Do you really need a "hopper" ticket?

[Mynamewastaken]

This was an informative thread! I bought hoppers last year and used it once. I am buying a base ticket this year and will add the hopper on if I need it! I had no idea you could do that

[dzneelvr]

I tend to coordinate our park day with the evening EMH, so a hopper isn't a necessity. When we travel with our adult DS and DD, they DO hop, so I believe it depends on what your family members realistically use. IMO you have several years before you'll fully utilize the hoppers

[Soccer and Swim Mom]

We got the park hopper for my 5 year old daughter and I. I was so glad I did. Epcot just wasn't her cup of tea so we were able to do a couple things there and go to another park. It was her first trip to Disney so if it didn't have Minnie or a Princess on it she wasn't interested.

Also I liked that on the night we had dinner reservations at 1900 Park Faire she and I were able to go to Magic Kingdom and see the fireworks.

I am getting hoppers for our trip this summer which will include the whole family - husband, 14 year old son and my 5 year old. Daddy and big brother will be able to go to all the teenager/ cool things and meet up with us for meals and family time.

[Lynne M]

Moving to the Theme Parks board...

[Disney_Princess83]

We are AP holders, which allow us to hop. We are two adults and we like to sleep in but stay until park close. We often hope, especially when AK and MK close early. We like to hop over to EPCOT for a mean and watch Illuminations. Many times we have started at another park and hoped for EMH at another park.

If you're unsure, you can add it awhile you're there. I won't cost you any more or less.

[GreenCntryGirl]

We hop.

[Sparkie]

Originally Posted by tcherjen

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

I dont think your resort offers any advantage to adding the hopper. POR is not in close physical proximity to a theme park as say the monorail resorts or the Boardwalk/Beach Club area.

** This is what I tell my friends/coworkers. Just buy the basic ticket. Go with a plan or at least a rough idea of what park you want to do which day. If you decide to change the plan and would like to "hop" then you can always upgrade your ticket (with a few exceptions -read the Ticket sticky) to add the hopper feature. **

Personally. I have hopped and have not hopped. I have gone with tickets with hoppers already and I have upgraded after we arrived. On average though even in my longest stay of 13 days... we only truly "hopped" 2 or 3 times. On short stays, 5 days --- I rarely hop and even then its just to make a dinner reservation. I also agree with several others. Going with little kids, I have found myself not utilizing the hopper feature so much but going with older teens who are park touring on their own some... we have utilized the hopper feature so they could go to their park choice and the adults to theirs and then meet up later.

So my best advice would be this: just get the basic ticket, go with a plan, and add hopper later if it is desired/needed

[TomTi89]

Originally Posted by elaw

We tend to hop quite a bit .... especially when we stay at the EPCOT area resorts. (hopping between EPCOT and DHS). I think the only new "park" since 1995 is the Animal Kingdom and we find ourselves only spending about half a day there for any given day.

Last time we stayed at Swan, and definitely appreciated hoppers.

We split most days up to morning/afternoon, then a hotel rest, then an evening in a different park, usually HS or Epcot.

[MrRomance]

I think the debate about hopper tickets is a really difficult one to answer because each family or party has different ideas about what they want from their trip. Being from the UK and always booking direct with the WDTC, we automatically get 14 day Ultimate Tickets. Our tickets give us 14 days unlimited access to the parks, water parks and Disney Quest and we can hop to our hearts content. But hopping isn't right for everyone!

It really depends on your experience level with WDW, the length of your trip, how busy you like to be, how ride orientated you are,the demographics of your party etc. as to whether or not a hopper ticket is needed in my opinion.

For example, we are on our 12th (I think!) trip, we know what we like to do, what we don't, how much our kids can manage, etc. We know we don't want to ride small world, we know we don't want to see hall of presidents again, we know we're bored to death of the Great Movie Ride etc. We also know that we love Crystal Palace breakfast and don't like Garden Grill etc. Experience tells us that parks with EMH tend to be busier but making use of morning EMH to get the big ticket rides done is a good idea. Without that knowledge and experience we probably wouldn't want or need to park hop.

If it's your first trip, you're going to want to do EVERYTHING at the parks, so spending a whole day in one park will work well for you. It really is horses for courses.

Consider the needs and desires of your party and see if hopping is something that will suit you. If not, save the money!

[ses1230]

No hopping for us, to much time in transit, imo. OP I would tart with a basic ticket, you can always upgrade to a hopper if you feel you need to.

[kksmom92]

My DH and I had hopper passes the first year we went (pre kids) and had the hopper. I don't remember how much we used it. Since having kids we have never bought the hopper pass. To us it's not worth the added expense. If we are done early with a park we just enjoy the pool that day. That way we are refreshed for the next day.

[kim_o]

Depends on your kids' ages. If they are older, non stroller bound, then I would get the hopper. With younger kids involving diaper bags, strollers, food containers, etc - it's a pain to park hop and wastes a ton of time.

It also depends if you want a mid day rest. If you're going back to the hotel anyway, a hopper might be a nice option because then you're already using transportation. We just have our kids nap in the stroller on the go, and if that's like you, then I'd advise against the hopper.

[married2mm]

Originally Posted by 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.

For us Park Hoppers add some much needed flexibility and options to our vacation.

this.

although not park hoppers as such,because we're from UK ,as pp said,we have water parks,disneyquest and any or all the park options each day on our tickets.

my dd did not even realise park hopping was not available on all tickets,she simply thought it was the norm.
and that's exactly what it is for us.

[nooneshome]

We have been so many times we no longer hop. it takes too much time to hop and i would rather spend the money on something else. but, to each his own.

[Peter Fan]

The only reason we get hoppers is so we can make ressies at epcot more than once. Before "free" dining we never bought hopper. There is plenty to do at each park for a whole day for us.