50 Fun Challenges to Try On An Epic Walt Disney World Scavenger Hunt

The hunt is on!

In the midst of an unprecedented season of change at Disney parks, guests are more than ever looking for ways to add magic to their vacations without emptying their wallets. The cutting of perks and arrivals of new upcharges like Genie+ has put a severe strain on trip budgets.

We’ve said it before—with some creativity, you don’t necessarily need an upcharge to upgrade your vacation. While there are many ways to do this, one of our favorites is to put together your own Walt Disney World scavenger hunt.

Scavenger hunts are fun on the best of days, but Disney parks are a truly special place to take one on. Disney is well aware of this—they’ve offered a number of their own over the years, both as ongoing offerings in the parks (like Kidcot booths, Wilderness Explorers, and most of the activities in the Star Wars Datapad game) and as part of special events like the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

Whether you’re a veteran parkgoer or are looking to add a fresh element of fun for your family to enjoy on your vacation, putting together a scavenger hunt can make for some incredible memories. Party members can compete against one another (you can even introduce prizes into the mix if you like), you can co-op a hunt together, or take one on solo (a real treat for photographers).

We’ve offered some ideas for a Disney parks scavenger hunt before, and while all of the challenges from that list still hold (some will show up again here), we wanted to offer some new ideas considering ongoing changes at the Most Magical Place on Earth. Take whichever ones you think will be fun for your family, then come up with a few of your own!

All Around the World

Plans for your particular Disney visit will play an important role in setting up your Walt Disney World scavenger hunt. Passholders who frequent the parks may have flexibility to plan an elaborate list of challenges while families visiting from abroad may want to keep things light, integrating the scavenger hunt into their pre-existing touring plans.

Most of the challenge ideas we are going to suggest will require entry into specific Walt Disney World parks—feel free to pick and choose ideas that match your plans and incorporate them into your hunt. We did want to suggest a few, however, that you can try in any Walt Disney World park:

Get a free sticker from a cast member
Get yourself an “I’m Celebrating” button but make the celebration something ridiculous. Bonus points if you wear the button in the parks!
Get dance videos in all four parks that can be spliced together (they can even be to the same song!)
Choose a specific silly pose and get characters to pose with you in this way in all four parks (this is harder with character distancing but still possible!)
Get mid-air jump photos in all four parks
See who can find the most Hidden Mickeys
Take a photo in all four parks with a non-character cast member—remember to learn their name and thank them!
Pose like a statue with a statue
Get a photo of some sort of animal mischief or cuteness (I’m looking at you, seagulls! As a reminder, please don’t harass the local animals to get your photo)
Try Disneybounding! Wear an outfit loosely inspired by a Disney character to the parks and get pictures

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is Disney’s most popular park, as well as its most attraction-heavy one. You could easy get very, very creative with a scavenger hunt here, but keep in mind that the high number of rides you may want to visit will limit time to dedicate to your hunt. Creativity is encouraged! Here’s a few ideas:

Find Tom Sawyer Island’s two resident “angry birds”
Get photos in the same silly pose in all of the Magic Kingdom lands (including Main Street!)
Find Magic Kingdom’s “bottomless pit” and get a photo with it—bonus points if you do it without crumpling into a ball of quivering fear on the way
See who can get the best “shadow puppet” silhouette photo in the tunnels on the PeopleMover (while staying seated—safety first, folks)
See who can find the most Pascals in Fantasyland
Get a picture that looks like you’re climbing the castle (via illlluuusssion—don’t actually try to climb it, Goofington. Can you tell I work with teenagers?)
Try to out-flex Gaston… or out push-up Gaston… or out-anything Gaston
See who can learn the best joke in Adventureland
See who can get a photo of the castle from the highest vantage
See who can get the highest score on Buzz Lightyear

Epcot

Epcot is a particularly nice park for a scavenger hunt—it’s already designed for wandering exploration, and it is full of unusual experiences and hidden corners perfect for those who want a challenge. Here are a few possibilities:

Find the hidden drawbridge (Bonus points if you catch a picture while it’s up!)
Meet a World Showcase cast member who is from the country they are working in—learn something about their country! These are a little harder to find these days, but they are still there! (No American Adventure—that one’s too easy)
See who can get the best photo of the leaping fountains (bonus if it results in you getting wet!)
Get photos with characters from all World Showcase countries
See who can find the most fantastic hat in World Showcase and get a picture
Get a photo that looks like you are eating, carrying, or otherwise accosting Spaceship Earth
See who can make the most preposterous Test Track car (and/or get the highest score!)
See who can get the best pose with a passing dolphin or manatee inside The Seas
See who can get the best “adventure game” style photo (e.g. Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted, etc.) in the streets of the Morocco pavilion.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is another ideal park for a scavenger hunt—particularly if you want to focus on the animals. You could make an entire scavenger hunt entirely based on who can spot the most animals (a great idea for small kids), or even who can find the most animals carved into the Tree of Life. Some other ideas:

DANCE! More than any other park, this is a park to dance! Both in Africa and Asia, you are likely to find an opportunity to dance in the street to live music with cast members. Make sure you get video!
Find the nightmare fountain—’nuff said. Best picture wins.
Take a photo fighting in Pandora squaring off to fight the Mecha-Suit
Get up close to one of the park’s scary creepy crawlies (in their cages, of course—unless you’re lucky enough to find a cast member doing a tarantula encounter!)
Find the cutest baby animal
See who can get the best make-yourself-glow photo in Pandora at night (some forethought on clothing colors is a good idea!)
Doors, doors, doors—great big doors are everywhere in this beautiful park. See who can get the most creative pictures with them.
Learn how to draw a famous Disney animal character at The Animation Experience (alternative if that isn’t available—observe Disney’s animal care team at work at the Conservation Station)
Settle in at one of the park’s two aviaries and see who can get the best picture of the birds coming to say hello. Bonus if you can catch video of the Great Argus Pheasant calling for his lady!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

I will admit, as an avid Galaxy’s Edge fan, I could fill this entire article with ideas for wandering gleefully through the Black Spire Outpost. It’s a unique gem within Walt Disney World for adventure seekers, to the point that the Star Wars Datapad game (in the Play Disney Parks app) is basically an elaborate scavenger hunt tool. The park does offer plenty of other possibilities as well:

Get a picture laying your hands on a celebrity’s handprints
Get a picture jumping while being Force choked in Galaxy’s Edge (bonus if Kylo Ren or Darth Vader is doing the choking!)
Meet Vi (the Spy) on Batuu and get her to recruit you to the Resistance—or help her avoid stormtroopers
See who can get the highest score on Toy Story Midway Mania
See who can get the best photo posing in the Star Wars Launch Bay Cantina (or inside the Millennium Falcon)
Try to find the person whose name pops up on the posters in the queue for the Rockin’ Roller Coaster (bonus points if it’s you! Get a photo!).
Find out how to skim credits in Star Wars Datapad (Alternate for do-gooders: Make the dianoga eye appear!). Bonus for whoever can get the most reputation overall with a faction on Batuu!
Get chosen as a volunteer for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular (when this show reopens)
Find the tiny hidden Millennium Falcon
Meet a Batuu local and learn their story—bonus points if you engage in character!
Batuu-bound! Dress as a Batuu-local (someone who belongs in the Star Wars universe) and see who can get the best photos inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Star Tours, and Star Wars Launch Bay. Bonus if you’re accosted by agents of the First Order.
Remain completely deadpan in a ride photo on the Tower of Terror

Our few attempts at a Walt Disney World scavenger hunt have been a real treat. Putting one together is also a great gift to give friends or loved ones heading to the parks who might enjoy a fresh adventure. Let us know how your particular hunt goes!

What ideas for challenges do you have for an epic Walt Disney World scavenger hunt? Let us know in Facebook or in the comments. Thanks for reading!

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