My neighbor just got back from a first-time trip to Walt Disney World and I was surprised to hear her family's review of The Magic Kingdom.

She and her husband took their 11 year old son and 10 year old daughter for five days and the kids liked all of the parks except for the Magic Kingdom.

The kids described it as boring.

When I asked the boy what was boring about it - he specifically stated that the Jungle Cruise was "lame" and that Space Mountain was like a kiddie roller coaster. ( He was expecting a big drop at some point).


The girl said that a lot of the time, you just rode through things and looked at mannequins ( She was referring to Pirates of the Carribean - but also mentioned The Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Country Bear Jamboree, Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh and It's a Small World as additional examples.) And she has a point - the Magic Kingdom has a lot of attractions where you simply sit and look at mannequins.

Everyone of course has hastheir own tastes, but from our conversation it made me wonder if today's youth could be unimpressed with the attractions that are imagination-based and were considered cutting-edge decades ago.

Not surprisingly, they loved all of the thrill rides: Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Rock N Roller Coaster plus other star attractions such as Toy Story Mania, Soarin, Test Track, Splash Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin.

In a nutshell, these two kids liked everything that was not just a sit-and-look attraction.

With our current I-phone/downloadable apps/video game based society, is the Magic Kingdom becoming a park that's really just a playground for the pre-school set and a comfortable relic for the nostalgic old-timers who fondly remember the Magic Kingdom in its heyday?

Can the Magic Kingdom really impress kids aged 10-16? Or is it boring?