Senior pictures at Disney’s Magic Kingdom? No-brainer, right?
After a six year hiatus, I finally made it back to the MK for a senior shoot! I wanted to make this shoot happen for the 2021 SMT season, but the “you know what” stopped that, and then the masks made it impossible the next year… so here we are!
Logistics weren’t really that much trouble, with a lot of planning on the front end making it as least complicated as possible. For all of my shoots, the client experience is just as important for me as the epic shots we get. I sent out a session guide with lots of tips and a Pinterest board with outfit ideas and suggestions! Making sure that my seniors (and their parents) felt absolutely comfortable was crucial.
At the session itself, we had such a great combo of variables — good weather, low crowd levels, big laughs and great outfits! I’d researched the lowest crowd level times and dates, and thankfully, it was correct — we had the best possible situation!
The Magic Kingdom has gorgeous landscaping, magical architecture and lovely spaces around every corner, which made it hard to narrow down which areas to work with specifically. The following are my top five places to shoot — and we didn’t even hardly go into four of the five “lands”!
Main Street, USA
Near the area Town Hall Mickey hangs out is one of my favorite spots for pictures — The white columns, big porches, and store fronts that look like they are right out of a sweet little downtown. It is usually the least crowded space as most people make a bee-line to those castle views, but don’t miss out on this area for people-free and pretty backdrops!
Cinderella’s Castle
Obviously, Cindy’s Castle is one of the most iconic backgrounds in Magic Kingdom, and also some of the most crowded shots. While there ARE going to be people in the background of these photos, it sort of adds to the experience + atmosphere — Disney is a crowded place, even on it’s low-crowd level days, and it’s to be expected. I did my best to shoot with the least amount of distraction close to my girls. As we got closer to the castle itself, the crowd got even thinner, letting us get some really unique castle shots with no one else in the frame!
Fantasy Land
Fantasy Land is one of my favorite areas because of it’s vivid colors and child-like whimsy! We did a wardrobe change in the middle of this section and I think their bolder colors really worked with the rides and decor in that area! Dumbo and Carousel are my favorite rides for pictures – and you can see the actual joyful smiles on their faces!
Purple Wall + Rapunzel’s Tower
These two places are small and not super diverse, but definitely worth the effort! Rapunzel’s tower is actually a bathroom area and stroller parking, so it’s a bit tricky to get it people-free but we managed to snag the shots we needed!
And let’s be honest, a Disney shoot is not complete without a couple of shots in front of the Purple Wall in Tomorrowland. It was a great last location for us since it’s closer to the front of the park and doesn’t typically have a ton of distractions around it. It’s a little bit modern and a whole lot of iconic!
Bonus: Haunted Mansion Area
If you’re more into the Villain side of Disney, maybe the Haunted Mansion area is more your speed for a darker look. The European detailing and wrought-iron really lends itself to a more edgy set of pics! Its over in the Liberty Square area, to the left when coming out of Main Street USA. That area has a more “Renaissance” feel to it and could easily lean into a “Beauty and the Beast” vibe as well!
Lindsay Colson is a natural light senior + teen photographer. She works with each client to create a customized session experience. Setting up each girl to look + feel pampered and to be 100% comfortable before and during the session is a vibe that Lindsay takes pride in.
Want to know more about Lindsay? Click Here!
Want to know more about setting up a Disney Session? Send over an email! lindsay@capturedbycolson.com
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