Park Hopper Passes

[michelleiada]

If you are staying on site then park hoppers are a MUST!!! Of course this is my opinion. It is nice to be able to head out early to one park, head back to resort for a break and then to another park for dinner or for the evening. It just gives you a lot of flexibility. I can't imagine going and not having the park hoppers quite honestly.

 

[NLD]

2009--got the hoppers and used the hopping feature a lot (possibly every single day--there might have been one day we didn't).

2010--got base tickets.

Actually preferred the base tickets. Spent less time in travel. Got to feel fully immersed in the park of the day, rather than feeling rushed to get to the next park. Able to collect FPs in the morning and hang onto them until late afternoon and evening.

So in my opinion, at least at this stage in our Disney trip-taking, the parkhoppers aren't just an unnecessary expense... they're actually an extra expense for a lesser experience.

Guess it depends how you tour, how many times you've been, your goals for the trip, and how long your trip is, though.

January trip I've got base tickets again and imagine we'll stick with those, but if for some reason it turns out we need to hop in order to get to all four parks (lose a day to sickness, weather, or whatever), then we'll just add the parkhopping onsite.

 

[TwinsTwice]

Sorry for the questions....What are AP passes? How do you add Hoppers once you get there? I was reading this thread and trying to decide whether or not to spring for the Hoppers. We are going 7 days 6 nights at All Star Music. Traveling with 4 kids,6 adults. I booked everything on my own on the disney go vacations site. We are doing the meal plan with the snack, quick serve and table service....Magic Your Way passes are for 7 days of parks, but not Hoppers, right? Did I already pay for the tix when I booked?? I thought I read the the tix were non refundable....how close to the trip to I order my Hoppers? The website wants me to book the tix w/ the hoppers and pay right now....and we are going in Oct. 2012
HELP!

 

[Chuck S]

If you booked a package through Disney's website and bought base tickets, then yes, the base tickets should be included in the price.

If you decide later you need hopper passes, your base tickets can be upgraded. I don't know if they can do the upgrade at the hotel, or if you need to do it at guest relations outside one of the parks.

 

[DisGirl1971]

It depends. If you are new to Walt Disney World and it's only your first or second trip, then no, you don't really need to spend the extra money to get the hoppers - WDW is so huge and there is just so much to see and do in all the parks and to learn your way around, especially during a first trip, you just don't need them. We have been many, many times and know the parks and the property so well, we do get the park hoppers. I, personally, would be fine with not park hopping, but my husband and 2 of our 5 kids really like to park hop during the day, so we do.

 

[DisGirl1971]

Sorry for the questions....What are AP passes? How do you add Hoppers once you get there? I was reading this thread and trying to decide whether or not to spring for the Hoppers. We are going 7 days 6 nights at All Star Music. Traveling with 4 kids,6 adults. I booked everything on my own on the disney go vacations site. We are doing the meal plan with the snack, quick serve and table service....Magic Your Way passes are for 7 days of parks, but not Hoppers, right? Did I already pay for the tix when I booked?? I thought I read the the tix were non refundable....how close to the trip to I order my Hoppers? The website wants me to book the tix w/ the hoppers and pay right now....and we are going in Oct. 2012
HELP!

AP passes are Annual Passes.

You can add the hooper option to your tickets at your resort or at any of the park guest services windows.

Your reservation receipt/email should specifically say what kind of tickets you purchased with your package.

If you purchase tickets alone, with no package, they are non-refundable. If you purchased a Magic Your Way vacation package through WDW, then you can get 100% refund up until 45 days before your check-in date. If you cancel after the 45 day mark, all you lose is your $200.00 deposit and that's all.

You can pay to upgrade your base tickets to a hooper at any time during your vacation, you don't have to do it now. Really, if it's your first visit, you don't really need the hopper option.

 

[mickeyjen]

We love hoppers. Typically, on any given MK or DHS day we end up hopping to Epcot either for dinner or after that park closes (boat from DHS or monorail from MK). We love the ride over just as much as some of the attractions! Heck, last trip we all wore monorail shirts on our MK-Epcot day in honor of the ride over!

If we are using the dining plan on a trip (especially if its "free"), park hoppers are non-negotiable. We enjoy too many restaurants at Epcot!

 

[kidd_freeper]

Hopping costs $55 a person.

That's more than the cost of a day at a waterpark or an evening at HoopDeDoo.

If you have the money, the Park Hopper option is nice to have. But I think you can easily plan you trip such that you don't need it.

If you're on a budget, there are better things to do with your $55/person.

 

[Robo]

Hopping costs $55 a person.

Yes. And on a ten-day trip, that's $5.50 a day.

 

[Anal Annie]

Sorry for the questions....What are AP passes? How do you add Hoppers once you get there? I was reading this thread and trying to decide whether or not to spring for the Hoppers. We are going 7 days 6 nights at All Star Music. Traveling with 4 kids,6 adults. I booked everything on my own on the disney go vacations site. We are doing the meal plan with the snack, quick serve and table service....Magic Your Way passes are for 7 days of parks, but not Hoppers, right? Did I already pay for the tix when I booked?? I thought I read the the tix were non refundable....how close to the trip to I order my Hoppers? The website wants me to book the tix w/ the hoppers and pay right now....and we are going in Oct. 2012
HELP!

AP's are Annual passes and they include park hopping. They are a good value if you're staying for a long trip (like 10 days or more) or if you plan to visit more than once in a year. (Disney prices the park tickets so that the more days you buy the cheaper they are per day so 2 short trips of 4 or 5 days make for expensive park days if you buy the tickets for each trip separately.)

While the parks ARE big and there's a lot to do personally we always park hop and I can't imagine being stuck to only visiting 1 park per day. 99% of the time we visit the park with EMH's in the morning & leave mid-day to go back to our resort pool. Then we clean up & head back out for the evening to a different park. We feel the hopping feature is extremely valuable, especially if you want to plan ADR's (Advanced Dining Reservations) in a different park than where you spend the majority of the day. If you don't have park hoppers and you make a dinner reservation at a restaurant in Epcot then that's the park you're stuck visiting for that entire day even if you'd rather be in MK or HS. A lot of people make ADR's at several places in Epcot over the course of their trip - then you would be stuck in Epcot every day if that's where you make all of your ADR's. Having a dinner reservation inside a park does not automatically get you in if you don't have a hopper and have been in a different park for the majority of the day.