How Much Walking Per Day

[fractal]

Other things to consider if we are trying to get an exact reading. Climbing in and out of rides - walking up and down steps or ramps, resistance to g-forces on rollercoasters/thrillrides, pushing stollers, lifting and holding children, etc. You also burn more calories in warmer tempertures as your body works more to cool you off.

Bottomline, for most people WDW is a workout wrapped in a vacation.

 

[Mickey1984]

Pedometers don't work, there I've said it ......

 

[ddrongowski]

Pedometers don't work, there I've said it ......

The ones with lasers do.

 

[pixiesteno]

What's a DH? I saw some other thread where someone was talking about taking his wife and kids to the park and started referring to his DD and DW and I was thoroughly confused as to who he was talking about.

Dear Hubby

 

[Boardwalker]

You walk enough! Eat what you want it's a vaca!!

 

[Weather_Lady]

A friend of ours wore a pedometer. In the average day of park touring (going back to the hotel for a midday break), they walked 10 miles per day.

I'm not sure how far we walked, but it was far enough to burn off the 7,000 calories apiece we were eating on the dining plan, with all those desserts and snacks!

 

[jmb2676]

Using GPS tracking in October we averaged just over 7 miles per day. Usually a little more at EPCOT and a little less at the Studios. We tend to make at least 2 trips around the World Showcase each day that we visit.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Here is data from our last visit. I typically on most mornings around 5:30 AM I get up and walk about 2 - 3 miles before the family gets rolling. Then we walk everywhere we can like between Epcot and DHS or between resorts. We only use transportation if we have to. We had almost 10 miles one day. I can't imagine how to get much over 10 miles in one day in a theme park and I have certainly tried. The most I have had in one day was just over 11 miles a few years back and that morning I walked from OKW to SSR and looped back through DTD and back to OKW on the jogging trail and then off to Epcot and DHS throughout the day with the family.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I think that would mean my steps are smaller than yours I really don't know though. I just did a google search for how many miles 10,000 steps equaled. I just know we were taking upwards of 30,000 per day!

That's an 8-inch stride. Pretty far below the average, which is closer to 2.5 feet.

One thing to take in consideration in a theme park is that a standard stride for you is greatly changed when walking in a crowd where your stride can be but in nearly half. This is even more prevalent during the holidays or leaving a park after evening fireworks where you may take on average 2.5 steps to your typical single step in those heavy crowds. Distance with a pedometer is still all somewhat of a guesstimate.

 

[KCheatle]

Whatever it is, it's not enough to keep up with my snack consumption! I always come home with a few extra pounds...

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We went on a stroll through the neighborhood this morning, and I took my pedometer and the Map My Run app. We walked downtown and moseyed through the farmer's market, then stopped for breakfast at a café. When we got home, my pedometer had registered 4.47 miles, and the GPS said 4.66 miles. I really expected the pedometer's distance to be longer than the app's. Just to double-check that I didn't have my recorded stride too short, I walked through a puddle and then walked at an average pace down my driveway so that I could measure my footprints. Exactly 30", just like the pedometer said. I've always known that my pedometer was not very sensitive and doesn't always count shuffling steps, but I still expected it to over-estimate my distance on our walk today. I think I'm pretty confident now in its ability to record at least somewhat accurately while I'm in the parks, although I'll continue to mentally "round down" whatever it says while I'm there.

 

[luv]

You burn as many calories walking 10 miles as you do running 10 miles.

I work out several times a week but definitely burn more calories during a week at Disney. I averaged over 8 miles of walking a day over 8 days. 64 miles in one week - don't even come close to that on a good normal "work-out" week. Plus we spent time in the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon - that is a workout in of itself, especially going out in the deep end and swimming. Now I will consume many more calories but on our last trip 2 weeks ago I actually lost 2 pounds.

The deep end of the wave pool at Typhoon - especially when the bobbing waves are going - is a decent workout, if you stay out there long enough.

There is nothing better than swimming. You work everything, there is minimal to no impact and you stay cool. It will tire you out (especially if you don't do it regularly) and will make you hungry, but it's great for a workout!

 

[Sweet Melissa]

True, luv. Swimming is my favorite.

 

[ToyStoryMiss]

I lost 7-8 pounds last year from walking in Disney+Universal for 8 days.
We walked around quite a lot that trip..

Well, we're staying in Disney for 9 days.. so many pounds shall be shed.
I'm gonna be so thin afterwards, yay! I need to lose a few..I shall be perfect for cosplaying!

 

[Tinkerfan4ever]

Just got back from Disneyland and wore my fitbit the entire trip. My days at Disney I walked about 10 miles. San Diego Zoo about 13 miles and Sea World about 8 miles. Just based on the zoo and Sea World I would say that my Disney days of 10 miles is pretty accurate. I have also found that my stride is bigger in the parks than at home... I am constantly trying to keep up with DH who has a super large, fast walk.

 

[wdwjmp239]

In this last trip, just at Animal Kingdom alone, we did 25,000 steps (almost 5 miles). Just for the entire day (closer to 15 miles).

 

[Daniel Johnson]

My wife has a fit bit, I have a pedometer, they both seem to record the same distance give or take 10-20 steps.

We average 8 to 10 miles at MK.
10 to 11 at Epcot
7 to 8 at DHS
We haven't gone to AK since getting both the pedo and fit bit.
We also cross parks quite often...accept Epcot, its usually a pretty straight path in and out.

 

[Chef Mickey]

You do walk a lot at WDW, but not really enough to justify anything you eat.

The trouble with walking is that it's too easy. To properly burn calories, you need your heart rate to be significantly elevated.

You can see from the graph posted above that despite taking over 14,000 steps, only 800 calories were burned. That's barely your ice cream sunday and churro for the day.

My suggestion is just eat whatever you want and go back to good habits when you return home. Walking isn't going to be the needle mover you need to offset the food eaten at WDW. It takes a lot of work to burn calories, but not a lot of food to take in calories. Frankly, that's why a lot of people who are overweight don't understand why they keep gaining weight. They think walking around the office or to check the mail should burn off the 4 donuts they had for breakfast.

Weight loss for 99% of the people is calories in minus calories out. You eat more than you burn, you will gain weight. Simple.

 

[Fizban]

I was wondering or more like justifying what I eat on vacation, about how many miles/kms do you think you walk during a day in any one of the parks. I imagine doing a lap around Epcot has got to be a pretty big distance.

I use a Basis B1 band and we average 7 to 9 miles for a whole day depending on which park we visit.

 

[mcurtiss]

between one day at CBR and EPCOT, we hit 13 miles.