Going for 4 Parks in 1 Day

[Disney Dawg88]

I recently had North Florida added to my territory for work and I just booked my first work trip down there this upcoming week. I decided to fly down a day early (Sunday, March 7th) to go to WDW solo and I'm going to try to go to all four parks in one day. I'm landing at MCO around 8:45 am on Sunday morning and then heading straight to the Hilton at DTD . . . hopefully to check in or at least get a room key as I really don't want to go back in order to get the EMH bracelet. But hopefully I'll be in the first park by 10:00 am.

After reading some other threads and with the Princess Half Marathon going on that morning, I think the best bet is to start at AK then DHS, EC, and then MK with EMH. I'm not planning on being at AK or DHS for very long but definitely want to ride Safari and EE (last time I was there it wasn't finished), and at DHS maybe RnRC and ToT but no real "must rides" for me at DHS. At Epcot I've never riden TT or Soarin', so those are musts. Then the rest of the day I plan on spending at MK.

I haven't been to WDW in a couple of years (Jan 08) now but was wondering which rides have single rider lines which might help me get through the parks a little quicker? Anything else new that I should see or any other tips? Really looking forward to heading back and will update everyone on my trip. Thanks!

 

[Monty]

While I admire the concept, I would recommend against four parks.

If you haven't been in a while [EE was under construction your last trip], I'd concentrate on at most two parks. Otherwise you'll be spending possibly two or more hours just transiting between parks on Disney transportation. A significant waste of precious park time IMO. You're already losing two prime hours of park time at park open when a lot can be accomplished in the parks. People who have done all four parks in a day have struggled to accomplish what they wanted while starting at rope drop.

Prioritise what you really want to do and then choose the one or two parks that cover the majority. Exhausting yourself to squeeze in as much as possible without time to actually enjoy yourself doesn't sound like a fun day to me. :shrug:

 

[Hakunamatata]

I agree with Montey. Not only will you lose those hours between parks, the two attractions you want to ride at EPCOT are two of the most popular and tend to have the longest wait times. Depending on crouds, you could be waiting at least an hour for each.

 

[rodserling27]

Well, if you're there for just one or two days, it would be interesting to see how much you could get done in one day. In my experience, there's usually an insane wait for ToT and RnRC in the afternoon and a smiliar horrid wait for Soarin' in Epcot. TT is not so bad sometimes, and they have the great single rider line that really moves sometimes.

By the way I did all four in one day once! Given it was like the fourth day we were there on a 6 day WDW trip....We started at AK, did almost everything there, and when torrential downpours began around noon, I dropped some friends off at DHS and two of us headed to finish the countries in Epcot. After that we headed to DHS to eat dinner at the 50's cafe, scarfed down our food and booked it over to MK to see SpectroMagic and Wishes. We were staying off-site and also drove down from PA, so we had the luxury of having like four cars, but we didn't have EMH. I will admit, It was pretty awesome...

 

[perrych]

I agree - Transportation is your biggest challenge. If you drive, it takes a good chunk of time to get to your car (I won't address remembering where you parked!), driving to the next park, going through the line to park, parking, and then getting into the next park. The only positive to driving around is that you can knock out Epcot and MK with one parking lot, and ride the monorail to Epcot, and back to MK. In fact, if it weren't for E:E, this is incredibly doable - as there is very quick transportation (or even walking!) from DHS to Epcot (by boat or foot). So, your biggest hinderance is that AK is SOOO far away. If you take busses, the best I can say is "Good luck!" - if you hit it right, they can be great. If you don't, you can spend 30 minutes or more just waiting at the bus station (and that doesn't include the 30 minute transit time some of the buses take between parks!).

I have done 3 parks, and that was PLENTY! I wouldn't recommend more. If you go for it, maybe try to hit E:E last. My plan would be: Epcot (via monorail), ride one ride, get a fastpass to the other, boat to DHS, boat back to Epcot, monorail to MK, play there for a while, and then DRIVE to AK in the afternoon. There may be a much better plan than this. I hadn't ever considered it before.

Please note: Make sure you know when the parks close. That may influence your plans.

 

[dreamfinder]

4 parks in one day is fun, and its one of those things thats neat to say you did it. However, I agree that trying to do all 4 just to try to do it all in one day in kinda overkill, especially if you haven't been for a while. It makes more sense to do to one or two parks and enjoy the park. The attractions you mention seeing can easily take up 2 or more hours each if there is a line, specifically Soarin. EE does have a single rider line which if operational, would help, as does RnRC & TT.

Beyond that, a few comments. The princess half should be almost over by the time you get there, so it shouldn't affect you. The first people start at 6, and the last wave is running by 6:30. They only have 3 1/2 hours to finish, so much be basically done by 10 or they get pulled from the course. They leave the back gate of MK at about mile 6, so by pacing they need to be out of there 1 hr, 36 mins after they started, so by 8 ish, which is still pre park opening. So starting either there or AK should be fine. And if you plan on doing EMH at MK, then AK is def the way to go. The only downside is then getting back to your car at the end of the day since buses stop an hour or so after official closing. So maybe park at TTC and take that bus to AK and then work your way back?

For a rough time guide, last trip in early January, I did all 4 parks. Hit MK at 9AM rope drop, got pics with Daisy, and then the evil Stepsisters. Did Buzz 2x, and Space Mountain once. Got pics with Goofy/Donald, and Princess Tiana/Prince Naveen. I then took monorail to TTC then to Epcot. At Epcot I did single rider at TT and rode intense Space, then got character pics in with Marie, Belle, Aladdin & Jasime. I then took the boat to Boardwalk, and walked the rest of the way to DHS. DHS I did GMR (line for RnRC and ToT were 90 min each), got pics with Mike/Sulley and two random Little Einsteins. I then took the bus to AK. Did EE single rider, got pics with Pooh/Eeyore/Tigger and Goofy/Pluto, and left there about 4 to meet the rest of my group for dinner at AKL. Interspaced throughout this day were photopass all over the place, maybe 15-20 different times. Not quite all E ticket rides, but it took me 7 hours to do that. Hopefully that gives you a rough idea on time requirements.

 

[heartodisney]

This is nuts...I tried this in "03..just two parks..4 hours in Epcot and 4 hours in MK...it was my first visit and when the fireworks went off at closing...I KNEW I had missed out on so much! We went to Boardwalk to "see" some things and have a drink..but all I could do was cry in my beer! I say if you do this good luck..but you will miss so much trying on just transpotation.