If you’re a seasoned Disney World visitor and are hoping to spice up your time on vacation, you might have attempted or looked into the 4 Parks-1 Day Challenge.
This challenge is exactly what it sounds like. You visit all four of Disney World’s theme parks in one day. There are a few rules to this challenge, which are widely debated, but a lot of folks don’t mark a park off their list until they’ve done at least one activity there. Outside of this, there are a few unspoken, unofficial rules of doing the 4 Parks-1 Day Challenge. Let’s talk about it!
First, we’ll begin by saying that while this challenge has always been a fun trend among Disney adults, it’s having another moment now that all-day park hopping is back. On January 9th, Disney World went back to unrestricted park hopping for the first time since the COVID-19 closures. Throughout the last (almost) four years, you could only park hop after 2, which made the 4 Parks-1 Day challenge a bit more difficult. Now, though, you have all day!
More changes taking place at Disney World in 2024!
So… about those unspoken rules….
You have to do SOMETHING.
We already mentioned this briefly, but you can’t just enter a park and leave for it to count. Ya just can’t! Oh, and going to the bathroom doesn’t count, either.
Ride a ride, take some photos, grab a snack, buy some souvenirs — the park is your oyster. But ya gotta put in the work.
Click here for some of our favorite Disney World snacks
You don’t have to drive, but it’s gonna be much easier if you do.
If you take your own car to Disney World, it’ll be much quicker and easier than taking Disney World’s transportation.
Plus, if you splurge on preferred parking, you can save a lot of time from not having to walk across the massive parking lots. It’s $20 if you’re staying at a Disney World resort, and it lasts all day long for each park!
Click here for more on parking at Disney World
Start with Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom opens earlier than the rest of the Disney World parks, so it only makes sense to save yourself some time by starting here!
Plus, there aren’t as many attractions, so you can make your way through the park faster without having to use Genie+ or Lightning Lanes. You totally don’t have to ride all the rides here for it to count, though. Keep in mind that Avatar: Flight of Passage will likely boast the highest waits, so you might want to choose something more lowkey.
15 Tips for Animal Kingdom You’ve Never Heard
If you’re taking Disney transportation, there’s a method to the madness.
If you choose not to take your own car, things will look a little differently! We recommend starting at Animal Kingdom, taking the bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, taking the Skyliner to EPCOT, and then taking the Monorail to Magic Kingdom.
This makes the most sense as you’d only have to take the bus twice — once from the hotel to Animal Kingdom, and once from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios.
Click here for the unspoken rules of PARK HOPPING
If you buy Individual Lightning Lanes, buy them for TRON and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
It isn’t necessary to purchase Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL) for the 4 Parks-1 Day challenge, but if you DO wish to ride some of the big ticket attractions, we’d recommend snagging ILLs for TRON Lightcycle/Run in Magic Kingdom and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios.
If you follow the above park hopping timeline, you should be in EPCOT before 1PM to try to snag a virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind!
Click here for how to purchase Individual Lightning Lanes
And there you have it! We hope you have a BLAST completing the 4 Parks-1 Day challenge at Disney World. Hopefully, this post makes it a bit easier. We’ll be sure to keep you updated with more Disney tips and advice, so make sure to follow along so that you never miss a thing.
Click here for MORE unspoken rules of Disney World in 2024
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Have you ever completed the 4 Parks-1 Day challenge at Disney World? Let us know in the comments!
When I went for xmas last year I did all 4 parks and magic Kingdom twice on Xmas eve. Rode something and ate something in each park. I could have kept going if they hadn’t closed down lol. Wasn’t that hard for me but I get like an unbelievable amount of energy just from being at the parks. I just love it!
About 15 years ago my wife and I (left the kids home) did all 4 parks in one day on July 4th. Did at least one major ride and had something to eat in each park. Exhausting but lots of fun
You should have to do at least a major attraction at each park (if not a super headliner like Rishe of the Resistance or Flight of Passage). Rope dropping Animal Kingdom, going straight to Triceratops Spin, and counting that as your attraction just seems like cheating.