Really struggling with whether to get park hoppers or not!

[GPC0321]

I've struggled with the same decision, and have wound up with hoppers. I've just basically made sure the two nights I want to view fireworks (Wishes and IllumiNations) are when we've been in a different park that day. But I also have at least one open evening when we could go wherever we want, and because it's going to be quite crowded, the hoppers are also our "escape plan" if one park gets way too crowded to be enjoyable.

However, I agree with the majority here that you guys probably don't need hoppers and it is nice that you can add them when you get there if you want to.

Have a great trip!

 

[Eoywin]

We aren't hopper people - we do go back to the hotel for a nap or swim at midday but we just go back to the same park in the afternoon.

But it's whatever works best for you - I'd agree on waiting until you are there to add hoppers.

 

[kwdw]

Given the content of your original post - definitely don't hoppers. Four days - four parks. You still won't see everything in any of those parks in four days, but you can do a really nice job of hitting the highlights.

 

[McKelly]

We never get hoppers. It's the one of the ways I can save money.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm another one who has always had hoppers, since there was another park to hop to we've gotten them. But, we are frequent visitors, used to go every other year, I know go twice a year. I would agree with everyone else, given your circumstances I would just keep the base ticket and if you decide you want to hop, upgrade them. Personally, I wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't go over to Epcot almost every night but that's just us.

 

[RMAMom]

I think I would reserve that hopper money for a scooter for her if she tires easily. She doesn't need to use it all day but you could park it in sections and only use it when she is tiring or when you have a long walk. (Epcot for example)

 

[GillianP1301]

Hoppers definitely give more flexibility. However, if it's a budget issue, then I would say just skip them. That flexibility isn't worth stressing out over the money. With your 4 days, you will have the chance to see each park and even if you end up finished with one park in half a day or even 3/4 of a day, you can spend that time at your resort or at Downtown Disney or resort hopping. There are always plenty of things to do to fill in your non park time at Disney.

 

[Vernie822]

In my case - someone who has been there, seen the shows multiple times, etc - I love the hopper. Having the ability to swing by MK for a morning then spend the evening at Epcot is appealing to me.

However, in your case, I can see the benefit to just sticking with a 4 day ticket. If you don't visit too often, you can likely get nearly a full day out of AK and HS, 2 parks that frequent visitors might say are half day. You can always do something like have a nice dinner after AK in the evening that way you can relax.. and you can always leave the park and come back to the park.

If you want to add them on you can always do that!

 

[hammie59]

I say no hoppers. Our past 2 out 7 trips were purposely done without them. Would I get them again? Probably. It just depends on the kind of trip you're doing. In your case, you're only going for 4 days and there are only 4 parks. I don't see you getting the value out of hopping. I would save getting them for a trip where you have more time, when you might have already done one park enough (meaning more than one day) and feel like switching half way thru on your 2nd or 3rd day of same park.

For a first timer, DHS is not a half day park and happens to be one of my favorites. If you go and feel like you've had enough, you can always walk or take the boat over to the boardwalk area. There you'll find 3 resorts (5 if you include Swan and Dolphin), resaurants, shops, bike rentals, and entertainment at night. I'd rather spend the extra money on food or souvenirs.

 

[stinkpickle]

We always buy park hoppers and jump to and/or from the recommended parks and EMH parks. We wait until we check in to buy them, though.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We've done WDW both ways. Not so long ago, regular tickets came with hopping. So we sometimes hopped. Mostly, we'd go to one park each day, then maybe spend our last day hitting a few favorites in each park, especially if any attractions had been closed.

At some point, we decided to skip paying for hoppers.

Later we had AP's, and AP's include hopping.

When we didn't have hoppers, we didn't really miss them. There are times when hopping can be useful, but hopping between parks can be very time consuming.

My overriding thought is this- planning a FIRST trip to WDW is complicated enough if you just cover the basics: which hotel, which dining reservations, and which fastpasses to pick. Second, there is FAR more to see and do at WDW than you could possibly see in a week, let alone four days. You simply will not see every attraction, you certainly won't see all the dining options, and you probably will only see a few of the many WDW hotels.

So I advise you to keep your trip as simple and uncomplicated as possible. I probably wouldn't even make more than one dining reservation. You'll be tied down enough just getting to your Fastpass attractions on time. Don't waste your money buying extras you don't need.
I say this as someone who has been to WDW many times. Generally, we ALSO keep our trips as simple and open as possible.

 

[DiannaVM]

Let me put it this way. On our list trip, when I first purchased our tickets I was CERTAIN that based on my plans we would only need a few hours at Epcot. So, I went ahead and purchased Park Hopper for just that day because I knew the rest of the days I would stay in the other parks. Well, soon after I did that I started to regret it but went with it thinking "oh, well if I don't use it then I can use it a different day". Yeah right!
In the end, right before we left I was able to get an ADR for Akershus, so that was strike one against using the PH. Then while we were in the park the day of, although we had enough down time in the middle of the day, I realized that our energy levels and taking into consideration that we would need to get back to Epcot in time for our ADR, the rushing to go to another park for an hour maybe two just wasn't worth doing. And during the days we had left over MK was crowded so we didn't want to risk leaving, there are too many shows going on at DHS that it kept us busy, and then AK has alot to see as well and our ADRs were early in the evening so it wasn't feasible to hop.

Long story short, I regret buying park hopper and should've known better. Of all my times at WDW I dont ever remember once park hopping, so I don't know why I thought it would be any different this time. Plus another downside is you will only be able to FP+ for one of the parks.

 

[Dis703]

We typically always had hoppers, but had to bring our budget down for our last family trip because our twins turned 3, which added significantly to our cost. I was really nervous about not having them, but we really didn't miss them at all. We have been going 1-2 times a year for the past few years and we can still easily spend a full day in every park. And on our one day we went to AK and they closed at 6pm we just planned for a 6pm dinner and called it a day around 8pm.

They are definitely not a necessity and for shorter trips I generally wouldn't recommend them anyhow. The extra travel time is just a waste to me. Like others have said if you are there and decide you really want to hop you can always add them.

 

[lustergirl]

Being that your wife tires easily because of a disability I wouldn't purchase the hoppers. Gives you more down time just to relax with her. Buy them when you go again next time.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'm in the camp of always purchasing hoppers for our trip, but based on your facts I'd go without them. There is plenty to do in each park for her first trip, particularly if she needs to take breaks.

 

[DSLRuser]

We do not get park hoppers any more. After 30+ trips, we just don't worry about "seeing it all". Also, we always go for 7-10 days. That breaks down to 3 days in MK, 3 days in Epcot, and 1 day each in MGM and AK for a total of 8 days.

we always do mid day breaks, and just go back to the same park at night. If we go back. we are in the parks from 9am to 1pm, then from 7pm to 11pm or close.

THAT BEING SAID

If I only had 4 days, yes I would have a hopper.
1- do morning at AK, then night at MK.
2- do a morning at MGM, then night at MK.
3- Moring at MK, then night at Epcot.
4 -finally, a morning at Epcot followed by a nit at MK.

 

[labdogs42]

Skip the hoppers, this is a budget trip. do one park per day and plan to come back again some day! This is your honeymoon, so, you might want to take an afternoon to just relax in your room, too!