Visiting multiple parks in one day at Walt Disney World is a real treat! Each park has an immersive experience of its own and having the ability to hop directly from one park to another is not only convenient, but also an extreme amount of fun. It should be noted that you must either have a park hopper ticket or be a Passholder in order to visit more than one park per day. If this applies to you and you plan to hop from park to park, you’ve got convenient options that allow you to relax and let Disney transport you from park to park. Let’s take a look at what those options look like.
I recently completed a 4 Parks, 1 Day challenge using nothing but Disney Transportation. (Full disclosure: You may have seen videos where others have attempted a version of this challenge where they aim to ride every single ride in each park in one day. I am in my 40s, so don’t get too excited thinking this is my challenge. I simply entered four parks in one day, which is plenty good enough for me!) Below, I will highlight the different modes of Disney Transportation available that you can utilize to get between each park, and my preferred mode. As a side note, this also works if you are driving to the first park. For instance, if you are not staying at a Disney resort and you drive to a park, you would simply park at the first theme park and use Disney Transportation to go to your next destination (just be sure to end your day back at the original park so you are back at your car).
As a general caveat, I will point out that Disney Bus transportation is the most widely-available form of free transportation at Walt Disney World. However, when it comes to park to park transportation, Disney Buses do not begin park to park service until 10:00 AM.
Magic Kingdom
To start this challenge, I began the day at Magic Kingdom. I happened to be at Disney’s Contemporary Resort this particular morning, so I used my feet to walk to Magic Kingdom. If you are staying at a Disney Resorts Collection Hotel that is not Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, or Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, you can ride a Disney Bus to Magic Kingdom. Guests starting out from one of the three monorail resorts I just mentioned can ride the Resort Monorail (or walk). If you are staying at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, the Polynesian, or the Grand Floridian, you also have the option of taking a boat.
Magic Kingdom to EPCOT
Once it was time to move on from Magic Kingdom, I set my sights on EPCOT. To get there, I opted to hop on the Express Monorail. That monorail will take you directly to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), also known as the Magic Kingdom parking lot. At the TTC, I transferred to the EPCOT monorail line and rode the monorail to EPCOT. If you want a more leisurely ride with some fresh air, you can also take the ferry boat to the TTC, then hop on the EPCOT monorail from there.
EPCOT to Disney’s Animal Kingdom
I generally wouldn’t have made this move, but it was more strategic than anything. My original plan was to leave EPCOT and ride the Skyliner to Disney’s Hollywood Studios via the Caribbean Beach transfer station, but it was getting late in the day and I didn’t want Animal Kingdom to close. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the earliest Disney World theme park to close on any given day with regular park hours in effect. So, I opted to go to Disney’s Animal Kingdom after I was done with EPCOT. There is only one free transportation option to get to and from Animal Kingdom from anywhere on Walt Disney World property: a Disney Bus. So, I hopped on a fairly empty Disney bus and arrived at Animal Kingdom a few moments later.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Disney’s Hollywood Studios
As mentioned, there is only one way to get into or out of Animal Kingdom using free Disney Transportation, and that is to ride a Disney Bus. So, I hopped on a bus and rode it to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which was the final theme park visit of the day. While I had plenty of time to spend at Hollywood Studios, all the park hopping was starting to take its toll on me. It’s not for the faint of heart! After a short stay at Hollywood Studios, I took a ride on the Disney Skyliner to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
You might be wondering why I didn’t end my day at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which is where I started out. The reason for this is because I was doing a split stay, and this challenge occurred on a day when our team checked out of the Contemporary and checked in at Caribbean Beach Resort. You can read about split-stays, including how Disney will move your bags for you, here. I mention this because when you are park hopping, you generally will want to end your day where you began your day. This is likely where you are staying, where you left your car, etc. That’s an important part of completing the circle, so be sure to include this in your plans!
Some important notes to keep in mind: If you park at EPCOT to start your park-hopping day and intend to return to EPCOT on the Disney Skyliner, be sure you get back into EPCOT before the park closes for the day. The Skyliner station is located near the International Gateway entrance of EPCOT (the “back” side), which is on the opposite side of the park from the parking lot. You cannot enter a closed park to get to the other side, so plan accordingly! If you park at Animal Kingdom to start your park-hopping… just don’t. This park closes before any other theme park (on a normal day). Park at another theme park and hop to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, or be prepared to move your car at some point… unless you are 100% certain that you will be done park hopping by the time Animal Kingdom closes for the day.
Park hopping is a lot of fun but, for most people, it’s probably not the best idea to cram all four parks into one day. It does take time to wait on transportation to arrive, then for the drive time to your next park. All of that time does add up! Take it from me, you don’t want to need a vacation from your vacation once you return home. Luckily for me, I did this at the very beginning of a weekend, so I was able to slow down and enjoy my time a lot more once I completed this journey. For more suggestions on what not to do while on your Disney World vacation, the MouseHouseNews.net team has you covered!
