So close but so far away.

Cinderella’s castle was right there on the screen.

As a nine-year old, that idyllic structure beckoned me from both the TV and my sleep.

Needless to say, I’ve been dreaming of Disney ever since I was wearing my Minnie Mouse pajamas and watching Saturday morning cartoons. I distinctly remember shooting daggers at a second-grade classmate who was bragging about her spring break trip at the most magical place on Earth.

I wondered when it would be my turn.

It finally appeared 30 years later when my sister announced she wanted to celebrate her birthday at Disney. But visiting the park is more complicated as an adult. We were planning the trip, not our parents.

The budget and schedule were tight, but we were determined to make the most of it and see everything we could in two days.

Here are some tips for you regardless of whether or not you want to be (crazy) like us and visit all four parks in two days.

Beware, adventurers! It’s not for the faint of heart or those without good tennis shoes.

Tips for a Great Disney Trip

Get Help

If this is your first trip, you don’t know what you don’t know. Get some peace of mind by using a Disney vacation planner. Their services are available at no charge, and their experience and enthusiasm for Disney will spark excitement long before arrival.

Our planner, Bethany, helped us work through the basics:

• Updated requirements and policies (i.e., COVID restrictions, Genie +, reservations, park-hopping essentials, etc.)
• Hours and best times to visit each park
• Park-hopper pass FAQs
• Add-ons to get through lines quicker and save time
• Perks for visitors staying at Disney resorts
• Navigating the parks, including getting to and from the parks
• Planning meals – she helped us understand mobile ordering and character dining experiences (she could also make the reservations)
• Disability access service (DAS) pass and eligibility requirements
• Disney Photopass 

If you intend on planning solo, make sure you do your research on the policies. Start by using the My Disney Experience vacation-planning tools.
Hours vary for each park, and we were required to make reservations for the first park we visited, so this tool is necessary to stay on track. 

Plan your day

Once we had a clear understanding of the basics and knew our must-haves (Star Wars!!), it was time to think through logistics. Parks open 30 minutes early for those staying at the resorts, so we planned to be there as soon as we could.

Here are some considerations:

Transportation

Transportation to and from the park start before the park opens, so we wiped the sleep from our eyes, the adults (kinda) got their fill of coffee, and we were off.

From the Caribbean Beach Resort, guests can go directly to Hollywood Studios and Epcot by Skyline. Animal Kingdom and Magical Kingdom have to be reached by bus.

However, if weather conditions decline, the Skyline is no longer an option. Be sure to know exactly what to do if you have to change modes of transportation.

Time-savers

On the morning of day 1, we visited Hollywood Studios as soon as it opened.

Learn from our mistakes. We should have reserved either one of the most popular rides first—Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or the Slinky Dog rollercoaster.

Instead, we meandered through Star Wars world, which was super fun (try the blue or green milk!), but by the time we realized our error and arrived at Rise of the Resistance, the wait was too long and Genie + lightning lane was no longer available.

If you purchase Genie + ($15/day per person as of this post), you have the option of reserving a lightning lane pass at 7 am, and both of these rides became unavailable almost immediately.

Since you can only do one lightning lane reservation at a time, reserve your must-have ride as soon as possible, then save your spot for the next ride as soon as you get in line for your current selection (your Disney vacation planner will help you understand all of this!).

You should also consider planning your day by location. The My Experience app gives you access to a map of each park with the waiting time of each ride. We got better at understanding all of this the second day.

Mobile ordering

As much as we loved the idea of a character dining experience, it would’ve eaten too much time. Check out the mobile ordering option on the My Experience app to place an order in advance from a multitude of restaurants in the park.

Avoid the busiest times

Based on a tip from a family member, we wanted to get to the park as soon as it opened then back to the hotel to avoid the hottest part of the day and the crowds.

We couldn’t enter the next park until after 2 pm using the park-hopper pass, so taking a reprieve was a great time to recover, eat lunch at the resort, and rev up for the next outing.

Be prepared 

Pack smart. We experienced all of Florida’s moods during the trip. The morning of day 1 was cloudy and pleasant, while the afternoon was blistering hot. On Saturday, our evening at Epcot was rainy and cold.

Make sure to have your ponchos and tennis shoes ready. My phone indicated we walked over eight miles each day of our trip.
It might seem like common sense, but you’ll want to bring a backpack to store snacks, ponchos, and phone chargers.

And speaking of phone chargers, you’ll use your app a lot.

Many of the members of our party didn't buy the Magic Band and used the app on our phones instead. I purchased a solar charger from Amazon prior to the visit to make sure my phone never died.

Understand the height restrictions. If you have little ones, be sure you know what they can and can’t ride and reserve accordingly.

Keep reading for a breakdown of our trip!

How We Visited Four Disney Parks in Two Days

Day 1

Morning

The skyliner took us to Hollywood Studios bright and early.

We didn’t quite understand Genie +, so we wandered over to Star Wars. We should have gone straight to the Rise of the Resistance, but instead we visited a 3D experience then made our way to Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run.

Our younger crew members LOVED this ride and walking around Galaxy’s Edge and drinking blue milk eased the sting of our mistake.
Eager not to repeat our slip-up, we reserved a lightning lane pass for Toy Story Mania and found things to occupy our time until then.

We went on Alien Soaring Saucers, waited in standby for Mickey and Minnie’s railroad adventure, ate ice cream while we watched the hero parade, and since my son is eligible to receive a disability access service (DAS) pass, I got one.

(By the way, if anyone in your party qualifies for this pass, get it. Total. Game. Changer. My son was able to enjoy his experience because of it.)
Although the Slinky Dog ride was completely booked, we were able to reserve a time window to come back to it later using the DAS pass.

Eventually, we got on Toy Story Mania at our designated time. After catching the show Cars: Lightning Academy, we grabbed a bite to eat at a kiosk, then ended our day at Hollywood Studios with the Slinky Dog roller coaster.

Lessons learned: Know where to go as soon as you enter the park and take advantage of what Genie + offers. I regret not being able to experience the Star Wars ride or Twilight Tower of Terror.

Afternoon

Most members of the group ended up napping after a long morning. We made it to Magic Kingdom around 6 pm. We got to ride the Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight Over Neverland, It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

Lessons learned: 6 pm is a little late to get to the park. I’m sorry we weren’t able to visit the Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse, Space Mountain, and the Jungle Cruise.

Also, we arrived back to Cinderella’s castle for the fireworks too late and got a really poor view of the show.

Day 2

Morning

Learning our lesson, we reserved a lightning lane pass for Avatar: Flight of Passage while on the bus to go to Animal Kingdom that morning.
My son loved it so much I used the DAS pass to reserve another time while we waited in line for Na’Vi River Journey.

We then watched It’s Tough to Be a Bug and rode the Kali River Rapids (you might consider busting out the poncho for this one).

After allowing the little ones to splash in the fountains near the rapids, we ended the day with Kilimanjaro Safari then a delicious meal we ordered through the app from Flame Tree barbeque.

Lessons learned: Leave time to meander the park. Take time to enjoy the dancing, water fountains, and expedition trails.

Afternoon

I’m not going to lie; we were exhausted at this point. It had also begun to storm almost immediately as we got back to the resort after our visit to Animal Kingdom.

We weren’t sure if going to Epcot was going to happen, but we had paid for the park-hopper pass and who knew when we would have another opportunity.

After much debate, we purchased some ponchos at the resort gift shop and made our way to the final park.

The Skyliner doesn’t run in inclement weather, so we took a bus and arrived a little before 7 pm. One of the kiddos rode Space Mountain while I visited the gift shops.

Due to the timing and conditions, we didn’t get to eat our way around the world like we had originally planned, and Ratatouille was experiencing technical difficulty.

We only got to ride Frozen before making our way to the fireworks show. And since the park closes right after the display, we didn’t have time to do everything.

Lessons learned: We couldn’t control the weather, but this is when it would’ve been nice to have another day to visit Epcot.

There you have it! Trying to visit all four parks in two days isn’t ideal, but it’s doable!