4 Parks, 1 Day - Who's done it?

[mshanson3121]

HOW did you do it? Did you have kids with you? Which park did you use FP+ for?

For us, the "must dos" would be. We would have DAS to help.

AK - Kali Rapids, Safari, Na'Vi
EP - Soarin', Nemo & The Seas
HS - walk through Galaxy's Edge, meet Sorcerer Mickey, Slinky Dog and TSMM
MK - 7D, Peter Pan, Splash, Pooh

Would this even remotely be possible using the free Disney transportation?

 

[SamFaniam]

The Parkeology site actually has a competition about this exact thing and people discuss their strategies for not just hitting all 4, but doing all the rides. http://www.parkeology.com/parkeology-challenge-results

Kenny the Pirate and his daughter completed it and here is an article about their achievement - https://www.kennythepirate.com/2017...a-single-day-with-parkeology-wdw47-challenge/

 

[gatorlisa]

We have done it a couple of times. No kids. Two adults. Used Disney transportation exclusively.

We do AK first, since it's the most off on it's own, taking the bus from resort. Then bus to HS, then boat to Epcot, finally monorail to MK. We haven't done this since the Skyliner opened, but I think we still would do things this way. MK is usually open the latest, so we like to end there. When we have done it, we have done our pre-booked fastpasses at HS and then as soon as we tap into our last FP there, start looking to see what we can get at the next park.

Trying to accomplish SDD, TSMM, 7DMT, and PP on a 4 parks one day day may prove pretty challenging though. Without FPs, those all have some pretty long wait times, and they are also difficult to get as a same-day FP (especially SDD and 7D). I'm sure it's not impossible, but it might prove to be a challenge.

Here's what we have done on our previous 4 parks 1 day days:
2017
AK - Dinosaur, EE, meet Donald Duck, photo with Tree of Life
HS - ToT, TSM, meet Donald Duck, photo with ToT
Epcot - FEA, GFT, Soarin', SSE, meet Donald Duck, photo with the ball
MK - Tiki Room, PotC, WDWRR, Philharmagic, Carousel, HM(x2), Magic Carpets, Buzz Space Ranger Spin, meet Donald Duck, photo with the castle

2018
AK - Navi, Dinosaur, meet Minnie & Mickey, photo with Tree of Life
HS - SDD, ToT(x3), meet Minnie & Mickey, photo with ToT
Epcot - France movie, Canada movie, Soarin', Living with the Land, SSE, meet Minnie & Mickey, photo with the ball
MK - HM, Small World, Splash, PotC, Buzz Space Ranger Spin, meet Mickey (we messed up the timing and missed the opportunity to get Minnie here), photo with the castle

 

[etail]

While it may be possible on a quiet day it gets tricky with those headliners. We did headliners at rope drop in AK followed by HS, then MK and closing at Epcot with evening EMH. We got lucky with wait times but you can only do FP's at one park so headliners at a rope drop, a good cluster of FP's at a later park but that leaves two that will require catch-as-catch can approaches to rides which may not line up with those goals easily. To get to Soarin' we essentially got in line before the end of of EMH leaving us with 4 parks in about 14 hours during low crowd January. And we generally used Disney Lyft between parks unless a bus was right there. So a fun activity but you may need to remain loose about those headliners.

 

[lorenae]

I’ve done it alone but I didn’t get to ride Haunted Mansion or Space Mountain (two of my favorites). Sometimes the line for Pooh is really long and it might be tough for those MK rides.

 

[mshanson3121]

We have done it a couple of times. No kids. Two adults. Used Disney transportation exclusively.

We do AK first, since it's the most off on it's own, taking the bus from resort. Then bus to HS, then boat to Epcot, finally monorail to MK. We haven't done this since the Skyliner opened, but I think we still would do things this way. MK is usually open the latest, so we like to end there. When we have done it, we have done our pre-booked fastpasses at HS and then as soon as we tap into our last FP there, start looking to see what we can get at the next park.

Trying to accomplish SDD, TSMM, 7DMT, and PP on a 4 parks one day day may prove pretty challenging though. Without FPs, those all have some pretty long wait times, and they are also difficult to get as a same-day FP (especially SDD and 7D). I'm sure it's not impossible, but it might prove to be a challenge.

We have the DAS, so I'm thinking that should help as we can get a return time and then go ride something else.

I was thinking of rope dropping MK, then monorail to EP, then to AK then HS as they want to see the fireworks. But maybe we'd have to skip AK. I wish we could do an Early Morning Magic at MK to help out but it's not available the day we're there.

 

[Naomeri]

I’m going to give it a try solo in 2 weeks. I’ve got a PPO at BOG, to be followed by a quick RD at SDMT, then onto the monorail to Epcot for a FP+ for FEA (also have 2 throwaway FP+ in the morning), followed by lunch. Then I’ll hop to DHS and ride something, whatever I can snag a same-day FP for, then hop to AK for whatever is available, then back to ASMo for a fast shower/change before my HEA dessert party, with evening EMH at MK. This is on my last full day before departure, so I’ll have seen everything at all the parks already, and I’m just doing it to see if I can do it. Looking at it on my scheduling spreadsheet, it looks like it’ll work out, but if it doesn’t, I won’t be sad.

 

[disneygirlsng]

I did this last year on a solo trip. Got 19 FPs that day.
Started the day at HS and did RnR 3 times, ToT 3 times, then Star Tours (this was before TSL opened and when TSM only had one track going so I skipped that).
Then walked to Epcot where i had my only prebooked FP, Soarin. Did a couple small rides (SE with a FP, LwtL) and did TT single rider.
Right after I tapped into Soarin I got a FP for Navi at AK. Went and did that, then got an immediate FP for FOP. Then I got a few more for Everest x2, Safari, and Dinosaur.
Got a FP for SDMT on the way to MK. Can't remember all the FPs I got at MK, but it was mostly headliners (Space, BTMR, Splash, Buzz, Peter Pan, Pirates, JC, HM). There were a few repeats in there plus some smaller rides like Little Mermaid and Small World.
Ended the night watching HEA. It was an exhausting but amazing day!

 

[Remy is Up]

Just for kicks, doing it in a couple of weeks because family is in town and we are doing MK AH on a Monday. So our goal:
Epcot: Soarin, TT, FEA
Studios-SDD, RNRC, TSM, ToT, and RoTR
AK- Safari, FoP, EE, Dinosaur
MK- Obviously anything and everything since we have after hours.

 

[Remy is Up]

We have the DAS, so I'm thinking that should help as we can get a return time and then go ride something else.

I was thinking of rope dropping MK, then monorail to EP, then to AK then HS as they want to see the fireworks. But maybe we'd have to skip AK. I wish we could do an Early Morning Magic at MK to help out but it's not available the day we're there.

We will use FP and DAS exclusively after we RD at Studios. I mapped it out and it is doable and still would be even without After Hours, but, having that gives us the luxury of having dinner at the Wave after the first 3 parks are done.

 

[Remy is Up]

While it may be possible on a quiet day it gets tricky with those headliners. We did headliners at rope drop in AK followed by HS, then MK and closing at Epcot with evening EMH. We got lucky with wait times but you can only do FP's at one park so headliners at a rope drop, a good cluster of FP's at a later park but that leaves two that will require catch-as-catch can approaches to rides which may not line up with those goals easily. To get to Soarin' we essentially got in line before the end of of EMH leaving us with 4 parks in about 14 hours during low crowd January. And we generally used Disney Lyft between parks unless a bus was right there. So a fun activity but you may need to remain loose about those headliners.

We got lucky with wait times but you can only do FP's at one park so headliners at a rope drop, a good cluster of FP's at a later park but that leaves two that will require catch-as-catch can approaches to rides which may not line up with those goals easily

I dont get this. You can do FPs at multiple parks all day. We do it all the time. We have used 15+ FPs in one day. You can pull FPs all day long, just one at a time after the first 3, but, it is easy to get the headliners if you are patient and know when to search for what.

 

[sbbobe]

My wife and I have done it-
EPCOT-Holiday Kitchens for early lunch & Soaring
walked to
HS-Tower of Terror
bus to
AK-Exhibition Everest & Starbucks Frappe
bus to
Disney Springs
Christmas Tree Trail & dinner at Blaze Pizza
bus to
MK-Fireworks & Big Thunder

 

[MaC410]

My wife and I did it last year for my birthday. We did the parks in a specific order to make using Disney transportation very easy.

We took the bus to Animal Kingdom early in the morning. Then we took the bus from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios. After that we took the boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot. Finally we took the Monorail from Epcot to Magic Kingdom.

 

[etail]

We got lucky with wait times but you can only do FP's at one park so headliners at a rope drop, a good cluster of FP's at a later park but that leaves two that will require catch-as-catch can approaches to rides which may not line up with those goals easily

I dont get this. You can do FPs at multiple parks all day. We do it all the time. We have used 15+ FPs in one day. You can pull FPs all day long, just one at a time after the first 3, but, it is easy to get the headliners if you are patient and know when to search for what.

Remy, all cool, I see where I wasn't clear. You can only pre-book the FP's at one park. Then you need to use or drop them before booking the next at any park. If it quiet enough you can indeed book alot but on the day you plan for the 4 parks in 1 day effort you may encounter unexpected crowds or a lack of FP's. It all may depend upon the date of the activity. I find that after more and more efforts by Disney to balance their crowds with incentives and hours, the number of really low attendance days have gone down significantly.

On a side note we also did single rider on that same day to check off some of theadliners or top tier rides. That helped as well.

 

[InBassAngler]

Yes, my wife and I did, with kids and grandparents (kids/grandparents) only made 3. We were staying at BWV in July. We started at AK for an early safari ride (kids really wanted to do it “one more time”). We had FP’s at MK and an early dinner reservation at Be Our Guest. Everyone wanted to see the Epcot fireworks, so we took the monorail to Epcot and caught the show. HS was having magic hours until 1am so while the kids went back to the room, my wife and I headed there via boat and got to play around in Toy Story land and ride slinky dog and play Toy Story Mania. Needless to say we were exhausted but would do it again.

 

[Remy is Up]

Remy, all cool, I see where I wasn't clear. You can only pre-book the FP's at one park. Then you need to use or drop them before booking the next at any park. If it quiet enough you can indeed book alot but on the day you plan for the 4 parks in 1 day effort you may encounter unexpected crowds or a lack of FP's. It all may depend upon the date of the activity. I find that after more and more efforts by Disney to balance their crowds with incentives and hours, the number of really low attendance days have gone down significantly.

On a side note we also did single rider on that same day to check off some of theadliners or top tier rides. That helped as well.

No worries. We don't worry about crowd levels. Being that we go so often, refresh is second nature and we do it regularly. I cant think of a time we haven't gotten what we wanted day of, including christmas day and new years. So if I have it planned properly, and my wife believes I do, our goal is every eride attraction in all 4 parks in one day. If we toss some other in great but I dont consider things like the main street vehicles a ride so while 48 was interesting for the guy and his daughter, I'd rather just hit every eride as the challenge. I'm sure if we wanted to do a day where we hit every possible attraction in a day we would. And we may try it one day just to do it. But this bnb is eride day.

 

[mshanson3121]

No worries. We don't worry about crowd levels. Being that we go so often, refresh is second nature and we do it regularly. I cant think of a time we haven't gotten what we wanted day of, including christmas day and new years. So if I have it planned properly, and my wife believes I do, our goal is every eride attraction in all 4 parks in one day. If we toss some other in great but I dont consider things like the main street vehicles a ride so while 48 was interesting for the guy and his daughter, I'd rather just hit every eride as the challenge. I'm sure if we wanted to do a day where we hit every possible attraction in a day we would. And we may try it one day just to do it. But this bnb is eride day.

What is the refresh I keep hearing about?

 

[vital]

My son and I did it when he was around 12 and the old FP system was in place. We bought a stuffed Mickey that represented every major ride we rode in the park. Was a memorable day!

AK-Everest
HS-RNR, TOT
Epcot-TT, Spaceship Earth
MK-Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Buzz, BTMRR (we ended the day here and it was open until 2200)

 

[Thecouch]

What is the refresh I keep hearing about?

refresh is what you do in the app to get the good rides . on the day after you have used your booked fastpass and you look for a new fastpass it might only show 2 rides and a few times for each . push refresh or change the time your are looking for by 30min and you might get 2 or 3 other rides . do that again and you might get every ride in MK . refresh again and it might be 2 or 3 rides again . every few seconds the fastpass options changed in the park . its best doing while standing around not enjoying the park like when some is having a bathroom break or your in the line for food or another ride

 

[montreid]

As I parent of a child who uses and benefits from the graces of DAS - I just have to wonder....