4 parks 1 day....

[kerry827]

So we are planning our August trip & on our final day we would attempt the crazy! Has anyone tried visiting a 4 parks in one day & want to share any pointers with us? We are 4 adults & we are staying at the boardwalk. The day we try the "4 in 1" will be a Friday and we would additionally like to end our day with a cocktail at downtown disney.

Any thoughts would be appreciated :mickey:

[malt]

Sure it can be done if you don't really want to see anything. You'd be looking at about 3 hours max in each park, but that isn't including travel. Might be an idea to make it 3 parks or even 2. Personally, I'd go 2 parks and take it easy then finish up in down town.

[hauntedmansiongirl]

We have done it twice before on our last day. Now this was after we had already seen every park and just wanted to say goodbye to our favourites.

Animal Kingdom closes earliest and is generally the furthest away, so we started there. We did the Safari, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur- we had already seen all the shows that we wanted. Next we hopped on the bus to Hollywood Studios. We got fastpasses for Toy Story Mania (this was the old days before FP+), and walked back to Rock n Roller Coaster. Then we had lunch, did Star Tours, Muppets and TSM. Then we took the water taxi over to Epcot. We did the. Maelstrom, Test Track and Nemo. The line for Soarin was too long and the fastpasses were gone, so we rode Spaceship Earth instead. We hopped on the monorail to the MK and had supper. We rode our favourites, Haunted mansion, Pirates, Space mountain, Buzz and the Peoplemover. We watched the fireworks and went back to the hotel.

This was in September when crowds were low. We also lucked out of transportation - we never had to wait longer than 10min for a bus. And MK had evening EMH, so we were able to use those to our advantage.

The key is being flexible and having everyone pick the one or two things that they must do, and moving onto to the next park when they're done. Also, try not to see any shows as the times rarely jive and it can mess up the day if you're waiting too long for something to start.

Have a great time! You'll love it! :mickey:

[yankeesfan123]

I've done it and it's very possible to see a couple of things you really want to see in each park if you play it right!

[buzznwoodysmom]

We have done it once. We vacationed at Vero Beach one summer and surprised our boys with 2 nights in Disney on the way home. We had old one day park, and one day water park tickets left on old passes.

This was back when Toy Story Mania had just opened so it was new for us. Also youngest DS was finally tall enough for Expedition Everest. So those were our priorities.

On our park day DHS had morning EMH so that is where we started. We were able to ride RNRC, ToT, Toy Story Mania, and Star Tours.

Next we headed to AK. We rode EE, Dinosaur, and It's Tough to be a Bug.

On the bus to TTC we were talking about how Epcot would be the only park we wouldn't visit. Another family was listening and the mom interrupted us by saying "you guys are so close, you gotta do all 4 parks". So instead of heading to MK, we detoured for Epcot. DH and oldest DS did Mission Space, while younger DS and I got in line for Test Track. The line ended up being too long for DS so instead he and I grabbed Mickey ice cream bars and people watched. He eventually played in the water spray area with other kids while we waited on DH and DS. We also took a spin on Spaceship Earth on our way out.

I believe MK either had EMH or a late closing that night so we still had several hours to spend at MK. I know we had a few hours before we left for dinner at Ohanas. And we had a few hours after dinner as well. I know we did most of the classics, pirates, small world, haunted mansion, Peter Pan, space mountain, tiki room. And I remember doing CoP, and the TTA late that night. I remember getting off the TTA and running to Buzz Lightyear asking if it was too late to ride. It was just about closing time and we were the last family to ride that night.

It was a crazy day, but we had a blast. Since we had been to WDW recent to that trip, and it was a surprise visit, it didn't matter that we couldn't do everything. It was a very memorable park day!!! Definitely doable if you plan around EMH and late park hours.

[Polynesian Dweller]

I've done it and it's very possible to see a couple of things you really want to see in each park if you play it right!

Same with us and it's fairly easy if you have a car. We've even added DTD to the 4 on a few occasions.

It's easiest if MK is open late and/or has night EMH. Because AK closes the earliest we usually hit it as the first park and as you say do only a couple of things in each park.

[lawgirl]

Definitely do-able! We've done it a couple of times. It's exhausting, but if you really plan out your day well, it's fun. I think the times we have done it, I did try to plan around EMH, and I definitely made a "game plan" for us, so we didn't waste time wandering around. Have fun!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

DD and I have done it a couple of times, and it always ends up being the highlight of the trip.

Even though we have a car, we always add a "wrinkle" that we have to take different types of Disney transport. So, we start at MK, then monorail to Epcot, boat to DHS and then the bus to AK. We then circle back to one of the parks open later after AK closes.

We don't try and do too many of the "big" rides in each park (but with FP+, you should be able to at your first park, and then schedule something at a later park), but do plan a favourite for each of us.

Depending on how much you want to do in each park, it is actually quite do-able and rather fun!

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We did the following on June 6 between noon and midnight. The key was to having fast passes at one park then hitting the other 3 a few hours before closing time. Lines are much shorter late in the day than any other time:

Noon- arrived at DHS and caught the end of the Star Wars motorcade. Rode Tower 3x, RnR and Star Tours.

3:30 - drove to the McDonalds on Sherbeth Rd for lunch.

4:30 - Arrived at AK. Rode Dino, Everest 4x, Kali and Safari.

8 pm - Arrived at Epcot via Monorail. Rode Test Track and watched Illuminations. Bought some stuff in Mouse Gear. Returned to MK via Monorail.

9:59 pm- Boarded the MK ferry. I now have a new favorite place to watch Wishes from.

Until midnight - Rode Space, Splash & Big Thunder 2x.

12:15 - Had our first ever Dole Whip. Sweet!

12:45 - Back to the Fort.

4 Parks -1 Day is complete.

[mdricks]

Ive done it solo with no problem at all. Did an e-ticket commando raid and got to most rides 2 times. Dont know how easy it would have been with my fam in tow. Certainly doable if everyone is on board! Good luck.


:number1:

[joonyer]

We did this once, just so we could say we did. And it's cool to be able to say we did it, and a good memory of that hectic day with DW and our two boys.
But having done it now, I have no desire to do it again. It's tiring and you won't be able to see/do as much as you could if you limit yourself to 2 parks per day. The only other reason to do it again would be if it was my only chance to experience all four parks, and I knew it would be a long time before I could visit WDW again.
That being said, if you are motivated, I'd say: "Go for it"! :thumbsup:

[kerry827]

Thanks!! Keep them coming :) we are frequent disney travelers so this would just be to say we did it :blush:

[SandmanGStefani24]

I think doing this would be completely missing the point. Being at wdw is the immersion into other worlds and enjoying the small details. I tried rushing around once and it was zero fun. I'd keep it down to two parks max. Just my two cents

[disney obsessed]

Been there, done that....its easy.

AK Safari wander and what ever has a short line.

Bus to HS. RNR and ToT.

Boat to epcot. Soaring, spaceship earth what ever has a short line and lunch.

Monorail to MK to end the day at my favorite park.

I have even had time to go to AKL to view the animals. Of course, this has been 'off season'

[theplys]

We did it too! We picked two things in each park and threw in the different transportation between the parks - even walked from Epcot to Studios. The challenge is what makes it very, very fun! Enjoy!!

[pox24]

We did a roller coaster day. We visited all four parks just for the coaster rides. It was awesome.:thumbsup:

[cer]

I have heard of someone who did this before and they added a food element. You had to do X number of attractions and had to eat/share a snack or meal from each park - for it to "count".

Don't forget the photo element as well. Pictures of each park or special park locations. Kind of like a photo scavenger hunt.

Also you could add parameters that you much use all forms of Disney transportation in the day...

Sounds like great fun!

Let us know how it goes.

[ThanxForNoticin]

That's part of the magic of WDW - there are a 1001 ways to enjoy the experience. We've done it with kids, we've done it without kids. We've done it with 2 of us, we've done it with 22 of us.

Maybe it's one park per day, and hit all the attractions. Maybe it's two parks in a day. Maybe it's all four parks in a day! We've found it very enjoyable to do some days with NO parks - we focus on pool time, and some of the many attractions not at a park! So many fun options!

We've done all 4 parks. We usually have a car with us, but use this as a day for Disney transportation, along with lots of walking! We start at AK, bus to DHS, walk/boat to EPCOT, and then monorail to MK. We then eventually catch a bus at MK back to our resort.

Go for it! Make it fun!

[Janmac]

We only did 3 parks but we were over six hours at MK, making the 4th park very doable.

We walked to the Studios from the Boardwalk, arriving just before rope drop on a regular opening day. Rode Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Star Tours before taking a Disney bus to Animal Kingdom about 11 or so.

We had lunch at Flame Tree BBQ and then some of us spent some time at Triceratop Spin and Primeval Whirl while others did Everest once or twice.

About 3:30 we took a Disney bus to Magic Kingdom to see the Flag Retreat at 5 pm. We then hung about doing various favorite rides waiting for the Main Street Electrical Parade. We ate at Pecos Bill's.

If it weren't for the MSEP we could have easily hopped on the monorail for Epcot.

And still finished up at DD.

Good Luck

Jan

[Giggy]

Having read this thread I kind of want to give this a go now. I know some people have described it as not fun or missing the point but I think that depends entirely what the point of this day is. Obviously I wouldn't count is as one of my main visits to a park. I'd see it as a mission to try and achieve and I think that the race would have a bit of a novel fun.

I quite like the suggestion by Hauntedmansiongirl on how to organise it, taking advantage of the links between parks and using each mode of transport along the way.

Animal Kingdom
(bus)
Hollywood Studios
(boat)
Epcot
(Monorail + Ferry)
Magic Kingdom
(Monorail back to TTC)

Aim to do a set number of rides (3?) in each park. If staying on site may be worth picking a day with morning EMH at Animal Kingdom or evening EMH at Magic Kingdom.

[Janmac]

I think doing this would be completely missing the point. Being at wdw is the immersion into other worlds and enjoying the small details. I tried rushing around once and it was zero fun. I'd keep it down to two parks max. Just my two cents

Most of the time I would agree with your point of view completely. Occasionally tho due to various factors, the focus of a particular trip changes. The trip that we did the 3 parks was one such trip. We - DH and I - joined my sister and adult niece at WDW. We had one day together before they left.

As we've all been several times we decided to try something different and visit 3 parks in one day. We wanted DH to see TSM and Star Tours, we like to eat at Flame Tree BBQ. And we wanted to do the Flag Retreat and MSEP at MK. We didn't use EMH or fp.

A couple of days later my cousin and her DH joined us for their first ever trip to WDW. The two full days we toured with them were completely different as they had issues which prevented them from doing thrill rides. We finished up our week with a laid back tour with lots of classic attractions - Tiki Birds - and some newer ones - Mickey's Philharmagic.

There's another extreme sort of touring choice: can you do all MK attractions in one day? With photo proof.

That's one I can't see ever trying.

Jan

[kerry827]

Great ideas! This is definitely something on our bucket list and we don't feel it will ruin the Disney magic as it is NOT at all our first trip. Since we will not have kids in tow, we figured we would give it a whirl.

I have done the every ride in MK! I got there for rope drop and they had pm extra magic hours that day so we rode everything and somethings twice!!! :)

[Gator]

This take me back to my best day EVER. I don't mean at Disney. I mean EVER. It was a Friday in February of 2004, the last day of our 6 full days at the park, and we wanted to hit everything!

Why do 4 parks when you can do 5?

I'll give you the rundown of what we did and maybe you can take some pointers form it.

9am We just missed roped drop at DHS, but it didn't seem to matter because it wasn't that crowded. We grabbed a FP for RnRc (which we didn't need), hit TowerOT, the FP time for 10am hadn't come up, so we did it again. Then we hit RnRc. After a trip on Star Tours, we hit Beauty & the Beast Live.

Around 11ish, we took a bus over to Blizzard Beach where we quickly changed into our suits, grabbed some cinnamon sugared donut holes, and went down Summit Plummet. We then wrung out those suits and headed to catch a bus to AK.

We got there at AK after Noon (we had great luck with the buses), and had lunch over at Flame Tree BBQ - my favorite place to eat at WDW. After that, we caught Festival of the Lion King (where I dozed off for about 5 minutes with my head in my lap), and then rode Kilamanjaro Safari and then Dinosaur. We then put on the ponchos and hit Kali River Rapids (it was a high of 83 that day) where everyone else in our boat got soaked. The ponchos saved us from being quite miserable for the rest of the cool afternoon and evening. We got just wet enough to cool off.

Sometime before 4pm, we caught a bus over to the MK. We then hit the Jungle Cruise and Pirates, then watched the Hall of Presidents before we caught our reservation time at Liberty Tree Tavern. This was back when they had characters, and the food was great as it always has been. After dinner, we grabbed a spot for Wishes (which was new that year) on Main Street fairly close to the flagpole for a quick escape. I still remember two gals asking us if we were going to put a kid on our shoulders just as the fireworks started. I responded, "not unless my wife pops one out right now". Wishes was incredible - especially seeing it for just the second time. That ending sequence still takes my breath away. Once it was over, we speed walked to the monorail, where we rode to the TTA, switched trains, and zipped off to Epcot.

We got there about 7:45. We then headed over to Mission:Space, which was new and had a blast on that. We had enough time to hit the Norway gift shop and buy us some Norway t-shirts, and then walked out and found a great spot in Germany to watch Illuminations (for the 3rd time that week). It was amazing of course, and we then waited for the throngs of people to leave before we took a very slow stroll out of the park.

So there it is. The greatest day ever! I hope that your day is as fun and as memorable (still remember every detail 10 years later) as ours.:thumbsup: