How to see all four parks in one day

[Future Guy]

I wanted to do a "highlight tour" of all four Disney parks. I wanted to do all four parks in one day and do the highlights from each park. Since each park has a lot to do, I had a hard time figuring out how to plan!

What would you see if you only had a few hours to do each park?

How would you plan your own "highlight" tour?

 

[Miandrea]

I have been able to do 3 parks during the Christmas rush (MK, MGM, EPCOT) doing all of my favourite rides. I started at MK, then went to EPCOT, then went to MGM, and finished the night at MK. I did go probably the busiest time of the year. I used fastpasses and did only a few major rides (single rider). It was a stress free day because I wasn't worried about the rides, just spending time with my family!

 

[Robo]

I wanted to do a "highlight tour" of all four Disney parks. I wanted to do all four parks in one day and do the highlights from each park. Since each park has a lot to do, I had a hard time figuring out how to plan!

What would you see if you only had a few hours to do each park?

How would you plan your own "highlight" tour?

This is one of those questions that if you have to ASK, you'll likely be disapointed.
I wouldn't do it that way.
You're asking to get into a lot of trouble.
Transportation between parks and security checks/ticket readers alone could eat a couple of hours of your day.

Two parks would make sense, even adding a 3rd of a couple of late rides.
But 4 parks if you don't have lots of WDW experience is just not a good idea.

If you're down at a busy time of year, you just WON'T be able to do it.

 

[cdntourguide]

I actually did the four parks in one day about three years ago.
I Started at AK, was there first thing in the morning: Had early (8:00am) entry for breakfast at Donald's Brontosaurus: then did Dinosaur,KS, train to petting area and back (did not get off), It's a Bug's Life,, to Poccohontas, Lion King . Had ice cream on way out. Left park by 12:30

took bus to MGM (lost 15minutes having to stop at water park) arrived just after 1pm.
At MGM: Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Muppets 3D, Star Tours, TNT, RRC then out of the park. Lunch was a hot dog I bought from a cart on way through park.

took boat over to Epcot , arrived 5pm
Walked through international gate straight to Test Track, the World of Energy, SpaceShip Earth, then left for MK.

to Monorail to TCC, monrail to MK: arrived at gate 7:30pm
Spent the rest of the EMH day at MK. Had Dinner at Cosmic Rays, Left just around midnight.

I saved some time as I had an annual passport and thus did not have to wait to get my hand stamped every time I left a park. Plus I was not carrying anythijng with me, thus did not have to have the security check.

Would I ever do it again. No, it was very tiring and very, very rushed. Plus there are added attractions at both AK and EPCOT which would add at one additonal hours at each of these parks.

I did really enjoy that day: there was no time to actually relax and enjoy what was going on around me.

 

[Jobie]

You could always fly over the parks in an airplane. You'll be able to see all four that way

 

[transitauthority]

We always do this on our last day of vacation and as a "goodbye" to all the parks until we visit the next year.

We start at Animal Kingdom. I would experience Expedtion Everest (although this wasnt open last year when we went, we will add it to our plans this year), Kilimanjaro safari, and Dinosaur.

Bus to MGM.

Ride Tower of Terror, Rock n roller Coaster, and Great Movie Ride

(We also eat lunch at MGM, usually waiting for a fast pass time to come around).

Then we bus to Magic Kingdom and ride Splash Mountain,Big Thunder, Space Mountain, and Pirates. (We also ride Tomorrowland Transit Authority...but that is a must do for us, not everyone).

We then monorail to Epcot and ride Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Soarin and Maelstrom. We then eat dinner as Epcot gets ready to close.

Keep in mind we go during off season, as there is no way you could do it when it is busy.

You also could get more in if one of the parks had magic hours that night. For example, if Magic Kingdom closed late that night you could do Animal Kingdom, Bus to MGM, boat ride to Epcot, then monorail to Magic Kingdom.

Its a tiring day, but its become a tradition for us to this at the end of our Vacation.

 

[CanadianGuy]

You could always fly over the parks in an airplane. You'll be able to see all four that way

You stole my idea for a post! HAHAHAH



Seriously .. a day like you have in mind.. sounds wonderful in theory.. in practice it would be a nightmare and you wouldn't see much of anything.

My suggestion? Keep it to two parks.. and enjoy yourself. Anything else is just inviting stress.

 

[Disney Debbie]

We've done it on a day that the MK had an "E" night (EMH now) We started at AK - Dinosaur, Safari, Bugs life, went to Epcot and did Honey I Shrunk the Audience,Imagination and Test Track then on to MGM by 1:00 and did all that we wanted to do - it's tied for MK as our favorite park - and then E night at MK. Slept until 10:30 the next day! Of course now I'd have to add Everest at AK so I'd probably skip the Safari. I'd also have to add Soarin to Epcot now.

 

[DrTomorrow]

[...]Keep in mind we go during off season, as there is no way you could do it when it is busy.[...]

True, but the busy seasons often do have significantly extended hours (MK closes at midnight, not 7PM). Starting at a EMH-AM park and ending with a EMH-PM park would add four hours to your day....

 

[kaytieeldr]

True - but that assumes the OP is staying onsite and is eligible for EMH.

As for the OP's plan... first he'd have to choose a specific day that maximizes EMH (again, if he's staying onsite), then decide which attractions are important to HIM. Then maybe we can help him. "My" highlights, or anybody else's here, may vary greatly from what he'd enjoy - so listing my 'plan' wouldn't help him in the least.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

My advice is: Don't do it. Don't try to hit four parks in one day. You lose so much time traveling from park to park.

That said, Epcot's Future World, if you get a FP for Soarin' and use the single rider lines on Test Track and Mission Space, can be done pretty quickly. MGM isn't too bad if you stick to a few highlights and optimize your FPs.

Magic Kingdom is slower, just cause there's so much to do there.

Animal Kingdom is the slowest. There's so much walking. IMHO, skip the Safari ride. You can see animals at the zoo, and it'll save you time.

If you are hell-bent on your 4 Parks Plan, plan it out really well, and leave enough time to get around. Especially for MK. It takes forever to get in and out of there!

Good Luck!!

 

[mickeymedic]

My husband thought I was crazy when we did 4 parks in 3 days. After that, we decided we would NEVER do that again. We were sooooo tired. So, 4 parks in 1 day just sounds like lunacy. I guess it is a matter of what you want to get out of your day. If you have never been to the parks before, choose one or two and enjoy. Its hard to recommend highlights...every ride and attraction is somebody's favorite.

 

[DOOM1001]

I've done 4 parks in one day before,it's not something I would even attempt unless it's a slow time of year, for example you hop to your third park and can't really do anything cause every wait is 30 minutes or longer, if it's the second week of January and every line is 10 minutes then go for it!!

 

[jimmytammy]

Go really fast! No, faster than that!

 

[eeyoregirl]

I don't have any suggestions, but just thinking about visiting 4 parks in one day is exhausting. Good luck and enjoy your highlights tour.

 

[SnwflkCts]

I'm exhausted just reading about how some people did four parks in one day! Good luck ... I don't think I EVER want to do this!!