4 Parks 1 Day; Need Itinerary Help

[iheartwalt]

Please help me come up with a plan. BFF and I are spending 1 day at Disney on Monday April 28th. It is her second time and she wants to do all four parks that day. Well I consider myself a disney vet I don't usual go that time of year and we don't park hop so I am at a loss, not to mention not sure how to use our FP+ for that day.
We are staying onsite at CSR the night before so we can make FP+ and utilize the EMH at AK that day. My questions are:
-should we use disney buses or drive ourselves around that day? We will have our a car.
-how long to allow to get from one park to the next?
-what park should we use our FP+ at?
-the following is the list of my BFF's things she wants to do, does this seem doable and in what order should we do the parks (planning on DHS second so I am planning on lunch there but am open to eating somewhere else if a different order of parks would be better). I will list them in way I was thinking:
AK: EMH opens at 8am: Kilamanjaro Safari, EE, Kali (and if time allowed would like to do Dinosaur, my fave); planning to leave at 11
DHS: Little Mermaid (there is a 12:15 that would be great to make it to), Backlot Tour, Brown Derby for lunch/rest ( don't have an ADR yet), Beauty and the Beast (the 3 pm show if possible)
Epcot: arrive at 5ish: Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom, and Soarin ( figuring 90 minutes for Soarin and 30 minutes for the other two) (probably grab a quick dinner for Sunshine seasons after soarin)
MK: arrive 8:30?? BTMRR, Mickey meet and greet, Cinderella meet and greet, and then the 11PM MSEP

Okay, so what say you? I know it will be busy but is it doable? Tips? Ideas? Anything?
Thanks in advance!

 

[johde]

I've not done it since FP+ has been added. Looking at your schedule, I'm guessing you're selling yourself short. EasyWDW is giving that day a 4 so not overly busy.

AK- You should be able to get through those 4 attractions by 9:30 if you get there at RD on an EMH day.

DHS - no RnR or TSMM, or Tot? You can probably make the 11:30 Beauty and the Beast, Book lunch right after that, then fit the other GMR and Little Mermaid either before or after it.

EPCOT - I wouldn't expect spaceship earth to have that long of a wait, those type of waits are normally limited to the morning.

I'm betting you could hit MK by 6:00 -6:30 with the limited number of attractions at the other 3 parks.

With the order you picked, I'd at least consider using Disney transportation. You could take bus to AK, Bus to DHS, Boat or walk to international gateway at Epcot, Monorail to MK. With the attractions you have listed, I'd say either Epcot or MK for your FP+. If you decided to throw TSMM or RnR and ToT into the mix I'd probably say DHS.

Have fun.

 

[chitwnnole]

Only thing I can think of is that Disney does not offer a park hopper option on a 1 day ticket. I may be wrong but I seem to remember reading that

 

[Mad Hattered]

Only thing I can think of is that Disney does not offer a park hopper option on a 1 day ticket. I may be wrong but I seem to remember reading that

I'm pretty sure you can.

 

[iheartwalt]

I've not done it since FP+ has been added. Looking at your schedule, I'm guessing you're selling yourself short. EasyWDW is giving that day a 4 so not overly busy. AK- You should be able to get through those 4 attractions by 9:30 if you get there at RD on an EMH day. DHS - no RnR or TSMM, or Tot? You can probably make the 11:30 Beauty and the Beast, Book lunch right after that, then fit the other GMR and Little Mermaid either before or after it. EPCOT - I wouldn't expect spaceship earth to have that long of a wait, those type of waits are normally limited to the morning. I'm betting you could hit MK by 6:00 -6:30 with the limited number of attractions at the other 3 parks. With the order you picked, I'd at least consider using Disney transportation. You could take bus to AK, Bus to DHS, Boat or walk to international gateway at Epcot, Monorail to MK. With the attractions you have listed, I'd say either Epcot or MK for your FP+. If you decided to throw TSMM or RnR and ToT into the mix I'd probably say DHS. Have fun.

Thanks for the feedback!
AK: awesome! I have never done morning EMH, we usually try to avoid those parks, so had no idea how short the lines would be.
DHS: Nope, no headliners there, which is fine with me. I won't ToT or RnR and while I love TSMM I am okay skipping it. If time allows here I would like to work in a stop at Starring Rolls for a cupcake
Epcot: doing the boat to Epcot would be nice. Plus allow us to see a little more WS/allow me to get a Kaki Gori on the way to Maelstrom
MK: getting here earlier would be fabulous and allow us a relaxing evening as there aren't too many must do's for us here (my favorite park but I just spent 4 full days there a couple weeks ago so I am fine not riding much) but I know she would love time to take pictures and to be able to watch Wishes.

Ideally we would prefer to take Disney buses (drivers are crazy down there!) is there a bus from AK directly to DHS or do we have to go to a resort and then catch a DHS bus?

 

[iheartwalt]

I'm pretty sure you can.

Yup thank you I just checked and I can add PH for $35 (which was actually a pleasant surprise since I thought it was going to be $60)

 

[Mad Hattered]

Thanks for the feedback!
AK: awesome! I have never done morning EMH, we usually try to avoid those parks, so had no idea how short the lines would be.
DHS: Nope, no headliners there, which is fine with me. I won't ToT or RnR and while I love TSMM I am okay skipping it. If time allows here I would like to work in a stop at Starring Rolls for a cupcake
Epcot: doing the boat to Epcot would be nice. Plus allow us to see a little more WS/allow me to get a Kaki Gori on the way to Maelstrom
MK: getting here earlier would be fabulous and allow us a relaxing evening as there aren't too many must do's for us here (my favorite park but I just spent 4 full days there a couple weeks ago so I am fine not riding much) but I know she would love time to take pictures and to be able to watch Wishes.

Ideally we would prefer to take Disney buses (drivers are crazy down there!) is there a bus from AK directly to DHS or do we have to go to a resort and then catch a DHS bus?

Disney buses will slow down your day considerably. I would recommend driving if you plan on doing the 4 park 1 day trip. I've done it many times, and driving yourself from park to park is your best option IMHO.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

There are buses that run from park to park.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My two kids did it last fall on their 16th birthday. (DH and I made it to three parks.)

Here's what our day looked like. Stayed at GF and we did have a car.

AM AK EMH (drove) - got there at RD, did Dinosaur, EE (twice), Cali and Kilamanjaro Safari. Others were walk-on, but wait at KS was long and HOT. (93 degrees with high humidity.)

Left AK around 11:45, stopped off at GF so DD could change her wet shorts from Cali.

Drove over to WL for 1pm BDay lunch at WCC. Got there, and they took us, a little early. Ran to store after lunch to get a few grocery items, then brought them back to room. Took a short rest to cool down.

Drove over to HS around 4:45 and did Star Tours, Great Movie Ride, ToT (FP+) and RnRC (FP+). Left park around 7:30 not using FP+ for TSM, not big fans. (Before rides were tiered.)

Drove back to GF. Kids too wired for nap - they hopped on monorail and went to Epcot. I think they did TT and MS using SR line.

DH and I hopped on monorail around 10:15 pm and met kids at MK entrance, they were on monorail coming from Epcot. Did PoC, HM, SplM. Shared a snack at Gaston's Tavern. DH and I walked around and did some shopping on Main St while the kids ran off to SM (which they did a couple of times). DH and I left MK and hoppped on a boat back to GF while the kids closed the park down and met us in the room later on. We all went in the pool around 2am. Ahhhhhh. (We were just saying today how that pool dip was one of our favorites ever at WDW - we were so hot all day and tired from bombing around!)

The kids are happy to say they did it, but even they say they'll probably not do it again. DD had blisters on her feet and it felt somewhat rushed most of the day. No question it was memorable, though.

I hope you and your friend have a great time!

 

[amberpi]

You can blow out the AK bit in no time. I might take my car for that one and then leave it at DHS. Since there isn't anything major you guys want to do at DHS, go and get out, give Epcot and MK more time. If I was doing it, I'd RD AK, FP+ DHS, and be able to have a nice lunch at Epcot around about 12-1ish. Then you can take a breath and just enjoy Epcot and MK. You'll have a great day!

 

[amberpi]

Also, walking between DHS and Epcot is WAY faster than the boat and you can burn some calories for drinks at the WS

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

We did it last September and had a blast (but that was before FP+).

As others have said... No way I would use Disney transportation to do this. I would def drive. It's so much quicker!

 

[iheartwalt]

Thanks all, looking like we will drive to the parks. Any more thoughts on where we should use our FP+?
AK: won't need them there with rope drop and EMH
DHS: since we aren't doing any headliners I wouldn't think we would need them here. Does Backlot tour get a long wait?
Epcot: Would be nice for Soarin' to avoid that boring wait but I feel like the other 2 FP+ choices here are just throw aways.
MK: Could use it for BTMRR, Cinderella, and Mickey, but not sure what character waits are like in the evenings.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Backlot Tour can have a long wait in the middle of the day, it depends how crowded it is. You also have to sit through the water show before the bus tour. The whole experience can take a while.

Sounds like a good plan, though. I think you are wise to drive if you want to pull this off. It may save you a little bit of time and make it easier to go back to your room if you have to or want to.

What time is MK open until on the night you're going? Towards the end of the night you can often do many of the rides as walk-on. The last few (3) times we've been to MK when it was open really late (i.e. wee hours), many rides had no wait. We didn't even have to get out of our log on Splash Mountain if we didn't want to as nobody else was in line. Much depends on whether you want to keep going from early morning till wee hours. A nap here is helpful.

If you're going to stay at MK super late, I might consider using the FP+ for Epcot. You could always use the single rider line on some of the other rides there.

But if you want to be absolutely sure to get on some things at MK, you might use your FP+s there. Nothing is ever 100% certain. You go there with a plan but often there's some kind of fly in the ointment. It helps to have the mindset that whatever you can do will be good. Especially when it's that busy. Sometimes an opportunity presents itself that you hadn't thought of - do you take it, or not? We'll generally take it, then whatever happens, happens. Some of our best moments have been just going with the flow.

 

[jrtoastyman]

If I were you and wanting to get all of that done in a day, I'd plan on taking cabs between at least some of the parks. The benefit, of course, is that you walk out of a park, hop in a waiting car, and you're off to your next destination. From a transport standpoint:

1. Bus to AK
2. I would DEFINITELY cab it from AK to DHS.
3. You could hoof it or take a boat from DHS to EPCOT, hit Maelstrom and them work your way to the front of the park.
4. Take a wait and see approach from EPCOT to MK. If you can catch the monorail without much wait, go ahead and take it. Otherwise, go ahead and take a cab to MK.
5. Bus from MK back to CSR.

My $.02