Park Hopping or Not

[ZoZo]

For me, it depends on a couple of different things. I often go in October, during Food and Wine Festival, and hoppers really help. We often start the day at a different park (like MK), then hop to Epcot later in the day. We do this nearly every day, so hoppers are essential.

Also, are you planning to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours? If you go to a morning EMH, you can hop to a different park when the first park gets crowded. Gives you much more flexibility.

If you're not sure, I'd recommend NOT getting a hopper on your initial tickets. You can always add it after you arrive, if you decide to use it. It costs around $60 whether you hop once or every day, so have that help you decide.

 

[pumpkinmomma]

We didn't use them our first trip with the kids, and we really didn't miss them. We left room in the budget so we could add them after we got there if we wanted to, but in the end we decided not to.

I agree with the above poster that it really depends on your family, so I would leave it for now and budget so you can do it later if you want. Then, if you decide not to add it, you can use the money for something else (like a cool souvenir, savings towards your next trip, extra snacks, whatever).

 

[lions1995]

If you clearly are not planning on hopping, I would not get them. If one day you decide to hop, you can simply add the option to your tickets for $55 / ticket.

My wife convinced me one time to order the PH option. We were staying at the Yatch club and we "used" the PH one time. And that was to enter EPCOT through the International Gateway walk through EPCOT and get on teh monorail to MK. The kids wanted to ride the monorail otherwise, I would have taken the quicker route of using the bus.

We don't buy PHs anymore.

 

[OneBadApple]

We always get the PH option and use it a lot. This past summer we hit 3 parks on our last day. Started at DHS to ride TSM and ToT, then went to AK for EE and ITTBB. We ended the night at MK.

I don't think we would ever consider not getting the PH options. We like to go to one park in the morning, head back to the resort, then out to a different park for dinner and nighttime entertainment (Wishes, Illuminations, Fantasmic, etc).

That being said, when my sister's family went this summer I told her not to get the PH option. She was on a budget and we planned it so there was no need to hop. With 2 kids, I thought it would be stressful, especially being that it was their 1st trip.

 

[Albytaps]

Although it's a pain for us to park hop with 4 kids, we get the park hoppers anyway. We rather have the option than to be stuck in one park. For example, there are only a couple of things we like to do in AK and it closes early... we could then easily hop to the MK and enjoy the rest of the night there.

 

[NLD]

Depends how long your stay is.

If you have enough time to devote at least one day to each park, then for me... definitely WITHOUT. I find not park-hopping to actually be a more enjoyable experience.

 

[rapunzels]

If we stay off property, for sure no park hopper. If staying on property, we do park hopper, because we start early, go back to the room half way through day and rest/nap, then go to a different park in the night, with magic hours. When our kids were younger, it was especially crucial to take that mid day nap, then they were ready to go back out in the evening.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

We usually have park hoppers but last time I wanted to save some $$. We were going to water parks two of the mornings so we weren't going to 'hop' those days and then I planned it out so we didn't 'hop'. It worked out ok but I would much rather have the park hoppers to have more flexibility!

What I have heard - but have not personally done - is that as soon as you know you want park hoppers you can add them. So if you are at the parks and decide you want to add it on, you can. Someone else probably should confirm that but that is the word I've heard on the DIS

 

[kmb584]

I plan and often book over a dozen trips each year for friends and co-workers and I always advise on answering "YES" to the hopper option. The flexibility it provides is a true asset. The first 2 days are typically spent at MK and Epcot, the 2 parks where one would most likely not hop from unless they had dining ressies in another park. That frees up the rest of the trip to be full of choices. You can spend a full day at HS or AK, or the morning at HS and afternoon at Epcot, so on and so forth. I find that we really start to hop on day 4 as we've accomplished what we wanted to at each park by that point. At that time we can head back to each, whenever we choose, to revisit favorite attractions, shows and restaurants without being confined to one park for the entire day.

 

[lsulindy]

We got them our first trip and only hopped one day. Last trip, we didn't get them and didn't miss them at all.

 

[katt789]

I find that park hoppers are definitely a bonus! Our first trip in May we didn't have them, and there were a few days we really wanted to ph over to MK but couldn't. On all our other trips we've used them to park hop over to a different park for one ride/show, or even just a meal, or some quick shopping. I also adore morning emh, and its nice to do those, and hop elsewhere. I do think they're worth it!

 

[KimK2006]

Always hop! AK and HS are not full park days for us. No matter what park we are in, we usually do RD at one park, leave 3ish to go back to the resort for a swim or just to relax. Then we head to another park. It is usually EP for dinner because we like the QuickService food choices in World Showcase.

 

[LoriNKY]

We are hoppers. I actually think it's a must with kids. We've been going since the oldest was 2, and she and her little sis have been great about it. We'll typically hit 2 parks in a day, but 3 isn't unheard of. If one park is too crowded, we'll head off to another. We might do one park in the morning, go back for lunch/naps the hit another for the evening or EMH. Really, if you're staying on site and want to take advantage of EMH, I think the best way is to do EMH at the park it's at, then hit a different park later (or the reverse for evening EMH). To me, park hoppers offer freedom and a much easier going vacation.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We always have hoppers and use them almost every day. We start out the day where the wind takes us and then hop to the late EMH park for the evening. We prefer the parks at night. Occasionally that means staying at one park all day, but rarely.

I like this idea of hopping into the EMH park at night- esp during a busy week.

If crowds are low, then don't hop. If crowds are high - like a major holiday week, then it pays to hop.

Hopping means some loss of time. It also means you start over with fastpass collecting. So in a way - you lose more than just your commuting time. If parks are very crowded, then it is worth hopping. It also is worth hopping if you want to hit just a few rides in each park- something we sometimes do on our last day, and maybe on our AK day.

It may be worth hopiing if youa re staying in the BWK area, and want to go ot dinner in the WS. Certainly if they replace Illuminations, we will have great reason to do that.

If also matter what hopping combo you are talking. Hopping to/from MK is the most time consuming. It is not near any of the other parks, but often it has the longest evening hours. If you are staying near MK, then hopping in to MK is also easier.

Also, Epcot and HS make a nice hopping combo, because it's only about a 15minute walk from Epcot's back exit over to HS.

Hopping is also made easier if you have a car.

that said, over the last few years, we'v been able to go during less busy times, and don't hop nearly as much. As the new Fantasyland opens, I'm thinkig hopping may once again be a useful strategy.

 

[krb2g]

For us, park hopping depends on the kind of trip we're taking. When we stay at a MK or Epcot hotel, we always get them. Easy to go back and forth to the hotel, and easy to get into Epcot in the evenings for drinking around the world (or just enjoying world showcase). For the trip I'm taking in March, we're staying at All-Star Music for the first time, and we're only going for four days. I have enough doubts about being able to get everything done without hopping so we bought without. If we decided to hop to MK in the evenings (there are 2 evenings where it might make sense), we can add hoppers when we get there.

 

[eliza61]

My mind is in overload right now. Thought I had our trip all planned out.....then I heard about Touringplans.com. Now I'm second guessing my schedule.

So my question is, do you plan your trip to try and stay at one park for the entire day or do you like to split the day up with two parks? Just curious.

We don't go if we don't have hoppers. We generally go in August.
1) temperatures are hot, we go to 1 park, chill at resort during heat of day, then go to 2nd park.

2) If we eat onsite we like the ability to go to Epcot for dinner.

3) Provides us with greater flexibility. We love being able to leave one park if its unexpectedly crowded.

4) August the parks are generally opened to 11 pm, not including EMH, no way would we want to stay in one park all day. We would have nothing to do on AK days. Since that park usually closes at 7pm if we didn't have hoppers we'd either be at DTD or in the room. not our first choice.

 

[KB'sMom]

We go in January and I think they seem kind of pointless since the parks aren't usually open that late. We go to one park in the morning, spend the day there (usually until 5) and then back to the resort for supper and bed. I couldn't imagine wasting an hour to travel to a different park - maybe when the kids are older, but for now we go at a slow pace and take the time to sit and enjoy - we could never get a whole park done in half a day.

 

[kaligal]

Sometimes we do one park a day, sometimes we hop.

The hopping option is good, but a trip with no hopping is entirely doable.

 

[toeshoetink94]

Definitely do park hoppers! It gives you great flexibility. If you're anything like my family its a MUST.
We do things like AK in the morning until after the parade, and then head over to world showcase for illuminations. Or Head from an Epcot day to Extra magic hour night at MK. We also like to go up and back between Epcot and MGM, by way of boat. For example to an Epcot morning and then once you have the big ones out of the way (Soarin' and Test Track) as well as other smaller things you want to do, you can boat over to MGM for Beauty and the Beast show, Indiana Jones, or anything like that, then head BACK over to Epcot for Illuminations and World showcase wandering
This is how we do it , but it is a little intense. If you are more laid back, then you don't necessarily need a hopper, but we LOVE IT.

 

[bobbigrl27]

Great, We are going to WDW the end of April and I decided not to get PHs and save some money. Now I am reading this thread and am second guessing myself. Our DD is 10 and I can see her wanting to park hop.