Walt Disney World 4 Parks in 1 day Challenge (2024)

On our most recent Walt Disney World trip my husband and I decided to tackle the 4-park in 1 day challenge!

If you haven’t heard of the 4-park challenge, it’s when you visit each of Walt Disney World’s 4 parks, ride at least 1 ride, have at least 1 snack and drink at least 1 beverage, all in 1 day.

Be sure to take pictures along the way to share with your friends and family your adventure.

Our 4 Park in 1 Day Walt Disney World Challenge

Check out how our day went…

Since we knew that this would be an all-day adventure at the end of August, we thought it was a good idea to start our day with a great breakfast.

Since we were headed to the Magic Kingdom first, we had breakfast at Steakhouse 71.

This restaurant is one of my favorites, especially for breakfast.

After a wonderful breakfast, caffeine, plenty of water and POG (Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava Juice) we walked over to the Magic Kingdom.

My favorite thing about the Contemporary Resort is the fact that it is walking distance to the Magic Kingdom.

If walking extra isn’t your thing, then you can jump on the monorail.

4 Park in 1 Day Walt Disney WorldChallenge – Park 1 – The Magic Kingdom

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 9 AM.

Not sure how our day would go at 7 AM, I did get us two Individual Lightning Lanes for 7 Dwarfs Mine Ride at the Magic Kingdom and Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios.

Since this was our 1^st time back in the parks since the end of socially distanced meet and greets, I knew we had to stop and see Mickey and Minnie.

We passed time in line using the Genie+ PhotoPass lenses to take selfies.

Needless to say, seeing and hugging Mickey and Minnie again was MAGICAL. I may have been teary eyed…oh who am I kidding I totally was teary eyed.

Since we knew we would have extra time in the Magic Kingdom, we started to gather the 50th Anniversary golden statues.

This can be done with a Magic Band+ and the Disney Play app.

It was a super hot and humid day; we grabbed our drink for this park…boring old water.

But most important when walking as much as you do on any Disney trip but especially in the heat that was that day.

We also thought some air conditioning would be nice so we went and rode Under the Sea – Journey Under the Sea.

There was rain in the forecast the whole day. Would rain be a problem for us?

Our return time for 7 Dwarfs Mine Ride had arrived so off we went to ride it.

We were also supposed to have a Genie+ Lightning Lane for Big Thunder Mountain (my favorite) but it went down right before our time.

Disney did give us a redemption for going on it when it came back up or we could have used it on a list of Lightning Lanes, instead we watched the Festival of Fantasy Parade!

Next up was our snack for our 1st Park.

These churros have peanut butter and chocolate sauce on them. Not enough to ruin the crunch of the churro. Just enough.

Plus, the chocolate candies just burst apart as soon as you bit into them. Remember I said it was HOT. The chocolate inside was liquid chocolate. That’s how hot it was!

With our tasks complete and the time being after 1 pm, we stopped for pictures on Main Street as we headed to the bus stop for our 2^nd park.

4 Park in 1 DayWalt Disney WorldChallenge – Park 2 – Animal Kingdom

Since park hopping currently is only available after 2 PM, we got in line for the bus to the Animal Kingdom right around 1:30 pm.

A Disney bus arrived soon after we got in line, and we arrived at the Animal Kingdom right at 2 pm.

While on the bus I grabbed us a lightning lane time for 2:30 PM at Expedition Everest.

Thus far the transportation and weather Gods seemed to be on our side. Will that continue?

We arrived at Animal Kingdom and grabbed all the 50^th Anniversary golden statues.

There are only a few at the Animal Kingdom and they are all right in front of the Tree of Life.

Off to Expedition Everest, where we got to ride in the very front row. In all the times I have ridden this I’ve never sat in the front row.

I’ll tell you that I am not an extreme roller coaster ride type person.

On our way up the mountain, I was commenting what a beautiful view it was and how you can see clear over to the Pandora side of Animal Kingdom.

You know what they say though…what goes up must come down.

The cars for Expedition Everest are rectangles with the ride literally ending at our knees. Holy cow that was intense!!!

Luckily, I left my sunglasses on or in the picture I am sure you would see my eyes closed at that moment.

After getting off that ride I decided I needed at drink. Good thing that Thirsty River Bar is right next door.

We grabbed a Himalayan Ghost drink which was sky leopard vodka, guava, and minute maid lemonade. Perfect on such a HOT day!

We did pair it with waters because…well did I mention it was hot and extremely humid?

Since it was 3:00 in the afternoon, our snack was more of a mini meal.

We mobile ordered from Flame Tree BBQ (one of my favorites) the pulled pork mac and cheese.

It’s a super creamy macaroni and cheese with their pulled pork, slaw, and fried onion rings on top.

Then grabbing two more waters, we were ready to tackle park number 3.

4 Park in 1 DayWalt Disney WorldChallenge – Park 3 – Hollywood Studios

On our way out of Animal Kingdom we stopped for a moment to figure out what bus stop number we needed to get to Hollywood Studios.

Of course, it was one at the end. As we head that way, we notice that there is already a bus there.

Good sense when you are in a hurry would be to speed up…. but we felt like we were melting into the sidewalk so no running for us.

However, you guessed it, the bus closes its door and pulls away as we are one stop away. Darn it!

After waiting what seemed like forever but was only about 20 minutes, we were on the bus to Hollywood Studios with some poor kiddos that needed a nap.

I felt for them, I think I needed a nap but I was thankful for the air conditioning on the bus.

We entered Hollywood Studios a little after 4:30 PM.

Really, we were doing great on time because our Individual Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance wasn’t until 5:15 PM.

Stopped and saw Donald and Daisy greeting guests as they entered.

Then found all the golden statues at Hollywood Studios. They are spread around the end of Hollywood Boulevard.

From there we headed to Galaxy’s Edge. If you haven’t been to this part of Hollywood Studios yet, you really will be amazed when you do.

The whole area feels like you stepped into one of the Star Wars Movies.

Rise of the Resistance, in my opinion, is a not to be missed ride. Especially if you are in any way a Star Wars fan.

The same with Smuggler’s Run, where you really get to fly on the Millennium Falcon.

After our ride we definitely needed a snack and one with some sugar.

We mobile ordered the Glimmer & Shimmer Blondie at the Backlot Express.

To go with it, a co*ke and yes, you guessed it, more water.

All of that was the perfect boost to send us on our way to park number 4.

4 Park in 1 DayWalt Disney WorldChallenge – Park 4 – EPCOT

There are multiple types of transportation that you can take to get from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT.

We thought we would take the most unique which is the boats.

Also, we could have taken Disney’s Skyliner from Hollywood Studios to the Riviera Resort to the Caribbean Beach Resort and then switch to the Skyliner to EPCOT.

If that sounds like too much…we thought so too.

But the boats do stop at multiple resorts including the Swan/Dolphin, the Boardwalk Resort, and the Beach & Yacht Club.

Honestly would have been faster just to take the walking path.

But the rain was starting to get close. We’d been so lucky all day, but we knew it was eminent.

I just knew if we took the walking path it would bust loose on us since you could just see the line of rain coming towards us.

Entering in the International Gateway of EPCOT is my favorite. Even during the busiest times of the day or year there is not very often a wait.

While on the boat, I grabbed us a lightning lane for Soarin’.

I was beyond thrilled that we could still get this at about 7 pm.

That was our first stop, and we were moving fast because we knew that rain wasn’t going to hold off much longer.

After we Soared around the World we made a bee line for the Fry Basket (one of the food booths for Food & Wine Festival).

We ordered the fry flight along with an 81 Bay Key Lime lager. They were delicious.

However before we left the park, pictures to celebrate us completing the 4 Park in 1 DayWalt Disney WorldChallenge were a must and we got them before the lightning started.

As we got in line for our bus back to the resort it started sprinkling. Because of how windy it was they had the Skyliner shut down.

Once on the bus, the rain just let loose. Honestly, we couldn’t have timed it better.

Tips for Your Own 4 Park in 1 DayWalt Disney World Challenge

• Have a plan but be flexible.
• Don’t forget Park Hopping isn’t available until after 2 PM.
• Stay hydrated. You are walking a lot. We walked over 25,000 steps that day
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. No one wants to deal with blisters for the rest of your trip.
• Use Genie+ and/or Individual Lightning Lanes and Memory Maker. Remember you can only have a max of two Individual Lightning Lanes per day. You’ll want the pictures of your fun completing the challenge.
• Start your day with a great breakfast.
• Come prepared for all weather. It is Florida. Have sunscreen, ponchos or if it’s winter, a jacket.
• Factor in time for transportation.
• Start with the park you want to accomplish the most in.
• End with the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT. These parks are typically open later and have fireworks to celebrate your accomplishment.

PRO TIP – Would I do it again…ABSOLUTELY…but maybe in a cooler time of the year. May or November would be perfect.

Are you ready to plan your Disney Vacation? As a travel planner with MickeyTravels, A Platinum Earmarked Disney Travel Agency, my services are absolutely FREE. I’m here to help you make your Disney Vacation Magical. You can reach out via email at Kristy@MickeyTravels.com, on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.