in the same building as Soarin’ and Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons, but we didn’t have time to check it out.
• Disney Phineas and Ferb: Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure – You can do little mission-type things. It’s meant to give kids something to do in Epcot
• Ellen’s Energy Adventure – 45 minutes long. We’ve skipped it everytime, and it is now shut down. The space where this sits is being used for a new Guardians of the Galaxy-themed ride (set to open in a few years)
• Meet and Greet Anna and Elsa from Frozen   – a character meet and greet in the Norway pavilion. One of my favourite ones we did on our 2017 trip, but I love anything to do with Frozen. The lines were never terrible while we were there, thanks to the “magical doors”.
• Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros  – located in the Mexican pavilion. A little boat ride featuring Donald Duck traveling through Mexico. It’s cute, and never has a long line to get on it.
• Impressions de France – France pavilion. An 18 minute film about the country, and something we’ve never done.
• Journey into Imagination with Figment – Figment is a little purple dinosaur, and old-school Disney fans love him. The ride is cute, silly but really out-dated. Wait times can vary, but I’d never wait more than 15 minutes for it.
• Living with the Land – a slow-moving boat ride through some of Disney’s greenhouses. There are some really interesting methods of sustainable gardening, and some of the food you’ll see on this ride is used in Disney restaurants. It is usually a walk-on.
• Frozen Ever After – located in Norway, and just opened last June. A boat ride through Arendelle. This has by far the longest wait times of any ride in the park. Expect at least an hour – highly recommend a fastpass if this is a ride you want to go on.
• Mission: SPACE – a motion simulator. There are two different sides to this, the green side and orange side. Green is much tamer, orange is intense. From what I’ve heard, orange has a lot of G-force at one point and a lot of people feel really sick afterwards. We went on the green, and we’re normally fine on rides and still felt a little off just from the “tame” side. Wait times can be much longer for the orange side, green is usually 20 minutes or less.
• O Canada! – a 14 minute 360⁰ video celebrating the natural beauty of our country. We watched it, but I don’t think it’s a must every time we go now. Narrated by Martin Short. A little outdated now, which you notice when they talk about “famous” Canadians.
• Reflections of China – a 13 minute 360⁰ film about China.
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends – aa aquarium. There’s a slow-moving ride portion that is Nemo themed, and pretty cute. Take time to look around the aquariums and read/hear about the animals – the manatees are so cute! The ride part typically doesn’t have super long lines, but I wouldn’t wait any more than 15 minutes for it.
• Soarin’ – Love! This is a flight simulator type thing, that lifts you off the ground and takes you around the World. It’s not fast-moving, it doesn’t involve crazy G-force or anything, but it lifts you up to a giant screen. Probably my favourite ride in Epcot. Lines can get long, get there first thing in the morning or use a fastpass. Also, pay attention to the smells when you’re flying over the elephants, Fiji and the Taj Mahal. Mmmm…
• Spaceship Earth – The ride that takes you inside the giant golf-ball looking thing that is the icon of the park! It’s all about history, but there’s one moment where you’re in a giant room that looks like you’re in space looking down on the Earth with thousands of stars twinkling around you – super cool. The video can be pretty funny! The wait times are never too bad for this, and it’s a must-do on every trip.
• Test Track                             – very similar to Radiator Springs Racers at DCA, but Chevrolet sponsored. On-ride photo during the fast part. At the beginning you get to design a car on a screen. One of the few “big rides” at Epcot, so grab a Fastpass to avoid huge lines. Definitely worth doing at least once.
• Turtle Talk with Crush – Who doesn’t love Crush from Finding Nemo?! This is definitely meant for kids – it’s an interactive show.

• One of the largest of the Disney theme parks, at over 300 acres in size.
• Name of the park is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow.
• Epcot was the second park to open as part of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, opening its doors in 1981.
• A giant man-made lake is surrounded by pavilions representing eleven countries of the World – Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Norway, USA, Morocco, Japan and China.
• Each pavilion contains gift shops that sell items from that country – maple syrup in Canada, Haribo gummies in Germany, etc.
• Nighttime show is Illuminations. This can be watched from anywhere around the World Showcase Lagoon and features music, fireworks and a giant globe.
• Lots of food and drink options – each country pavilion sells alcoholic drinks specific to that country (you go to Germany for beer, Mexico for tequila, France has some great champagne/wine options, etc)

Magic Kingdom (MK) was the first park that opened as part of the Disney resort in Orlando back in 1971. It has been the #1 most visited theme park in the entire world for over a decade, seeing over 20 million visitors each year.

It is the park you think of when you think Disney – it’s the one with the castle.

Cinderella’s Castle is huge! If you’ve been to Disneyland and have seen Snow White’s Castle there, this one dwarfs it. Cinderella’s Castle stands 183 feet tall (100feet taller than the Castle at Disneyland).

The park itself covers over 100 acres, and is divided into different themed “lands” – Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, The park is designed like a wheel, with the castle at the hub and the lands spreading out from that.

A mainly dry park – the only places to order alcohol are at Be Our Guest (supper only), Cinderella’s Royal Table, Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, Liberty Tree Tavern and Skipper Canteen (all table-service restaurants).

This park requires at least a full day to see everything, possibly more. It’s always a little more crowded than other parks, and there are a lot of things to do.