Park Hopper question

[DinaG]

Hi, all! I'm excitedely awaiting our WDW trip May 23-29th with DH and DD9 and DS6.
I got a package for CSR with dining plan for 6 nights and 7day BASE MYW tickets. I didn't get the park hopper option. Please tell me if I did the right thing. Here is my reasoning - I've planned which parks will visit what day (MK 2 days, Epcot 2 days, AK and MGM 1 day each). I also made ADR for restaurants in the parks we're visiting that day. I figured that it'll take us at least a day for each park, so it's unlikely we'll be switching parks in the middle of the day. I also stayed away from the parks with EMH (we're never up early enough to get there before regular opening, and the kids will be too tired to stay past 10pm anyway) according to most guidebooks because the parks get crowded on the day of EMH.
Did I do the right thing? Can I add the park hopper option while we're at WDW if we decide we need it? Finally, since I have 7 day base ticket, can I use 2 day admission for 2 parks in the same day?
Thanks a lot!

 

[bgirl29]

Yes you can add the hopper option once you are there if you want to. And from what I have read NO you cannot use 2 days of admission on the same day to go to 2 different parks. Disney is way too smart for that trick to work. While we usually do hop it sounds like you have everything planned out just fine not to need to hop. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[disnut8]

The only thing I can see with your plan is that you will be there over Memorial Day Weekend which can get fairly crowded. We've found that Magic Kingdom on a holiday weekend to be unmanageable for us as the day goes on. So we switch parks at that time.

This is just me personally but I'd always get hopper passes. Both times that my son and his family went with us, they spent the last day "finishing up" with the things they hadn't done yet and wanted to do. A hopper pass was a must for them. Also, a hopper will give you the option of going to Animal Kingdom all day and then seeing Illuminations at 9:00 that night at Epcot.

Did you do the "wrong" thing? No. You understand what you are getting into. That's 95% of enjoying your vacation.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think I read somewhere on here that you cannot use two basic tickets to go to two different parks in one day. I remember that because I thought about doing that for my brother-in-law on our next trip and the answer surprised me. Someone correct me if I'm wrong and don't rely 100% on this information.

 

[DinaG]

Thanks for your replies! I do realize that Memorial Day weekend is crazy there, we'll be at MK on Wednesday (shouldn't be too bad) and Saturday (will probably be bad). I'm hoping that with 2 days to be there we can enjoy pretty much everything, and when the parks get busy in the afternoon - take a break for a pool swim. I guess I'll see how things go and if I need do I'll add PH option while I'm there. Am I correct in understanding that I can add it on even when we already started using our tickets?

 

[Faerie]

If you can change your second MK day, I would. MK by nature is crazy on Saturdays. Add a holiday weekend to that and it's craziness squared

You can add hopping once you are there, yes.

 

[briar_rose_59]

Yes, you can add the Park Hopper option even once you've started using your tickets, as long as it's within the first 14 days of use.

 

[Samar]

I'm not entirely sure, but I think I read somewhere on here that you cannot use two basic tickets to go to two different parks in one day.

You are correct. The machine scans the ticket for the DAY and if you try to use it at another park (say, hit MK and then go to Epcot), it will deny you access to the 2nd park. Epcot.

This happened to us in 2005. We bought our tickets at the Contemporary and the guy gave us base tickets instead of hoppers and we didn't realize it until it was too late (when we were denied access to the 2nd park). Would've upgraded but we were only doing Disney for the day and just wanted to check out some more stuff at another park (by the time we tried the 2nd park it was 7pm).

The following year we got the hoppers and double checked our purchase

 

[DinaG]

Thanks again!
I'm not sure how I ended up planning MK for a Sat. before Memorial Day, but I think I worked it around EMH (staying away from parks that have them that day). Is it really the case as most guidebooks suggest that the parks with EMH will be more packed? Or are most people going to hop between parks anyway?

 

[disnut8]

The machine scans the ticket for the DAY and if you try to use it at another park (say, hit MK and then go to Epcot), it will deny you access to the 2nd park. Epcot.

I just did one of those V-8 things by slapping myself on the forehead. I'm reading thinking, what the heck are they talking about? The second park ticket wasn't scanned. Huge DUH!!! You get one ticket for all seven days.

*goes off to lick her pride and remove the word "expert" from any mention of Disney World*

 

[jenseib]

I have gone and used the park hopper and then the last trip decided not to. It's up to you, but you can plan it so you don't need it. We did fine. If I stayed a little longer I may have added it on,(we had 4 nights) but we got by. the MK was really crowded the one day and I almost wanted to leave, but byt the night time after the fireworks, everyone was leaving and we jumped right on alot of rides. Also, we went on a EMH night th day we got there. It was a Sunday and when we arrived at 8PM it was crowded, but the parade had just gone through, and everyone was fighting to get through. After teh park closed at 11 to regular guest it was so nice. We stayed till a little after 1AM with our 2YO and she did great. We had little wait and rode so many rides. So the park hopper might be nice just to go back at the late hours and ride the rides you missed earlier.

 

[Samar]

I just did one of those V-8 things by slapping myself on the forehead. I'm reading thinking, what the heck are they talking about? The second park ticket wasn't scanned. Huge DUH!!! You get one ticket for all seven days.

*goes off to lick her pride and remove the word "expert" from any mention of Disney World*

Aww! lol We all have those moments.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

ouch, dont do MK on that Sat, u will just be aggrevated,or try this....sleep late swim all day and relax and then go into MK 3 hrs before they close(check and double check MKs hrs that nite) u will get exactly as much done in the last late 3 hrs that u would have gotten done with the crowd mob if u hade been there all day long(seriously)

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

We never park hop. We usually do 4 days-1 at each park and then the rest of the time we go to Downtown Disney, and do stuff around the resorts.

 

[DinaG]

ouch, dont do MK on that Sat, u will just be aggrevated,or try this....sleep late swim all day and relax and then go into MK 3 hrs before they close(check and double check MKs hrs that nite) u will get exactly as much done in the last late 3 hrs that u would have gotten done with the crowd mob if u hade been there all day long(seriously)

Oh, oh, I guess I should rethink my strategy! Is there a better park to go to that Sat.? Is there a better day to return to MK?
Again, trying to avoid EMH here's my planned schedule - should I change it?
May 23rd Wed. (arrive at 9am) check-in to CSR, go to MK
May 24 Thu MGM
May 25 Fri Epcot
May 26 Sat. MK
May 27 Sun. AK
May 28 Mon. (Memorial Day) Epcot
May 29 Tue ??? Our plane is at 6pm, so I guess we have a morning to catch up on any park activities we missed.
Your thoughts?

 

[DinaG]

bump

 

[beattyfamily]

Oh, oh, I guess I should rethink my strategy! Is there a better park to go to that Sat.? Is there a better day to return to MK?
Again, trying to avoid EMH here's my planned schedule - should I change it?
May 23rd Wed. (arrive at 9am) check-in to CSR, go to MK
May 24 Thu MGM
May 25 Fri Epcot
May 26 Sat. MK
May 27 Sun. AK
May 28 Mon. (Memorial Day) Epcot
May 29 Tue ??? Our plane is at 6pm, so I guess we have a morning to catch up on any park activities we missed.
Your thoughts?

Yes, Saturday is the worst day to visit MK for rides. I have gone Saturday night for Spectro but it was crowded and I had to get a spot at least 1 hour before.

You could go to any other park on Saturday but Epcot is a pretty good option, then AK and even MGM.

IMHO, I would swap Fri and Sat and do MK Friday and Epcot Sat. Or swap Sat (MK) with Sun (AK) and do AK Sat and MK Sun.

My guess is you'll end up back at MK on Tues as its the kids favorite park and there's SO much to see!

That's what I'd do.

 

[DinaG]

Thanks again, and I'm going to follow everyone's advice, and swap 2 days : we'll do MK on Fri, the 25th, and Epcot on Sat. 26th. Even though Fri at MK is EMH, it's in the evening, so I guess we'll have a chance to go back to the hotel and sleep and come back and stay later. Now to the next challenge - seeing if I can switch my Chef Mickey's ADR from Sat. evening to Fri. evening!@!!

 

[skier_pete]

I'm of a slightly different opinion on EMH than most of the DIS community. I think it is OK to go to a park on an EMH day ONLY IF you are going to go during the EMH. The parks may be slightly more crowded during the regular times, but the extra 3 hours (evening) with lower crowds will make up for that. So if you are going on Friday, you have the right idea, take a break during the day and come back for the EMH.

As far as Park-hoppers go, I advise anyone that is trying to stay on a budget to skip the hoppers....It's $45+ extra per person that doesn't really give you anything added...you get just as much entertainment with and without hopping, only without you have to plan more....but either way....NEVER buy the hopper option in advance. Disney let's you add it at any time, so you could spend the first 5 days in single parks, and then on the 6th day decide there are two parks you want to go to, and add it then.

SkierPete

 

[DinaG]

I'm of a slightly different opinion on EMH than most of the DIS community. I think it is OK to go to a park on an EMH day ONLY IF you are going to go during the EMH. The parks may be slightly more crowded during the regular times, but the extra 3 hours (evening) with lower crowds will make up for that. So if you are going on Friday, you have the right idea, take a break during the day and come back for the EMH.

As far as Park-hoppers go, I advise anyone that is trying to stay on a budget to skip the hoppers....It's $45+ extra per person that doesn't really give you anything added...you get just as much entertainment with and without hopping, only without you have to plan more....but either way....NEVER buy the hopper option in advance. Disney let's you add it at any time, so you could spend the first 5 days in single parks, and then on the 6th day decide there are two parks you want to go to, and add it then.

SkierPete

Thanks, it feels GREAT to have my hunches confirmed or to have a wonderful planning advice! I don't know what I'd do without you, guys, with this planning! It's the 1st time we're going with 2 kids (DD was there for 3 days when she was 3) ages 9 and 6 - and this is the first time I'm staying at a WDW resort, doing a DP, etc. - so I am SOOOO excited! I learned so much from the DIS boards!!!