Four parks in one day

Our first full day of our trip is August 15th (which is also my 42nd birthday :grinning:). I think weā€™re going to alter our plans and try to do 4 parks in one day. Weā€™ve never done it before and figure weā€™ll be most rested for it on day one. Going to plan to do just our faves at each park. Start at HS, then MK, AK and end at Epcot. Epcot has extra magic hours that day so it will be crowded but gives us some extra time in the day too. Any tips from those who have tackled this?

Sounds like fun! Have you been to WDW many times before? I was thinking about trying it on my birthday in Feb (completely hypothetical trip at this point) but it would only be our 2nd trip, so I finally decided that I would end up frustrated by the travel time. I can totally see how it would be fun though!

This will be our 3rd trip in 18 months and weā€™ll be there for a full week as this will be our first day. I think it would be a fun way to start the week. At each park we can get excited about the other things weā€™ll see and do when we come back later in the week. I just donā€™t want to wear us out on day 1. I have made our FPP for HS that morning. Weā€™ll see.

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I have gone to 3of the 4 parks in one day. We could have fit in the 4th park. It is fun to do. Our children are older though.

We did this once. It was a blast. We did:
1- Rope drop at HS (we arrived 60 minutes prior to park open, in order to be first online for TSMM) our tour: TSMM, RnR, ToT
2- EP: Soarin, Mission Space & Maelstrom (TT was closed for refurb). Took lunch break in Norway
3 - AK: Safari, Dinosaur, Tough to be a bug
4 - afternoon break at Kidani + dinner at Sanaa
5 - MK: Space, Splash + BTMRR
We should add this was pre FPP+ and in late August with manageable crowds. Good luck with your plan.

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Iā€™m trying samething in Aug ā€¦had a few people give me their game plan on this treadā€¦Hope it helps and goodLuck

Itā€™s just me, DH and DS11. I set our FPPā€™s for HS right after rope drop. TOT, RRC and TSMM I think. Then weā€™ve got our faves at the other parks picked but will adjust as needed based on wait times. We canā€™t make a fourth FPP at another park after using the ones at HS, can we?

I did it last month. Did AK, HS, EP then MK.
I was torn that day between doing all 4 parks or really exploring AK, so I spent several hours there and rode Dino, EE 2x, ks, did conservation station, pw.
It was 2 before I finally made it to HS on a 9 crowd day after an long and bad choice stop at DTD. Got a pb&j shake and then got in single rider for RnR. Finally lost patience and left and watched citizens of Hollywood and left. I shoilf have used my FPP for HS, but dh was meeting me after his conference and I thought it was only fair to save them for him.
I walked to BW and took a nap until dh was finished and then to EP for Beirgarten. He had zero desire to ride anything, so I didnā€™t. Eating is an attraction at Epcot, right?
Monorail to MK, which was open until 1 am. Rode all 3 mountains with FPP and a few more. Got a dole whip!!!
I am going to have to have a do-over some day and ride something at each park. I had lovely touring plans at each park, but my unplanned DTD stop took 3 hours (only bad bus experience that week, 45 minutes at akl to get to DTD and 25 at ss to HS) and threw everything off.
Good luck! It is fun.

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If you are there for rope drop, I would make your FPP for the next park. You may wait a little longer at HS, but it will be worth it to avoid any lines at AK and not risk having only later FPP available

We did HS first (and had our FPP+ there too). Rode TSMM 3 times, RNRC and ST. Ate a Red Velvet Cupcake at Starring Rolls. AK next, rode EE and Primeval Whirlā€¦ Had popcorn and a jalepeno pretzel. Off to MK, rode BTMRR and POTC, ate a Mickey Ice Cream Bar. Finished off at EPā€¦ Only made it as far as Spaceship Earth and Club Cool (Pinapple Fanta! Yum!). Had a wonderful day! Our only regret was that we didnā€™t go on back and have dinner in WS.

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We accomplished 4 parks in 1 day on the day we arrived (yes we are hard core, lol). Checked in at Beach Club and then took the bus to AK for a stop at the Dawa Bar and Dinosaur. Bussed it over to DHS for snacks and Osborne Lights. Walked over to Epcot, where we noshed on some Food and Wine deliciousness and took a spin on Soarinā€™. Closed out Epcot and hopped the monorail to MK, where there were Dole Whips and a plethora of rides, and closed the park at 2am (on EMH) by taking selfies with Snow White as her last guests.

Best. Day. Ever!!!

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I know your planned day has passed, dry, but 4 parks in 1 day is my passion. So Iā€™m hoping my additional help willā€¦ help someone else along the way.

Iā€™m a California native, lived and worked at Disneyland but had never the opportunity to go to WDW. Last April, 2013, I had a biz trip in Orlando. I had one day off and a parkhopper. With no foreseeable future plans to be back, I wanted to see all 4 parks ā€œmeaningfullyā€ and as a newbie, that meant not missing much of anything. Of high importance to me was to see all the bigs that are in DLR to compare, to see all those that are no longer in DLR (for nostalgiaā€™s sake), and to see those amazing things that only exist in WDW - so pretty much everything.

Sound impossible?

Nope. Thanks to TP, it worked like a dream. 13.2 miles of walking and 14 hours later, I finished my goal and even got to ride Jungle Cruise (my fav) one more time before closing.

A big part of my success was navigating the transportation system. Weā€™ve got nothing like that in Anaheim so it was totally new to me. I played out every transportation scenario with the transportation wizard (http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.VCXC_CldWn5) and found that the shortest amount of travel between 4 parks in 1 day (while still saving MK for last to take advantage of the most meaningful night time stuff - MSEP, fireworks) is found in AK to EP to HS to MK.

And then I stuck to my plan like a drill sgt. When BTMRR went down, I optimized again and followed the plan.

It was amazing.

One thing to note is that I think another factor was that I was alone. I think I could maybe do it again with a second person, but he/she would have to be just as passionate and serious about hitting the important attractions so as to minimize rests and potty breaks.

I watched as several determined groups of younger people than myself charged forward toward a goal, leaving me behind with my steady pace, got distracted and got slowed down by their own mass and community spirit. I always got to the goals before them.

Sorry for the long testimony, but I know it can be done meaningfully and well and I hope those 2 tips help.

Iā€™m taking my family for the first time in 2015, this time for 4 parks in 5 days, so Iā€™m looking forward to seeing it all a little more meaningfully.

Thank you Touring Plans. You were a tremendous help in my dream come true.

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I was also alone on my 4 parks 1 day until after 5 pm. Dh really slowed me down at that point. I didnā€™t even get my final icon photo due to him. Wise advice.