First Ride at Magic Kingdom for 1st Timer!

[Felipe4]

I'm bringing my boyfriend for his first trip to Disney World in a little less than a month! He's never really been to an amusement park before outside of local carnivals and water parks. He's never ridden a roller coaster and is kind of nervous about them - especially going upside down and corkscrews.

I'm trying to figure out what his introduction to Disney should be! We have fastpasses for Peter Pan, Mine Train, and Space Mountain throughout the day and a pre-park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace (an 8:20, so by the time we get out, the wait for Mine Train will already be at least an hour).

My best friend and I are going to give him an "introduction to roller coasters" tour throughout the day that looked something like this: Barnstormer, Big Thunder, Splash, Mine Train, Space. I would have done Mine Train earlier, but our FPs are for around 12:00PM (which is a great time to have a FP for it, but it kind of gets out of order in terms of thrill level).

However, we didn't want the first ever ride to be Barnstormer as it's pretty meh. Pirates will be closed when we're there, or else that probably would have been my first choice.

In terms of what will have shorter waits in the morning that will be longer in the afternoon, Jungle Cruise and Winnie the Pooh are options that make time saving sense. Thoughts?

 

[Jarmo]

I'd go with a classic, Haunted Mansion.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

PP is always my first as it embodies everything WDW to me, but if you're waiting on your FP for it I'd say HM or IASW. Both classics and really capture the feel of Disney. An underrated wildcard here could be philharmagic, that captures about 10 Disney films in one ride.

 

[OhThePain]

In all honesty, if he isn't used to theme parks, don't overdo it on the first day. Give him a chance to adjust and get used to it. Let him dictate the pace and the order he wants to do things. Walk around and stop to do the things he wants. If you try to push too much, it might dampen the experience. It's nice that you are enthusiastic and want to show him everything, but you could be setting yourself up for disaster.

 

[tink9702]

I'd consider Haunted Mansion or Big Thunder. Partially because I think they are great rides and a great beginning to a wonderful day, but also because their lines will be longer later in the day unless you are staying until close.

 

[minushka72]

Jungle Cruise would be my pick. Lines get insane throughout the day. It is classic Disney and I love the corny jokes.

 

[Lucius Best]

Throw him right into the deep end, go straight to BTMR and Splash after breakfast! With your FP reserved for 7DMT/PP/Space, you'd want to hit Thunder/Splash early in the day when lines are shorter. Then you can skip the kiddie-coaster Barnstormer completely, that line is super slow even with FP, and the ride is over very quickly. After Thunder/Splash you can maybe hit HauntedMansion or JungleCruise if lines aren't bad on way to use your FPs.

I can understand being nervous about loops/corkscrews/speed. But my niece rode BTMR 5 times in a row on her 5th birthday before we had to drag her away.

 

[Alesia]

The Haunted Mansion.

It was my mom's first ride. It was my first ride. It was my daughter's first ride.

 

[Alesia]

Jungle Cruise would be my pick. Lines get insane throughout the day. It is classic Disney and I love the corny jokes.

I'd actually save that for after dark - it's so much better then.

 

[lahobbs4]

Pirates is always our first ride, every single trip! Classic WDW

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Alternate title of this thread: What was your first ride?

 

[3Gsandme]

I think Dumbo is pretty quintessentially Disney. It's not a great ride, but I do think it is the ride a lot of people think about when they first think of Disney. Haunted Mansion or Pirates are both Disney essentials, IMO, as well. And, you know, Philharmagic is great, too. It's not a ride, of course, but it's another attraction that, IMO, is just full of Disney magic.

 

[BudgieMama]

My husband isn't great with coasters either... I chose Big Thunder Mountain Railway as our first ride, as it's such a family friendly coaster... He loved it, and it was a great start. The theming is so impressive, and it whet his appetite for trying some of the other rides!

 

[BrianL]

Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise or it's a small world. They're all classic Disney.

 

[chelseabun76]

I always want to head straight for PP, but this past trip we had our fp+ booked for it later in the afternoon, so we went and did BTMR a few times in a row first thing on our first day.

 

[Texas Mickey]

Haunted Mansion!

 

[Disney93]

Haunted Mansion would be a great first ride but remember you could always go for thrilling ride on COP.

 

[Jfsag123]

I would pick Peter Pan, except you have a FP for it. Since you're coming from Crystal Palace, I would do these attractions in this order: Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, it's a small world, Philharmagic, and, if you're up for a little walking, Buzz Lightyear. I think that gives a nice sampling of things that feel very Disney to me, saving your roller coasters and FP rides for later.

 

[Felipe4]

Haunted Mansion would be a great first ride but remember you could always go for thrilling ride on COP.

LOL. I actually love CoP.

I'm seeing a LOT more pulling for HM than I thought I would too! @Alesia thanks for the JC tip at night. We'll probably still try it in the morning one day (we have a total of 1 full day, 2 mornings, and 1 evening in MK planned).

Wishes for the full day are: 7DMT, PP, Space, Splash, BTMRR, JC, HM, ETWB, Teacups, IASM, Pooh, Dumbo. Not sure if we'll be able to fit it all in with food as well (and my BFF wants to meet some princesses and other face characters too - not A&E thankfully)! Because I wanted to make use of the FPs somewhat early to select more later, our last FP is at 3:25. We have PP for 10:15, 7DMT for 11:50, and Space for 3:25. We're also going to WCC for lunch and doing a later dinner at BOG.

We'll probably be there from 7:30AM to 10:00PM. Are some of these much easier at night?

 

[KGeeLovesDisney]

Pirates!