Walt Disney World’s The Kiss Goodnight Tips and Review

Anyone who reads this blog, knows that we have a hard time playing favorites. We love Disney World (shocker, I know), and we love all things Disney World. We do have one favorite though – a tradition of ours that brings back all our warm, fuzzy, Disney feelings, and reminds us time, and time again, why we love the parks. We’re talking about The Kiss Goodnight at The Magic Kingdom – and the sad thing is, is that only a handful of park guests ever get to see it.


ljp_0582dsc_9833dsc_9821Every night, when the nightly entertainment at The Magic Kingdom ends, there’s a mad dash out of the park. It’s like getting caught in the running of the bulls – trying to fight against the throngs of people rushing to buses, monorails, and boats, all trying to leave the park. This is our favorite time to head to the hub grass, carton of corn dog nuggets from Casey’s in hand, and wait for the park to quiet down. We love The Magic Kingdom at all times, but we especially love it when we aren’t trying to fight crowds of people. We love to walk the parks at night, when they’re empty, and observe the details that we might have missed during the days when we’re dodging balloons, and strollers, and backpacks.

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You can buy David’s sweatshirt here20160918-ljp_1523Our favorite part of The Magic Kingdom when it’s closed is The Kiss Goodnight. The Kiss Goodnight is, in essence, Disney Worlds, very polite, very magical, ‘last call’. But instead of a gruff bartender asking you to exit immediately, Disney puts on a 2-3 minute long show, filled with soft sentiment, that will give you all the warm fuzzies.

20160918-ljp_149620160917-ljp_147120160918-ljp_147220160917-ljp_1437The Kiss Goodnight starts approximately 30 minutes after the park CLOSES (not thirty minutes after the night entertainment ) – so the time of The Kiss Goodnight can vary night by night. If its the off-season, and the park closes at 10, you can expect the first Kiss Goodnight around 10:30. If it’s the busy season, and the park closes at 2 am – the first Kiss Goodnight will be around 2:30 am. The Kiss Goodnight will play several times after closing on the Castle and goes something like this –

‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, on behalf of everyone here at the Magic Kingdom, we thank you for joining us today for a magical gathering of family, friends, fun, and fantasy. We hope that your magical journey with us has created wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.


20160917-ljp_143420160917-ljp_1431Walt Disney said that the Magic Kingdom is a world of imagination, hopes, and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment, magic and make believe are reborn, and fairy tales come true. The Magic Kingdom is a place for the young and the young at heart. A special place where when you wish upon a star, your dreams can come true. Until we see you again, have a safe trip home. Thank you, and goodnight.’

It ends with a flurry of sparkles projected on the Castle, and music from When You Wish Upon A Star’ playing.

20160917-ljp_139320160917-ljp_1389Everytime we see The Kiss Goodnight, we see only a handful of people still in the parks watching it. David and I love it, and sometimes see it several times in an evening. We think it’s the perfect ending to any day at a Disney Park, and will sometimes leave another park, to catch it. Even if you don’t normally stay up late at the parks, we think it’s worth to try to catch it even once (plus, EMPTY MAIN STREET GUYS), so that you can know what all the hype is about.

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