Park Hopper yes/no

[Steph9072]

We are going to WDW the end of May. This will be our first trip as a family. Is a park hopper worth it or not.

TIA

Steph

[DaGrumpy]

Depends on what you wanna see and how many days you plan on spending at WDW?

[Bibbidi]

Personally, I say absolutely get the park hopper. It is more money, but we've found that often we will start off in one park in the morning, go back to the room to rest and then do a different park in the afternoon. It's easy getting between parks so that is no problem. Also, with little kids we've found that although there are attractions they definitely like at Animal Kingdom and MGM, we usually don't spend an entire day just in those parks. We like the flexibility of switching and if there is a ride you just have to do one more time at Epcot, you can hop back over without using another day's ticket.

[Erie Islands]

If you plan on being there more than 4 days and plan on doing the parks every day, then yes. Otherwise, no. Our very first trip in 2003 we were there for 4 days, bought park hoppers, and didn't "hop" at all. We got so caught up in each park that we didn't want to leave. Now that I've been a couple more times, we like specific things in each park and we definitely "hop". Hope this helps.:flower3:

[Mcbruns]

For your first trip - I would say YES!

[jenseib]

I have had park hoppers in the past, and used them on the MGM days. We did use it once on the Animal kingdom, because my DD hated animals. She was board and wanted "fast" rides. But if you want a nice leasurely day, there is alot of nice things at the animal kingdom.
We are going for 4 days this year and are NOT getting the park hopper. We just really don't see it worth the extra money for us this time. The only child we are taking is 2, and she will like all of it, pretty much. I plan on a day at the Animal Kingdom, 1 1/2 days at MK, and then not sure about the other day. Probably EPCOT.
Also keep in mind your dining plans. If you want to eat t different resturants, you will have to be in that park that day without the hopper. Also another thought is, do you want to spend the day at animal kingdom, and then hit fireworks at EPCOT later on? If you are really unsure about things, you just might want to get it. If I was upgraded for free, I would love it, but I personally DON'T need it.princess:

[mericletwins]

Personally, I say absolutely get the park hopper. It is more money, but we've found that often we will start off in one park in the morning, go back to the room to rest and then do a different park in the afternoon. It's easy getting between parks so that is no problem. Also, with little kids we've found that although there are attractions they definitely like at Animal Kingdom and MGM, we usually don't spend an entire day just in those parks. We like the flexibility of switching and if there is a ride you just have to do one more time at Epcot, you can hop back over without using another day's ticket.

Huge ditto here. Wee lov ethe flexibility of being able to go from park to park. If we find one epark is crowded and the lines are long, we go to a different one. We usually start off in the park that has the EMH first and as that park gets crowded around 11:00 or so) we hop to a different one. :)

[Steph9072]

We check in the 26th it will probally be about 9 - 10 PM. So no park that night bu ton the 27th we will start in the park. So the 27th - 2nd so 7 days of the parks.


Steph

[Barb D]

We're not getting them. All of the parks will be open late every day we're there, so we'll just stay in one park each day. This will save us $200.

[RachaelRol]

Yes, not only can you go from park to park, you'll also have more flexibility with dining. You can go to MGM in the day and Epcot for dinner!

[AllesonWonderland]

Our first visit is in a few months and we too passed on the park hoppers. Maybe if we were 'seasoned veterans' they'd be more useful, but this time around I think there's going to be so much to see and do that we will be fine without. Our party is 2 adults and 2 kids ages 6 and 9. We arrive late on our arrival day and leave early on departure day so that gives us 7 days in the parks. I've read you should allot 2 days each for Epcot and Magic Kingdom, but that you can do MGM and AK in one day, so that leaves us one day to hang out at the resort pool or go back to a park one last time.

The savings was enough to make me okay with the decision to not get the hoppers. Plus, if we get there and on the second day feel we made a mistake, we can always add them on at the park.

Good luck with your decision!

[Steph9072]

Can you get a park hopper for a few days but not for the whole visit? Or is it all or nothing?

Steph

[pooksma]

Hoppers are all or nothing. We love the hopper option and found it to be worth the money to us. Start at one park, back to the resort for a swim/nap, and back to a different park. #of days makes the difference for some people.

[Starr W.]

Hoppers are all or nothing. We love the hopper option and found it to be worth the money to us. Start at one park, back to the resort for a swim/nap, and back to a different park. #of days makes the difference for some people.

Feel the same way about hoppers, one park in the morning then switch to a different in the pm. It's worth the money for us.

Though I think with our WDW plans for the next year, AP's are going to work the best.

[LaraK]

We always get hoppers...we tend to do the kids' parks in the morning and ours (Epcot) in the evenings. Epcot handles crowds better and we get to go to better restraunts for dinner. Then we hit MK, AK or MGM first thing to catch the good rides before the lines form.

[MyZoeJane]

IMO? Yes. Always. It's usually impossible to follow Least Crowded Parks Charts without the option. A park might be a great option for the morning... but because of EMH or something, might be horribly crowded at night.

[JEYREB]

I will be going to WDW at the end of May also with my 2 DS (8 & 4) and my DB (Disney brother). We are so excited. This is not my first trip to WDW but it is my first trip with my kids. They will be first timers!! I did get the park hopper because I know we will not want stay at some of the parks all day. I know that we will like MK the best so the hopper gives me the option to go back to MK everyday if we want. I don't want to be stuck at one place if we don't want to be.

[spima3]

We are going to WDW the end of May. This will be our first trip as a family. Is a park hopper worth it or not.
TIASteph


Many here opt for the park hopper, but I have found those who do have already visited WDW and quite often at that.
For first timers I would advise skipping it unless you have extra cash and don't mind loosing it on something you may never use.
WE found WDW to be a huge and overwhelming experience our first time. We didn't even see all of one park in any single day, so you can easily spend your entire day in one park.
The only reason I can think where newbies might need the hoppers is if they are there during the busy season, as you could leave if the park you chose for that day is just too crowded. Not sure what May would be considered. We traveled in Sept. and the lines were short to non-existant.
No matter what you decide, go and enjoy and try to savor the experience.

lori

[Mcbruns]

Can you get a park hopper for a few days but not for the whole visit? Or is it all or nothing?

Steph

You can choose the amount of days for a hopper. Last year we stayed 6 days and bought the 5 day hopper. We took a day off from the parks.

[pbharris4]

I bought a 10 day Non expire, Park hop, water parks and etxras ticket for all of us (to last a few years) We've used it 3-4 timesnow and haven't park hopped. I wish I wouldn't have gotten the hop option. We usually just go for the whole day. It would have saved me some $$.

[tomshortridge]

YES on the hoppers if doing more than 3-4 days........too expensive otherwise.

DINING options is a big plus. I can do MK during the day, head back to the condo for a swim and then do the Studios for dinner and Fantasmic.

[StephMK]

Many here opt for the park hopper, but I have found those who do have already visited WDW and quite often at that.
For first timers I would advise skipping it unless you have extra cash and don't mind loosing it on something you may never use.
WE found WDW to be a huge and overwhelming experience our first time. We didn't even see all of one park in any single day, so you can easily spend your entire day in one park.
The only reason I can think where newbies might need the hoppers is if they are there during the busy season, as you could leave if the park you chose for that day is just too crowded. Not sure what May would be considered. We traveled in Sept. and the lines were short to non-existant.
No matter what you decide, go and enjoy and try to savor the experience.

lori


Ditto on the above. Our first trip was during Jersey Week in Nov. We did not have hoppers & didn't miss them at all. I had planned on 2 MK days, 1 AK & 1 MGM. We loved MK so much that we skipped AK & spent the last day at MK.

Our second trip, I bought MYW tics w/the hopper because the schedule was too hard for parks & dining to work the way I wanted. It is more work IMO to switch parks & meet dining deadlines in other places. We spent too much time traveling from park to park on the buses than I'd prefer.

Our kids were younger so once they get older, we may hop more but it wasn't worth it for us now. Either way I think you'll have a great trip!

[Barb D]

You can choose the amount of days for a hopper. Last year we stayed 6 days and bought the 5 day hopper. We took a day off from the parks.

I think what the PP was referring to, though, was having hoppers for some PARK days and not other PARK days. As I understand it, you can't do that. You're right that it's not the same as the old Length-of-Stay passes where you payed for every day you were in the resort whether you were planning on going to the parks or not.

Another note: for me a lot would depend on what the park hours were at the time of my visit. In my case, all of the parks are open late the whole time we're there, and we only have 4 full park days. I don't want to waste time traveling between parks. The only park I can think of that MIGHT not need a full day is AK, but I figure if we get done early we can go to Downtown Disney or the Boardwalk. We don't need to go to another park.

OTOH, if we were going at a time when MK and AK both closed at 6 and we were staying longer, we definitely WOULD get hoppers so that we could go to EPCOT or MGM later.

[mickeymom629]

Though we have always had the hoppers, we have rarely hopped. We either stay in a park all day, or return to the same park later. I think you should try to plan your days and see if you are going to find it necessary to go to a different park later in the day.

By the way, you can always get the non-hoppers and, should you find you want to hop when you are there, go to Guest Relations and add the hopping option.

I personally think it's an expense that is unnecessary and you can plan your days accordingly.

[lisaross]

we went for 9 nights - i bought 7 day park tickets w/hopper i did not think we'd use it but did it for "just in case" we did use it - we used it because we saw on the weather the day we were doing MGM it was going to rain at night and we wanted to see the nightime show so we went the evening before so we went to MK in the day and at night went to MGM to see the show. Also it was me my husband and two kids - one day me and my son wanted to hang by the pool and my husband took our other son to MGM to hit a few rides then at night we all went to MK.

I think the hopper is kind of like an insurance BUT you can also just add-it on at the parks if you do decide to hop!

lisa