How long does it take to walk within the parks during peak times?

[brave321]

We will be at the parks the week between Christmas and New Years. I am trying to figure out when we want fastpasses and want to make sure that we get them spaced out enough so we have time to walk to the next one or to a dining reservation. I know that during extremely busy times it can take longer to walk. How long would it take to go from Buzz Lightyear to Pirates of the Caribbean? What about from there to Be Our Guest? In Epcot we have the same issue. We have lunch reservations at 11:45 at Via Napoli and dinner reservations at 4:30 for Tokyo Dining. Could we FP Mission Space at around 10, get to lunch, head back after and do Test Track, maybe Nemo Friends too, and then go back to Tokyo in time? We can try to do some of the fastpasses after dinner if it takes too much time. I just don't know how much time to tack on for walking since it will be so busy, we also don't want to rush everywhere so if you guys think I need to spread things out a bit more let me know! Thanks!

 

[Micca]

You may find during the Christmas-New Years week that you take whatever FP you can get your hands on. Other than entering at park opening or exiting at park closing I don't think you'll need more than a couple of extra minutes to get from point a to point b. It's probably more of a problem at MK than the other parks.

 

[tinka-belle]

Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are next to each other. Getting to Pirates in Adventureland means getting to land across the park and back again. Too much back and forth IF you can avoid it, lots of walking even without a crowd.

Not as bad with Epcot, but again we try to avoid FW to WS and back again unless FW is on the way into or out of or both to the park. The Friendship boats in WS make crossing to the far end a little easier if you don't want to walk all the way around.

We try (don't always succeed) to make a progression around the parks with FP and ADRs so we are not backtracking too much. Not always easy to plan this way, but saves a lot of steps and time.

 

[Skippyboo]

Don't forget your Fastpasses are for an hour window so you just have to tap in before the hour is up. The MDE isn't going to let you schedule another Fastpasses within the window of another Fastpasses.

The MDE app will give to directions and time estimate to walk between 2 points at Disney. I just did it from Buzz to Pirates was 7 min walk.

In Epcot, if you time it right you can use the shuttle boats to get across the lagoon.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We will be at the parks the week between Christmas and New Years. I am trying to figure out when we want fastpasses and want to make sure that we get them spaced out enough so we have time to walk to the next one or to a dining reservation. I know that during extremely busy times it can take longer to walk. How long would it take to go from Buzz Lightyear to Pirates of the Caribbean? What about from there to Be Our Guest? In Epcot we have the same issue. We have lunch reservations at 11:45 at Via Napoli and dinner reservations at 4:30 for Tokyo Dining. Could we FP Mission Space at around 10, get to lunch, head back after and do Test Track, maybe Nemo Friends too, and then go back to Tokyo in time? We can try to do some of the fastpasses after dinner if it takes too much time. I just don't know how much time to tack on for walking since it will be so busy, we also don't want to rush everywhere so if you guys think I need to spread things out a bit more let me know! Thanks!

With any trip, Christmas week or otherwise, my biggest piece of advice is to try to consolidate your attractions/dining as much as possible.

During Christmas week, most specifically in MK, it will literally be shoulder-to-shoulder people. Add the scooters and strollers in and not only does it take longer, but walking there is not pleasant at all. If you FP+ Buzz, say, at 10 am and POTC at 11 am, you'll make it, but it won't be fun. I would be more apt to book Buzz, then do BOG and then walk to Pirates. The less you can criss cross the park the better.

For EP, I wouldn't do that touring plan on a non-crowded day. Personally, if you want to keep those ADR's at those times, I would get some things done in FW before 11 am, head to Via Napoli, walk around WS, eat at Tokyo Dining and then head back to FW for more attractions. No way would I be going back and forth from FW and WS twice in a day.

 

[brave321]

With any trip, Christmas week or otherwise, my biggest piece of advice is to try to consolidate your attractions/dining as much as possible.

During Christmas week, most specifically in MK, it will literally be shoulder-to-shoulder people. Add the scooters and strollers in and not only does it take longer, but walking there is not pleasant at all. If you FP+ Buzz, say, at 10 am and POTC at 11 am, you'll make it, but it won't be fun. I would be more apt to book Buzz, then do BOG and then walk to Pirates. The less you can criss cross the park the better.

For EP, I wouldn't do that touring plan on a non-crowded day. Personally, if you want to keep those ADR's at those times, I would get some things done in FW before 11 am, head to Via Napoli, walk around WS, eat at Tokyo Dining and then head back to FW for more attractions. No way would I be going back and forth from FW and WS twice in a day.

I think we're gonna plan on doing something like this. Hopefully we can get the times we want!

 

[Klayfish]

With any trip, Christmas week or otherwise, my biggest piece of advice is to try to consolidate your attractions/dining as much as possible.

During Christmas week, most specifically in MK, it will literally be shoulder-to-shoulder people. Add the scooters and strollers in and not only does it take longer, but walking there is not pleasant at all. If you FP+ Buzz, say, at 10 am and POTC at 11 am, you'll make it, but it won't be fun. I would be more apt to book Buzz, then do BOG and then walk to Pirates. The less you can criss cross the park the better.

For EP, I wouldn't do that touring plan on a non-crowded day. Personally, if you want to keep those ADR's at those times, I would get some things done in FW before 11 am, head to Via Napoli, walk around WS, eat at Tokyo Dining and then head back to FW for more attractions. No way would I be going back and forth from FW and WS twice in a day.

I would disagree with this. Busy, sure. Literally shoulder to shoulder, not for the most part. Only spots where I saw that was in the narrow walkway near IASM (and only once) and in the hub around firework time. It may take a little bit longer to walk through the park than it would on a Wednesday morning in June, but it's not really all that bad.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would disagree with this. Busy, sure. Literally shoulder to shoulder, not for the most part. Only spots where I saw that was in the narrow walkway near IASM (and only once) and in the hub around firework time. It may take a little bit longer to walk through the park than it would on a Wednesday morning in June, but it's not really all that bad.

You can disagree all you want, but I am writing from personal experience. Frontierland was shoulder-to-shoulder people. Fantasyland as well. We could barely walk. We took a break at one point at the face painting station in Tomorrowland because it was literally the only place we could find to sit (yes, I basically paid $16 to sit down in MK) and getting out of Tomorrowland to head toward the exit was nothing short of miraculous. We couldn't move. The people in scooters couldn't get out (there wasn't enough space) and it literally put foot traffic in Tomorrowland at a standstill. Been there. Done it. Reporting my experience. As I said, I'm specifically speaking of MK. We didn't have this problem in the other parks except in EP WS during CP performance times. FW in the evenings DURING CP was awesome.

 

[willowthedog]

Disney that week is a nightmare! I've been twice (once as an adult and then as an adult w/ kids). It is SO crowded. Agree it's shoulder-to-shoulder almost everywhere you go. I agree try to schedule things in close proximity. Also, make sure where you are going to be and times don't intersect parades and such. The worst was when we made ADR and there was a parade at Magic Kingdom and we couldn't get across the road. It was horrible (plus add in fighting the crowd). Most of the time we felt like fish swimming the wrong way in a stream. LONG lines for everything - including the bathroom. Really I'd sign up for a FP just to pee!

 

[elaine amj]

That Epcot plan sounds rough. Walking around World Showcase in particular ...even if u have plenty of time and are strolling....takes forever and ever. If u need to make it to an ADR/FP, it's 10 times worse. And even getting from Test Track to Memo is a trek. And I enjoy walking and hike regularly.

I would not travel back to WS more than once. It's worth changing your ADRs to avoid this. And I like to travel for my ADRs. And world Showcase during Christmas week around dinnertime was a madhouse. I was travelling from the Candlelight processional to head to the boats to DHS. That was one of the worst crowds that week...comparable to after MK fireworks on a very busy day. We are very good at working through crowds and still could barely move.

 

[mom22boys]

You can disagree all you want, but I am writing from personal experience. Frontierland was shoulder-to-shoulder people. Fantasyland as well. We could barely walk. We took a break at one point at the face painting station in Tomorrowland because it was literally the only place we could find to sit (yes, I basically paid $16 to sit down in MK) and getting out of Tomorrowland to head toward the exit was nothing short of miraculous. We couldn't move. The people in scooters couldn't get out (there wasn't enough space) and it literally put foot traffic in Tomorrowland at a standstill. Been there. Done it. Reporting my experience. As I said, I'm specifically speaking of MK. We didn't have this problem in the other parks except in EP WS during CP performance times. FW in the evenings DURING CP was awesome.

Was this experience in MK on Christmas Day or was MK like this the entire week? To be honest, it sounds a little scary and unsafe. Yikes! We are traveling from 12/31 until 1/5. I am a little nervous.

 

[disneyvoice]

We had the "shoulder to shoulder" experience beginning a few days before Christmas through a few days after Christmas when we went at that time of year as well. It was a last minute trip and we had to stay off property because the only available rooms were ridiculously expensive suites at some of the deluxe resorts. We knew going in that it was going to be crazy so we went to the parks at rope drop and then left when we felt like we were being swallowed whole by the crowds - that seemed to be about noon at MK. Even trying to get OUT of MK was a exercise in patience as Main Street was also wall to wall people. The other parks weren't as bad but still very crowded.

Doing that time of the year in the future I would throw out any kind of touring plan that has you walking back back and forth in order to maximize rides. I would find it much more pleasant to miss out on some rides in order to just do everything you can in one area at a time. It was THAT crazy when we were there. Once the crowds got bad in the afternoon, my DH and I looked at each other and decided our crowd discomfort was overriding our desire to be there so we would leave. With that said, we still had a FANTASTIC time at WDW at Christmas. There is so much to see and do that isn't ride related, especially at the resorts and shopping at Disney Springs is fun around the holidays. To me Christmas at WDW is more about enjoying the atmosphere than trying to pack in as many rides as possible.

 

[CAS239]

Walking time really isn't affected in terms of crowds. You might add an extra 30 seconds or so to a walk but it's not like you'll be adding 10 extra minutes vs a low crowd

 

[Gehrig1B]

Was this experience in MK on Christmas Day or was MK like this the entire week? To be honest, it sounds a little scary and unsafe. Yikes! We are traveling from 12/31 until 1/5. I am a little nervous.

We usually visit on the same dates you are visiting. We arrive 30 December this year. Other than NYE, we have not experienced shoulder to shoulder crowds. You will be fine. Take advantage of early mornings and fastpass the more crowded times during the day. Hoppers allow you to switch parks if necessary as well.

We try to stack fastpasses one after another to get all three done within a short period of time (just over an hour). Then we look for extra FP+s using the MDE app.

 

[mom22boys]

We usually visit on the same dates you are visiting. We arrive 30 December this year. Other than NYE, we have not experienced shoulder to shoulder crowds. You will be fine. Take advantage of early mornings and fastpass the more crowded times during the day. Hoppers allow you to switch parks if necessary as well.

We try to stack fastpasses one after another to get all three done within a short period of time (just over an hour). Then we look for extra FP+s using the MDE app.

Thank you. You made me feel better.

 

[JeanfromBNA]

Via Napoli at noon followed by Tokyo Dining at 4:30 sounds like a lot of food and a lot of time on table service meals. I'd drop one and replace it with a counter service meal or snack when you get hungry.

 

[brave321]

We ended up switching it to Tokyo Dining at 12:20 and Via Napoli at 6:00. We're gonna do our FPs in the morning before lunch then head over to Tokyo. The plan is to find a place to chill out after dinner for a few hours then try to find a good spot for fireworks. Maybe on the Tokyo balcony maybe somewhere else we find