By: Angela Curley, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent
So if you’ve been around the Disney block before you may have heard of the 4 parks 1 day challenge. If you haven’t, no worries! The 4 parks 1 day challenge (4P-1D) is pretty self explanatory, visit all 4 Walt Disney World parks in 1 day. That can be easy, but the hard part is what you do in each park.
Everyone has their own rules for the 4P-1D challenge. Most people ride a set number of rides, get a snack/drink, see a show, meet a character, or some combination of all of those during their day. I’d like to throw in pirate code here and call these more like guidelines than actual rules, so here’s what I set out to do instead.
The most important thing you're going to need is a park hopper ticket for everyone in your party. I also highly recommend anyone who does this challenge to be an on property guest! This will make your morning travel time so much easier with staying right in the magic, plus right now on property resort guests get early admission into the theme parks!! If you’re planning on doing this challenge on your next trip, I highly recommend reaching out to an agent to help make sure you have the right tickets and are staying at a great resort on property!
You’ll also need REALLY GOOD WALKING SHOES!! You’re going to be walking almost non stop so be prepared for your feet to hurt! I recommend grabbing some water bottles the night before and getting all of your clothes and items ready to go for the morning!
If your goal is to do as many rides as possible (as was mine) then I highly recommend purchasing Genie+ for the day. Follow along to see how I used it throughout the day and also how many rides and attractions I was able to do.
You also can’t forget sunscreen, sunglasses or a hat, your Magicband or Magicband+ and of course your favorite pair of earss!
I wish I was joking when I tell you I called a family meeting with my parents and my sister to help me plan out the best course of action….. I, in-fact, am not joking. In the past, the 4P-1D challenge was a lot simpler with being able to utilize park hopping a lot quicker during the day. However, due to the 2pm restrictions on park hopping, I can do what I felt was the best course of action, but also what I wanted to do, and honestly that is the number one goal of the 4P-1D challenge… to have fun!
So when I sat down with my family and we mapped everything out, I decided to start in Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom (AK) had the earliest park opening at 8am, and being a Disney resort guest I would be able to enter the park at 7:30am! I also knew I wanted to not only visit all 4 parks but also use all different modes of transportation that Disney World has to offer, and since Animal Kingdom is only reachable by bus and it’s not as close to the other parks, I decided to start there.
I then took a look at which park was open the latest, Magic Kingdom, till 11pm that day. Ending at Magic was a no brainer with the other parks closing at 9pm or earlier!
The rest fell into place after that and my plan was as follows:
Start my day at Animal Kingdom, taking a bus to Hollywood Studios. From there I could Skyliner to EPCOT, and then monorail to Magic Kingdom.
But with not being able to enter Hollywood Studios until 2pm, that left me with a lot of time in Animal Kingdom. I knew I personally did not want to spend there, plus I wanted an opportunity to use one of Disney’s boats to get to a park.
So after a quick look at what dining options were available, I made a lunch reservation for myself at Ale & Compass at Disney’s Yacht Club resort.
The plan was made, now it was just time to start my journey…. And here is how it went
Okay so I actually woke up REALLY EARLY this morning. Mostly because I wanted to make sure I was up and ready for the day but also because as a travel agent I was still working and had some dining reservations to secure for my clients! P.s. I was successful 😉
I also took this opportunity to purchase my Genie+ for the day and make sure I was set for…..
Right at 7am I logged into My Disney Experience app and set up my first Lightning Lane selections for the morning. I picked Kilimanjaro Safaris at 8:15 - 9:15 am and then decided to also purchase an Individual Lightning Lane from 9:50 - 10:50 am.
After a brief wait at the bus stop I was on the bus and headed to my first park for the morning: Animal Kingdom! Arriving around 7:30 am. Since I was a resort guest they scanned my Magicband once at the gate and then again a few feet down the path to allow me in for the extra magic time.
I knew I had some time to kill in this park so I took some time to enjoy the sights, and also did some shopping to make sure I was ready for the day. Unlike my own advice to you all I did not get my water the night before, so after a purchase of a water bottle, some gatorade to keep me hydrated and a fan to keep me cool, I was ready to go!
You might be wondering why I didn’t go right to my Lightning Lane time right away. You’ll see I did this a lot today. That’s because I was utilizing what I call “free time.” Free time is the whole hour time you have to use up a Lighting Lane in. I’m not sure if that’s an actual canon phrase, but since I’m already a pirate with my own guidelines instead of rules, I’m running with it.
So essentially what I was doing all day was keeping track of my Lightning Lane times, but instead of running to them right away, I was filling in that time with more rides or activities then going to my Lightning Lane (LL) ride before the time was up.
In this instance when the park was opening, everyone was heading right to the Pandora area, which was on the left side of the park. But since I knew I wanted to end up in Pandora with my Individual LL time much later that morning, I instead went right to Dinoland.
And can I tell you that this was the best decision ever because it was completely dead. I was able to walk right into Dinosaur (literally just me and a family of 3).
From Dinosaur I headed over to Expedition Everest. Being as I was at the parks by myself that day I was able to utilize the single rider line. I got lucky and since no one else was in the single rider line at that time I was able to walk right onto the ride in the 3rd row!
Since I had a BLAST and didn’t waste much time… and the single rider line was still empty… I went again. AND BOY AM I GLAD I DID!! Because I got FRONT ROW!!
Me and my front row buddy Tiffany (Hi Tiffany!) had a blast!
After this I didn’t want to press my luck too much so I was off to do Kilimanjaro Safaris next.
I hadn’t had breakfast yet that morning and since I still had some “free time” before my LL expired I took my time walking over and stopped to get a Jofferee’s donut and 50th Celebration Green Matcha Latte. It was really good and was a great snack to tide me over until my lunch.
Finally in line and heading onto Kilimanjaro Safaris! This is a great ride to do for any animal lover but especially during the morning while the animals are up and active!
After the ride I took a leisurely stroll over to Pandora. I stopped a few times to take some pictures and enjoy some animal sites. Then after a quick bathroom break I was ready to head onto Pandora’s Flight of Passage.
So after this ride I was personally done in Animal Kingdom and heading over to The Yacht Club for my lunch reservation. Could I have stayed and done more in Animal Kingdom? Absolutely. And if that’s something you want to do I highly recommend you to do so! There is so much to see and do that I didn’t even get to do but I had a schedule and I wanted to stick to it as best as I could, so once I was done I headed out.
I finally arrived at The Yacht Club! And that’s because I just missed not one but TWO resort buses that had JUST pulled away. However, since I knew I had plenty of time before my 11:50am lunch, I was confident I would catch the next one, and I did.
I was a little early to check into my dining reservation so I did some browsing at the resort gift shop. This is my family’s all time FAVORITE Disney World Resort, so whenever I stop by for a visit I always like to check out the gift shop to see if there is anything new my family would like.
I was seated at my table and had a great meal. The restaurant was so cozy and quiet during the day since most people were at the parks. There were a few other tables besides me but other than that the restaurant was empty and I was enjoying some time off my feet and out of the sun!
Since I couldn’t officially enter the next park until 2pm I had some time to kill so I definitely took my time eating and once I was finished headed out to take some pictures of the resort and wait for my water transportation to take me to Hollywood Studios.
If you’ve never used the Disney Friendship boats I highly recommend them! They will take EPCOT area resort guests from their resort hotels from EPCOT all the way to Hollywood Studios. From where I was at the Yacht Club to my stop at Hollywood studios, it was about 15 minutes.
I was a little early to Hollywood Studios but I was taking this opportunity to map out my plan for the park. Earlier that day I made my next LL selection for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at 2:15pm - 3:15pm. But while I was sitting in the shade waiting to enter Hollywood Studios I noticed I was able to make another LL selection since it had been more than 2 hours since I booked the first one! So I snagged up a 4:20 - 5:20 pm Smugglers Run and at 1:45pm they started letting all of the park hoppers into the park early!
Utilizing my “free time” again I ran right over to Tower of Terror to see if they got the elevators at the Hollywood Tower Hotel working again…. I’d recommend just using the stairs.
Just kidding! The ride was great as always, but if you’re not one for big drops I would suggest you pass and actually take the stairs….
Unfortunately the Rock'n Roller Coaster had just closed before my trip for some refurbishment so I was unable to ride it. However, had it been open I was going to utilize the single rider line on this attraction to continue using some “free time.”
On my way over to my LL at Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad I saw a couple of cute ducks and I just had to go over and snap a picture!!
Then off to the Lightning Lane I went!
Since I had that bonus LL, I wasn’t able to make a new selection right away, so I had some time before 4:20pm, which is a LONG time to wait when you’re on a 4Park tight schedule! But I wanted to make the most of my day so I headed over to have a few laughs with the Muppets at Muppet 3D Vision.
My friend Victoria had met up with me for a quick visit at this point and since I still had a lot of time we decided to have a snack at Woody’s Lunch Box after the show.
We spent a long time chatting and catching up, and eating some delicious food that time actually flew by, but it was so great to be able to see her.
When we were about to part ways I noticed that I was able to make a LL right away for Toy Story Mania instead of standing in a 40 minute line! So I gave Victoria a hug goodbye and set off to test my best carnival game skills!
I didn’t get the best in the vehicle but I think I did pretty good!
I was heading over to my LL at Smuggler’s Run. At this point I was starting to look ahead at my next few parks and secured an 7:35 - 8:15pm Individual LL for Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT.
Unfortunately I was not able to ride Rise of the Resistance this time around. I had been checking all day for a good time to purchase an Individual LL time for but everything that was coming up was outside of my time frame.
So instead I hopped on Star Tours and was chosen as the Rebel Spy!! I was so excited and was definitely happy with my choice!!
By this time I was heading out of the park and on my way to EPCOT via the Skyliner! If you’ve never taken Disney’s Skyliner before it is such a fun and relaxing experience. The sights are amazing and it’s nice and quiet and peaceful…. I’m really lucky I didn’t fall asleep!
I was at the back entrance of EPCOT which worked perfectly for me as I wanted to head right over to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Now…. This is where things changed a little for me. This was the only ride I was planning on sacrificing to wait in a long line for… and after the 70 minute (yes) line. The ride broke down while I was on it. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long after, but we walked off the ride and it was down for the rest of the night. What happened, I’m not sure.
I lost a lot of time on this ride, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to get as much done as I wanted to. And since my LL for Guardian’s was coming up, I decided to skip Soarn’ Around the World, Living with the Land, and The Sea’s with Nemo and Friends.
I was living my absolute best life of Guardian’s of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind! I may be biased, but this is the best ride in the galaxy! I absolutely love it and it’s so much fun to get a different song each time you ride it!!
I shot over to Mission Space really quickly and after a very minimal wait was blasting into space!!
I was even able to jump into the very empty single rider line at Test Track to end my stint at EPCOT. Unfortunately I was not able to get a snack or drink in this park due to losing a lot of time at Remy's. But guidelines, people!!
I was on my way to the Magic Kingdom via my 4th and final form of transportation, the monorail!
By this time I had officially stepped into my 4th and final park of the day and I was already so thrilled and excited with what I was able to accomplish!
While I was waiting in line for Remy earlier that night I had made a LL selection at 10:15pm -11pm for the Jungle Cruise. Since it was the end of the park day I didn’t have a whole hour time slot, so I knew I had until the park closed to get on it.
I headed straight to Tomorrowland and onto Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin! The ride only had a 5 minute wait so it was an easy walk on. Again, wanting to test my skills and see how good my shooting skills compared to earlier that day on Toy Story Mania. After achieving the title of Space Ace you can rest assured that the galaxy is once again safe!
After a long day and still a whole park to do I decided to celebrate and rest my feet for a little bit on The People Mover. It’s a great way to people watch and get some great views of the park, especially at night with Cinderella’s Castle and the new Tron ride all lit up!
While on The People Mover I checked what was available again for LL and saw that a Space Mountain time was available right away!
After my short rest I was back up and heading to Space Mountain. By this time of my day I was really feeling the pressure to see how much I could get done before 11pm when the park closed. Luckily I was by myself and at this point I had already achieved my goal, but I was determined to make the most out of my day.
Even though I used LL for this ride, since I was by myself they had me stand to the side and fit me in as a single rider. I’m not sure if this saved me any time at all, because I was very nervous about just standing waiting to get on the ride, but once I finally did get on I had fun and was able to continue on my mission!
I knew I didn’t have enough time to check out the attractions in Fantasyland, so I headed straight out of Tomorrowland, across the hub, and into Adventureland. After a quick bathroom break I was able to make it just on time to the start of my LL for Jungle Cruise.
After getting lost in the jungle and seeing the 8th wonder of the world (if you know you know, but if you don’t I won’t spoil it for you) I headed over to my most cherished ride… Pirates of the Caribbean. Again this ride was a walk on because most people had left the park by the time after the fireworks, so I was able to do a lot in a short amount of time!
Since I had used up my last LL at Jungle Cruise I was able to get a quick one for Thunder Mountain! I made it in just enough time to get on before the park closed and officially end my night!
With a lot of luck and VERY sore feet, I was able to make my way over to the Haunted Mansion (pro tip, take the water bridge path). Since the park was officially closed as of 11pm I didn’t think I was going to be able to get on the ride. But since the park was open for extra hours for Deluxe resort guests, and they were not checking Magicbands yet on this ride… I was able to sneak on for one last happy haunt.
After walking very slowly and taking in all of the scenery, the beautiful castle all lit up and of course the famous Mickey and Walt Partners statue, I was officially done for the night.
I celebrated my victory in the best way I know how… with a Casey’s Corner Hot Dog and a Mickey’s Ice Cream Sundae from The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street USA.
I was officially done. As the only person on my resort bus they took my right to my stop at Port Orleans Riverside and I was finally able to lay down and rest.
After 17 hours, 4 Parks, 4 methods of transportation, 1 resort visit and dining reservation, 22 rides, 1 ride breakdown, tons of fun and countless number of steps… I completed the 4 Parks in 1 Day Challenge.
Would I do it again? Absolutely! And I recommend you to try it too if you enjoyed reading about my journey!
There are a ton of things I could have done differently to try and see and so even more things! And some things (Remy’s) that I couldn’t quite control. But I was happy with how my day planned out and how much I was able to do!
