Magic Kingdom Park is a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

at the

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

Bay Lake, Florida Bay Lake is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29 at the 2020 census. It is named after a lake that lies east of Magic Kingdom. All four of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks, and one of Walt Disney Worl ...

. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

through its Experiences division. The official park name has changed slightly over the years - from ''Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom'' (1971–1994) to ''The Magic Kingdom'' (1994–2017). The park was initialized by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

and designed by WED Enterprises. The park layout and attractions were based on

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters. The park icon is

Cinderella Castle Cinderella Castle is a fairy tale castle at the center of two Disney Experiences, Disney theme parks: the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Based on Cinderella (Disney character), Cinderella's f ...

, inspired by the fairy-tale

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

featured in the 1950 animated film. In 2023, the park hosted 17.72 million visitors, making it the most visited theme park in the world for the seventeenth consecutive year and the most visited theme park in North America for at least the past 23 years. The park has become a cultural touchstone and symbol of modern American pop culture.

History

Conception

Walt Disney World Railroad Main Street USA Station 01

was highly involved in planning the Walt Disney World resort complex and park, coming to Florida in person to survey the land, meeting with local officials and announcing the project to the media but not being able to see his vision come to life due to his death from cancer in 1966. After Walt's death, his brother Roy Disney took over the project.

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

began construction on Magic Kingdom and the entire resort in 1967. The park was built as a larger, improved version of

in California. Magic Kingdom was built over a series of tunnels called

utilidor A utility tunnel, utility corridor, or utilidor is a passage built underground or above ground to carry utility lines such as electricity, District heating, steam, water supply pipes, and sewer pipes. Communications utilities like fiber optics, ...

s, a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''utility'' and ''corridor'', allowing employees (called "cast members") or VIP guests to move through the park out of sight. Because of Florida's high

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

, the tunnels could not be put underground, so they were built at the existing grade, meaning the park is built on the second story, giving the Magic Kingdom an elevation of . The area around the utilidors was filled in with dirt removed from the Seven Seas Lagoon, which was being constructed at the same time. The utilidors were built in the initial construction and were not extended as the park expanded. The tunnels were intended to be designed into all subsequent Walt Disney World parks but were set aside mostly because of financial constraints.

Opening and operation

Magic Kingdom opened as the first part of the Walt Disney World Resort on October 1, 1971, commencing concurrently with

Disney's Contemporary Resort Disney's Contemporary Resort, originally to be named Tempo Bay Hotel and previously the Contemporary Resort Hotel, is a resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Opened on October 1, 1971, the hotel is one of two ori ...

and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. It opened with twenty-three attractions, three unique to the park and twenty replicas of attractions at Disneyland, split into six themed lands, five copies of those at Disneyland (

Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, USA is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, USA is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th centu ...

, Adventureland,

Frontierland Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company, Disney around the world. Themed to the American frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and Settler, pioneers, ...

Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Disneyland-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after List of Disney animated films based on fairy tales, Disney's animated fairy tale feature films. Ea ...

, and

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...

) and the Magic Kingdom exclusive of Liberty Square, rather than the Disneyland

New Orleans Square New Orleans Square is a themed land found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Based on 19th-century New Orleans, Louisiana, the roughly three-acre area was the first land to be added to Disneyland after the park's opening, at a cost of $18 mi ...

. The Walt Disney Company promised to increase this number with a combination of replicas and unique attractions. While there is no individual dedication to Magic Kingdom, the dedication by

Roy O. Disney Roy Oliver Disney ( ; June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971) was an American entrepreneur who co-founded the Walt Disney Company with his younger brother, Walt Disney. He also served as the company's first CEO and was the father of Roy E. Di ...

for the entire resort was placed within its gates. The only land added to the original roster of lands in the park was Mickey's Toontown Fair. The land originally opened in 1988 as Mickey's Birthdayland to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 60th birthday. Later the land was renovated as Mickey's Starland and eventually to Mickey's Toontown Fair. The land was home to attractions such as Mickey's Country House, Minnie's Country House, The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, and Donald's Boat. It closed on February 12, 2011, to make way for the expansion of Fantasyland. The Walt Disney World Railroad station in Mickey's Toontown Fair, which opened with Mickey's Birthdayland in 1988, was closed for the duration of the construction. In 2012, the space where Mickey's Toontown Fair sat reopened as a part of Fantasyland, in a sub-section called the Storybook Circus, where an updated Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction was relocated. The Barnstormer was retained and was re-themed to The Great Goofini. Mainstreetflorida

Since opening day, Magic Kingdom has been closed temporarily because of nine hurricanes: Floyd, Charley,

Frances Frances is an English given name or last name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'the French.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "F ...

, Jeanne, Wilma, Matthew, Irma, Ian, and Milton. The first non-hurricane related day the park has closed is on September 11, 2001, due to the terrorist attacks that day. Walt Disney World was closed from March 15, 2020, to July 11, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. In addition, there are four "phases" of park closure when Magic Kingdom exceeds capacity, ranging from restricted access for most guests (Phase 1) to full closure for everyone, even cast-members (Phase 4). "Magic Kingdom" was often used as an unofficial nickname for Disneyland before Walt Disney World was built. The official tagline for Disneyland is "The Happiest Place On Earth", while the tagline for Magic Kingdom is "The Most Magical Place On Earth". Up until the early 1990s, Magic Kingdom was officially known as ''Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom'', and was never printed without the Walt Disney World prefix. This purpose was to differentiate between the park and Disneyland in California. In 1994, to differentiate it from Disneyland, the park was officially renamed Magic Kingdom Park.

Alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s had been prohibited from the park since its opening, but this policy has gradually changed. In 2012, the Be Our Guest Restaurant opened selling wine and beer for the first time. This was the only place in the park where alcohol was permitted until December 2014 when four additional restaurants began selling beer and wine including Cinderella's Royal Table, Liberty Tree Tavern, Tony's Town Square Restaurant, and the Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen. And finally in 2018, the park officially became the second Magic Kingdom-style park to serve alcohol at all table service restaurants, after

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...

in 1993. Early in 2024, a Disney executive confirmed that the park will expand with the addition of a land located "beyond Big Thunder." In August 2024, it was announced that the park will receive two attractions inspired by

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

's ''Cars'' franchise in a redeveloped section of

, with construction scheduled to start in 2025. In addition, it was announced that the park will receive a land themed to Disney's villains.

Park layout and attractions

Magic Kingdom is divided into six themed "lands." The center of the park in front of

is designed like a wheel with a

hub and spoke A hub is the central part of a wheel that connects the axle to the wheel itself. Hub, HUB, or hubs may refer to: Geography Pakistan * Hub Tehsil, Balochistan, an administrative division of southern pakistan ** Hub, Balochistan, capital city o ...

design. Pathways spoke out from the hub across the of the park and lead to these six lands. The Walt Disney World Railroad circles around the perimeter of the park. File:Main Street USA, Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World (2024).jpg,

Main Street, USA Main Street, USA is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, USA is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th centu ...

File:US Magic Kingdom 1211 (36) (17061799010).jpg, Adventureland File:Thunder wdw.jpg,

File:Hall of Presidents on Election Day (30230222304).jpg, Liberty Square File:Fantasyland Bavarian architecture.jpg,

File:Tomorrowland, Magic Kingdom WDW entrance (2014).jpg,

Main Street, U.S.A.

Main Street, USA is modeled after an idealized early-20th century American town, inspired by Walt Disney's hometown of

Marceline, Missouri Marceline is a city in Chariton County, Missouri, Chariton and Linn County, Missouri, Linn counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 2,123 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History In 1887, the Chicago, Santa Fe, an ...

. Main Street features a train station, town square, movie theater, city hall, firehouse, restaurants, emporium, shops, arcades, and several varieties of horse-drawn and motor-powered vehicles. Guests enter the park underneath the main station of the Walt Disney World Railroad and into the town square. At the far end of Main Street, USA is the park's hub, anchored by

and the ''Partners'' statue. Symbolically, Main Street represents the park's "

opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank scree ...

", where guests pass under the train station (the opening curtain) at left or right, then view the names of key personnel along the windows of the buildings' upper floors. Many windows bear the name of a fictional business, such as "Seven Summits Expeditions,

Frank G. Wells Franklin G. Wells (March 4, 1932 – April 3, 1994) was an American businessman who served as President and Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until his death in 1994. Life and career Wells was born in Coronado, Califo ...

President", with each representing a tribute to significant people connected to the Disney company and the development of the Walt Disney World Resort. It features stylistic influences from around the country. Taking its inspiration from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, this design is most noticeable in the four corners in the middle of Main Street, where each of the four corner buildings represents a different architectural style. The second and third stories of all the buildings along Main Street are designed with

forced perspective Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation bet ...

, and are actually shorter than the first stories. The musical soundtrack played at the entrance includes musical selections from the 1943 Broadway musical ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

'' and the 1957 Broadway musical ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

''. The Dapper Dans, a men's

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

singing group, typically perform throughout Main Street.

Adventureland

Adventureland represents the mystery of exploring exotic lands and features several attractions themed to resemble the remote landscapes of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Jungle Cruise Jungle Cruise, formally named Jungle River Cruise, and currently named Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions, is a riverboat amusement ride located in the Adventureland themed section at various Disney theme parks worldwide. The attraction is a ...

is a comedic riverboat cruise attraction that travels along wild

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

s from around the world.

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Wa ...

is a dark ride depicting the exploits and plundering of a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

siege on Caribbean island town featuring several characters from the subsequent eponymous film series.

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and previously in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyl ...

is a Polynesian musical

Audio-Animatronic Audio-Animatronics (also known simply as AAs) are a form of Mechatronics, mechatronic animatronics puppetry created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Trademark, trademarked by The Walt Disney Company for use in designed shows and attractions at Disn ...

show drawing from American

tiki culture Tiki culture is an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian cultures, and by Oceanian art. Influential cultures to Tiki culture include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia ...

in the Sunshine pavilion.

Swiss Family Treehouse Swiss Family Treehouse is a walk-through attraction featured at Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Park Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. It was formerly located at Disneyland. The attraction is centered on a large treehouse based on the 1960 Disney film '' S ...

is an interactive walk-through treehouse attraction based on the 1960 film, '' Swiss Family Robinson''.

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin The Magic Carpets of Aladdin is a ride in the Magic Kingdom, at Walt Disney World. It is based on the 1992 film, '' Aladdin''. It is similar to the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction in that riders in the front rows control how high their carp ...

is an

aerial carousel Red Baron is an amusement ride that is primarily intended for small children. It is a common kiddie ride at many amusement parks, carnivals, and fairs. The rider can move the gondola up and down manually. Many ride manufacturers make this type o ...

-style ride based on the 1992 film, ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

''.

Frontierland

Frontierland is a romanticized portrayal of the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the Geography of the United States, geography, History of the United States, history, Folklore of the United States, folklore, and Cultur ...

, particularly elements from the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

, including

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

s, Native Americans and Western saloons.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a mine train roller coaster located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park (Paris). In Tokyo and Paris, the attraction is named Big Thunder Mountain. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is ...

is a mine train roller coaster featuring a runaway mine train through mine shafts and canyons of the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

Tiana's Bayou Adventure Tiana's Bayou Adventure is a log flume attraction at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. It is based on Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2009 film ''The Princess and the Frog''. The ride experience begins with an outdoor float-through that leads to indoo ...

is a log flume ride inspired by the 2009 film, ''

The Princess and the Frog ''The Princess and the Frog'' is a 2009 American Animation, animated musical film, musical Romance film, romantic fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Inspired in part by the 2002 ...

''.

Tom Sawyer Island Tom Sawyer Island is an artificial island surrounded by the Rivers of America at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland. It contains structures and caves with references to Mark Twain characters from the novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sa ...

is inspired by the literary characters and stories of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

's ''

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (also simply known as ''Tom Sawyer'') is a novel by Mark Twain published on June 9, 1876, about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1830s-1840s in the town of St. Petersbu ...

'', featuring interactive trails and scenic outlooks. Surrounding Tom Sawyer Island is the Rivers of America, an artificial waterway based on the untamed rivers found across the United States, that flows through Frontierland and Liberty Square. Traversing through the Rivers of America is the Liberty Belle Riverboat, a steam-powered riverboat attraction themed to a 19th-century

sternwheeler A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

. Other attractions include the Country Bear Musical Jamboree.

Liberty Square

Liberty Square is inspired by a colonial American town set during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. The land contains recreations and replicas found in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

such as

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

, the

Liberty Tree The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous Elm, elm tree that stood in Boston, Massachusetts near Boston Common in the years before the American Revolution. In 1765, Patriot (American Revolution), Patriots in Boston staged the first act of def ...

, and the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...

. The Hall of Presidents is a film presentation and stage show themed to the American presidency and featuring all 46 individual American presidents in

form. Tucked away in a corner of Liberty Square is

The Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride, dark-ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called “Doom Buggies”, and a walk-through s ...

, a dark ride omnimover attraction themed to a haunted New England manor. The '' Liberty Belle'' riverboat's dock is located on the shores of Liberty Square.

Fantasyland

Fantasyland is themed to Disney's animated fairy tale feature films. Depicted in a medieval-faire style, Fantasyland features multiple attractions featuring various Disney characters and stories, including

Peter Pan's Flight Peter Pan's Flight is a rail-suspended dark ride at the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland theme parks. Located in the Fantasyland area of each park, its story, music, staging, and artwork are ...

It's a Small World It's a Small World (stylized in all lowercase and in quotations or with exclamation mark) is an Old Mill boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at various Disney theme parks around the world. Versions of the ride are installed at Disney ...

Mickey's PhilharMagic ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' is a 4D film attraction found at several Disney theme parks around the world, including Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Park (Paris), and Dis ...

in Fantasyland Theatre, Mad Tea Party,

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is a 1977 American animated musical anthology fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It was first released on a double bill with '' The Littlest ...

, and

Prince Charming Regal Carrousel The Prince Charming Regal Carrousel (formerly Cinderella's Golden Carousel) is a historic carousel attraction within the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. It was originally built by the Philadelphia Toboggan ...

. Outside of the castle courtyard is Fantasyland Forest, featuring attractions based on other Disney princesses and heroines:

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster is situated in the Fantasyland sections of both parks. The Magic Kingdom version opened to the public ...

, is a mine cart roller coaster based on ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

''; The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a dark ride omnimover attraction based on ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...

''; Be Our Guest Restaurant is a themed restaurant with character dining themed to

Beast Beast most often refers to: * Animal, a multicellular, eukaryotic organism in the biological kingdom Animalia * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation * Monster, a type of creature found in fiction, folklo ...

's castle in ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''; Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Ariel's Grotto.

Storybook Circus

Storybook Circus is a subsection of Fantasyland, themed to a

traveling circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobatics, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hooping, hoopers, tightrope walkers, juggling, jugglers, magic (illusi ...

stopped along a railroad route just outside of Fantasyland Forest. The land's marquee attractions include

Dumbo the Flying Elephant Dumbo the Flying Elephant is an aerial carousel-style ride located in Fantasyland at six Disney theme parks around the world. It is based on Disney's 1941 animated feature film, ''Dumbo''. The original attraction opened at Disneyland on August ...

, an aerial carousel-style ride based on the 1941 film ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

'';

The Barnstormer The Barnstormer is a junior roller coaster. It is located in the Storybook Circus section of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Great Goofini's Barnstormer is the successor to The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm which c ...

, a family roller coaster featuring

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...

as a daredevil stuntman; and Casey Jr. Splash 'n' Soak Station. Originally, Storybook Circus was the location of

Mickey's Toontown Fair Mickey's Toontown is a themed land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, two theme parks operated by Disney Experiences and The Oriental Land Company respectively. At Tokyo Disneyland, this land is named Toontown. A similar land existed at the M ...

(as the original 7th themed land), which closed permanently on February 11, 2011. Some elements of Mickey's Toontown Fair were demolished, and others were re-themed to fit the circus concept. An expanded Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride was built, with an interactive queue, and a second Dumbo ride was built next to it, in order to increase capacity. The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm was re-themed to "The Great Goofini". A big top area was built for meet-and-greets, called Pete's Silly Sideshow. This attraction features Goofy as a stuntman,

Daisy Duck Daisy Duck is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. She is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck that has large eyelashes and ruffled tail feathers around her lowest region to suggest a skirt. She is often s ...

as a fortune-teller,

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

as a snake-charmer,

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

as a magician, and

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

as a special performer. Storybook Circus opened with a "streetmosphere" circus act called The Giggle Gang, which had a two-year run from 2012 until 2014.

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland is themed to the concept of the future inspired by the optimism and scientific advancements of the

Space Age The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the space race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and co ...

and

Atomic Age The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear weapon, The Gadget at the '' Trinity'' test in New Mexico on 16 July 1945 during World War II. Although nuclear chain r ...

. Several attractions include Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin,

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a media franchise produced by Pixar and owned by the Walt Disney Company. The franchise takes place in a universe parallel to the real world where monsters are the citizens of soci ...

Tomorrowland Speedway Autopia is a race track attraction at various Disney Experiences#Disney resorts, Disney theme parks, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Disneyland at Anaheim, California and Di ...

, the

PeopleMover The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the Goodyear PeopleMover and WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that opened on July 2, 1967, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Guests boarded small trains that r ...

, and

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, just outside of Orlando. Created by W ...

, except for Stitch's Alien Encounter Character Greeting! as a meet and greet location. A pair of thrill ride roller coasters are located on the western edge of Tomorrowland: Space Mountain, themed to space exploration through the cosmos; and TRON Lightcycle / Run, based on the digital software world of the Grid from ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

.''

Transportation and Ticket Center

Magic Kingdom lies more than a mile away from its parking lot, on the opposite side of the man-made Seven Seas Lagoon. Upon arrival, guests are taken by the parking lot trams to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), which sells admission into the parks and provides transportation connections throughout the resort complex. Guests using city buses, non-Disney hotel shuttles or ridesharing services are also dropped off at the TTC. To travel between the TTC and the Magic Kingdom, guests have their choice of taking a ferry boat or the

Walt Disney World Monorail System The Walt Disney World Monorail System is a monorail serving Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Operated by Disney Transport as part of the resort's public transportation system, it runs 12 Mark VI monorail trains across thr ...

. The three ferries are clad in different trim colors and are named for past Disney executives: the '' General Joe Potter'' (blue), the '' Richard F. Irvine'' (red) and the '' Admiral Joe Fowler'' (green). The main monorail loop has two tracks. The outer track is used by the Express Line with direct service between the TTC and Magic Kingdom, while the inner track is the Resort Line with additional stops at the Contemporary, Grand Floridian and Polynesian Village resorts. Epcot is also accessible from the TTC on a spur monorail line that was added upon that park's opening in 1982. The hotels in the

Magic Kingdom Resort Area The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

are connected to the park by walking paths, ferry boats, or the

. Disney-owned hotels in other resort areas have

Disney Transport Disney Transport is the public transit system of the Walt Disney World resort near Orlando, Florida, United States. It offers guests a variety of Free public transport, fare-free options to navigate the resort, including buses, the Walt Disney ...

buses to the Magic Kingdom, but these do not serve the TTC. Instead, they operate from three bus loops directly adjacent to the park's main gate.

Attendance

Television adaptation

In 2012,

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

announced he was planning a film called ''Magic Kingdom''. The film was described as "''

Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an en ...

'' at

," meaning that the film would tell a story where all the characters at Disney come to life at night. Marc Abraham and Eric Newman of

Strike Entertainment Strike Entertainment was an American production company founded in 2002 by Marc Abraham, Thomas Bliss and Eric Newman. Strike's films were distributed through Universal Studios as well as various other majors. Its first film produced was '' ...

were scheduled to produce the film. Writer-producer

Ronald D. Moore Ronald Dowl Moore (born July 5, 1964) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on ''Star Trek,'' as well as on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series, for which he won a Peabody Awar ...

had previously written an original script for the project, which the studio eventually declined to use, stating that Favreau and a new

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

would develop a new script. In 2021, it was announced as a new project, now developed as a television series for

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. Moore was brought back to develop the series which will see that the various lands in the Magic Kingdom are actually gateways to alternate worlds, thus setting up a shared universe. The first in the series will be ''The Society of Explorers and Adventurers (SEA)''.

In popular culture

* '' Adventures in the Magic Kingdom'', a 1990 video game for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

* '' Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom'', a 2003 science fiction novel by

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of th ...

* ''

The Kingdom Keepers ''Kingdom Keepers'' is a series of children's novels written by American author Ridley Pearson. The ''New York Times'' Bestselling series is published through Disney Editions and Disney Hyperion, and the first book was released on August 29, 20 ...

'', a 2005 children's novel by

Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson (born March 13, 1953, in Glen Cove, New York) is an American author of suspense, thriller and adventure books. Several of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Literary career Pearson became the fir ...

* ''

The Florida Project ''The Florida Project'' is a 2017 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Sean Baker, written by Baker and Chris Bergoch, and starring Bria Vinaite in her film debut, Brooklynn Prince, and Willem Dafoe, with Valeria Cotto, Christopher ...

'', a 2017 drama film directed by

Sean Baker Sean Baker (born February 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker. He is a director, writer, editor, and producer of Independent film, independent narrative feature films which are most often about the lives of marginalized people, especially immi ...

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1971 establishments in Florida Amusement parks in Greater Orlando Amusement parks opened in 1971 Tourist attractions in Greater Orlando Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Walt Disney World

History

Conception

Opening and operation

Park layout and attractions

Main Street, U.S.A.

Adventureland

Frontierland

Liberty Square

Fantasyland

Storybook Circus

Tomorrowland

Transportation and Ticket Center

Attendance

Television adaptation

In popular culture

See also

References

External links