don't know if this can be done!

[jswalker1981]

I have been trying to post this message for a long time. I am thinking of doing all four parks in one day! I will be going on Nov. 18th, a friday, and I am planning on hitting all four parks in one day. Obviously I can't see all the rides, but at least I will hit the major/favorite rides. Am I crazy for trying this?? Let me know what rides/attractions you would do if you only had one day at Walt Disney World.

 

[misslissa]

Ok... wow... is this going to be your first time at each of the parks???

Last year, I did all parks in two days and I was told it couldn't be done. Obviously, I didn't do everything I wanted but I got a general feel for each of the parks. Yes, it is a little crazy (and will be tiring) but I get the drift of what you are going to try to do. Maybe you can just do the major rides at each park.

My favorites are as follows:

Magic Kingdom - Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Teacups, Phillarmagic
Animal Kingdom - Killamanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, It's Tough to be a Bug
MGM - Tower of Terror, Rockin' Roller Coaster, this park has my favorite parade, and Fantasmic
Epcot - If you do Epcot, I would leave it 'till last... you probably won't get a chance to do any of the rides, maybe one, but then spend the rest of your time just checking out the countries.

If you haven't been to the parks before though... remember there is sometimes a long distance between each of the parks... I think if possible, I would recommend doing a half day at each of the parks. WDW is HUGE!!!

 

[Loves Disney]

It CAN be done. My family and I have done all 4 major parks in one day plus we spent time at the pool and hit downtown disney. We went on all the major rides and we went shopping in the parks. The thing was, that it wasn't even a big rush. We were able to enjoy it. We stayed at the disney so we were out late too (a big plus of it lol)

MGM- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, shopping (I love the shopping here lol)
MK- Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, BTM, Space Mountain, and shopping (I love the shopping here too lol) Eat a quick lunch at "Casey's" (they have the BEST hot dogs)
AK- Its tough to be a Bug, Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids (do this last) shopping LOL, or you could eat a quick lunch at Pizzafari (BEST pizza lol) Primeval Whirl.
EPCOT- Test Track (I swear it got faster this year! MUCH faster!!!) Soarin' (Make sure to get a FP, we waited in line 75 min. this past summer )

 

[jswalker1981]

I have been to all the parks, but Animal Kingdom only once, a long time ago. I know MK like the back of my hand, and that will be the first park we hit, since it will have the most rides that we want to ride. We want to hit the three mountains, POTC, HM, Philharmagic, Buzz, and maybe CoP. Then at AK, we are planning to ride Dinosaur and Kilamanjaro Safaris, MGM-ToT, Rockin Roller Coaster, Muppets, and Star Tours, and then go to Epcot and try to ride Mission: Space, Soarin, TT, and possibly Spaceship Earth, hoping to catch Illuminations at the end.

 

[KatieRenee]

wow, I really can't say if it's possible or not. I guess it depends on the line length that day and how fast you can walk! Good luck, I don't think I could do it and enjoy myself!!

 

[VSL]

Wow - would you even be able to get on Soarin' that late in the day?

 

[lilpatty19@aol.com]

WOW I've never done it..I wouldn't recommend it but I'm sure it can be done but you may be limited to like 3 rides per park or something like that...Just know you might not be able to see everything you want but good luck!

 

[Lisa AF]

What time of year are you traveling? Usually by afternoon in the summer Soarin fastpasses are out 5-6 hours and TT fastpass would be a 3-4 hour wait. I don't believe that schedule could be done during a busy season. Maybe it could at low season.

 

[Aliki]

Wow, that's ambitious!

Rides I wouldn't miss:

Epcot:
- Soarin'
- Mission: SPACE
- Test Track

Magic Kingdom:
- Space Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Philharmagic

MGM:
- Muppet 3D
- Rockin' Roller Coaster
- Tower of Terror

I'd skip Animal Kingdom. Good luck!

 

[DURANFAN2]

FIrst of all, it depends how FAST you can walk. A few years back I could really hit several rides and then park hop and do alot more rides when it was an OFF day. Those days where the parks have really low attendence is harder and harder to ever see. Its been years since I've seen the Kingdom NOT crowded. I mean there use to be times where you went to Fantasyland and walked on Peter Pan's Flight, not anymore.
TO me the Kingdom is the worst park far as getting through rides. I feel EPCOT and MGM move you through very fast thanks for rides that can take more than 2 peeps at a time in a ride vehicle.
One plan would be to go to the Magic Kingdom on a morning where you can get early ad. IF you're a disney hotel guest. They have several good rides open at this time.
Then maybe hit Animal Kingdom. The safari ride is a must, if theres a line get a fast pass. TO me thats the only must see thing at the AK so far.
MGM studios next.
I would finish up with EPCOT since they're usually open late. You can get on most rides in Future World pretty fast in the latter part of the day.
Now one problem might be transportation to all these parks. If you're relying on disney you might spend at least 1 1/2 on buses alone. THEN if you drive, you still have to deal with the time issue.
In all honesty, I know it could be done. I've done it when I've had younger relatives come to visit me and they are trying to do it all. I can do it coz I know the way most tourist think and what they do and I do opposite.
One tip would be to stay out of the shops too. When its time to get your gifts/disney stuff just hit one of the major stores at disney coz the big stores carry about everything and basically the stores all offer duplicate merchandise.

 

[luvmy2sams]

It definitely can be done. DH and I hit all 4 parks in one day during our New Year's trip this year. Have fun!

 

[TSR6]

It can be done... but I would NEVER suggest it for a first time guest. If you've been to the parks before... then sure. If it is your first time, no. Pick two and actually enjoy yourself!

It's A LOT easier if you have your own transportation ( read: no waiting for buses. Even if it is only 5-10 minutes, that is 5-10 minutes in line at the next ride )

I have done it. All 4 parks and Downtown Disney in one day, hitting all the major rides, but I am a CM, so I see this stuff every day, and I won't be missing something by running like crazy here to there.

 

[CleveRocks]

Keep in mind that November park hours are not as long as during peak times, like summer. I looked up on a website (http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/nov05.cfm) the following hours for November 18, 2005: MK 8 am - 8 pm (8 am - 9 am is Extra Magic Hour); Epcot Futureworld 9 am - 7 pm, Epcot World Showcase 11 am - 9 pm; MGM 9 am - 8 pm; and AK 9 am - 5 pm. There are no evening Extra Magic Hours on that exact date, so that might limit you somewhat.

8 am to 9 pm, 13 hours. I'll assume you'll have a car. Let's just guess AT LEAST 30 minutes to get from one park to another, including getting to and from the car. That leaves 11.5 hours. Round it down to 11 hours. That's 2.75 hours per park. According to http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm, your day is rated a crowd rating of "5," meaning they predict peak waiting times of 45 - 54 minutes for headliner rides and attractions.

I'll just guess you won't be able to rely on any more than three rides/attractions per park, if you have 2.75 hours per park. You have to allow not only for wait times, but the length of time in the ride/attraction itself, as well as walking times, bathroom stops, any meals, etc.

It's tough to advise what's a "don't miss" at each park because we each have our own preferences. For instance, even though I love MK's three "mountains" (Space, Big Thunder, and Splash), I personally wouldn't leave Central Florida without riding through It's a Small World and Haunted Mansion. At MGM I'd personally concentrate on Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster, but I'd hate to miss Star Tours and Muppetvision 3-D at the complete other end of the park. At Epcot, I couldn't miss Mission:Space and Test Track, but due to my own time constraints in May on our "Epcot day" I missed the debut of Soarin' and couldn't even make it to any part of World Showcase (sigh). To me, Animal Kingdom is the easiest to do fast. I wasn't very impressed, but perhaps my expectations were too high.

Good luck, get a good night's sleep and good maps to drive between the parks.

-- Eric

 

[my3princes]

I wish you luck. Did you know that Mickey and Minnies Birthdays are November 18. It is also my Dh's and we celebrated with Mickey and Minnie in 2000. Have fun.

Deb

 

[iliketoby]

This is my advice -- you do what you want, of course. Four parks in one day on your first visit is craziness. You couldn't cover the Magic Kingdom alone in a day. Pick a park, pick two if you must, and do what you can. If you choose to do this 4-park-spree, GOOD LUCK!

That said, here are my faves:

MK -- Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress.

Epcot -- Spaceship Earth, Soarin, Ellen's Energy Adventure, El Rio del Tiempo

MGM -- Beauty and the Beast, Tower of Terror, Great Movie Ride, Voyage of the Little Mermaid

AK -- Dinosaur, It's Tough to Be a Bug, Kali River Rapids, Legend of the Lion King

 

[jbird327]

On my last trip in January, I did three parks in one day without even planning it that way. I was in the MK in the AM, went to MGM around 3 and then Epcot around 6:30. It was not too crowded and this was one day out of 7 so there was not alot of pressure to get rides done, but at MGM my friend and I covered most of the major rides.

 

[Loves Disney]

Wow - would you even be able to get on Soarin' that late in the day?

We got on Soarin' at midnight that night we waited 75 minutes. It was of course the EMH. Once we got on the ride it felt as if it was a dream (seriously I couldn't believe it was really happening) We were so extremely tired everthing felt surreal.

Also, When we did all parks in one day, we had so much fun. We didn't really walk fast, we stayed at a good pace and hit all the rides we wanted. We were down at Disney for a week then so I didn't really matter if we missed a few rides that day, we would just go back and hit the rides at a later time. But it was just like anyday where we would just spend it on one park. We had time to shop, eat, and enjoy the "magic". The best part was, we never planned on doing all four in one day. It just sort of happened. We finished at one park and said, lets go to another.

 

[M.R]

If i had to do that in one day i would go crazy! lol If i had to pick though this is my list:


MK: Haunted Mansion, People Mover(the best)
Epcot: Mission Space and Soarin'
MGM: Great Movie Ride, ToT or Star Tours
Animal Kindom: Safari

Then back to Epcot for Illuminations!!!
Then maybe in EMH anything in the open park(s) that night that I wanted to do.