A board game for Magic Kingdom aficionados to celebrate their happiest place on earth!
What They Say
It’s a delightful game of sharing and discovery! Visit exciting attractions, meet cherished characters, and experience magical moments throughout Magic Kingdom Park. Along the way, you’ll share your favorite ways to spend the day. When Tinker Bell reaches the top of the castle, the game board magically transforms from day to night! It’s an enchanting adventure every time you play!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
For those who can’t visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom often enough, Funko Games has released a game based on the theme park. And because the Magic Kingdom is so heavily geared toward children, so is this game.
The “Happiest Day Game” includes a two-sided board, balloon tokens, Cinderella Castle token holder/Tinkerbell tracker, park cards, spinner, and six plastic character figures (Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto). Instructions are provided on a pamphlet, but for those who prefer to watch a video, Funko has one available on YouTube. Both the pamphlet and the video are easy to follow.
The board design is based on the layout of the actual Disneyworld theme park. Players basically maneuver their character pieces to park spaces and train spaces connected by different color paths. Each park space features three small pictures representing a character, location, or attraction associated with that section of the theme park. These character/attraction/location pictures match the pictures printed on the park cards.
The object of the game is to gain points by traveling to the spaces where the pictures on your park cards are located. Players obtain balloon tokens by spinning the spinner and then use the tokens to move along the colored paths.
To make things a little more interesting, the board changes midway through the game. It’s somewhat misleading the way the back of the box states: “the game board magically transforms from day to night!” Nothing actually transforms; rather, players take all the pieces off the board, flip the board to the other side, and set up the game again. In addition to a different color scheme to indicate nightfall, there are subtle differences on the night side that affect gameplay. Some of the color routes are different, and although the locations and attractions stay in the same spaces, some characters move within their section of the park.
As for the Where’s Waldo? aspect, there are a lot of teeny pictures crowded onto this board. In addition to the images corresponding to the park cards, there’s a ton of other non-game details crammed in between park spaces. As such, the bulk of playing time went toward locating the attractions/location/characters on our cards.
Which leads to a criticism of the game’s physical design. The literal centerpiece of the board is Cinderella’s Castle, which is a combination token holder, special park space, and gameplay “timer.” Just like in the theme park, it’s located in the middle of the board, and the 10″ x 6.5″ cardboard castle is artistically pleasing and visually impressive. However, it absolutely gets in the way when you’re scouring the board for pictures. After our second game, we got tired of having to look around the castle and moved it off the board.
However, other players might feel entirely different about the castle and masses of pictures. For a child who is less competitive and more interested in enjoying the artwork presented upon the game board, half the fun could be in perusing the vast array of pictures. But for those with a more competitive bent, it’s a bit irritating.
Another criticism of the game design is the character figures. Each is fitted with a circular base that’s nearly the same diameter as the park spaces. So when two players end up on the same space, it gets awkward (as we discovered). And because the game goes up to six players, it can get really crowded.
Still, the game has a lot to offer, especially to children who may not have mastered reading or math. The game is very visual; it’s about matching colors and pictures and making spatial connections. The only counting involved is when players count the points at the end. Occasionally, gameplay involves answering questions printed on the park cards, but everyone’s cards are visible to all players, so an adult or older child can help a younger child read.
By the way, the advertised playing time is 20 minutes. Having tested out the game with two and four players, I would argue that it’s at least a 30 minute game (because you’re constantly locating pictures) and that the playing time increases with additional players.
In Summary:
Do you love Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom? Then this re-creation of the theme park in board game form is worth checking out. The design is visually stimulating, and the game is simple enough for small children to play. I’d argue that the playing time is 30+ minutes rather than the advertised 20 minutes, but even if it’s not necessarily a quick game, it should keep Disney fans of all ages engaged.
Packaging Grade: B+
Age Appropriateness: A-
Play: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Funko Games
Release Date: July 21st, 2022
MSRP: $19.99
