How to - Disney in a Day!!
Disney is such a huge park it could easily take you 3 days to make it to see everything, but we were on a time crunch. We were only in California for four days, so we had other things we had to squeeze in! We literally needed all 24 hours of the day to make it happen. We woke up at 4 AM, got ready and didn’t make it home until 2 AM that night. (We also had to drive 2 hours just to get there... and two hours back.) Definitely worth it!
Here’s how you can be strategic and do Disney in one day!
1. DON’T GO ON THE WEEKEND
I know this is sometimes out of your control. (I mean we only have a certain amount of vacation days.) But if possible, go during the week! Especially if all you have is one day. We’ve been there on a Saturday where it feels like the walkways are a slow-moving line! That’s like waiting in line to get in line. NO THANK YOU!
Tuesday is my favorite day to go. (No specific reason, I just like Tuesday.)
2. PLAN ON BEING THERE ALL DAY
To squeeze in as much magic as possible, you’re going to need the whole entire day. Which brings me to points three & four.
3. BE THERE WHEN IT OPENS
If you can make it there right when it opens, you have the perfect opportunity to hop on the rides that would typically have a long wait! We knew we wanted to hit Space Mountain first! Last time we were there, the wait was 2 hours and 20 minutes!!
- BONUS: Get a Magic Morning!! The Magic Morning lets you in an hour before everyone else, which means a whole hour of a less crowded park to enjoy!
4. STAY THERE TILL IT CLOSES
By staying after the firework show we were able to sneak on a bunch of rides that had too long of a wait during the day. We were able to ride the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster ride 3 times in a row, with no line! (My favorite ride btw. See above photo of me kicking Joel’s butt.)
Wait till the fireworks finish, then dash to the ride you want to be on!
5. GET THE APP & USE FAST PASS
It’s easy to plan out your day with the app. You’ll know how long the wait is for each ride which will help you plan out your day. Plus, if you use Fast Pass you know what time you need to be at each ride, so you wait the shortest time possible at each attraction. This way you don’t get stuck waiting forever in a line.
6. TAKE A BACKPACK
We didn’t have a backpack our first go at Disney and I regret it. We had no place to hold water bottles or wallets. When I got hot I had to hold my sweater. (Which is a minor annoyance but would have made our lives SO much easier!) Just do it. Just take the backpack.
7. TURKEY LEGS!!!!!!!
Okay you guys… turkey legs. I know you’re thinking “How can turkey legs save you time?”, but for real we probably saved two hours just by eating some turkey legs for lunch instead of waiting to sit down and eat. Think about it. It takes five minutes to grab one, you can eat it while you walk to the next ride and you’re finished by the time the wait is over. Yasss!