Do you really need a "hopper" ticket?

[chocovrdmicears]

We LOVE having Park Hoppers - for us, it actually allows us to slow down and relax more.
We enjoying getting up and heading to a Park in the morning...we travel during the HOT months...so an afternoon break/swim is a must. Then we head back to a different Park at night.
We don't use them every single day of our trip - but we love having the flexibility. One year we skipped the PH and I felt more pressure to see and do everything we wanted to at the Park we were at because we knew we wouldn't be able to go back another day. If we don't get to see a particular show or get to hot and tired to enjoy some of the attractions we want to see - we know we can always go back on another day.
For us Park Hoppers add some much needed flexibility and options to our vacation.

[mommymeg]

Originally Posted by BensWife

I've only been to DW once, and that was in 1995, so it has been a long time and there were a lot fewer parks to visit back then. Did you find it easier to stay at one park each day or did you "hop" around a lot? Thanks!

So here's my $.02. We have hopped and not hopped. Last trip we didn't add hoppers at the time of booking with the knowledge that we could add it any time we felt the need. We had 5 day base tickets plus waterparks. 11 people in total (2 families). Planned loosely each day just which parks to visit based on Adr's and EMH's. never needed or even gave hoppers a second thought. Honestly each park has more than a days worth of things to do and for us it just wasn't worth the extra money. If we were planning an extended vacation then they would have been considered. My advice would be to hold off and know that they can be added at any time!

[tiggspring]

I look at time as money in WDW. Every minute I'm not on a ride or having some sort of experience is money wasted. I also hate to rush. Conisder how much time you will use in transit. Is this the best use of your time? If not then skip the hopper.

DH and I used the hoppers 18yrs ago so we could eat in Epcot every night. On our 2009 and 2010 we skipped the hopper due to my mobility issues and having small children. We found the best use of our time was to hit half of the MK and Epcot the two days we alloted for each and one day for each of the other parks and a free day in whatever one we all wanted to go back to. This past November (week after Thanksgiving) we were forced to use hoppers as a package with Dance the Magic despite only have 3-4 hrs a day to enjoy the parks. However the crowds were a 1-2 (yes it does get that quiet!). In the few hours we had we got alot packed in so if we go back in November directly after Thanksgiving, I would consider it only because we were able to arrive late to fantasmic and get great seats because it was half full!

My advice is most of the time it isn't worth it. You waste time in transit especially if you take the bus. However if you want to eat in Epcot most nights or go at an extreamly quiet time of the year you just might be able to get even more in by hopping.

[gemini2727]

We usually add the hopper when we are already at our resort, just in case it works out that we aren't going to use it. That way, we haven't paid until we were sure. You can add it anytime.
FYI, if you are going to get the Water Parks and More option and the Hopper, get them at the same time, it's cheaper than doing each one separately

[Eeyore's Wife]

If you purchase the park hopping option and realize at the end of your trip you did not end up hopping you cannot go to a ticketing window and get a refund on the cost of hopping.

If you do not pre-purchase hopping and you get there and realize you want to hop, at any point in the trip, just stop off at a ticketing window and add hopping. No harm, no foul.

A few special tickets cannot be modified, such as Yes tickets, but your "run of the mill" Disney ticket can be easily upgraded to Hopping.

For us, we always hop in Disneyland. We park hop at Disney World if staying at an Epcot area resort. Being able to slip into the park for a Snack or to walk to the Monorail is great. Otherwise, we have a great time without adding hopping and have saved a great deal of money over the years.

[alecshawn]

IMHO, the hopper is the biggest waste of money. You waste valuable time traveling from one park to the next....meaning you are in 0 parks. We goto one park per day and get more out of our vacation that way. Besides...they arent cheap. Its a huge savings for a family of 4 to not buy them.

[alecshawn]

Originally Posted by tiggspring

I look at time as money in WDW. Every minute I'm not on a ride or having some sort of experience is money wasted. I also hate to rush. Conisder how much time you will use in transit. Is this the best use of your time? If not then skip the hopper.

DH and I used the hoppers 18yrs ago so we could eat in Epcot every night. On our 2009 and 2010 we skipped the hopper due to my mobility issues and having small children. We found the best use of our time was to hit half of the MK and Epcot the two days we alloted for each and one day for each of the other parks and a free day in whatever one we all wanted to go back to. This past November (week after Thanksgiving) we were forced to use hoppers as a package with Dance the Magic despite only have 3-4 hrs a day to enjoy the parks. However the crowds were a 1-2 (yes it does get that quiet!). In the few hours we had we got alot packed in so if we go back in November directly after Thanksgiving, I would consider it only because we were able to arrive late to fantasmic and get great seats because it was half full!

My advice is most of the time it isn't worth it. You waste time in transit especially if you take the bus. However if you want to eat in Epcot most nights or go at an extreamly quiet time of the year you just might be able to get even more in by hopping.

yep

[tcherjen]

We are most likely going to be staying at POR, will park hopping be useful there?

[Cap'nJack'sMum]

We had hoppers on our first trip. We have not purchased hoppers since. We plan which park we will visit. During cooler months, we stay in the park the entire day. Switching parks would take too much time out of our park time. During the summer, we stay for 10+ days, so we visit each park at least 2 times. No need to hop.

I think it really depends on how much time you want to take traveling from park to park. For us it doesn't make monetary or time sense.

[mickey2minnie1]

No hoppers for us.

[LovesTimone]

When our DD's were little, we stayed to one park a day but taking a break mid day, by 3rd grade we were park hopping, which for us means, one park in the morning, taking a break mid-afternoon, and a Different park for the evening. We love Epcot at night and really enjoy the different countries and food.

We still tour this way, whether it's just DH and I or our DD's and husbands, and one grandsons he's not yet old enough to visit. But we can't wait to take him.

For my family we just can not do the camando style of touring, we enjoy relaxing, pool, and napping... After all your on vacation!!!!

[fitzperry]

We like the flexibility the hoppers offer. Also, I've only skimmed the other responses but one consideration I didn't see mentioned is that being able to switch parks can be nice when the parks are very crowded. When we were there during Thanksgiving week a few years ago we did some hopping for that reason.

[minnie mum]

We used to get hoppers, then noticed that we might only use them once in the whole week. Even during spring break when the parks were crowded. It depends on your touring preferences, I guess. We haven't gotten them in the last dozen trips and haven't missed them.

I think they're handy IF you like to hop away from an a.m. EMH park or to a p.m. EMH park; if you like to dine frequently at Epcot, or have money to burn and just want it in case.

You don't need to have it at all. And you don't need to have it if you like to take afternoon breaks- you can go back to the park you were in earlier- this is what we usually do. On our AK days we usually schedule a non-park activity (a long signature dinner, HDDR, a pool evening, DTD, etc)

As with most things when it comes to WDW vacations- different strokes for different folks.

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We love hoppers - can't imagine going without them. We love being able to start the day at one park and head over to another after supper...pretty much every day we're there, we do 2 parks.

[em36]

I have two daughters and they think that they MUST go to the MK every day. We get park hoppers and do a morning park and a different evening park. It works for us and takes away the stress of getting the girls to commit to a non MK park for an entire day.