The Best Way To Tackle All Four Disney Parks In One Day

It’s the age old question. “Can you do everything at Walt Disney World in one day”? The short answer, is no. BUT, the optimist in me wants to tell you, it’s kinda possible. You’re obviously not going to see every nook and cranny, but if you have it in you, a lot can be accomplished between park open and close! A person’s priorities when in the parks varies, as well as park hours and attractions under refurbishment. In the perfect world, here is my personal best way to tackle four parks in one day at Walt Disney World.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is, in my opinion, the most beautiful park of the four Walt Disney World has to offer. For some reason, it’s also feels like the hottest! Animal Kingdom should be your first stop on your long four park day. This park usually opens the earliest, as it also closes much earlier than the other three parks. I highly recommend getting here an hour before park open. Despite being seven years old, Avatar Flight of Passage is still an extremely popular attraction that can get up to a 2 hour wait within the first few minutes of the park being open. This ride will start your early day on such a high note, everyone in your group will be grateful in hindsight of how early they had to wake up.

Dinosaur (while it’s still open), Expedition Everest, and Kilimanjaro Safari’s usually post low wait times in the early morning so you can get those done pretty fast as well. While the park is short on rides, it’s a lively park with plenty of gorgeous scenery, incredible food, and amazing live shows! If you don’t have time and are prioritizing rides, you should definitely revisit any of the parks if you get a chance to, as you could miss out on your new favorite thing.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a tricky park, as it’s filled to the brim with “E-Ticket” attractions (very popular rides). I’d head here next so you can knock out the big two like Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Now, depending on wait times and your party’s priorities, check out Toy Story Land or Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. If your group prefers Star Wars, get in line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, asap. This usually has a long line, but if you don’t mind getting your group split up, you can use their single rider line (if it is open). Time permitting, you could choose to fly the Millennium Falcon at Smuggler’s Run which is a short walk away from Rise.

For those with little ones who want to see their favorite Toy Story Pals, Toy Story Midway Mania is a great option and a blast! You can skip Slinky Dog, as you’ll usually see a wait time of 60+ for a very short ride. Before you leave, check out Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, as it’s the perfect way to cap off your time at Hollywood Studios.

EPCOT

There’s really so many ways you can tackle EPCOT, as there is something for everything. If you are trying to tackle the big rides like Frozen Ever After or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, make a beeline for either of those. I’m sure the number one question on your mind is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Unfortunately, even after 2 years, it STILL has a virtual queue in place. Now, you’re not completely out of luck, as you can always check the virtual queue tab for availability or look at your Lightning Lane options. Drinking around the world is usually some people’s first thought when EPCOT comes up in conversation.

If group priority leans towards checking out different drinks and foods from around the world, EPCOT usually has a food festival going on across the entire World Showcase. There’s plenty of low wait rides if you want to squeeze some more of those in, like Journey Into Imagination with Figment, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Living With The Land (which is actually the best ride in the park.)

Magic Kingdom

I can’t think of a better place to end an evening than at Magic Kingdom. There’s also no better end to an already wonderful day than fireworks above Cinderella castle. Get a nice spot for the fireworks, but keep this in mind. After they end, the Magic Kingdom hub becomes human stop and go traffic. Try and position yourself near an exit towards Tomorrowland or Adventureland for an easy out. The park is usually open for about 90 minutes after fireworks, so you’ll have some time to experience any rides at Magic Kingdom!

Possibly one of my biggest tips however, is if you don’t really mind skipping fireworks, skip them. Everybody and their mother is sitting in the middle watching fireworks, which makes wait times drop drastically (this is true at the other parks as well).  A few hours of low waits at Magic Kingdom makes all the difference. I’ve seen rides like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain with 5 minute wait times during fireworks! Seven Dwarves Mine Train can get quite low during this time as well, and this is really the only time it does.

There’s so much to see at Walt Disney World, which means there’s a lot of different ways to go about the elusive, four parks one day challenge. This is the way I have done it in the past! You can always check out Lightning Lane options or even VIP Tours! Whatever you choose, best of luck to you, and drinks lots of water!

Featured Photos: Emily Murray.