Four Parks/One Day

[Celakip]

We are travelling to WDW on May 20th for a short 3-night stay and will only have one day available for the parks. DD and I (ages 20 and 52) are planning to hit all four on the 21st. Our plan is to be at MK for rope drop, high-tail it to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train first, then hit as many of our favorites as we can in the next 3 or 4 hours (no FPs). Then head over to DHS where we have FPs for Tower of Terror and Toy Story around 1:30. After that we will probably head to AK for a couple of hours, then to Epcot (and try to get FPs for Soarin'), then back to MK to finish the day. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[kakn7294]

We've done that - it was a blast if not exhausting. Sadly, you likely won't get a FP for Soarin' but it's worth a try. Good luck and have fun!

[PopPhan]

Magic Kingdom is going to be busy early....That is a Morning EMH day there.

I might think about starting at EPCOT, hit Soarin' as early as possible, and then following the rest of your pattern.

Sounds like a lot of fun, no matter how you do it!!

Enjoy!

[buzznwoodysmom]

We did something similar years ago. The only part of your plan that concerns me is doubling back to MK at the end of the night. That might not give you much time in the other parks. Remember you are looking at a lot of time traveling in between. We started out at EMH at DHS (8am), and ended at MK leaving the park after midnight. I honestly don't think we would have had time to hit any of the parks twice, even if we wanted to.

Another thing to consider is not being able to get a FP for Soarin. When we did 4 parks in one day we were not able to get FP for Soarin, and the standby time was something like 100 minutes, so we skipped it.

It was an exhausting day but, we had blast. We had vacationed at Vero Beach and surprised our kids with two nights in Disney on the way home. We all had a one day hopper, and one day water park left over on old tickets from a previous trip (back when the tickets didn't expire). Would love to do this again one day if a one day hopper didn't cost so much!

Hope you have fun!

[joonyer]

Done it. And I would say it was worth doing once. My sons (young teenagers at the time) and I thought it was a pretty cool thing to have done, but DW didn't think it was so hot. It was an exhausting day, but fun. We started at rope drop at AK (EMH morning) and ended up at MK late, late late, think it was open until 1a.m. Long, long day. But fun (did I already say that?). We did squeeze a TS supper in there, too (at the Plaza), so we found time to get off our feet for an hour or so. That made MK a little easier on the feet that night.

That being said, I have no desire to ever do it again.

[Main Street Jim]

MK->St->AK->EP->back to MK...

So, you're really lookin' at FIVE parks in one day - which, by any touring plan...is *exhausting*.

Me personally?

MK in the morning for SDMT, Space/Splash/Thunder.

Studios for TSM/ToT.

AK for Everest and maybe Safaris.

Then, *I* would end the night at Epcot with Illuminations after hitting Soarin'.

You *should* allow at least one hour travel time between destinations, even if you're driving your own vehicle. You never know what traffic's gonna be like around property. That's time for getting out of a park, into the parking lot, taking a tram/Monorail/Ferry Boat, getting to your vehicle, and getting in and out of the parking lots and through the toll plazas.

[paragon]

I did this last trip, started at AK, (EE & KS) then to MK, ( SM & TM ), shot over to DHS ( Tot, ST, R&R ) then to EP for single rider at TT, MS, NEMO, Mexico and Norway. I had a car so getting to and from worked well, and that route made good sense.

[Orlando Resident]

This is not impossible but it is certainly going to be extremely exhausting and possibly stressful if you end up getting stuck either on WDW transportation or traffic (if you are driving) traveling between parks and loose valuable time.. You will definitely not have the time to thoroughly enjoy each park without feeling rushed.. But if you really insist, here is my recommendation;

1. DHS at EMH Rope Drop (Morning EMH)
2. AK (Morning-Noon)
3. MK (Noon-Late Afternoon)
-- Take Monorail from MK to Epcot (via TTC) --
4. Epcot and stay till close for Illuminations (Late Afternoon-Close)

Try to get FP+ for your preferred attraction at MK and/or Epcot.. Also be sure to book your ADRs ASAP unless you are okay with counter service for Lunch and Dinner.. For ADR locations I would recommend lunch at AK (Maybe Rainforest Café on your way out of the park) and dinner at Epcot (Perhaps a WC restaurant)..

[DonaldDuck1117]

I have done 4 parks in one day multiple times and I absolutely love it, and honestly, I don't find it any more exhausting then any other day in the parks.

If you have your own car/rental I suggest using it as it saves a lot of time going between parks-I have never run into traffic on property except for one time when there was a fatal accident.

If it was me I would start at EPCOT first and hit Soarin, then do single rider line at Test Track and anything else you want to do before heading to Studios for your FPs and anything else. Then head to AK for safari, single rider on Everest, hit Dinosaur and then end the night at MK because it is usually open so late and the crowds will start to die down if it is a real late night.

Also, as long as you get in line before the park closes you will be able to ride. We jumped in line for SDMR right at closing every night back in December. Some nights it was about 20 mins, the last night it was an hour but we hopped in line anyways-what else are you going to do? Leave? I'd rather get one more ride in.

Do it. You'll love it, and it probably don't be the last time.

[Maddie]

We were unable to get any fastpasses at Epcot once afternoon struck! They are generally all gone early in the morning. Sounds exhausting! I would suggest cutting one park out but that's just me. I focus more on slowing down and enjoying myself rather than cramming everything into one day, quality over quantity! However, if you are going to go for it then go big or go home right? I hope you guys have blast seeing all the sights in one day!

[manutd1]

IMHO, Utter waste of time to try to do all parks in one day. There is a lot of down time getting from one to another...I just don't think its a good idea. 2 parks? YES.
Doing all 4 parks in one day makes it literally 110% impossible to enjoy what Disney is all about. No question about it.

[Celakip]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I certainly agree with manutd1 that it is impossible to really enjoy everything in the parks when hitting all of them in one day. The only reasons we are attempting this are (1) we only have one day available, and (2) it sounds like it will be a fun challenge. We've been to WDW many times so we've experienced all it has to offer. Also, I think we are going to take a suggestion made by a couple of you and start at Epcot rather than MK; doing this might give us a better chance to hit most of the biggies.

[tjstrike]

Is there any way you can shift your park day to the 22nd ? MK is open 24hrs. Are you staying onsite ? If so, stick to your original plan.

[disney obsessed]

I love to do this and have many times. At several parks there are only one or two things that i really need to do, so that probably makes it easier. This is the general plan:

Early am at AK for safari and animal trails and breakfast at the bakery. Next is a stop at AKL to wander (this is my fav resort). Bus to DS for tot and rrc. Boat to epcot. Soaring, spaceship earth and nemo are musts. We will also get on whatever else we can. We take time for a big mid afternoon meal then monorail to MK till closing or pure exhaustion. Sometimes we will also do a quick loop of the monorail resorts if we get to mk early enough. Its a great day!

[azcavalier]

My Sister and her husband tried something similar a few years ago and pulled it off. I don't remember the exact plan, but it was obviously pre-FP+ and pre-Mine Cart. They ended the day having dinner at O'hana at 10pm or something, and she said that they were falling asleep at the table. But it was SOOOOO fun.

[#1donaldfan]

We have done that several times. Rope drop at MK is a bit crazy but once you get off the Mine Train the rest of the rides are pretty much walk on till about 11 or so. There is another "rope drop" in the MK if you're there for EMH. If the park opens at 8, you ride the Mine Train and off by 8:30, you will be stopped at another rope till 9 AM before entering into Frontier Land. It's happened to us several times.

[Priority Four]

Sadly, you have about the same chance of getting fastpass for soarin by then as we will of seeing Yu take the mound this year. Have a blast!

[MargaretMessler]

We're actually considering hitting all four parks on our departure day since we have a very late flight out. Not sure if it'll happen, but we think it'll be a fun farewell.

Just have to consider the logistics. Obviously we'll be checking our bags straight thru to the airport from our resort early and heading out. The day in question is Saturday 5/9/15, any thoughts Disney gurus?

[LittleSpirit02]

We almost did this (by accident) last week. lol! We did 3 in a day.

Started at Disney Hollywood Studios at 9 am...
- Toy Story Mania first
- Rockin Rollercoaster
- Tower of Terror
- Art of Animation Class (we drew Minnie!)
- Star Tours
(with a Starbucks, Mickey Ice Cream and photo with Donald along the way)

Left about 1 pm for Epcot...
- Got soda at Club Cool
- Had a Fastpass for Mission Space
- Fastpass for Test Track
- Ate at Urban Eats (naanwich)
- Walked through World Showcase
- Had pizza at Napoli, chocolate mousse in France, falafels from Festival Stand in Morocco
- Rode Fiesta (CM gave us fastpass usable for any ride since it was my b-day and a belated honeymoon for us)
- Took boat in lagoon
- Used FP given by CM for Soarin'
- Spaceship Earth
- More Club Cool
- Turtle Talk with Crush
- Got Violet Lemonade (yum!)
- Waited for Illuminations (popcorn and ice cream as we waited)

About 9:45-10:00 after Illuminations, we headed on Monorail to MK which closed at midnight...

- Walked down Main Street during fireworks
- Got on Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Space Mountain
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
- Headed out around 11:30-11:45

Crazy busy day... but awesome!

[Angryduck]

MK->St->AK->EP->back to MK...

So, you're really lookin' at FIVE parks in one day - which, by any touring plan...is *exhausting*.

Me personally?

MK in the morning for SDMT, Space/Splash/Thunder.

Studios for TSM/ToT.

AK for Everest and maybe Safaris.

Then, *I* would end the night at Epcot with Illuminations after hitting Soarin'.

I agree Jim, I would definitely do Illuminations @ Epcot, though depending on the late hours for MK, they might still be able to hit it again after Illuminiations...yes?

Duck