My New Obsession: Disney Magic Kingdoms Game! + Gameplay Tips
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Regular readers of my blog will know how much I love Disney. I also am a lifelong gamer – starting on the Atari, way back in the early 80s! So when I saw that Gameloft were releasing a game called Disney Magic Kingdoms, two things I love collided! I already play a couple of Gameloft games, including Ice Age Adventures, and Despicable Me: Minion Rush, and am impressed with the graphics, and playability of those two games, so I expect Disney Magic Kingdoms to be just as good!
The game is free to download and play, with the option of in-app purchases. And is available for iPad, iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.
If you play on an Apple device, you can add me as a friend in the Game Center! My name is Mrs Pumpkin
As soon as I saw it was available in the App Store, I was so excited! I immediately downloaded it, and started playing. Mickey Mouse welcomed me into the Magic Kingdom, walking down Main Street USA, and up to the Castle… however, we were stopped in our track by Maleficent, who, just typical of her, wants to suck all of the fun out of the theme park! The idea behind the game, is to restore all of the magic to the park, as you do, you will unlock different areas, characters, rides, concession stands, and decorations, enabling you to build the Disney park of your dreams!
These items can be bought with bottles of Magic, and are essentially the free part of the game, whilst some other items can only be bought with Gems (the paid part of the game). Until I unlock different character levels, I can’t see what costs what, but so far, I’ve not had to buy any premium items to enjoy the game, and progress. I am the sort of person who does buy premium items in games, but I do hope that Gameloft strike a good balance between free and premium items.
There is nothing worse for people who can’t afford to purchase an in-game currency (or those, who simply do feel they should), than seeing loads of cool items that cost real money, and hardly anything that is free. I have played a few games in the past, that started out well, but over time, things have gotten way to heavy on the paid side, and I’ve ended up quitting the game because of it. At the same time, I’ve played some freemium games that the balance is just right, and still play years later. I buy in-game currency when I really want a decoration, but I can also enjoy the game completely, for free.
In the run up to the launch of the game, there was a community incentive to pre-register for the game, and share news about it on Facebook. At the time of writing about the game, you can still do that and receive the community prizes worth $12. The prizes are [bottles of] Magic (which helps bring happiness and fun to your kingdoms), a Mickey Topiary decoration, Ggems (the currency for in-app purchases aka, real money), and a Diamond Mickey Hat Stand (which celebrates the 60th birthday of Disneyland, California). I received these prizes in my game this morning – woohoo!
Right, back to the game – some minor spoilers abound, as I describe and show you the first few steps!
As you start to play, the game explains about Magic and Gems, and sends you on your first mission with Mickey Mouse. It then explains about Tokens, which you collect by doing different quests, and are used to welcome and level up characters. As characters level up, they can do more, and different quests.You know that a new quest is available, as characters have a green exclamation point floating above their heads. Quest times vary from 60 seconds, to several hours. This is quite a standard game play method for this sort of game. You can use Gems to speed things up, but I never feel the need to do something like that, and just leave the game to do its thing. I can wait for a few hours if needs be (I can’t play the game continually all day! But if I could, I totally would.)
You then build your first attraction, and taught how to use the edit mode. It’s easy to move the items around, rotate them and confirm its spot in the park. You know that it will place correctly when the guide squares are all green. You can store your bought items if you wish – they go back into the shop, but you don’t have to pay for them again if you store them. Instead of the cost (Magic or Gems) you just get a button with “Place” instead. I like that you can store items, as it make it easy to re-decorate and move things around. As you earn more Magic (from Quests, and collecting from buildings) you can buy more items for your theme park.
Eventually, guests arrive in your park, and you are taught about Happiness. You fulfil the Wishes of your guests to boost park happiness and can then earn greater rewards and bonuses. One of these rewards is the ability to start a parade! You know I love a Disney parade!!
As time has gone on, I’ve brought new characters into the game, including Goofy, Woody, Jessie, and Pluto. I’m just working my way to get Hamm, Bo Peep, and Sarge [Green Army Man]. These things do take time, and I’m fine with that – I hate rushing too much in a game, and find that I then have nothing much to do.
The characters come in different sets, and when you complete a set you can win Gems which is cool. You can also get gems “for free” from levelling up, certain Quests, and parades. Other characters that I can see so far are: Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, and Pete – in the Mickey & Friends sets; Emporer Zurg, Buzz Lightyear, and Rex – in the Toy Story sets; Mike Wazowski, Sully, Boo, Roz, Celia, and Randall – in the Monsters Inc. sets; WALL-E, and EVE – in the WALL-E set; Mother Gothel, Flynn Ryder, Rapunzel, and Maximus – in the Tangled set; and Tinkerkbell – in the Peter Pan set. I’m pretty sure as the game grows, we’ll see even more characters (at least, I hope we do!)
You can connect the game to your Facebook account, so that you can add your friends who also play the game and visit their parks, tapping on guests to receive Magic. Connecting to Facebook also means you can sync it between your devices. I tend to play this sort of game on my iPad, but it’s good to know my progress is also on my iPhone when I’m out and about and get the urge to check up on my Magic Kingdom! There is also a Lifetime Visitors Leaderboard, but I’m just ignoring that and not getting hung up on it – especially since I’m languishing in 6174th place!!
So far, I’m really enjoying playing the game. It’s not as full on as Roller Coaster Tycoon, in that I don’t have to micro manage my theme park, but I do wish we had the ability to customise things just a little bit more.
A few things I would ask the developers to think about improving:
- The ability to zoom out of the game more, and see more of the park on the screen.
- The ability to turn buildings and decorations 4 ways, not just 2 as it is now.
- More area to build upon, as it already feels a little bit cramped.
- Reducing the footprint of some of the items. For example, the rose bushes are small, yet the foot print is huge, meaning I can’t put it close to something else.
- When visiting friends, the game should remember where you are, instead of jumping back to the start of the list!
The graphics are cute and colourful. I love seeing the little guests running and skipping around the park. They even stop and take photos on their phones! You can hear the happy shrieks of the guests, the birds chirping, and a lovely upbeat soundtrack.
The simplicity of the game means that even young children can happily pick this up and play it, but I’d imagine, some might get bored of waiting a couple of hours for a Quest to finish, so bare that in mind if your child plays this game – they’ll have to learn a little bit of patience for things to happen!
It’s fun to see the different rides that are available, with influences from rides in Disneyland, California; Walt Disney World, Florida; and Disneyland, Paris. As well as from different Disney movies.
I also love seeing the different areas of the park, like Main Street USA, and the hub near the Castle with a gold Walt & Mickey statue, and the Characters in Flight balloon too. You can also see some of the areas waiting to be unlocked – I’ve spied Space Mountain, it’s a small world, and Frontierland, and I’m currently on countdown for the roller coaster, California Screamin’!
This game is sure to be a Disney fan’s gaming obsession – it is mine!
Download Disney Magic Kingdoms now and give it a try!
10 Disney Magic Kingdoms Tips
I’ve been playing this game for a week or so now, and thought I’d share a few tips that you may find helpful.
- Level up your characters as soon as you can. They open up new tasks that they can do, which may help in the Quests. You level up characters by clicking on the book icon in the bottom right of the screen, and then tapping on the character. You may need to collect certain items to level up. If you don’t have enough, tap on the item icon, and it will show you which character can get the item. They have different drop rates, so you may have to repeat some tasks before the item drops.
- When it comes to a Quest, and a specific task you need to do, I have generally found that it’ll be the top task in the list for that character. Or, if it’s not, it may mean that you need to level up the character (see tip #1). Some tasks require you to use two characters – you need to make sure both are free from other tasks before you can send them on a joint one.
- To defeat Pete you see to have to get to around level 17/18, and the Quest line will then appear. You need Mickey and Goofy (free in the game) and (optional) Pluto (buy him with Gems) to stand up to Pete – you have to do this a total of 5 times, so you do not need all three characters to do this. You could use one character and send them 5 times to do it.
- Tasks can be rushed by using gems – but don’t waste gems on this! Have some patience for the task time to run down.
- When a character is not being used for a Quest – send it on tasks that drop items for levelling up. If those items are no longer shown against the task, check to see which characters need levelling up. Once you do that, the items will re-appear.
- For Guests who with a Wish (a thought bubble over their head), that shows a character, it means they want that character to do a specific task. Tap on it, and if the character is available, the task will have a smiley face icon next to it. If that character is on a task already, they will have to wait. The guest still skips about with the Wish until you can do it (or so it seems).
- Remember to visit your neighbours each day – you can tap three things in their Kingdom, which drops Magic – helps to build your stores up!
- Add friends via Facebook, and Game Connect (on Apple devices) and Google Play (on Android). I play on my iPad, and my Game Connect name is Mrs Pumpkin – you are welcome to add me for Disney Magic Kingdoms!
- Don’t forget to set your parade going each day, some rare items drop when the parade ends.
- You can build as many concession stands as you like – having a few of them helps your Magic stores, as they drop magic when the bubble floats above them.
- For Guests with a Wish (thought bubble above their head) that shows a roller coaster, it means they just go to a ride. When the ride ends you will see smiley face icons – tap those to increase your happiness. To see your happiness total, tap on the smiley face at the top of the screen. Cheerful unlocks Parades; Joyous unlocks 10% extra Magic, and 10% extra XP (which helps you level up); and Ecstatic unlocks 10% chance on items dropping.
- If you like to play continuously during the day, send characters on shorter 1 hour tasks. Overnight, send them on the long ones!
- Check the dark zones of the theme park from time to time – you may find you can unlock some of them!
I’ll add more tips as I find them!
Check out some of my other Disney stuff: My Disney story with DisneyLife, Free Disney iPhone Wallpapers, Disney Vacation Tips, Disney vacation planner!
Do your kids love Peppa Pig as well as Disney? Check out my free party printables!
*Please note I don’t work for Gameloft so can’t help with technical issues!
Ajay Shah
February 7, 2019 @ 1:50 pm
Please let me know how Goofy quest is satisfied
Michelle
February 8, 2019 @ 9:38 am
Unfortunately I don’t play the game any more :( Just keep following the challenges and eventually quests are completed.
Robin
June 3, 2016 @ 10:02 pm
What is “send Jessie to keep an eye on the real buzz?” I have tried a few options and they don’t work
Michelle Ordever
June 4, 2016 @ 12:32 pm
I’m sorry, not something I can say for certain how to do – perhaps she needs to be levelled up a bit?
connie
April 10, 2016 @ 9:11 pm
how did you get goofy to celebrate sandwich day i leveled him up but cant find it x
Millie
April 9, 2016 @ 8:47 am
Do you always have to pay for Pluto with a lot of gems or later on in the game will it change in that he will be less or possibly free if I won him?
Michelle Ordever
April 11, 2016 @ 12:00 pm
I have no idea I’m afraid. He is for gems only currently.
Samantha
April 6, 2016 @ 2:19 am
Where am I supposed to send Goofy to go to celebrate sandwich day at home?? I have tried so many options but none of them seem to work
Michelle Ordever
April 7, 2016 @ 12:03 pm
Hmmm… Maybe he needs to be levelled up? I always find that the top job is the one a character should be doing for a Quest.
Laura
April 18, 2016 @ 12:39 pm
I have levelled up goofy and still stuck on this same quest I keep telling him to eat sandwich but still nothing
Michelle Ordever
April 18, 2016 @ 1:00 pm
You may have to contact GameLoft about this!
Saskia
April 5, 2016 @ 12:56 am
I have Mickey on L3 it’s still asking me to “send him to catch up on his reading” I’ve done all the tasks available and it’s still not done and next level is all Mickey and Pluto. What do I have to do to send him to catch up on his reading . Thanks.
Michelle Ordever
April 5, 2016 @ 1:44 pm
Check to see if Mickey needs to be levelled up further…
Lingolina
April 3, 2016 @ 8:09 pm
I need some help. For Woody, I’m at the part where I need to tell him to enjoy his day on the work, but I don’t know how to finish that mission and I have been stuck on that mission for like a week now, if someone could help please reply!
Michelle Ordever
April 5, 2016 @ 1:47 pm
See if you need to level Woody up – maybe it’s a job that needs a higher level??
Debbie
April 7, 2016 @ 1:16 pm
You click on the 20 second “keep an eye on the kids”
I was stuck on that one too! :)
Saskia
April 11, 2016 @ 1:52 am
I have levelled him up to L5 and still not able to do this :(. Has anyone done this quest?
Tracey
April 3, 2016 @ 9:29 am
How often do the ravens come? Mine seem to only arrive twice per day. Not getting very far on the leader board. Tia
Michelle Ordever
April 3, 2016 @ 1:46 pm
Sorry, I have no idea! I dropped way down on the leaderboard after about a day. I just tap the ravens when I see them.
Anthony
April 9, 2016 @ 2:26 am
I have been seeing the Ravens every 2 or 3 hours. I haven’t quite figured it all out either. There seems to always be 8.
ali
April 2, 2016 @ 6:44 pm
Hi wondering if u could help me! Every now and then I get a message pop up in game saying the ravens are back and if I click them to shoo them away I can get a reward yet I never seem to be able to find any ravens have u had this and have u found the ravens please help it’s not the first lot at the beginning of the game I’m much further along than that. thanks!
Michelle Ordever
April 2, 2016 @ 8:27 pm
They seem to appear randomly – If I leave the game for a few hours and come back, there are usually some more of them flying about!
ali
April 2, 2016 @ 10:03 pm
Flying around roughly where is it over anything in paticular or just random I haven’t seen them at all since I first got rid of them at the beginning of the game
Michelle Ordever
April 2, 2016 @ 10:28 pm
They seem to be just random – it took ages before I got any after the first few though -_-
Jackie
March 31, 2016 @ 4:35 am
Hi! Hoping you could help, I’ve defeated Pete 5 times and have sent Goofy to eat a sandwich over 4 times…still stuck. Is this normal?
Michelle Ordever
March 31, 2016 @ 8:10 am
If you’ve defeated Pete 5 times, then the new area that he was guiding him should unlock. If this isn’t happening for you, then I suggest contacting Gameloft to see if there is a glitch that needs fixing!
Kellie
March 31, 2016 @ 2:55 pm
How can you minnie mouse? I know you have to defeat evil zurk but how do you do it?
Michelle Ordever
March 31, 2016 @ 4:43 pm
I’m not at that stage yet. I’ve got Zurg wandering around, so I guess, much like defeating Pete, you have to complete the Quest line and then you’ll be able to do it.
Tracey Southworth
April 1, 2016 @ 3:02 pm
Help, I am stuck trying to get Jesse to yodel at Al’s Toy Barn to finish Woody’s quest, how can I finish it? I’ve tried every option with just Jesse and with both characters. I’m open to any suggestions, thanks so much!!!
Michelle Ordever
April 2, 2016 @ 11:09 am
For quests, I send the character on the top job on their list, and hope that’s the right one!! If it’s not working, then might be worth contact Gameloft support??
Mandi
March 30, 2016 @ 3:33 am
Can you help me? Where do I go to get my daily rewards? Like 1 day, then press claim. 2 days, then press claim and etc? Please help thanks!
Michelle Ordever
March 31, 2016 @ 8:11 am
It just appears randomly for me each day – I’m guessing it’s a 24 hour timer, so try and visit the same time each day? The game could do with an icon to check the progress, but so far there doesn’t seem to be one!
Debnbella
April 4, 2016 @ 1:42 pm
Ive just done this, after several attempt sat yodel and meeting with woody. On mine it was the top option in bold writing, making plans at al toys barn, 2 hours! hope this helps others x
Michelle Ordever
April 5, 2016 @ 1:44 pm
Thanks for sharing your experience with others!
Charles
March 28, 2016 @ 7:31 pm
I love this game as well! Thanks for the tips.
Luiza
March 27, 2016 @ 2:06 pm
How do defeat troublemaker Pete??
Michelle Ordever
March 28, 2016 @ 11:17 am
He doesn’t seem to appear until around level 17/18, when you’ll be asked to go and defeat him using Goofy, Mickey and Pluto (if you have Pluto)
Richard
March 26, 2016 @ 11:58 pm
I tap on the darkened areas above and below California Screamin’, which is built and Hamm is currently riding it, and I get a message that I need Goofy to complete more tasks to unlock that section. I’ve been sending him on task after task, he’s at Level 5, but can’t seem to get those darkened areas to unlock.
Michelle Ordever
March 27, 2016 @ 12:10 pm
There seems to be various quest lines, so you have to just persevere it would seem!
Xin
March 26, 2016 @ 12:55 pm
How to connect with other people? I have try to connect with Facebook and Game Centre, but still cannot add friend. I have try so many times with my friend but nothing happened. I cannot find the lifetime visitors leaderboard.
Michelle Ordever
March 26, 2016 @ 1:14 pm
For Facebook, you need to send an invite to the friend – if they are playing and they respond, hard close the game and re-start it. They should appear. For Game Centre friends, you need to request it in Game Centre, when they accept your request, again, hard close the game and re-start it, they should appear. To view the life time visitors board, tap on the people icon at the top of the screen, next to the smiley face.
Chantelle
March 26, 2016 @ 10:53 am
Hi, I was wondering how do you connect with Facebook please help
Michelle Ordever
March 26, 2016 @ 12:32 pm
At the top of the screen there is a blue menu button. Click on that and there is the option to connect – you can do it from there :)
Lynda
March 25, 2016 @ 11:52 pm
Stuck on goofy late quest
Lynda
March 26, 2016 @ 12:28 am
So it make him run in panic but the action to do it is missing help what do I do
Michelle Ordever
March 26, 2016 @ 9:43 am
Is it a task that requires you to upgrade the character?
Michelle Ordever
March 26, 2016 @ 9:44 am
Always check to see if it’s a task that requires a levelled up character!
Amanda
March 24, 2016 @ 5:18 pm
Do you know if there is a way to increase the drop rate of certain rewards? I’ve been trying to get a Bo Peep ear hat for a few days now (I need to level her up so that she can spend quality time with Woody), and I haven’t been able to get one.
Michelle Ordever
March 24, 2016 @ 5:34 pm
Not that I’m aware of – I just kept sending people on the tasks and hoped that they dropped.
Lauren
March 23, 2016 @ 8:34 pm
I was wondering if you could help, I am stuck with Goofy on his “late for an appointment” quest and I’m supposed to help him worry but I don’t see that option. Do you remember which one it was? Thanks!
Michelle Ordever
March 24, 2016 @ 8:44 am
I’ve been finding that tasks for quests seem to be at the top when you need them – or if they aren’t the character might need to level up! I don’t have Goofy free at the moment in my game, so I can’t even take a look and guess which one it was!
Jen
March 22, 2016 @ 9:42 am
I think my kids would love this. I have just laughed at all the comments and seen that you are now a guru on the game!
Michelle Ordever
March 22, 2016 @ 9:59 am
Haha, yes, I seem to have become a guru for the game! I’m okay with that though :D
Kate
March 23, 2016 @ 3:14 am
I feel like maybe you would know lol, but I can’t seem to get the Woody quest with telling Jessie to yodel at Al’s Toy Barn. When click it and tell Jessie to yodel it doesn’t count.
Michelle Ordever
March 23, 2016 @ 8:15 am
Yeah, I sent her to yodel a couple of times and realised it wasn’t the right thing – I think you just send the pair of them to Al’s Toy Barn… it’s not too clear sometimes what task you should do for a quest!!
Lynn
March 21, 2016 @ 1:26 am
Hey! Just wondering to see if you can help. I am stuck on a certain quest! It says Mission: Fun pt. 2: Go tell Woody to enjoy his day on the job! I’ve tried everything I could think of and didn’t know if you had any tips? Does Woody need to be on a certain level for this option? I’m lost and I’m frustrated at still seeing this quest incomplete, thanks in advance for any help!
Michelle Ordever
March 21, 2016 @ 10:08 am
I know that the quests don’t always exactly match what the description is – so I pick the one that best suits and hope it’s the right one. I’ve got everyone on jobs at the moment, so I can’t check this out at the moment, but it may be the top job in the list when it is for a quest?
Ariel Herniak
March 22, 2016 @ 1:33 am
I finally figured mine out I had to use “keep an eye on kids” and it worked!
Michelle Ordever
March 22, 2016 @ 10:16 am
Yay! That’s great :D
Stacey
March 23, 2016 @ 3:03 pm
What level is your woody at?! That doesn’t appear in my quest list!
john
April 11, 2016 @ 8:22 am
Send Jessie to Dance, that seems to have solved the Yodeo event problem :)
Stacey
March 20, 2016 @ 10:57 pm
Does anyone know how I tell woody to enjoy his day on the job?! I’m stuck on his quest & he won’t move on till its done!!
Michelle Ordever
March 21, 2016 @ 10:08 am
I know that the quests don’t always exactly match what the description is – so I pick the one that best suits and hope it’s the right one. I’ve got everyone on jobs at the moment, so I can’t check this out at the moment, but it may be the top job in the list when it is for a quest?
Lynn
March 22, 2016 @ 3:44 am
I’ve tried that and now he’s visiting with friends so I’ll have to wait, if you come up with anything maybe let me know? Thanks!!
Michelle Ordever
March 22, 2016 @ 10:19 am
Could it be a job that he can only do at a higher level??!
Jennifer
March 20, 2016 @ 10:09 pm
How do you move things around you’ve already placed? I’ve tried clicking on it and for the decorations it does nothing, and for the attractions it just shows their progress currently.
Michelle Ordever
March 21, 2016 @ 10:06 am
To move things around, I’ve been tapping and holding the building until the icon comes up showing that I can move it and rotate it etc. You can’t move buildings if there is a character inside doing a quest.
Stacey
March 22, 2016 @ 7:59 am
Thanks for the reply Michelle but I’ve tried that, I’ve sent him on duty & have checked his list countless times but still no joy any other ideas?!
Michelle Ordever
March 22, 2016 @ 10:19 am
Could it be a task on a higher level maybe? I do know I had to upgrade some characters to do certain tasks!
Kaylen
March 20, 2016 @ 1:53 pm
Did you use the promo to get Pluto? I purchased the promo but didn’t get the character just the gems.
Michelle Ordever
March 20, 2016 @ 3:32 pm
I did use the promo, and I got Pluto straight away. Perhaps contact support to see what happened? Also, checked the character book, in case he is in there?
Sabrina218
March 20, 2016 @ 10:18 am
Have you figured out the Social area of the game?
Michelle Ordever
March 20, 2016 @ 10:38 am
In what way? Do you mean when you visit your neighbours/friends? Or how to do it? I know it’s not activated until a few levels in, and you need to connect to Facebook if you have friends on there who play.
MicDaDon
March 22, 2016 @ 12:31 am
Do you have to pay for plutos house? Or do I get it with a quest
Michelle Ordever
March 22, 2016 @ 10:16 am
Hmm… I can’t remember now. I already have Pluto and his house, so I either bought it, or it came up as part of a Quest.