OMG I’m so excited!!! As I am escorting my grandmother on a flight to visit her sister in Jacksonville this weekend, I had the crazy idea to take a day trip down and hit all 4 parks, something I would never do vacationing with my 5 and 8 year old princesses. Amazingly, DH said go for it! Here’s the plan:
Park at TTC
-Enjoy Main St and RD Space (Do they open the Hub at 7:15 on an 8am reg open day?)
-Walk to BLT and grab bus to AK
-Navi (hopefully around 30min wait since EMH morning), FOL, single rider EE
-Bus to whichever EP resort comes first and walk to HS
-FPs for TSM, TT, and Frozen Sing-a-Long
-Boat to EP
-FOOD in WS and a couple shows
-Standby for Soarin’, maybe SE if time
-Monorail back to MK for HEA
-Drink a huge coffee before heading home!
What do you think?! At least one headliner and a show at each park plus a snack or meal. Yes, I know I’ll be exhausted, but that’s kinda the point of taking advantage of the random opportunity. I would have preferred to RD either HS or AK, but both have EMH so this is what I thought would work. The only FP available for Navi was around 9pm and I really want to finish with HEA. I welcome your opinions and tips!!!
I have tried to track this since someone asked last year if Main Street always opens an hour before park opening. In park reports on chat have said no.
I am going to try something similar in February, would love to hear how this works out for you. Just curious, why are you not using any park to park busses? I think it would be quicker to take a bus than go to EP resort then walk to HS.
Love the idea of a 4 park day. Like @galuchies_463555 mentioned, there are park-to-park buses that would save you lots of time; no reason to walk to a resort to catch a bus.
I have to admit I haven’t payed much attention to this since our next family trip we are not hopping. Last I heard the park-to-park express buses were an additional fee. Are they now a standard park of the transportation system? I would definitely take advantage. Any links for more info?
Def plan to try for a same day Soarin FP! There was a lot of availability when I was looking to book my three, so I’m hopeful. Then hope I can snag something else for MK before HEA. Just the single day park hopper ticket was a big enough splurge, so only using free transportation once I’m there! Can’t wait to try Minnie Vans for our family trip in December!
There is direct transport ion to each park, from a park. MK to EP you take the monorail (change at TTC) HS to MK/AK you take a bus (these buses are outside the gate like resort buses) HS to EP you can walk or take the boat. AK to all parks: direct park buses.
Awesome! Thank you! Not sure how I missed these. So do you think it would be quicker to walk to BLT for the AK bus or hop on the monorail and catch the bus at the TTC?
There will be an AK bus at one of the normal MK bus stops. No need to go to TTC or BLT. We caught the AK bus last Thursday and had no issues. Just check the board to see what stop it is at when you approach.
And just to confirm the Epcot to HS boats are all fully running now - we rode them a lot last week…
Sorry I never got around to writing my report for the day, but everything went really well! The only glitch I hit was my constantly bad timing of walking up to my bus/ferry as it was pulling away. I was back in MK by 4pm, which was way earlier than necessary, so my biggest suggestion would be to take your time!
And, stay onsite! The lodging wasn’t an option for my adventure, but driving two hours home at 10pm after a 4am start was not fun or probably even all that safe. My poor husband kept me awake by talking to me on the phone the whole way!
It was a great challenge that I am glad I did, but would actually recommend having another adult friend to join you. While staking out my spot for HEA I wanted nothing more than an iced coffee, but couldn’t give up my spot! I almost considered asking the random family next to me to hold my spot!
If you decide to do it, prioritize hitting WS around 11. That probably would be what I would have most enjoyed doing by myself, but being the last park I hit by around 2:30pm, I was too tired and hot. Hope you get the chance to try it!
Ha, isn’t that always the way. When you are in a hurry you never seem to get the timing right for the busses. So glad it worked out for you and I cant believe you actually drove to and from. I wish I could get someone as crazy as me to join but it looks like I will definitely being doing it solo in February. I am staying at Boardwalk so I was thinking H/S-A/K-M/K then finishing in Epcot.