10 Disney World Tips for One Day Park Hoppers
Disney World is fun, exciting, exhausting, and expensive entertainment. It is even more exhausting for the One Day Park Hopper. Whether your visit to Disney World is just a stop along the way or a big planned vacation, follow these Disney World tips to help create memories you’ll want to remember.
Tip 1 - This goes without saying, but get a good night’s sleep before your adventure. You’ll have an exhausting day ahead of you filled with rides and lots of walking.
Tip 2 - Four parks make up Disney World. They are Hollywood Studios, Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, and Magic Kingdom. Prioritize the parks and rides you want to visit. This is essential for the one day park hoppers. Some parks close sooner than others, so first go to the ones that close earliest. Look at the map online ahead of time and have a plan.
Star Wars Launch Bay is the central locale for guests to celebrate all things Star Wars at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Inside, guests may encounter beloved Star Wars characters, play the latest Star Wars interactive video games, explore galleries full of treasured memorabilia and authentic replicas of large-scale Star Wars artifacts, including ones from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and have access to Star Wars merchandise. (David Roark, photographer)
Tip 3 - DO NOT lose track of time. Set a reminder on your phone or ask one of your companions to help keep track. You could easily end up staying in one park for most of the day and not have much time in the other three parks.
Tip 4 - Set a budget and stick with it. You could end up spending hundreds of dollars more than you intended by going into the shops and eating at the nice restaurants. Perhaps you will want to skip the shops until the end of the day. Unless, of course, you came to Disney World to shop. Here are our best tips on Disney World on a budget.
Tip 5 - Disney World offers free “fast passes” for the rides. Getting a free fast-pass saves you a lot of time by saving a spot for you to return to in the future. In other words you get to go in a shorter line. Be sure to be set on that ride, though, because you can only use it on one ride at a time, i.e., if you already got the fast-pass for the Indiana Jones ride, then you can’t get a fast-pass on any other rides at the same time. If you get a Magic Band, it provides fast pass +.
Walt Disney World Resort guests use MagicBands for FastPass+ access to experiences and attractions such as Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Guests also can use MagicBands to enter their Disney Resort hotel room, buy food and merchandise, enter Walt Disney World Resort theme parks and water parks, and connect to Disney's PhotoPass. MagicBands are part of MyMagic+, which has the ability to connect nearly all aspects of the guest vacation experience at Walt Disney World Resort. (Kent Phillips, photographer)
Tip 6 - Disney World has its own transportation system. Take advantage of the provided transportation to all the different parks so you don’t have to deal with all the extra driving and hard to find parking. The air-conditioned buses, air-conditioned monorails, and boat rides are the best ways to get around Disney World (plus, the tickets are a free souvenir!).
Tip 7 - Weather in Orlando, Florida can be unpredictable. Afternoon rain is common, so bring some sort of rain-gear. You don’t want to waste precious time waiting out the rain.
Tip 8 - Get to Disney World early so you can get to your favorite ride first (you know, the one you picked the night before) and avoid some of the mid-day rush crowds.
Tip 9 - Many people love the Disney World shows. If that is you, check the show times beforehand and note the ones you want to see.
Disney's Animal Kingdom's iconic Tree of Life will undergo extraordinary "awakenings" throughout each evening as the animal spirits are brought to life by magical fireflies that reveal colorful stories of wonder and enchantment. Projections of nature scenes take on a magical quality as they appear to dramatically emanate from within the Tree of Life. (David Roark, photographer)
Tip 10 - Most importantly, realize you can’t see it all with a one day park hopper pass. Trying to see all of Disney World in a day can lead to chaos and stress. Do yourself a favor and enjoy what you can.
Performed in the China pavilion at Epcot, the Chinese Lion Dance honors holidays such as the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival. Throughout the theme park's World Showcase, countries celebrate their own unique holiday traditions with storytellers and entertainment during Holidays Around the World. Epcot is located at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (Charlie Champagne, photographer)
Follow these tips for Disney World and you’ll be sure to make your one day park hopping experience a good one.
Let the memories begin!
Nathanael Nims is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.
All photos courtesy and copyright WDWNews.com; first photo adapted by Wandering Educators