Magic Kingdom AtMousePhere: The Music at the Entrance

To wrap up our Magic Kingdom AtMousePhere series, we actually finish outside of the park, at the main entrance! The point of the music outside Magic Kingdom park is to get people excited to get inside. There is a sampling of every area’s music, and many of the attraction’s tunes. People don’t spend a lot of time out here during the park hours, but before the Mickey globes are activated and the cast members drop the ropes to the archways on either side of the train station, the only thing to do is stand around, take pictures, and enjoy the music!

Let’s find out some of the special music that the Disney Imagineers have chosen to welcome you into the Happiest Place on Earth:

“When You Wish Upon a Star” – Fantasyland

In any Magic Kingdom entrance loop video on YouTube, this is the one that begins it. The use of pixie dust and harp immediately transports you into a world of fantasy – perfect for your entrance into Magic Kingdom park.

“The Mickey Mouse March” – Fantasyland

If you take the Walt Disney World bus system, this song is also the one you will hear as you pull up to the Magic Kingdom bus area. The arrangement of the song is ideal for anyone’s morning walk into the park, because it immediately sets your feet to a quick march!

“The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room” – Adventureland

This version of “The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room” is much more relaxed than the version sung by the birds that sing words in the attraction. It has an undertone of Calypso music, emphasized by the steel drums heard in the background.

“Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)” – Adventureland

There aren’t any pirates singing along to this song, and this version definitely wouldn’t be sung after a night of plundering and looting. In keeping with the lighthearted music on either side, the song has a hint of that pirate style, but it is very peppy.

“The Ballad of Davy Crockett” – Frontierland

By using banjo, harmonica, and guitar in this arrangement, the connection to Frontierland is unmistakable. It would have been a crime for Disney not to include this ballad in its main entrance music. Without Davy Crockett, there wouldn’t be a Frontierland nowadays!

“Beautiful Beulah” – Main Street U.S.A.

Taken from Summer Magic, it’s quite possible that you could hear this one outside of the park and then hear it immediately when you enter Town Square!

“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” – Tomorrowland

I know it’s odd to think of the main song from Toy Story in Tomorrowland, but if you think about it, the only land which has a Toy Story-themed attraction is Tomorrowland, with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin!

“Zip-a-dee-doo-dah” – Frontierland

The song that isn’t played nearly enough on Splash Mountain gets a little more love outside of the park, with a distinctly Frontierland-style arrangement.

“Grim Grinning Ghosts” – Liberty Square

Out of all the songs sampled in the entrance to Magic Kingdom park, this is the one that feels the most out of place at the beginning, but then transitions into a hopping dance that you could see those ghostly ballroom dancers really getting into at the Haunted Mansion!

“it’s a small world” – Fantasyland

It’s only natural that the most iconic song of all of Walt Disney World – and perhaps even the Walt Disney Company – should be present here at the entrance to this fine theme park. Even if it means it might get stuck in your head and play over and over and over and over…

While you might want to look up this wonderful music for yourself on YouTube (like here), note that the common music loop that many have posted online is not exactly the Magic Kingdom entrance loop of today. If you listen carefully, you might here music that is no longer in the parks, like “Now is the Time” (from Carousel of Progress) “Smile Darn Ya Smile” (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and found in Toontown in California) the soundtrack to Timekeeper, and songs from the first incarnation of Star Tours! I have a feeling that the loop found on YouTube is one from Disneyland. Many of the songs are still the same, but if you enter the park you are unlikely to hear songs from extinct attractions. Instead, relevant songs have been kept, and new songs for new attractions have been added in.

And now the Magic Kingdom AtMousePhere is completed! I hope you enjoyed taking a look at the background music of the lands of Magic Kingdom park. Hopefully next time you’re in the park, you’ll take special notice of the music as you joyfully meander (or run) from land to land!

In the next installment of AtMousePhere, we’ll be taking a look at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!