Shane Lindsay
I went to Walt Disney World in Florida every year
as a child and became obsessed. I now live close to
the parks and I’d be lying if I said Walt Disney World
wasn’t a major reason for moving. Now I go to the
parks around 100 times a year; I’d say I’ve been 800
to 900 times in total.
I had this idea of going on every Disney ride in
a single day for a long time. As a child, our family
wouldn’t have much time at the parks and I’d
obsess for ages over how to maximise my time
there. WDW47 required a lot of planning, perhaps
three months in total. I don’t need a map, of course,
but I needed to research operating times, predict
crowd sizes, and think carefully about distances
and park transportation.
I’d never met Ted, but we had a long friendship
from theme park forums online – it’s surprising
it took us this long to meet in person. We were
confident we could do it, but we knew it would
hinge on luck. Bad weather or big crowds could
easily derail us. Unfortunately a late-night torrential
downpour resulted in two rides being closed. We
managed 45 rides and did three extra before closing
time to prove we would have done it.
Ted Tamburo
I love doing silly stuff so when Shane told me about
WDW47 I thought it was so insanely stupid, in the
best possible way, of course. Going with Shane was
the first time I’d been with an equal, a nutcase like
myself who knows everything there is to know about
Walt Disney World. There were lots of in-jokes.
I know this sounds silly, but it was physically –
and quite possibly mentally – the hardest thing
I’ve done in my life. There were long stretches of
sprinting, it was very hot and I fractured my toe
about midway through.
At one critical moment – when we had to get
from the Finding Nemo ride to Test Track in seven
minutes – I was severely dehydrated, my foot was
killing me and I felt totally defeated, like I would
have to go home and tell my wife and daughter I’d
failed. But I was somehow able to push on through.
Now I’ve got my energy back I want to go bigger.
We’re talking about doing all the Disney rides
in the US in one day. But I’m also looking at the
possibility of going to all the Disney parks in the
world – Japan, China, Hong Kong, France and two
in the US – in one calendar day. It might just work
with the time changes.
parkeology.com
Walt Disney
World
Florida, USA
Opened
1 October
1971
Size
12,174 hectares
Scariest ride
The
Tower of Terror ride
opened in 1994 and
reaches a top speed of
50kph – with a view of
the park from 52m.
One for kids
Children
can control how high
they fly on the Magic
Carpets of Aladdin ride.
Landmark attraction
The Pirates of the
Caribbean ride includes
pirate ships, pillaged
towns and sea shanties,
and was the inspiration
for the four films
starring Johnny Depp.
disneyworld.disney.
go.com
Norwegian flies to
Fort Lauderdale from
Oslo and Stockholm
this autumn
The DisneyWorld record-holders
Shane Lindsay
and
Ted Tamburo
, authors of the Parkeology blog, created and
completed the WDW47 challenge – a daredevil attempt to ride all 47 rides at Orlando’s
Walt Disney World in one day
Right
⁄
The classic
Flying Elephant ride
has been updated to
include two rotating
squadrons of flying
pachyderms
Below
⁄
Ted Tamburo
(
left
) and Shane Lindsay
during the WDW47
challenge
“I’ve been to
DisneyWorld
800 to 900
times”
n
/ 0 6 3
