Description And Comments

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom is a free interactive adventure game played throughout the park. It combines aspects of role-based games such as Dungeons and Dragons, with Disney characters and theme park attractions.

In the game, you help the wizard Merlin to keep evil villains from taking over the Magic Kingdom. Merlin sends you on adventures to different parts of the park to fight these villains.

Each land in the park hosts a different adventure within the game, with different villains in each adventure.

The game is played with a set of trading cards (similar to baseball cards or Magic: The Gathering cards), with a different Disney character on each card. Each character also has special properties which help it fight certain villains. You pick up the cards at either the Fire Station on Main Street, or across from Sleepy Hollow Refreshments in Liberty Square. There is no cost to obtain the cards. You’ll also be given a map showing locations in the park where you can play the game.

One card, known as your “key,” is special because it links you to your game. When you pick up a set of cards to start your next adventure, you’ll need your key card to do so. You’ll also need your park ticket to pick up your first set of cards and start the game. (Why? As far as we can tell, there’s no reason right now. But we suspect that in the future, knowing which adventures you went on may be used either in attractions or by Disney characters you meet later in the parks.)

When you pick up your initial set of cards you’ll be shown an instructional video explaining the object of the game and how to use the cards. When the video is done, you’ll be sent to another location in another land to start your first adventure. Each location in the park is associated with a unique symbol, such as an eye, a feather, or Jimmy Page’s “ZoSo” from Led Zeppelin IV (okay, just kidding about that one). Find those symbols on the map to find the best route to your starting point.

Each adventure consists of four or five stops in a particular land. At each stop, another story will play on a computer screen, outlining what your villain is trying to do. Merlin will ask you to cast a spell, using your character cards, to stop the villain. Hold one or more of your character cards up to the video display to cast your spell. Cameras within the video displays will read your card, deploy the spell, and show you the results.

The game has three levels: easy, medium and hard. The “easy” version of the game is the default, and is appropriate for small children. In the “easy” version, holding up any one of your character cards is enough to defeat any villain. You may need to display two or more character cards, in specific combinations, to defeat a particular villain in the advanced levels of the game. Different character card combinations produce different spells, and only some spells work on certain characters in those advanced levels.

We’re told that the audio at each step holds clues as to which cards you should use against advanced villains. For example, if a villain says something like “Don’t toy with me!” then you should look for cards with characters that are toys, such as the Winnie the Pooh characters, Toy Story characters, and so on; references to “being spotted” suggests using cards with characters from 101 Dalmatians, and so on. The game launched with an initial series of around 70 unique cards. You can obtain 5 new cards per day. Don’t worry if you play more than once and end up with duplicate cards - a brisk trading market exists within the park, and it’s fairly easy to find someone to trade with. Disney should issue new card series over time.

Touring Tips

To start the game, visit one of the two recruitment centers: the Fire Station on Main Street or in Liberty Square behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe across from the Tiana character greeting area. At either location you can pick-up the Sorcerer Spell Cards required to start your quest.

Sorcerers is fun and was immediately popular with guests. You’ll probably encounter a line of 5 to 10 people ahead of you at each portal, especially if you play during the afternoon. One complete adventure should take about 30 to 60 minutes to play, depending on how crowded the park is. If the line to pick up cards is too long at the Main Street Fire Station, try the Liberty Square distribution point.

Special Needs

Other Attractions in Main Street, U.S.A.

Touring Plans with Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

What is a Touring Plan?

Lands