Anybody ever try pedometer or activity tracker at Disney?

[BuckeyeBama]

Just be aware that the mileage calculations in amusement parks are not accurate. That is because it is "step" based, and every step is considered to be a normal length step. In amusement parks, with crowds and ride queues, you shuffle along far more than you walk normally. It greatly increases your step count. Most people at least double their step count per mile in an amusement park - some get close to tripling it.

 

[chrismb22]

We do it each trip (just for comparison sake as we are certainly not walkers at home). Highest we clocked was I think 26 miles -- and that was on our supposed "rest" day. We wound up walking from DHS to Epcot and then all around Downtown Disney. It's fun to look back and see how it changes each trip. Last time (with a 2 year old) I don't think we ever came close to that.

 

[3Gsandme]

Dh wore one for our last trip. I forgot mine at home. :/ We logged almost sixty miles with five park days and one day at DTD. I forget how many steps he did, but he takes two to my three (and probably two to my little ones' four) so we were tired people.

eta: I actually gained NO weight on vacation between the walking and sweating.

 

[3Gsandme]

Just be aware that the mileage calculations in amusement parks are not accurate. That is because it is "step" based, and every step is considered to be a normal length step. In amusement parks, with crowds and ride queues, you shuffle along far more than you walk normally. It greatly increases your step count. Most people at least double their step count per mile in an amusement park - some get close to tripling it.

I don't think they're THAT inaccurate, though. Does the fitbit measure shuffles? Actually, I just walked around the house. If a mimicked a shuffling/line waiting step it didn't pick up at all. Of course, that's anecdotal.

 

[scard192]

Used my Fitbit last October. 20,000 steps everyday.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I don't think they're THAT inaccurate, though. Does the fitbit measure shuffles? Actually, I just walked around the house. If a mimicked a shuffling/line waiting step it didn't pick up at all. Of course, that's anecdotal.

That is what I have read pretty much everywhere in athletic forums. My wife uses a fitbit and doesn't bother to wear it in WDW after one day in MK - it said that she had walked 22 miles. We got a good laugh about that, then she stopped wearing it until we got home.

 

[jodeeb]

I wore the Active Link from weight watchers last time we went. I logged about 15 miles a day, although i think that wearing it on Mission Space may have confused it a bit.

 

[ivanaernmore]

I'm going to wear my fitbit one when I get there at the end of this month. At my weight watchers meeting this week, a guy who'd just returned from Disney World said Disney had a sign up at one of the parks saying that an average visitor to their parks walks 6-7 miles a day.

 

[amberpi]

We've tracked many times and average I think 16 miles a day over our last few trips, but I think that's higher than most because we walk from the Epcot resort area to DHS and then we'll walk to Epcot and then back and then back through Epcot for a few drinks and dinner and then might hit MK. Basically, we backtrack to our hotel a lot and use WDW transport as little as possible to just in some extra walking. I don't feel bad at all about rice cream or a few cocktails that way

 

[Indio]

My mom wore a pedometer on a 5 day trip a few years ago. We walked 42 miles! That's about 8 1/2 miles a day. You would think you'd lose a little weight walking that much!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

My mom wore a pedometer on a 5 day trip a few years ago. We walked 42 miles! That's about 8 1/2 miles a day. You would think you'd lose a little weight walking that much!

An interesting point - the average person burns about 100 calories jogging a mile. So, 8.5 miles/day = 850 calories. You burn about the same number of calories walking, but it is spread out over more time and doesn't boost your metabolism, so the impact is minimized.

Also, you are eating EVERY meal at a restaurant in WDW, and you will easily consume 850 more calories than you would at home eating the exact same foods because of the difference in food preparation, use of sauces, etc.

Net - most people gain weight, even with the extra walking.

 

[kiford]

We logged between 7-14 miles per day on our trip in December (the 14 miles was the night we went to MK with EMH and didn't get back to our hotel until about 1 am). We didn't lose weight but we didn't gain anything; we ate and drank very well so I consider that to be a success. In previous years we've logged about the same with a typical day being about 8 miles. Neither the pedometer I used in previous years nor the app I use now on my iPhone register feet shuffling - they require actual steps so I consider it to be reasonably accurate. We usually go at low times so we don't actually spend a lot of time just shuffling forward in lines. Usually we either walk right on or are moving at a fairly constant normal pace. We also spend quite a bit of time wandering through shops and walking about watching the street performers so aren't always spending time on lines.

In 2000, even though I had spent about 1 hour 2-3 times per week walking on treadmills prior to the trip for a couple of months I still ended up with a stretch injury in my Achilles tendon which my doctor said was due to repetitive stress from a lot of walking in a short period of time. I'm in significantly better shape now than I was then so walking 10-15 miles a day for several days isn't a bit problem now, but if you're not used to it, be warned that you can have some nasty impacts. It took about 18 months for it to be fully healed. That was one of the reasons I decided to get in better physical shape so that I would never have the problem again. You can experience more than just sore feet and blisters if you're not aware of how much you're pushing it.

 

[MrsJobba1]

I have a fitbit flex and plan on wearing it next April when we visit -

For those who have worn theirs - it doesn't affect magic bands does i?

 

[Skywise]

I've got a Nike fuelband and can easily do 4000+ fuel points a day. That's still nothing compared to my trips to Las Vegas where I'll average 8000+ a day as I hop around the casinos and bars... Of course my friends and I haven't figured out if that's because we're walking more or if the staggering around after a few drinks just counts as more steps.

 

[mejo]

I have a fitbit flex and plan on wearing it next April when we visit - For those who have worn theirs - it doesn't affect magic bands does i?

I have a fitbit and wore it everyday on the same wrist as my magicband , both worked great

 

[shyjade]

Yes. We average 8-10 miles per day in the parks.

 

[kitkat4622]

I wear a fitbit zip and love it. I am heading to wdw 11/10-11/15 and am curious to see what the step count is everyday. I normally hit around 8000 per day at home walking during lunch, breaks and sometimes the treadmill at the Y....

 

[smokeyblue]

According to my boyfriend's fitbit we usually do 6-10 miles/day!

 

[DisneyMim]

We average about 9-11 miles a day in the parks.

 

[tony67]

I always use a pedometer in Disney and get between 30-40 thousand steps a day

I try to do one lap around WS between each drink (or 2) in Epcot.

I also always walk between HS and Epcot - it takes me the same time as the boat.