Disney ParksPlanningTips

The Secret to Four Parks in One Day Challenge at Disney

If you want a fun challenge for your upcoming Walt Disney World vacation, consider the four Parks in a one-day challenge. In this challenge, Guests visit all four of the main Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and EPCOT) in one day.

What makes this challenge fun is not only do you get to see all four of the outstanding Disney Parks in one day, but you can make this challenge whatever you want it to be. You can determine what you want to do during your challenge in the four Disney Parks.

One fun idea is to take a picture before each Park icon. Ride at least one in each Park or have a unique snack in each of the four Parks. Whatever you choose to do during the challenge, ensure you have fun with it along the way.

We will provide some secrets to help you achieve this goal during your next trip. Even though it is a lot of fun, make sure you put some planning into it as well. You don’t want to miss out because you didn’t consider your plan.

Let’s jump into this challenge and how you can achieve it during your next trip.

Toy Story Land, Disney's Hollywood Studios
Credit: V Mills

Where to Start

The first decision you need to make is where to start your challenge. Typically when doing a four Park challenge in the past, we recommend starting with the Park that opens the earliest. This usually is Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Disney’s Animal Kingdom opens to Resort Guests between 7:00 and 7:30 a.m.

Although this could still be a good starting point, with limitations on Park Hopping, we might suggest a different option. Since you aren’t able to Park Hop until 2:00 p.m., we recommend starting your day at a Park such as Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which provides a lot to do.

Since you will spend your morning at this Park, you want to make sure it is a Park that has a lot on your must-do list. If you love adventure, then being at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a great first Park. Here you can enjoy the thrills of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

As you choose your first Park, maximize those hours before Park Hopping is available.

Disney Genie+
Credit: Disney

Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes

Considering your goal for this challenge, consider purchasing Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes for the day. By using these features, you can do more in the four Parks.

Guests can purchase two Individual Lightning Lanes per day. Depending on what you want to experience, this is a great way to try out top rides such as Tron Lightcyle Run in Magic Kingdom or Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. Remember, these two rides can only be experienced by purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane or joining a virtual queue. Because you can’t control your virtual queue return time, using Individual Lightning Lanes, where you can select your return window, will be your best option.

We recommend using Genie+ on this challenge day if experiencing a ride in each Park is part of your goal. Once you have purchased Genie+, you can book return times starting at 7:00 am. This is a great way to book a ride in each Park, allowing you quick access to the ride.

This is where your plan comes into place. If you are starting at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can think about booking Genie+ return times for rides in the other three Parks for the day. Doing this will allow you to quickly experience rides without navigating the long standby wait times you might encounter.

Disney Skyliner
Credit: Disney

Time to Hop

Once 2:00 p.m. gets closer, we recommend being ready to hop to your next Park. As you will have a long evening ahead, we recommend taking a nice lunch break and getting some air conditioning before you head out to experience the next Disney Park.

After starting in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we headed to EPCOT via the skyliner. This quick and easy way to get between these two Parks will maximize our time.

EPCOT Entrance
Credit: V Mills

Park Two: EPCOT

For us, our second Park would be EPCOT. We would head here next because of the quick skyliner access from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. During your time in EPCOT, take a picture in front of Spaceship Earth, have a great snack, or try to ride some top rides.

Remember Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind requires a virtual queue or an Individual Lightning Lane to ride. If you have purchased Genie+ earlier in the day, use it to experience Remy’s Ratoutlie Adventure, Frozen Ever After, or the classic Spaceship Earth.

It all depends on your challenge goals, but those are some fun options in EPCOT.

Credit: V Mills

Park Three: Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Our third Park is the hardest one to fit in because of the travel time it takes. Disney’s Animal Kingdom would be our stop after EPCOT. We would either walk to the front of EPCOT for a bus or ride-share or consider heading over the Disney’s Beach Club Resort to order a ride-share. Either way, we would head to Disney’s Animal Kingdom next.

In Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we would consider using a single rider for Expedition Everest and, hopefully, Genie+ for Kilimanjaro Safari. Avatar Flight of Passage would be a hard decision as we would suggest using an Individual Lightning Lane, but then you would need to give up Guardians of the Galaxy or Tron.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is where we would recommend getting supper as well. You can find excellent options at Sat’uli Canteen, Nomad Lounge, and Flame Tree Barbecue here.

Cinderella Castle Happily Ever After
Credit: V Mills

Final Park: Magic Kingdom

No matter what order you choose to do the other three Parks, we highly recommend ending your challenge at Magic Kingdom with Happily Ever After. Watching this nighttime show is the perfect way to end your challenge.

Use Genie+ to catch a ride or two on your favorite attractions at Magic Kingdom, and then head to the hub to watch the fantastic Happily Ever After.

Doing four Parks in one day at Disney is a lot of fun, but it does require some planning. We hope that by sharing our thoughts on navigating this challenge; you will feel more confident about taking it on during your next Disney trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Retzlaff

Jennifer became a lifelong Disney fan during her first trip to Walt Disney World in 6th grade. From that moment, Disney became a big part of her life. She quickly started to introduce her love of Disney to her family with a Disney honeymoon and then family trips when her youngest was 18 months old. She loves the magic that Disney brings to people through theme parks, cruises, and adventures. As a teacher, she tries to bring Disney magic into her classroom to help kids believe that “If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It.” She is also part of the Magic Vacation Planner team as a personal travel advisor. With this team, she can now help others plan magical vacations. She loves bringing her love to Disney to readers with How to Disney.

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