Critique this crazy 4 in 1 plan for July

[Shanti]

My son and I are going to WDW in mid-July. This is a short trip and was originally going to be water parks & resort only...but who am I kidding? My son could do a WDW trip and skip MK without crying, but I can't! So now I've added a "dry" park day, and to make the bang really worth the sizable buck of a 1-day peak-season park hopper (not to mention allow us to do our favorite attractions of each park), I've decided for us to do all 4 parks in one crazy, exhausting, yet very fun day.

Please feel free to critique my plans and give any helpful suggestions you have. A little background info before I share our itinerary:

• This will be just my enthusiastic, Disney-loving 11 year-old son and me, and we both are able-bodied with lots of energy.
• I'm a Texan and know how to handle intense summer heat.
• We've been to WDW in July before and know about the daily rainstorms and will be as prepared as possible for this.
• We will have 2 extra magic bands to try SDFP technique, but I'm not planning on it helping us much.
• We're staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which makes Animal Kingdom an easy place to start early.

Animal Kingdom

• 8:00am ADR for Tusker House
• 9:00 - 10:30am Ride Expedition Everest, Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl standby
• A little playtime in The Boneyard if time permits

Bus to Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios

• 11:30am - 2pm Standby Toy Story Midway Mania (fingers crossed that 3rd track helps a bit) and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• 2:10pm ADR for Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre

Boat to Epcot's International Gateway

Epcot

• 4:30 - 5:30pm FP+ window for Frozen Ever After (my son won't care about this one, but I will )
• Gran Fiesta Tour if time permits
• Standby Test Track (not single rider)
• 5:30 - 6:30pm FP+ window for Spaceship Earth
• Standby Soarin' (fingers crossed that 3rd screen helps)
• Standby Living with the Land if time permits

Monorail to the Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

• It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, The Barnstormer, Tomorrowland Speedway
• 9:45pm Celebrate the Magic
• 10pm Wishes
• 10pm - Midnight: Extra Magic Hours (fingers crossed that these hours will end up being later)
• Must-do EMH rides: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Buzz Lightyear, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (if time is tight, will hop in the line for 7DMT right before closing)

Next day:

 

[Oswin]

The only question I have is, is the 2:10 Sci Fi a lunch/dinner combo? You don't have dinner anywhere on your plans, and if you're staying out until midnight or later, you might want to grab something!

 

[mshanson3121]

I'll just add my thoughts in your quote in bold

My son and I are going to WDW in mid-July. This is a short trip and was originally going to be water parks & resort only...but who am I kidding? My son could do a WDW trip and skip MK without crying, but I can't! So now I've added a "dry" park day, and to make the bang really worth the sizable buck of a 1-day peak-season park hopper (not to mention allow us to do our favorite attractions of each park), I've decided for us to do all 4 parks in one crazy, exhausting, yet very fun day.

Please feel free to critique my plans and give any helpful suggestions you have. A little background info before I share our itinerary:

• This will be just my enthusiastic, Disney-loving 11 year-old son and me, and we both are able-bodied with lots of energy.
• I'm a Texan and know how to handle intense summer heat.
• We've been to WDW in July before and know about the daily rainstorms and will be as prepared as possible for this.
• We will have 2 extra magic bands to try SDFP technique, but I'm not planning on it helping us much.
• We're staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which makes Animal Kingdom an easy place to start early.

Animal Kingdom

• 8:00am ADR for Tusker House
• 9:00 - 10:30am Ride Expedition Everest, Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl standby
• A little playtime in The Boneyard if time permits

Bus to Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios

• 11:30am - 2pm Standby Toy Story Midway Mania (fingers crossed that 3rd track helps a bit) and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• 2:10pm ADR for Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre

I imagine you'll still easily wait an hour for TSMM even with 3rd track. I would definitely make it the first ride you attempt. In all honesty though, why even bother going to the park for 2 rides? A waste of time IMO, when you could spend longer at the other parks and do more. But that's just me.
Boat to Epcot's International Gateway

Epcot

• 4:30 - 5:30pm FP+ window for Frozen Ever After (my son won't care about this one, but I will )
• Gran Fiesta Tour if time permits
• Standby Test Track (not single rider)
• 5:30 - 6:30pm FP+ window for Spaceship Earth
• Standby Soarin' (fingers crossed that 3rd screen helps)
• Standby Living with the Land if time permits

Monorail to the Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

• It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, The Barnstormer, Tomorrowland Speedway
• 9:45pm Celebrate the Magic
• 10pm Wishes
• 10pm - Midnight: Extra Magic Hours (fingers crossed that these hours will end up being later)
• Must-do EMH rides: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Buzz Lightyear, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (if time is tight, will hop in the line for 7DMT right before closing)

It's an ambitious plan that's for sure. I think you're aware that probably half the rides won't get done (ex. There's no way you can do Soarin and Living with the Land standby, and still even remotely get those 4 rides done at MK in time to get a spot to watch Celebrate the Magic/Wishes). Myself, you have a lot of things you want to do - and a lot of things you just won't be able to between EP and MK. Why not just split your day between those two parks, since they are the ones you seem to have the most interest in? Or add one day to your trip so you can do a day split between HS/EP and AK/MK?
Next day:

 

[jaceraden]

Good luck!

 

[Selket]

I would leave out DHS too. I realize you may just want to go for the thrill of hitting all 4 parks in one day though - lol! I'm guessing there is no park with an early magic hour? That would help you out a lot. We almost always go in July (around the 4th) and some of the rides (like Tomorrowland Speedway) - the lines are ridiculous. Of course that may be a priority ride for you you!

I agree that I don't think you could get Soarin in on standby after 6:00pm and remotely do all that you want in the MK.

I love the ambition!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Sounds like fun! But i would honestly drop one of the parks if I were you. Doing 3 instead of 4 would be easier. And you'd get more done. BTW i'd take advantage of the single rider line at Test Track if I were you. Most of the time the two of you will get in the same car at least. Thats been our experience anyway. We're not beside eachother but usually the same car.

 

[Shanti]

I would leave out DHS too. I realas t ize you may just want to go for the thrill of hitting all 4 parks in one day tth hvCard dry ehough - lol! I'bbc.co to m guessing there is no park with an early magic hour? That would help you out a lot. We almost always go in July (around the 4th) and some of the rides (like Tomorrowland Speedway) - the lines are ridiculous. Of course that may be a priority ride for you you!

I agree that I don't think you could get Soarin in on standby after 6:00pm and remotely do all that you want in the MK.

I love the ambition!

Are Epcot lines worse in the late afternoon than late morning? Maybe I should do Epcot before Hollywood Studios.

We're not going July 4th week, btw. We did that last year & don't want to experience those lines again.

Yes, I partly want the thrill & challenge of 4 in 1, but it's also about limited time in what is mainly a short, water parks-focused trip, not wanting to spend multiple days in the July heat of the "dry" parks, & not wanting to spend an extra $200 on park tickets for a 2nd day if that can be avoided.

 

[Shanti]

TSMM & TOT are favorites, as is dining at Sci-Fi, so that together is worth the HS visit for us.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Shanti]

The only question I have is, is the 2:10 Sci Fi a lunch/dinner combo? You don't have dinner anywhere on your plans, and if you're staying out until midnight or later, you might want to grab something!

Thanks for the feedback! We usually eat 2 TS meals and a snack per day, so were planning on snacking in MK, likely ice cream or something equally healthy.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I have actually seen youtube videos of people doing this very same stunt with great success!
The fact that there is only 2 of you, you're both healthy and energetic and willing says "Go for the gold" for m!
Have fun and post back your success after!

 

[daveyc150]

Looks ambitious but fun. I think Epcot will be your biggest challenge, standby for test track and soarin could take a long time.

 

[Oswin]

Thanks for the feedback! We usually eat 2 TS meals and a snack per day, so were planning on snacking in MK, likely ice cream or something eaually healthy.

In that case, I highly recommend a funnel cake break. Not only does it rhyme so it's fun to say out loud, but it's incredibly filling for a snack. And I think you used to be able to get ice cream at the place in Liberty Square, too.

 

[Shanti]

Looks ambitious but fun. I think Epcot will be your biggest challenge, standby for test track and soarin could take a long time.

Agreed. We'll likely end up skipping TT if the line is over 60 minutes. My son is a great sport, but doesn't ever want to do single-rider, and I really don't, either. For us a big part of the fun is sharing the experience.

 

[daveyc150]

Agreed. We'll likely end up skipping TT if the line is over 60 minutes. My son is a great sport, but doesn't ever want to do single-rider, and I really don't, either. For us a big part of the fun is sharing the experience.

I agree, I am a very reluctant single rider, things are always much more fun when they are done together.

 

[Oneanne]

I just did 4-in-1 a couple weeks ago, and had a blast. My routing was AK-DHS-EPCOT-MK. My criteria was 3 attractions in each park, eat something and have my picture taken in front of the park icon. I planned out three hours in each park with a hour for transport between each park, which turned out to be way longer than it actually took.

The things that worked best for me? No FP+ and no prebooked ADR's... Not having the stress of trying to make a schedule was definitely the way to go. And I did it on a day that AK had early EMH, so I had completed Safari and Everest, eaten and gotten my picture before General opening... I hit Bugs life on the way out. That set up the entire day. At DHS I did RnR, Beauty and the Beast and One Mans Dream, had a frozen strawberry bar then caught the boat over to EPCOT where I sat down for hummus at Spice Road, saw the movie in France, did Nemo and Living with the Land. Took the monorail over to MK, did SwissFamily and Enchanted Tiki, then sat down for dinner at Skippers Canteen. Afterwards I hit County Bears, and was leaving MK around 6pm. Granted if I had gone for some of the A-list attractions with longer waits it would have taken longer. And I have to say the croud levels during my trip weren't too high, which helped with moving around faster.

I say go for it and I hope you have as much fun as I did.

 

[goofyintoronto]

TSMM & TOT are favorites, as is dining at Sci-Fi, so that together is worth the HS visit for us.

Thanks for the feedback!

I agree with you on this. I love TSMM (TOT still scares the crap out of me)....and SciFi is our fave. So a trip to HS would be worth it.

Dont over-think it, just go with the flow and see what happens. It sounds like a fun challenge! As long as youre up for the challenge, thats all that matters.

 

[johde]

I've done 4 parks in 1 day a few times. You're basic plan doesn't look bad. The 2 TS meals could throw a major kink into the works. I'd also probably skip the boneyard. My final advice is have a plan but be flexible. This is especially true once you get to the MK. I did a similar path as you but because Frozen wasn't open (and I wasn't as concerned about soarin') I FP+'ed DHS instead. My plan was (In no particular order)

DAK (Morning EMH)
Safari
Everest
Dinosaur

DHS
TSMM FP+
ToT FP+
StarTours FP+
Muppetvision
Great Movie Ride
Lunch at ABC Commissary (While Waiting for FP+ time)

Epcot
Imagination
Spaceship Earth
Nemo (Dropped because of time)
Mission Space (Dropped because of time)

MK
Dinner at Columbia Harbor House
Festival of Fantasy Parade (I made it in plenty of time I probably could have hit one of the EPCOT rides but only because a monorail was waiting for me)
Fireworks
Mainstreet Electrical Parade
Haunted Mansion
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan
7 Dwarf Mine Train
Buzz Light Year
Country Bears
Tiki Room
Splash Mountain
and a few more I can't remember.

 

[Shanti]

I've done 4 parks in 1 day a few times. You're basic plan doesn't look bad. The 2 TS meals could throw a major kink into the works. I'd also probably skip the boneyard. My final advice is have a plan but be flexible. This is especially true once you get to the MK. I did a similar path as you but because Frozen wasn't open (and I wasn't as concerned about soarin') I FP+'ed DHS instead. My plan was (In no particular order)

DAK (Morning EMH)
Safari
Everest
Dinosaur

DHS
TSMM FP+
ToT FP+
StarTours FP+
Muppetvision
Great Movie Ride
Lunch at ABC Commissary (While Waiting for FP+ time)

Epcot
Imagination
Spaceship Earth
Nemo (Dropped because of time)
Mission Space (Dropped because of time)

MK
Dinner at Columbia Harbor House
Festival of Fantasy Parade (I made it in plenty of time I probably could have hit one of the EPCOT rides but only because a monorail was waiting for me)
Fireworks
Mainstreet Electrical Parade
Haunted Mansion
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan
7 Dwarf Mine Train
Buzz Light Year
Country Bears
Tiki Room
Splash Mountain
and a few more I can't remember.

Thanks for the feedback and shared experience! Very helpful and gives me optimism! My first TS meal is PPO (AK opens at 9am, and we have an 8:00am ressie), so I don't think that will be a problem. By 2pm, I imagine we'll need to sit down for a while anyway, and as we love Sci-Fi, it's as much of an attraction for us as the rides.

Yes, I did debate using FP's for EP or DHS, but chose EP as I really want to ride Frozen Ever After, but am not willing to standby it. We will probably end up skipping the Boneyard. We're flexible and will go with the flow.

 

[Raya]

As an experienced 4-in-1 park goer, your plan looks good to me. However, I don't see your 3rd FP at EPCOT. Maybe FP Soarin' or TT? In general I hold FPs for the noon to mid-afternoon busy time, then use them for the 3 rides that will have the longest lines. Also consider taxi rides between AK & HS to save time. Waiting for a bus for an hour can hurt your time a lot. My classic 4 parks -1 day schedule:

AK- At Rope Drop, immediately to Safari, over to EE (a couple of times depending), Dinosaur on the way out
Taxi HS
HS - immediately to TSMM, ToT, RRC
Ride friendship boat to YC/BC walk over bridge to EPCOT
EPCOT - sit down lunch in heat of the day, FPs for 3 big rides, walk around/do other rides as desired
4pm (or around the afternoon thunderstorm) monorail to MK
MK until close, try for extra FPs on the way

 

[Shanti]

As an experienced 4-in-1 park goer, your plan looks good to me. However, I don't see your 3rd FP at EPCOT. Maybe FP Soarin' or TT? In general I hold FPs for the noon to mid-afternoon busy time, then use them for the 3 rides that will have the longest lines. Also consider taxi rides between AK & HS to save time. Waiting for a bus for an hour can hurt your time a lot. My classic 4 parks -1 day schedule:

AK- At Rope Drop, immediately to Safari, over to EE (a couple of times depending), Dinosaur on the way out
Taxi HS
HS - immediately to TSMM, ToT, RRC
Ride friendship boat to YC/BC walk over bridge to EPCOT
EPCOT - sit down lunch in heat of the day, FPs for 3 big rides, walk around/do other rides as desired
4pm (or around the afternoon thunderstorm) monorail to MK
MK until close, try for extra FPs on the way

Glad to hear from another person who's done this!

Our 1st tier FP for Epcot is Frozen Ever After, and our 2nd tier is Spaceship Earth. There is no other 2nd tier ride that we really want to do. I'll be trying to SDFP Test Track or Soarin (and TSMM & TOT), but doubt any of those will have availability.

Thanks for the tip about taxis. If the bus system isn't cooperating, we'll take one.