Anyone tried 3 park hopping?

[Shasta]

We have only one day to go to Disney next month (November). We want to get as much as possible out of the trip. We want to go to MK, AK and MGM.

Does anyone have information about length of time the shuttle bus takes between parks?

Also, has anyone done this? Are we crazy for trying it? We, of course don't want to spend 305 of the day in transit.

Thank you very much!

 

[MonkeyPants]

if you want the most out of the trip, then just pick a single park. There are no buses that go from park to park, you would need to go to a hotel and then catch another bus to the next park and so on. Can 3 parks be done in 1 day? Yes, I have done it. It was during a 2 week trip and it was only to see a certain 1 or 2 attractions in each park.

 

[mattsdragon]

I think you may be crazy. Sorry, but you should decide what is least important of the 3 and scrap it. If you have young kids, would they rather go to FantasyLand or Disney Live on Stage. If it's just adults, then is the Safari ride as high a priority as ToT and BTMRR?

 

[cleo]

There are busses that go park to park now.

However, I wouldn't suggest doing 3 parks in one day. You simply won't get value out of your time and you'll spend a lot of time in transit. Imagine walking from Splash Mountain to the front of MK (15 minutes), waiting for a bus (5-10 minutes average), taking the bus to AK (apx. 25-30 minutes), walking into AK and reaching your first attraction (apx. 10-15 minutes), then doing it all over again to reach MGM. Not only is it time consuming, it's tiring. We've done it, but only when we were looking for specific things, not riding the attractions.

If you only want to see one or two attractions at each park, it might be worthwhile. Otherwise, I'd definitely choose one park (two at the most!) and have something to look forward to next time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Actually, there ARE buses between AK and MGM; to get from either of those parks to MK, take the bus to the Contemporary and walk to MK (the bus from either park to MK actually drops you at the TTC, from where you'd have to take the monorail).
What are the park hours the day you're going? Are you staying onsite, aka can you take advantage of EMH? It may be possible to hit the highlights of the three parks in one day.

 

[Shasta]

NO BUSES BETWEEN PARKS! Wow, that does change things. I had no idea. Under those circumstances, I wouldn't try it. It was just that we have had three short (one day) trips like this in the last year and always went to MK for her sake. I was hopping to add in something for my wife and I at other parks.

Thanks!

EDITED...by the time I posted, other posts had been made. I will try and add one park (Animal Kingdom) to the mix.

 

[JenniferW]

Sorry, but with those 3 much of your time would be in the shuttle, they are far apart. If you could limit it to 2 it is doable. Also, if it were parks that were close by it would be easier like Epcot-MGM or MK-Epcot. AK is a ways away. If you were going to drive your own car and had some serious determination and understood you weren't going to see a whole lot, but just a few things here would be my plan...

Go to MK first thing when it opens and spend until noon or so (this means no shows and only some rides), then drive to AK (get Fastpass for the Safari ride and then ride anything that doens't look too busy), spend a few hours there and then drive to MGM, fastpasses are likely to be long gone by then so you could see Fantasmic and just wander around.

Since so much time is wasted in transit, I would limit it to 1 or 2 but it's just my 2 cents.

Jenn

 

[philaround]

We tried this last May. Started in the MK early in the morning then took the monorail to TTC and transferred to the Epcot monorail. We took a slow stroll through Future World and around the right side of World Showcase to the International gate and took the boat to MGM. Both DW & I fell apart around 5PM. We have decided that we will never try to do 3 parks in one day again.

 

[Shasta]

We are staying at ASMO so we will make AK the first stop. Then take the bus on to MK for the afternoon. If we could get the safari, Dino and It's tough to be a bug, we would be happy.

Do ya'll think we could get those three in prior to 12:00? We have a 1:00 lunch at MK.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We do it all the time. You just have to plan it out. Like in Nov, AK is only open during daylight hours, so don't plan on that for the evening.

Just see what you want to do, plan a way to accomplish this the best way and go from there.

We don't use the buses, we usually drive between the parks when we do this. And we only stay a few hours at each.

It's real easy to do a EMH park, hit a water park for an hour or two, hit DQ (again for just an hour or two), then another park and another park if you non-stop it (and have a car).

 

[lorilori]

Since you are staying onsite, I think it's possible if your day has either an early entry park or the extra hours at night. That's really the only way with our 3 kids we've been able to park hop without all falling over, either going in early or staying extra time at night. But it's so much fun trying!

 

[ufgator]

We've done 3 parks a day many times. We go a lot and sometimes we just want certain things at certain parks. Also, if we don't get to do everything that we want, we don't worry about it because we'll be back. We don't have kids yet so that might make a difference.

I think you could get all of those 3 things in by noon at AK. Like lorilori said, it's fun trying! We usually go to MK in the mornings because it gets crowded by the afternoon so going there in the afternoon might slow you up. Just be prepared that you might not get to everything you want. Good luck!

 

[goofie4goofy]

We do 3 parks in one day at least once during a 6 day stay. We don't have kids though, which makes a big difference. We start the day at MGM and have lunch there, then take the boat to EPCOT go on rides and have some drinks, then go back to our room to change (the GF) via monorail, then off to the MK. We do walk fast and know where we are going It is definately do-able. We have never been to AK, so I cannot coment on your park combo. But 3 parks are possible in 1 day!

We always get park hopper tix, and we go to the MK every day. It is our favorite park. Being on the monorail helps a lot espically at the GF. The MK is the first stop on the monorail and the first stop back by resort boat...how can you not go everyday

 

[singingpixie]

We're tentatively planning to do three parks on our last "greatest hits" departure day in January. It should be an EMH in MGM that morning, so (guessing on what our "greatest hits" will be) we'd probably do ToT and RnRC during EMH, then take the bus to the contemporary and walk to MK, do a few rides there, and then if we have time finish the day relaxing in WS in epcot. If our favorites are other than expected, this might change. We'll plan to do all CS that day so we're not tied down. We have a late (845PM) flight out so this should be a good way for two fast-moving twenty-somethings to get a last taste of disney this trip.

 

[MonkeyPants]

when did they start doing park to park buses? they didnt have them when I was there in june.

 

[KSgirl]

My husband and I actually did 4 parks in one day....but that was in the summer, with longer hours. We were exhausted at the end of the day, but had a blast! Here's how we did it (and we drove our own car, except where noted):

Early breakfast @ MK, Crystal Palace (before park opened) ~ rode Peter Pan, BTMR, Splash, POTC, Space Mountain, TTA
Rode the monorail to Epcot ~ visited Ice Station Cool, Figment, Mission Space, ate at Garden Grill for a 1:00 lunch, Living with the land
Rode the monorail back to TTC ~ drove to resort for a short swim (it was very hot that day)
On to AK ~ FOTLK, ITTBAB
Then to MGM ~ Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster

We only hit some of our favorites. You can get so much more done at MK if you go early in the morning. Have fun, whatever you decide to do....that's the bottom line, isn't it???

 

[TnTsParty]

when did they start doing park to park buses? they didnt have them when I was there in june.

They had park to park buses in December when I was there - I know at least between Epcot and MGM. I am not sure about MK but I am pretty sure AK has the park to park buses as well.

To the OP I think you should be able to do those 3 things at AK before noon especially if its an EMH morning.

 

[YepsenCP]

I once did all four parks in one day while I was on the College Program...
Just make sure you pick 2-3 things you want to do at each and stick to that, do not stray otherwise you will not be able to do it all... We had a lot of fun, but it was very very tiring by the end of the day...

Have fun!

 

[MonkeyPants]

hmm I never saw them, and the official guide still claims no buses between parks. Park to park buses will be very cool

 

[NerdDad]

We have only one day to go to Disney next month (November). We want to get as much as possible out of the trip. We want to go to MK, AK and MGM.

Does anyone have information about length of time the shuttle bus takes between parks?

Also, has anyone done this? Are we crazy for trying it? We, of course don't want to spend 305 of the day in transit.

We did three parks (see our trip report for more details). We didn't MEAN to. Being frustrated with the bus travel, I had announced my plan that day of only using the MGM/Epcot boat (we stayed at BWI). We planned on hitting MGM with the younger girls and hitting Playhouse Disney and Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and planned on meeting up with MiL, SiL, and kids and heading to dinner at Epcot.

The morning at MGM went well, but MiL called later from the bus to MK, thinking we were there (I guess she thought Voyage of the Little Mermaid was in MK). So we hopped on a bus to MK to meet her, did lunch and a quick/brisk tour of Frontier Land, and then zipped to BWI and to epcot via the boat. We BARELY made our dinner reservations at Akershus at Norway in Epcot.

I think you can do it with some planning and regimented timekeeping, but AK makes your plans difficult, as you can't avoid getting on a bus (IME, the boats and monorails are more reliable/less headache). Try to avoid having reservations, as one missed bus can throw you off as well.