3 Parks in One Day? Just hitting the highlights?

[lynzi2004]

My family and I are planning a trip to Disney next month. We have 3 day tickets, and had planned on spending 2 MK and 1 Epcot. Kids are DD4, DS2. We picked these two parks for the rides as well as my DD is princess obsessed and I was concerned about not getting to meet Snow White and Aurora at MK, so with Flower and Garden festival going on we thought Epcot would be a good pick for our second park. Then we started to have second thoughts about missing Disney junior, etc at HS.

But now we are thinking about getting park hoppers. I don't necessarily want to mess up my MK days by coming and leaving and I already have some ADRs set that would make that hard. Could we conceivably park hop between Epcot, HS, and even animal kingdom in one day? I'm not talking about hitting every single thing in each park but I do what to take time to stop and smell the roses if we want I was tentatively thinking a plan like this:

Animal Kingdom (EMH Morning): Ride Kilamanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest (single rider line, both our kids are too short), Festival of the Lion King

Hollywood Studios (utilitze fastpass): Toy Story Mania, Frozen Sing-a-long, Disney Junior, ToT (single rider/rider swap as kids are too small)

Epcot: Character spot, meet Snow White and Aurora, walk around and look at F&G festival, Test Track (single rider), Illuminations

On a side note, we do have our own car so transportation shouldn't be an issue. I'm just unsure if this is too much running or not? If we had to drop a park, we would probably drop Animal Kingdom...

 

[strat68]

Possible with the FPs being set in DHS. But you could lose about 2 hours or more just moving between parks depending on buses. No, I would not leave MK at all. Unless this is the only time you will ever go to WDW I would just stick to one park the second day. But with kids, probably not Epcot.

 

[AngiTN]

My family and I are planning a trip to Disney next month. We have 3 day tickets, and had planned on spending 2 MK and 1 Epcot. Kids are DD4, DS2. We picked these two parks for the rides as well as my DD is princess obsessed and I was concerned about not getting to meet Snow White and Aurora at MK, so with Flower and Garden festival going on we thought Epcot would be a good pick for our second park. Then we started to have second thoughts about missing Disney junior, etc at HS.

But now we are thinking about getting park hoppers. I don't necessarily want to mess up my MK days by coming and leaving and I already have some ADRs set that would make that hard. Could we conceivably park hop between Epcot, HS, and even animal kingdom in one day? I'm not talking about hitting every single thing in each park but I do what to take time to stop and smell the roses if we want I was tentatively thinking a plan like this:

Animal Kingdom (EMH Morning): Ride Kilamanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest (single rider line, both our kids are too short), Festival of the Lion King

Hollywood Studios (utilitze fastpass): Toy Story Mania, Frozen Sing-a-long, Disney Junior, ToT (single rider/rider swap as kids are too small)

Epcot: Character spot, meet Snow White and Aurora, walk around and look at F&G festival, Test Track (single rider), Illuminations

On a side note, we do have our own car so transportation shouldn't be an issue. I'm just unsure if this is too much running or not? If we had to drop a park, we would probably drop Animal Kingdom...

Your idea is sound but the the bold. Aurora is gone from Epcot
Snow White does still appear, though she was missing on last Wednesday. No idea if this is planned or unexpected. Her sign wasn't out at all.

 

[lynzi2004]

Your idea is sound but the the bold. Aurora is gone from Epcot
Snow White does still appear, though she was missing on last Wednesday. No idea if this is planned or unexpected. Her sign wasn't out at all.

I would be so aggravated if we paid for 3 day tickets just to get pictures with Aurora and Snow White and then they weren't even in Epcot! Without doing CRT, do those princess take photos anywhere in MK?

Possible with the FPs being set in DHS. But you could lose about 2 hours or more just moving between parks depending on buses. No, I would not leave MK at all. Unless this is the only time you will ever go to WDW I would just stick to one park the second day. But with kids, probably not Epcot.

We will have our own car there, not having to rely on buses that day. But maybe the parks are spread out enough that we would still lose valuable time...something to think about. As for as a once in a lifetime trip, we will not be once a year people. Too many other things I want to see and do. (Or so I say now, but I've been reading lots about catching the Disney bug! lol) Our initial plan was to do the MK thing while the DS was free and while DD was mesmerized by princesses, hence the shorter trip. We do plan to come back 5 or so years from now and do a full week, a full day to each park, when the kids are big enough to do all the rides.

 

[ottawamom]

Totally doable. Given that you have your own car you're good to go. My family usually does 3 parks in a day at some point in our trip and we use the buses. As you mentioned you're not doing the whole park just touching on a few of the highlights.

Last trip, in December 2014, we did 3 parks in a day (just select rides) and my husband was recovering from a flu bug at the time.

You were posting as I was typing this. We too, are generally every 5 years kind of people. I go more often than the full family. You won't lose valuable time. Think of it as a little down time away from the park to recharge your batteries.

 

[ktlm]

When DD was a preschooler, and still today, she adored EPCOT. When she was 2, we spent one day open to close there, realized it was not enough, and ever since we have spent 2 days there. That type of hopping around is a lot for preschoolers. You would almost spend more of your day traveling around than enjoying the parks. That would be a very fast paced day without really any time to stop and smell the roses. It often takes an hour or more to get out of one park and into another. You could walk between EPCOT and DHS in about 20 minutes, so that is probably the easiest hop, and if TSM, Frozen Sing Along and Disney Jr. are really important then that would be doable (and I will warn you that the kids may love the Disney Jr. show, but it might drive the adults crazy- DH has never been so happy as the time I told him I would take one for the team and take DD to Disney Jr. and he could go ride TOT or RSR. We love almost all the Disney shows, but that one...not so much). EPCOT has a lot to keep the preschoolers busy all day between Turtle Talk with Crush, Finding Nemo, the aquariums, Living with the Land (little kids all seem to love it), Figment, Spaceship Earth, Boat Ride in Mexico, Characters, acts around World Showcase etc.

 

[ktlm]

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We will have our own car there, not having to rely on buses that day. But maybe the parks are spread out enough that we would still lose valuable time...something to think about. .

As example, it is about 6 miles to drive from EPCOT to AK. You have to leave the park, get to your car (by walking or tram), deal with the traffic to drive to AK, park at AK, get to the gate (by walking or tram), go through bag check, and then go through the ticket gate.

 

[AngiTN]

I would be so aggravated if we paid for 3 day tickets just to get pictures with Aurora and Snow White and then they weren't even in Epcot! Without doing CRT, do those princess take photos anywhere in MK?



We will have our own car there, not having to rely on buses that day. But maybe the parks are spread out enough that we would still lose valuable time...something to think about. As for as a once in a lifetime trip, we will not be once a year people. Too many other things I want to see and do. (Or so I say now, but I've been reading lots about catching the Disney bug! lol) Our initial plan was to do the MK thing while the DS was free and while DD was mesmerized by princesses, hence the shorter trip. We do plan to come back 5 or so years from now and do a full week, a full day to each park, when the kids are big enough to do all the rides.

Yes, both Aurora and Snow White can appear in Town Square at MK.
Depending on your trip dates, they may be back in Fairytale Hall (they are expected to move back there once the new meet and great building is completed at Epcot and Anna and Elsa move out)
Unfortunately, no character is ever guaranteed to make an appearance. It is rare but possible you could miss both period.

As for you doing the plan you posted, it's totally doable and not at all hard. We've done 3 parks in 1 day a couple times and it's not hard at all. Add in using your car and it's even easier. We've done it with Disney transportation.

 

[biondagirl]

We did 3 parks in one day last August. We were there a week where it wasn't too crowded. We had breakfast at 'Ohana. Then we went to AK and did Everest, Safari, Bugs Life, Dinosaur and the Nemo show. It poured and the place cleared out. We went back to the hotel, refreshed and hit EPCOT for a few things we missed. Then went over to MK for evening EMH. It was a great day. It was our 2nd to last day of our trip and we wanted to make the most of our time!

 

[lynzi2004]

Ok, your responses have honestly been helpful both for and against doing all 3! So this would be completely off topic, but you all seem to be super knowledgeable with a lot of trips under your belts! How important do you think it is to get an early ADR when getting into MK? The dates we are currently going we would be in MK on Friday or Saturday and a Monday. I have an 8:15 BOG on Monday so I know we won't have to deal with the rope drop waiting around crowds on that day. But if we go on a Saturday which is typically busier, will we be packed in like sardines and miserable prior to rope drop? And crowd levels in general? Also I know Saturday and Monday typically appears to be MKs most crowded days. The only FP+ that I haven't been able to get is Anna and Elsa, so we figure we will book it back there early one morning on our MK days!

If your still following, DH and I have started to look at another option. If we go one week prior, we can make the days work out to be either a Monday or Tuesday at MK as well as a Thursday. But its way too late to get any early ADRs for those days, and I'm sure at this point even changing fast passes might be a hassle.

So our 3 options look like this:

Option 1 (original plan): Arrive Friday April 22; Saturday April 23-MK; Sunday (Park hop day or a rest day-still deciding on tickets); Monday April 25-MK, early BOG ADR, as well as BOG dinner for DS birthday! April 26-leave

Option 2: Arrive Thursday April 21; Friday April 22-MK (EMH); Saturday April 23-3 parks with park hopper; Sunday April 24-rest/resort day; Monday April 25-MK, early BOG ADR, as well as BOG dinner for DS birthday! April 26-leave

Option 3 (complete change of dates!): Arrive Sunday April 17; Monday April 18-MK, Tuesday April 19-3 parks with park hopper; Wednesday April 20 rest/resort day; Thursday April 21-MK with BOG dinner reservations; April 22-leave (I'm just unsure with no early ADRs if dealing with rope drop crowds are worth it)

Our main objective around the entire trip is to give our DD4 and DS2 a taste of Disney without breaking the bank! We are a camping family and planning to camp at Ft. Wilderness, which my understanding is a destination in itself! Which option should we choose? Thanks in advance!

 

[Angeliki19]

Hi! Have you considered eating at Akershus on your Epcot day to meet all the princesses? I haven't done it but we have done Cinderella's Royal Table and you can't beat character meals if your main goal is to meet characters!

As far as your 3 in 1 day question, my two cents would be to skip it. You said that you plan to return in a few years and that this is a "get your feet wet" kind of trip. The advantage of being newbies and your kids being young is that they don't know what they are missing. They won't be disappointed in the trip if you don't make it to the Disney Jr show for example. Trust me, once you have "done it all", it gets harder and harder to choose things to skip each time. This is how my family always ends up going for 10 nights! So I would go into it with the mindset that you are just getting a taste and that you will be back another time to do more. With little kids, less is always more! They will have an AMAZING time as long as they (and you) aren't over-tired.

Sounds like you are doing a great job planning and it will be a great trip!

 

[ktlm]

You will be there after spring break is over for most everyone, so I think you will be okay whatever you choose. You can look at the April crowd calendar at easywdw.com to see what the predictions are for your potential days. I think April 17 is the half marathon at WDW, but with it just being your arrival day, I don't think it would really impact your trip.

My cousin camps at Ft. Wilderness with their RV every time they go to WDW and they absolutely love it.

As far as the early ADRs, one thing to consider is whether your preschoolers are morning people. From the time my DD was born, she was a night owl and not at all a morning person (she is 10 now and that has not changed). We also had a 1 hour time change for WDW. We discovered very quickly that that pre-park opening ADR was not a good idea for her. It was hard enough to get her there by rope drop. As far as rope drop, we have never found it to be that bad waiting. We are never at the very front of the crowd at WDW. We aren't those who get there an hour ahead of time and wait. We usually get there right around when rope drop is about to start. Sometimes we are through the gate and in the area just past it to watch the morning show up on the train track and sometimes back in the line for the gate area. It is a little crowded in those areas, but once they let you into the park everyone disburses. The lines go pretty fast to get in too, if you are back there. Rope drop is important because the lines for most rides will be short in the first 30 minutes to an hour of park time. If you are trying for A&E, then you might want to be there really early with either the pre-park opening ADR (early enough to be done before rope drop) or to be near the front of the gate crowd (which would be a significant time before opening which might be a long wait with preschoolers) because I think that line builds up fast. Someone else can give you a better idea how it is currently working to get to A&E from an early BOG ADR.

 

[xipotec]

You will miss alot in the trip between parks. I have never been in favor of park hopping. It sort of like opening a book and only looking at the pictures....

Hi! Have you considered eating at Akershus on your Epcot day to meet all the princesses? I haven't done it but we have done Cinderella's Royal Table and you can't beat character meals if your main goal is to meet characters!

if your goal is to meet many characters, including princess, Goto Cindy's for breakfast,or Akershus, You get to meet them all pic and chat, not hassle and eat at the same time....its the only way to go.

 

[dancemonkey]

We park hop all the time! Kind of depends on your tolerance for long days. Having a 2 & 4 yeAr old changes things a bit. If you only focus on things for them you'll be fine. But I'd stick to only two parks a day

 

[alliecat523]

I also say do the princess character meal. We always had a great experience with them. Lots of great interactions.

I would also not try to cram in 3 parks in one day. Like other posters said, the kids won't know what they are missing. Take it easy and enjoy!

 

[keepswimming76]

It is completely doable! We did it with our two when we had a short 3 day trip and they were ages 3 1/2 and 6.

Started at MK at rope drop. BTMRR, Splash, Peter Pan, and Carousel.
Monorail to Epcot. Misson Space, walked some countries, lunch at Akershus, took boat over to HS.
Star Tours, Buzz and Woody meet, Little Mermaid show, Ozborne lights, dinner, and maybe something else?? (can't recall.)
We were back at Pop Century by about 8-8:30 p.m.


We did it because the MK got way too crowded the day before and we felt we needed just a little bit more time there.

 

[RAPstar]

I almost made it to all 4 parks in one day, but I barely missed DHS as it closed before I got there.

 

[pens4821]

I would do it, as long as you hit your highlights. The travel to parks isn't as bad as people make it seem, even using buses. If your goal is to hit the things you want, it's surely worth it. I would be for hopping to multiple parks a day on a short trip to do everything I really wanted.

We did three parks in one day twice when we were there a couple weeks ago. We loved it. Hit our must dos at each park. We actually were going to do 4 one day but didn't plan on the long lines leaving one park closing trying to get to a PM EMH park.

 

[Karin1984]

I vote for park hopping and against character meals. Yes, the meals are easier to meet them all in one place. But in my opinion, the restaurants can be (very) crowded, always other people in the background of your pics and they all felt very rushed to me. My best characters experiences were all outside a restaurant.

 

[mshanson3121]

My family and I are planning a trip to Disney next month. We have 3 day tickets, and had planned on spending 2 MK and 1 Epcot. Kids are DD4, DS2. We picked these two parks for the rides as well as my DD is princess obsessed and I was concerned about not getting to meet Snow White and Aurora at MK, so with Flower and Garden festival going on we thought Epcot would be a good pick for our second park. Then we started to have second thoughts about missing Disney junior, etc at HS.

But now we are thinking about getting park hoppers. I don't necessarily want to mess up my MK days by coming and leaving and I already have some ADRs set that would make that hard. Could we conceivably park hop between Epcot, HS, and even animal kingdom in one day? I'm not talking about hitting every single thing in each park but I do what to take time to stop and smell the roses if we want I was tentatively thinking a plan like this:

Animal Kingdom (EMH Morning): Ride Kilamanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest (single rider line, both our kids are too short), Festival of the Lion King

Hollywood Studios (utilitze fastpass): Toy Story Mania, Frozen Sing-a-long, Disney Junior, ToT (single rider/rider swap as kids are too small)

Epcot: Character spot, meet Snow White and Aurora, walk around and look at F&G festival, Test Track (single rider), Illuminations

On a side note, we do have our own car so transportation shouldn't be an issue. I'm just unsure if this is too much running or not? If we had to drop a park, we would probably drop Animal Kingdom...

Could you? Sure. But IMO, it's a waste of time. You lose at least 2 hours, if not more, transferring back and forth between parks, going through gate check etc... I'd do something like this:

AK (using EMH). So rope drop that, do the attractions you want, then head to MK, using your FP+ there.
Then, next day rope drop MK (bonus if you can get EMH there), spend the day there, and then hop to HS for the evening, saving your FP+ for there.
Then spend your day at EP as planned