WDW 46: Pre-Trip Brief

“Why would anyone in their mind try to ride all of the rides in one day?”

That was a question a lot of people said to me when I describe to them the quest of Shane Lindsay and Ted Tamburo, the two guys from Parkeology.com to complete the ultimate ride challenge of Walt Disney World they created, known as WDW46. For those who don’t know, this challenge requires a team or person to ride all 46 rides in one operating day. Days at the parks can last any length of time, but some days do run longer than others typically during the busy periods of the year like Summer, Thanksgiving, etc.

According to Shane on multiple accounts, he says “[WDW46] is like running a marathon and solving a sudoku puzzle at the same time.” Watching the recap video of their completion back in November shows a lot about what happens when a plan comes together. With it being their second attempt at the challenge, Shane & Ted were able to make several audibles throughout the 17-hour operating day, deal with closures of rides and being stuck on Pirates of the Caribbean for a long amount of time to complete the challenge and ride four extra rides to get the total amount of rides to 50.

The biggest question they get is “What constitutes a ride at WDW?” The answer: If it is listed as an attraction and moves, then it’s a ride. For example, we all know Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom and Test Track at EPCOT are rides, but since Tom Sawyer Island is listed as an attraction, the barge that takes you from Frontierland to the island and back is a ride. Something like “The Sum of All Thrills” in Innoventions at EPCOT is not a ride because it is an exhibit inside.

“Dan, are you nuts? Is that even possible?”

The short answer, yes. That is what everyone says to me when I tell people that I will be attempting the same challenge, but trying to complete it in a 16-hour day, one less than the creators. Earlier in the year, I attempted the “Magic Kingdom 25” with my girlfriend and as we had plenty of time to where we were able to even take a longer lunch and still finish before dark. The entire time while doing the MK25, I was thinking back to the day we were both at Magic Kingdom when Shane & Ted did the challenge. I thought, “If this isn’t that hard, I’m sure the WDW46 wouldn’t be as hard either.”

Keep in mind, when you are doing the MK25, you don’t think about all of the other things that you need to plan for with WDW46. How much time will it take to hop from park to park? What park do I use my three FastPasses on? That’s something you don’t think about on the other challenge because you are in one park. After finishing that, I knew I was ready to try and conquer the big challenge. The next question I had to figure out…”When?” I work full-time and am also a graduate student, so I am very busy when it comes to being able to set time aside.

But when I saw a brief period of time where I could take off work, not have my studies affected and, the most important, all 46 rides were open, I jumped at the chance of completing the challenge created by the Parkeology guys.

Planning is a giant part of this challenge, but the two most important things: Always be willing to change and have fun!!

So on St. Patrick’s Day as most people head to EPCOT to head to the Rose & Crown Pub for a Guinness, I’ll be attempting something crazy, fun and a test of my mental ability.

You can follow along, on March 17th, my journey on Twitter @StarCommand46, my personal page for the challenge, or by using the hashtag #WDW46. You can also see the other “crazy” people doing the challenge before me.

To find out more information about The WDW46 Challenge, you can visit the Parkeology website.