Spoiler alert: it can be pretty hard, often a marathon (or more!). Here’s my experience as a middle-aged person in moderate shape.

Exactly How Much Walking?

On my family’s recent week-long trip to Disney World Florida, we walked about 35 miles over 4 park days, 1 resort/rest day, and one day with a few hours spent at Disney Springs. For each park day, we spent an average of 9 hours in the parks.

How We Did

• Me – I’m a woman in my mid-40s, and I would consider myself moderately active and in okay shape. It was a little rough, but I did okay. Thanks to my prep (more below) my legs felt good the whole time, and my feet felt good basically until the last day walking around Disney Springs, where they were feeling pretty worn out. I did take Advil a few days but not every day. My biggest issues were pain in my neck and shoulders from my backpack (didn’t think to prep for that!) and after our third park day I reactivated an old ankle sprain (thankfully it wasn’t too bad).
• My husband – In his early 40s. He was 100% fine.
• My 9-year-old – Did amazing. Our second day, he requested we do something “more relaxing” the next day (which we did by just hanging around the resort).
• My 5-year-old – This kid is a beast. We rented a stroller for him partway through our first day which was our longest day and he was jetlagged, but other than that he walked like a champ. He ran circles around me. He did request, “Daddy pick me up” several times, but it wasn’t bad.

How to Prepare

When You Book: Schedule Rest Time, Avoid Heat

Our “rest day” in the middle of our 4 park days was essential for everyone (well, maybe except for my husband who is freakishly energetic). I was really feeling it that morning of our rest day, but by the end of the day I was totally recharged and ready for more parks. We had a nice character breakfast and spent a lot of time at the hotel pool, so it was still a really fun day!

Also, while it’s tough to avoid heat in Florida, the heat will make any walking seem like double. I know that I personally do very poorly in the heat, which is why we scheduled a winter trip.

3-6 Months Before: Up Your Fitness

After a full day at Legoland last Spring Break, I was so wrecked that I couldn’t imagine a trip with multiple park days. I got some advice that full body strengthening could help, I started a new fitness routine with some YouTube videos that included a lot of squats, push-ups, lunges, and other strengthening exercises. I started this 7 months ahead of the trip, not just for the trip but to improve my overall energy and stamina for many types of activities. We enjoy hiking as a family, so in the two months leading up to the trip we made an effort to do more hikes (usually 2-4 miles) as a way to also get the kids used to walking more. 

2 Months Before: Find Comfortable Shoes

If you already have very comfortable shoes you don’t need to go buy new ones, but if not, make sure you don’t wait until the last minute to get new shoes so that you have some time to test them out. The shoes should be supportive, and you should know that you can easily walk miles in them (make sure to test this). Nikes work well for my feet, so before our trip I found these Nike sneakers that are honestly the most comfortable sneakers I have ever worn in my life. They feel like walking on clouds. Be prepared for blisters with bandaids, tape etc, but if your shoes fit right you shouldn’t have much of an issue with blisters.

1 Month Before: Find Comfortable Socks

I got some extra padded socks from Amazon for the trip, and I think this helped give a little extra cushion. I have also gotten recommendations for compression socks, but I personally haven’t tried them. 

Packing for the Parks: Hydration and Foot Gear

Lots of hydration is essential, particularly in the heat but even if it’s not very warm out. Drink water all day! We brought the following to the parks each day to make sure we stayed very hydrated and ready for any foot issues.

• Bottled water (placed a grocery order delivered to our resort)
• Refillable water bottles
• Bandaids
• Advil
• Extra socks

At the Parks

Strollers Can Help

We really debated bringing a stroller for our 5-year-old, but ultimately decided not to. We walk a lot as a family and he’s done several theme park days without them. However, our first day was Epcot which was our longest day with 12 hours in the park and 22K steps, plus the kids were feeling jetlag. By the afternoon our little guy was looking pretty tired, so I rented a stroller from the International entrance for $15, and it was a lifesaver for the day. He ended up taking only a short nap, but it recharged him, and we were able to navigate around more quickly for the rest of the day. The remaining days we did not use a stroller, and the kids did great! My 9-year-old did ask, in the middle of our 2nd park day, if we could “do something more relaxing” the next day, but that was the extent of the complaints.

See the Shows

Disney World has SO many awesome shows, and they provided a nice respite from all the walking and standing. Our favorites were the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom, Beauty and the Beast and MuppetVision3D at Hollywood Studios, and Country Bear Jamboree and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor at Magic Kingdom.

Recover

I mostly recovered by taking Advil and doing some stretching, although I probably could have done with some heat or ice for my neck and shoulders. I also tried to relax as much as possible on our rest day, so I stayed behind while my husband and kids went on a few little adventures. I’ve also heard epsom salt baths and topical pain relievers can help a lot.

After the Parks: An Early Period and Other Extreme Outcomes

The most surprising thing that happened was that all of the walking brought on my cycle almost 2 weeks early. This has actually happened to me one other time, when my husband and I did a trekking trip in Patagonia and hiked 40 miles over 3 days. Apparently intense physical activity over several days can bring on your period early, so something else to look out for!

I’ve also heard of stress fractures, intense rash outbreaks, and other extreme consequences of so much walking. So the more you prepare, the more likely you can minimize discomfort and really enjoy your trip!