This is the question we get asked most often by our friends who are visiting for the first time. The answer depends completely on how much you want to do and how long you want your days to be. If you want to do all the rides and shows, meet all the characters etc, our general rule of thumb is you can do everything in around 3 days, perhaps 4. This is by far the busiest park with the most attractions and entertainment offerings so be sure to set aside plenty of time.

Magic Kingdom, being the main park at Walt Disney World, is not short of fun events and activities. The headline events being Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. These really are amazing events to enjoy together. As well as these of course you’ve got the After Hours events, DVC Moonlight Magic events, or VIP tours including the Keys to the Kingdom tour.

With the sheer number of attractions at Magic Kingdom, there are a number you could choose to prioritise for your Lightning Lane reservations depending on your personal preferences. Going by popularity the focus should be Tron, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Peter Pan’s Flight. After these you’re probably looking at Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland Transit Authority (due to it’s slow loading speeds). Either way you’ve got loads to fit in!

Magic Kingdom sits at one end of the Seven Seas Lagoon, separating it from the outside world. To reach the park you can either take a Disney bus, or take the monorail or ferry from the Ticket & Transportation area on the opposite side of the lake. Once you’ve passed through security and the gates you’re greeted by the beautiful railroad station sitting above the manicured lawns and entranceway.

Immediately inside is the main square and your first glimpse of the castle at the other end of Main Street, designed to look like an early 20th century American town. The theming is amazing, with beautiful architecture, old ‘main street’ vehicles to ride, a barber shop, sweet shops, and of course an abundance of gift shops.

You can sometimes meet characters around the square, or pop into the Town Square Theatre to meet Mickey himself. Also watch out for the Dapper Dans performing throughout the day, one of our favourite little touches, and the flag ceremony performed daily.

There are several dining options including Tony’s Town Square restaurant (which is Lady & the Tramp themed), Casey’s Corner and the The Plaza restaurant.

Reaching the main hub and the beautiful castle, this is the centre of the park, through which you’ll likely pass through many times throughout your day. There are little stage shows in front of the castle periodically throughout the day (currently Mickey’s Friendship Faire), often featuring classic Disney characters, and of course the nightly fireworks and projection show, Happily Ever After - this is not to be missed.

The Hub also sees parades on their way through the park, including a new nighttime parade coming later this year called Starlight: Dream the Night Away. We’re really excited for this one!

On the opposite side of the Hub to the castle is the Crystal Palace restaurant. This has a brilliant character meal featuring Winnie the Pooh and Friends that we’ve enjoyed many times.

Besides all of this, this is just a lovely area to just sit on the hub grass, take a breather, and enjoy the views of that lovely castle.

Starting on the left hand side of the park and moving around clockwise, we begin with Adventureland. If we’re being honest, not our favourite Adventureland done by Disney - Paris and Hong Kong’s theming has A LOT to live up to, but nevertheless we still love it here. The land has a great range of attractions, anchored by two rides.

Firstly, the Disney classic Pirates of the Caribbean. For those of you who haven’t ridden it, it’s a family dark boat ride, with a small log flume, themed around Pirates and particular Jack Sparrow (who often meets outside the ride). Secondly, Jungle Cruise, another Disney classic. This one takes you on a hilarious boat ride through the jungles of the World and both rides are must do’s in our opinion. Both also attract pretty decent queues too so use those Lightning Lanes if you can.

Elsewhere there’s the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, a ‘spinny’ ride for younger kids, the walkthrough Swiss Family Treehouse, and the Enchanted Tiki Room show. We love this show and the kids loved it when they were younger, but some people we know don’t get the hype. It’s great for a sit down and some air conditioning though.

In terms of character meets as well as Jack Sparrow, you can also meet Aladdin and Jasmine over near the Tiki Room.

There are some decent dining options here - our favourite is Skipper Canteen which is a sit down restaurant with brilliant food (and half decent prices!), but there’s also Sunshine Tree Terrace for refreshments and Aloha Isle for the obligatory Dole Whip.

Carrying on around the park you’ll reach Frontierland, in the back left corner of the park. Themed around the American Old West, this is a great area, with two of the parks headline attractions.

Big Thunder Mountain, a favourite of both of our famliies, rattles you around on an old mine train and is loads of fun. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is the re-themed Splash Mountain, a huge log flume that soaks you on the way down. The updated theming is spectacular and brilliant for fans of the movie. Again both attract very long queues.

For the time being you can also get a boat over to Tom Sawyer Island, with its trails and play areas to explore. However this corner of the park is about to undergo some serious reimagining with a new Cars themed land coming, and another land behind it themed around Disney Villains. Work is due to start soon so hop over to the island while you still can.

The only other attraction in the land (other than the Railroad station) is Country Bear Jamboree - another kid friendly animatronic show that we always enjoy and is another opportunity to cool off and recharge. You can often see the bears wandering outside as well.

In terms of dining out favourite is Peco’s Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe - great for nachos and burgers. Frontier Trading Post is great for any fellow pin collectors out there too.

Next door to Frontierland, sandwiched between there, Fantasyland and the castle, is Liberty Square, complete with a replica Liberty Bell.

Although only small, it does have a couple of good attractions including the classic Haunted Mansion. Not nearly as scary as it sounds, this is a fun ride-through spotting all the resident ghosts, so this is still definitely family friendly.

There is also the animatronic show, the Hall of Presidents, and the Liberty Square Riverboat which takes you around the Rivers of America, although again this will soon be making way for the new themed lands coming to Magic Kingdom.

The best bits of this land in our opinion though are the dining and shopping. Liberty Tree Tavern has some brilliant food and we’ve eaten here many times. While Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe has every Christmas decoration you could possibly want, in our opinion only beaten by the Christmas shop in Disney Springs.

As well as these two there’s the Diamond Horseshoe, Liberty Square Market, Sleepy Hollow, Columbia Harbour House and Memento Mori (if you love ghost souvenirs - we don’t get this but each to their own!).

Finally a quick mention for the little band stand behind Liberty Square facing the castle - this normally has some brilliant character meets like the Easter Bunnies, Chip & Dale or sometimes Mary Poppins.

Fantasyland truly is a child’s fantasy, with amazing theming around your favourite Disney fairytales and stories and loads of fun rides for all the family to enjoy. This is the biggest land in the park and so the land you’ll probably come back to most often.

A couple of the rides here do attract longer wait times - for example Peter Pan’s Flight, a gentle ride through the classic tale, although it’s relatively tame is still very very popular and frequently has some of the highest wait times in the park. The biggest ride in the land though is without a doubt Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - fairly similar to Big Thunder Mountain but slightly shorter and more family friendly, but nevertheless a really fun ride.

After these two big hitters you’ve got The Barnstormer (or Goofy’s rollercoaster as we call it) - a short first kiddie coaster, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant, both over in the Storybook Circus area in the top right corner of the park. This area also has the railroad station, the Casey Jr Splash ‘n’ Soak Station - a godsend on hot days, and Pete’s Silly Sideshow where you can meet Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy.

In the central part of the land surrounding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the Mad Tea Party (teacups), the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid, both of which are family friendly dark rides, and Enchanted Tales with Belle - an interactive storytime with Belle. The theming in particular in this section of the park, right at the back is superb with the Beast’s castle.

In the left hand side of the land there are still 4 more rides - Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s a Small World, Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel and Mickey’s Philharmagic - a fun 3D movie that’s wonderful on a hot day. Don’t miss Rapunzel’s tower over towards Liberty Square, and the Sword in the Stone by the Castle - both great photo ops.

In terms of characters you’re spoilt for choice. We’ve mentioned those over in Storybook Circus, but you can also find Mirabel, Ariel, Cinderella and Tiana (both at the Princess Fairytale Hall). Keep an eye out for others too, particularly Peter Pan who we’ve met many times here next to his ride.

In terms of food and shopping, you’ve got Big Top Souvenirs in Storybook Circus, Cheshire Cafe, Storybook Treats and Gaston’s Tavern for snacks, and for something more substantial try Pinocchio Village Haus, The Friar’s Nook, or Be Our Guest restaurant where you get to dine in the Beast’s castle and meet the man himself. Of course there are various other shops dotted around too to meet all your merch needs.

Onto the final land of the park, and another of the biggest, this land as you might expect focuses on the future, new technology and space exploration. It’s home to another two big hitting attractions - the classic Space Mountain, and the newest ride here, Tron Lightcycle Run. Space Mountain is a fun blast through space that we really enjoy although the dark may scare younger kids. Note in this version of the ride you sit one behind the other, not side by side. Tron is a really fun ride where you sit on a ‘motorcycle’ and blast off round the track - it’s fairly short but the initial launch is so much fun!

Both of these rides should be Lightning Lane priorities, but there’s still more on offer here. Tomorrowland Speedway is a fairly tame leisurely jaunt around a racetrack. Kids love this as they’re allowed to steer - parents less so as they’re battered from side to side by the child who doesn’t know how to steer! It’s also pretty slow loading, hence the longer wait times. Astro Orbiter also often has disproportionately long wait times, but if you can get on it’s a fun whizz around high up with nice views of the park.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is a very popular attraction where you ride around blasting targets with your laser gun. It is fun, although the technology feels a little outdated now compared to some of the newer attractions. The last ride of the land is the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover. This is basically a little ride around the rooftops of the land and is a nice break from the hustle and bustle below, a must do for some down time and a snack!

If all that wasn’t enough there are two shows in Tomorrowland. The first is Monsters Inc Laugh Floor - a Monsters Inc themed interactive show. The second is Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress - a classic animatronic show leading you through the decades. Again, another good chance for a sit down and some air conditioning.

With respect to characters there aren’t any listed but we’ve often seen them on or around the stage at the back of the land - sometimes Buzz or Stitch.

For those hungry tummies there are a few options. Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant is one (which also offers a great Fireworks Dessert Party Package), and Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe which is brilliant for some burgers and fries etc.