4 Parks 1 Day Strategy

[Turk February]

We are planning to try this for the first time on 12/5 (myself, wife, 6-year-old daughter). We are park vets but have never tried this and it seems like a fun new thing to do this trip. Looking for some advice in my attack plan. MK will definitely be last because they're open until midnight which really gives us a lot of time to work with (16 hours total).

Plan 1
DHS EMH 8-11
AK 12-3
Epcot 4-7
MK 8-12 (FP+ for 7DMT, Wishes, Pan)

Plan 2
AK 8-10
Epcot 11-3
DHS 4-7 (FP+ for TSM, TOT, ST)
MK 8-12

Realistically we would want to hit the main rides at each park but we will be at each park at least 1 other time during the trip so nothing is a "must". My main conflict is whether I do DHS first and save the MK FP I currently have, or switch over to plan 2.

Thanks for any input, especially from people who have done this before!

 

[goodeats]

We've done this AK, DHS, Epcot, MK using the boats between HS and Epcot (or walkway) and monorail from Epcot to MK.

It's doable! Tiring but doable!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

It's definitely do-able! I did four parks, one day and we didn't even get started until around 10:30. I personally like plan 1, as taking the monorail between Epcot and MK saves a lot of time. Doing EMH for DHS should allow you to get on some major rides, and as AK is typically the least busy park, doing it between the busy hours of 12-3 seems reasonable.

When I did 4 parks, 1 day, we managed to get several things in. We met Mickey in every park, rode Everest, The Seas with Nemo, Space Mountain and the PeopleMover, walked all the way around World Showcase and took selfies in every country, had one QS and one TS meal, and did the Animation Academy (RIP). It was tons of fun and I am so glad I did it!

 

[Canuck16]

I keep with Plan 1 and hit DHS first and hit the headliners there early and keep your FP's for MK.

Sounds like a fun thing to try.......have fun!

 

[gap2368]

yes I think plan 1 but you need to make sure you think about how long it will get you to go from one park to the other maybe leave GHS a little earlier since it will not be busy since you are going opening you can easily do TSMMA then another ride or 2 in the first 90 minutes and I think your FP are a great idea

 

[Turk February]

It's definitely do-able! I did four parks, one day and we didn't even get started until around 10:30. I personally like plan 1, as taking the monorail between Epcot and MK saves a lot of time. Doing EMH for DHS should allow you to get on some major rides, and as AK is typically the least busy park, doing it between the busy hours of 12-3 seems reasonable.

When I did 4 parks, 1 day, we managed to get several things in. We met Mickey in every park, rode Everest, The Seas with Nemo, Space Mountain and the PeopleMover, walked all the way around World Showcase and took selfies in every country, had one QS and one TS meal, and did the Animation Academy (RIP). It was tons of fun and I am so glad I did it!

Thanks! I forgot to mention that the one thing we definitely want to do at each park is get a Mickey photo just to commemorate the day.

 

[Micca]

Question gets kicked around here occasionally, here's what some others have said

http://www.disboards.com/threads/all-four-disney-parks-in-one-day.3445104/page-2#post-54382325

 

[ktlm]

We came in a day early to get a discount a few weeks ago, so we spent our first day doing this for fun! We actually hit 5 parks because we did EPCOT twice! We did:
DHS-- FP+ Toy Story Mania, Spend a lot of time in One Man's Dream because DD (9) is very interested in the history of Walt right now and she had never been in there, and we know it is supposed to close next year; FP+ Star Tours . We had a TOT FP+, but DD didn't want to ride it.

EPCOT- Duffy's last day (waited 70 minutes in line to see him); F&W for lunch. It was a Saturday, so EPCOT was packed and we were ready to leave.

AK --- Safari, Walk around and see animals because DD would not do EE single rider (she needs her Dad next to her to be brave enough for that ride); See Lion King Show

EPCOT- Return for ADR at San Angel. Ride Boat in Mexico. Ride Spaceship Earth on the way out

MK- ELP, fireworks, shop. We may have ridden something, I can't remember. Mostly we were there just for the purpose of 4 parks in a day and our next day was a full MK day, so I can't remember if we even went past the hub that night.

We had a great time- it is so fun to be able to say we did 4 parks in a day! We had no must dos and no real plans other than seeing Duffy was a must. That is actually how the whole idea came up. DD's request for our extra day was to FP+ TSM because we usually only ride it once in a trip as the standby line is always too long. When we found out it was Duffy's last day, we knew we had to go see him. We had a dinner ADR at EPCOT, but it was so crowded that day, that we wanted out. AK was the recommended low crowd park, and we thought we might see some Florida friends on our later AK day, so we decided to head over there to do some things in case we didn't want to stay there on our actual AK day. The minute we made the decision to go to AK, we knew our new goal was a 4 park day!

 

[poohfriend77]

I have to say, I used to think people who wanted to try this were crazy! It seemed like a lot of wasted time with the travel, and extra walking (I mean, how many miles would you rack up, just going from bus stops to the central part of each park?)

Now my family has a few more trips under our belts, the kids are older (and stamina is up), and we finally tried -- and LOVED-- park hoppers the last time. So now I could definitely see us taking this on as a challenge one day! It would be fun to hit all our favorites in a whirlwind last day. Good luck making the most of your day, OP, and come back and let us know how you did!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

We are doing the exact same thing on the same day! Here's our strategy:

8:00-9:30: DHS (ride Tower of Terror and Star tours, grab quick breakfast at Starring Rolls, GMR at 9:00 and then walk to Epcot)
9:45 - 12:30: Epcot (Spaceship Earth, Soarin, quick snack, Gran Fiesta Tour and then bus to AK)
1:00 - 4:00: Animal Kingdom (EE, Safari, Triceratop Spin, and lunch reservations at Yak and Yeti before busing to GF and then monorail to MK
5:00 - ???: MK (Peoplemover, Carousel of Progress, other ride of choice, dinner at counter service location before boating back to Wilderness Lodge)

Our intent is to do 3 rides and get food at each park as well as take a boat, bus, monorail, and walk to or from each location. Times are not set at all. We have fast passes at Epcot for Spaceship Earth, Soarin', and The Seas With Nemo and Friends (want to do Gran Fiesta Tour but if the unthinkable happens and it has a long line or - unbelievably - we are done before 11:00, we will do The Seas) and lunch reservations at Yak and Yeti for 2:00. That way, we can do AK rides after, if we need to and hopefully the lines for those rides will be shorter.

 

[Turk February]

We are doing the exact same thing on the same day!

That's awesome that we'll be doing this on the same day! The midnight MK closure is what pushed it over the top for me because it really gives us plenty of time and even an option to take a break since we are staying at Poly.