Four Parks, One Day

Maggie Ballantyne5.7.19Four parks in one day? Yes, it is possible! This will take planning and strategizing, but it can be done. Four of us accomplished this thanks to planning, comfortable walking shoes, caffeine, and some pixie dust!We found there are three options that are helpful to getting this adventure started. First, if you are staying on property, take advantage of Extra Magic Hours to get a jump start on one of the parks. Next, since you are going to need breakfast and coffee anyway, why not make a breakfast reservation that can get you into the parks early? If you make a reservation in the parks before park opening, you are allowed to enter the parks before anyone else. Then, when breakfast is over, you are ready to go and the crowds will be minimal. The last option is to make an early morning breakfast reservation at a resort closest to the starting park. This is what we did. We enjoyed Mickey and Simba waffles for breakfast at Boma- Flavors of Africa (located in the Animal Kingdom Lodge) and then headed straight to Animal Kingdom Park. Resort restaurants tend to be a little less crowded than restaurants in the park, and with a buffet you can eat at your own pace.In Animal Kingdom, we made sure to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie for the holidays and rode Expedition Everest. This was before Pandora: World of Avatar opened and I would highly suggest a FastPass if that is what you want to check off your list for the day.While I normally like taking advantage of the busses on Disney property, on this day in particular, we used our own car to cut back on bus wait times. However, this is totally doable with on-site transportation and our decision was a personal preference.The second park we visited was Hollywood Studios. We raced there to use our Tower of Terror FastPass. Since it was December, we took time to look at the holiday decorations in each park. Every park is decorated uniquely and beautifully for the holidays, so I think it is important to take time to appreciate each one. Before leaving Hollywood Studios, we stopped by Walt Disney Presents- One Man’s Dream and we also had the opportunity to meet Moana.Epcot was the third park we chose to visit. We refueled on coffee and took a ride on Spaceship Earth and Soarin’. We also took a walk around World Showcase. When you do four parks in one day, you will definitely get your steps in!We made it to the Magic Kingdom just after sunset. The holiday lights were on, the tree was decorated, and Main Street was lit up beautifully. Our first stop was City Hall so we could pick up an “I’m Celebrating” button and fill it in with “4 Parks, 1 Day!” After that we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain, we grabbed some dinner and watched my favorite fireworks show, Wishes.This day in particular was definitely one of my favorite days in Disney. We always make it a goal when we visit to do something we have never done before, and this was the perfect way to make a whole day something new and fun. We ate delicious food, we rode a major ride in each park, we met characters, we saw four parks worth of holiday decorations, and we made it in time to see a fireworks show. It also put our best planning, strategizing, and compromising skills to the test and it all worked out!If you want more information about how to maximize your time in the Disney Theme Parks, contact me today at maggie@wishesfamilytravel.com or follow my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wishesfamilytravelmaggie