10 Best Tips For Visiting 4 Parks in 1 Day at Disney World

While I was in Orlando visiting Universal Studios, we decided to make the most out of our trip and spend one of the days at Disney World. I hadn't been since my sophomore year of high school (2006) so I was excited to head back and see all the new attractions!

We had one day park-hopper passes, so I spent a good bit of time before our trip researching tips and creating a very strategic plan on how we were going to visit all four parks in one day! Since this was technically a work trip, and we had to spend time taking some photos etc, we made the executive decision to skip Epcot so that we weren't rushing all day. BUT since you won't have to spend two hours in the morning taking pictures like we did, if you follow my tips below, you will 100% be able to visit all for parks in one day! But be prepared, this is going to be one long day and you will be very sore the next day!

10 Tips For Visiting 4 Parks in 1 Day at Disney World

1. Don't Stress Out & Have a Plan

It is impossible to see everything that Walt Disney World has to offer in one day! Even if you spent a week in the four parks, I'm sure there would still be some rides and attractions that you missed. With that being said, don't stress out about seeing everything!! You need to decide ahead of time what rides/attractions you 100% want to ride at each park and basically forget about everything else.

When planning the order you are going to visit the parks, take into consideration the extra magic hours. You will need to check the park hours of the day you are attending and create your plan around them! Some parks will open earlier and close later than others, so it's very important you look check!

2. Make a List & Prioritize

Once you have determined the rides/attractions you don't want to miss, make sure you write them down! I repeat, write your schedule down and bring it with you to the parks! Write down every ride you want to go on, every show you want to see, every snack you want to eat, etc. This will make your life so much easier, and will lessen your chances of forgetting something in the craziness.

Pro tip: Put the rides/attractions in order from most important to least important in case you can't get to every one!

3. Pre-Book Your Fastpass+

A FastPass+ will let you skip the standby line and save tons of time! There is a separate FassPass+ line for each ride, and you can enter during the 1-hour arrival window that you schedule! You can schedule three ahead of time, and once you use all three you can hop on your app and get a few more. Sometime you'll even get lucky and snag a great one! You can book your FassPass+ up to 30 days in advance (60 days if you're staying onsite). 

Pro Tip: Schedule your first three fast passes for the 2nd park you plan to visit. If you get to the park at rope drop, the lines shouldn't be too long!

4. Download the My Disney Experience App

The My Disney Experience App will be a lifesaver when trying to save time! It has everything you can think of that you may need during your time at the parks. First of all, it has a map of all the parks. On the map you can find the location of all the rides, food stands, restaurants, bathrooms, and even the wait times of all the rides! You can also schedule your FastPass+ within the app! This is especially helpful once you use up your original three FastPass+ and want to try and snag some more! You can also make meal reservations, see show times, view your Disney PhotoPass, and much more! 

5. Arrive at Rope Drop

Rope drop is the term they use for when the park opens. This is usually at 9:00am for every park. If you are staying at a Disney resort, you have the opportunity to enter the park one hour earlier than the general public (at 8:00am). Only a few rides are open in that first hour, but you can still get a few rides out of the way with minimal wait time before the park starts filling up! 

Pro tip: If you aren't staying at a Disney resort, try to get an early breakfast reservation before rope drop. It's a $10 per person reservation fee, so if you don't really care about breakfast and just want to beat the crowd, it's totally worth the $10! (That's what we did!)

6. Have a Schedule & Stick To It

Try to schedule out the amount of time you want to spend at each park, and make sure you take into consideration travel time between each park. I say spend an average of three hours at each park. This is why having FastPass+ is super important! You don't want to get stuck waiting more than an hour for a ride when you are on a time crunch! Make sure you stick to this schedule as best as you can so that you have plenty of time at each park.

7. Take The Shuttles

There are free shuttles that will take you from park to park. This made our day a lot less stressful because you don't have to worry about finding parking at each park. Shuttles leave every 15 minutes so make sure you account for this in your schedule! If you aren't staying at a Disney Resort, parking is about $22, but the shuttles are still free within the parks.

Pro Tip: Magic Kingdom is the only park that you have to take a shuttle from the parking lot to the gates. Again, take this time into consideration if you plan on parking at Magic Kingdom. (This is what we did- we started our morning taking pictures at Magic Kingdom and ended our day with the firework show and riding a few last rides.)

8. Misc Tips To Minimize Wait Time

There are a few miscellaneous tips I have to help you save time and minimize the amount of time you spend waiting in line at each ride. First, the lines tend to be a lot shorter when there is an event going on (ie. a parade, light show, fireworks etc). Make sure you take advantage of this! Also, don't forget about the Single Rider Lines. Even if you are with a group, if y'all don't mind riding separately, hop into the single rider line! Will definitely shave off some time! Lastly, at the end of the night, as long as you are in line before the park closes (even 2 minutes before) you can still ride the ride! 

9. Pack Smart

There are a few necessities that you will 100% be happy you packed for your day at Disney World. First and foremost, make sure you wear your most comfortable shoes/sneakers. You will be doing A LOT of walking. I'm talking miles. Nothing will put a damper on your day like getting a blister!! I also highly recommend carrying a backpack! You not only can carry a good amount of stuff, but the weight will be evenly distributed on your shoulders which will end up being super helpful! A few other items I recommend packing include: a poncho (takes up no room and they are stupid expensive in the parks), portable phone charger, snacks, sunscreen, and most importantly, your mouse ears! 

Pro Tip: Water bottle to refill. You can refill your water bottle at any stand throughout all of the parks. Some rides even have refill stations in the lines!

10. Bring Your Patience

This is probably the silliest, but most important tip I can give you! This is going to be a long, tiring day, filled with a ton of people! And trust me, even though you are at the happiest place on earth, most of those people are going to be rude! So try to stay calm and be patient! Towards the end of the day you are going to be incredibly tired and irritable, but try to make the most out of your day and end on a high note!

Woo and there you have it! Your day is going to be absolutely exhausting, but I don't think it would be any more exhausting than doing 8-10 hours in just one park! So if you stick to my tips above, visit 4 parks in 1 day is definitely doable, just don't expect to hit all of the biggest attractions in each park!

Pro Tip: No matter the wait, I highly recommend that you ride the new Avatar: Flight of Passage ride. I waited about an hour and a half and it was 100% worth it!

I mentioned above that we made the decision to skip Epcot so we could take our time and didn't feel rushed throughout the day. I can't say that I would ever try to hit all four parks in one day unless I had too, but it is definitely a fun challenge that I think every one of you should try at least once! 

Thanks so much for reading! xo

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