Sell me on getting the Park Hopper

[familyatdisney]

I would advise to not get them up front but add them if you have to when you are there. It seems you are going in January so some parks will close early, AK and DHS, so you may want to hop to Epcot or MK to see Spectro/Wishes or Illum. We went in the beginning of May and only used hoppers once but this was due to the heat. By the time we spent most of the day at AK or DHS, we would be too hot and tired to hop somewhere else so we would just go back to the pool. But if it was cooler, no doubt we would have hopped. (I have 2 kids, 9 and 5.)

 

[LauraP0409]

You know I am going back and forth on it myself. We will only have 5 park days. When we went in 2007 we didn't do much in AK or DHS, we didn't think they had that much to offer, getting home looking back over the maps I saw alot that we missed.

I think we could do it without PH, but I can't get over the fact that like someone said, AK closes earlier then the other parks, we could leave there and head to another park and still enjoy more time.

If we had to do it without PH yep we could, I know we could, and we would have fun, but for me, I like having the option if a park is too crowded to head to another one. For me it is worth the extra money, and I know we will use them.

Sorry, I didn't sell you either way, but your post got me thinking about it again, and I think I am going to stick with having our PH. Have a great trip.

 

[Balt ravens fan]

I vote non-hopper. I would rather add days - which is cheaper! - then to add hoppers. Just my preference. I have 7 day tickets which is cheaper than 4 day hoppers. It's basically 10 dollars more a ticket instead of 50 dollars more. That being said if you are only there 4 days I would buy hoppers.

Good luck choosing, but financially over a longer time 6 days or more, I would drop the hopper.

(I will be there tomorrow - yeah!)

 

[perkinsrose]

Even just for the reason of catching Fantasmic!, you won't have to plan on being at Studios the day its showing. Just hop there late afternoon. ALso we've taken advantage of this for Spectromagic and limited nights at MK.

$200 is NOT negligible for our family. However, we always get parkhoppers and consider it part of our budget for WDW.

It's great to be able to take advantage of EMH mornings and then hop by lunchtime when its starting to get crowded.

We plan ADRs sometimes one for lunch and one for dinner at another park or resort--parkhoppers make this possible.

We also like stopping in at MK or EPCOT just for fireworks after spending day at another park.

In offseason when we travel, Animal Kingdom almost always closes at 5pm (we're usually done by 3/4pm anyway) and can parkhop afterwards.

For our family of four with kids under 10, parkhoppers are always part of our trip.

 

[perkinsrose]

I vote non-hopper. I would rather add days - which is cheaper! - then to add hoppers. Just my preference. I have 7 day tickets which is cheaper than 4 day hoppers. It's basically 10 dollars more a ticket instead of 50 dollars more. That being said if you are only there 4 days I would buy hoppers.

Good luck choosing, but financially over a longer time 6 days or more, I would drop the hopper.

(I will be there tomorrow - yeah!)

Yes, its cheaper to add days but you can't use more than one "day" on your tickets in one day.

For us to add days to the trip (if we could fit it into work/school schedule), it costs more resort nights plus more for dining. For us it would be more expensive to not hop but add 2 or more days to trip.

 

[Love2663]

I think that the primary determinant is your personal preference regarding touring. Like others noted, my family likes the early EMH, and then the ability to leave when that park starts getting crowded. If you are not an early riser, it would be easier and more reasonable to plan a day at a given park, and if a park closes early, plan a non-park related activity - Downtown Disney, mini-golf, resort activities, etc.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

One thing it depends on is how much flexibility you want. Last year, we did the non-park hopper tickets. We did 5 days--4 at each park and then on the last day, we had to choose our favorite park and everyone had to be in agreement. Something that was very frustrating--it rained on our DHS day, so Fantasmic was cancelled. Because that wasn't our favorite park, we never made it back to see that show which is my favorite show! If we had had the park hoppers, we could have hopped over there another night when it wasn't raining to see it.

Next time, we are getting the park-hoppers, actually the 10-day no expire ones. I will be using these tickets for 3 trips. Next year's trip, we will be using 4 of the days. I would hate to have to go to only one park for each of those 4 days. So with the park hopper, I can do the Sunrise Safari (I'm a DVC member) at AK on Sunday morning (one of the only days it's offered) and then also do PM EMH at AK on Wednesday evening. More flexibility!!! As far as money, I don't feel like I'm spending $200 extra for 1 trip; I'm dividing it out over 3 trips, so I don't feel as bad forking out the extra. So if you are planning on going again, this might be an option.

Another thing it depends on is how many times you have gone in the past. If you have never been, don't get the park hoppers. There will be plenty to do at each park for you to stay in one park all day. If you have been several times and know what attractions and shows your family likes, then get the park hoppers. This way you can do the things you like, go back to the resort for some relaxation time, maybe go to Epcot for a great dinner, then go to a completely different park in the evening.

Good luck deciding!

 

[summermac]

I'm spoiled from back when the hoppers weren't $50 more. So I can't do Disney without a hopper to tell you the truth.

I don't even consider it an extra $50..it's just the ticket price. LOL!

 

[ugadog99]

We have had all kinds of tickets in the past: hoppers, non hoppers, and APs. We also go twice a year for 9-11 nights each trip. Honestly, we rarely use the hopper option. Now, if it were for a shorter trip then the hopper would probably be a good idea. Since we go often and for long periods at a time, the hopper just isn't necessary. I would really like to go back to APs, but that is a ton of money for the three of us!

If finances are an issue, then you can easily go without hoppers and have just as good a time. If there are really young children, I never recommend the hoppers. However, if the budget allows and the kids are older or no kids then the hoppers are okay.

 

[RahRah573]

We go with park-hoppers.....our reasons:

A) We're there at least ten nights, if not longer, so with a 10-day PH, it's $5 a day for the ability to hop around

B) We like eating at the various restaurants in Epcot, so the PH allows us to do other parks with Epcot for lunch or dinner

C) If a park (AK) closes early, that's not the end of our day for the parks

D) If a park is getting too crowded, we can move to another and continue our day

E) If our group wants to split up during part of the day we can and then get back together later in another park

F) To us, it just makes planning a lot easier since we're not tied to just one park and its hours each day

 

[lurkernj]

We did the hopper option last year for the additional $200(4 ofus)and only hopped twice. I would have chosen not to do it at all except we were with extended family and they wanted them.

This year it's just DS11 and I going on a budget trip and decided we don't need them. We are just planning carefully how much time is needed in each park. If we are done with DHS early, we will go walk around the boardwalk, when we get done at AK early, we'll go to DTD for the evening. Don't feel like I'll miss it.

They did strategically place Fantasmic and Spectro to be on each others EMH nights (September), so we did have to decide whether to do EMH or the shows and DS didn't want to do the shows. If these shows were important in addition to the EMH, I guess I would've had to buy the hoppers.

 

[uncleleo]

I say hop if you've got a car. If you're dependent on Disney transport, limit your touring to one park a day. I'm not saying that driving is always faster than using Disney buses. I just believe that basing your decision on whether to spend $200 is less logical than fitting your touring plans around the other decisions you've already made (where to sleep, whether to drive, etc.).

 

[Mom2JPL]

I'm planniing our third trip and haven't felt the need to add the park hoppers for any of our trips yet. We're at the park at rope drop, we leave after lunch to head to the resort for naps/pool time, then we head back to the same park for dinner and more fun OR we go to a resort ADR OR dtd. It works for us and we don't feel like we're missing out on hopping. We take an 8 day trip and really get to see and do all we want, hitting each park once and then some 2 or 3 times; we let the kids pick the park on the last day and it works out great for us.

Have fun planning!

 

[blondemom]

We hop! I guess it depends on your touring style. While my kids were little, we would spend a lot of time at the Magic Kingdom. My older son and husband would go off to another park and meet us at the resort for lunch. We would also start off in one park, and end up at another one after dinner. We like the flexibility of leaving if it's too crowded. We like the flexibility of hopping just to see a parade, or eat at a certain restaurant. It completely works for us.

If money is truly an issue, you can certainly do a park a day. It takes planning (meals), and patience. But, you can definitely do it!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

We always buy the hopper option:

1. AK closes early so we go to another park.
2 . Don't need a full day at HS so spend the rest of the day somewhere else.
3. We often stay at the Contemporary so like to walk to MK whenever I want, then go
to another park.
4. Kids are teens so can handle this.
5. Makes easier use of EMH.
6. We have done 1 park in the early EMH, 2nd park mid day and 3rd park for late EMH. (best to have older kids for this)
7. Our family splits up with guys doing stuff at HS girls doing stuff at MK then we all meet at the same park for dinner ( could not do this with non hoppers)

The only time I buy a non-hopper ticket is when I buy for my elderly uncle. He only goes to the parks for 6 hours max. So it is not worth it for him, he will never hop. So if you are like him , don't bother.

 

[nicknamy1996]

Even just for the reason of catching Fantasmic!

Fantasmic is great, but I wouldn't pay $200 to see it. For this and other reasons I would and have had hoppers in the past. But to pay $50 a ticket for a 20 minute show is something I'd only cautiously recommend to a friend (we are all friends here, right?) I think you could get 2 adult and 2 kid tickets to Cirque (category 4) for that price.

 

[perkinsrose]

Fantasmic is great, but I wouldn't pay $200 to see it. For this and other reasons I would and have had hoppers in the past. But to pay $50 a ticket for a 20 minute show is something I'd only cautiously recommend to a friend (we are all friends here, right?) I think you could get 2 adult and 2 kid tickets to Cirque (category 4) for that price.

I guess I phrased that wrong. I would not buy hoppers if the only time I would use them would be to hop once to Studios to catch Fantasmic!.

If Fantasmic! was one reason--then you also benefit from other uses.

I think $200 for hoppers is worth it for our family to catch Fantasmic! (and not have to be at Studios that day earlier) AND to catch Spectromagic, hop for IllumiNations & Wishes and ADRs, and the ability to leave a crowded park and/or EMH considerations and the other things I may have mentioned in post partially quoted (Read the whole thing!). I plan alot for our trip--still like the flexibility of hoppers for us.

If $200 was make/break for the trip, as other posters have said you could still thoroughly enjoy yourself and the magic.

Not sure how many friends I have here, but I don't think I've ever made an UN-friendly comment/recommendation/post on DIS !

 

[jodeeb]

IMO I like the flexibility of the hopper. To me the extra $200 is not that much concidering the price of the whole vacation. I like to plan a head, but for our family there can be some variations. For example, not knowing how tired we will be in the middle of the day and wanting to go back to our hotel. Maybe or maybe not we will want to go back to the same park depending on how many things we got done in the morning. If we only use the hopper one time it is worth it to me. I dont want to feel tied to a park. If my kids feel "done" with a park for the day, but want to check out another I want the flexibility to do so. But thats just me.

 

[Vipper of Vipp]

Interesting how the votes are coming in. Reminds me of polls of whether or not to buy a new car or used. But ultimately, and just like the car question, it comes down to "Peace of mind" vs. cost.

A PH is just insurance. Will you use it enough to get full value of it? Who knows, maybe not...?

I bought it because I feel better knowing I can go wherever I want whenever I want, not because I'm planning on using it.

 

[sharadoc]

We don't think they are necessary, but our trips are at least 8 days. I agree with PPs who said that they work well on shorter trips.

Last trip we had 10 days and bought hoppers, thinking we would be all over the place, especially since it was January and there were shorter hours at MK and DHS. We only used it once, and that was because I insisted on it. Otherwise, our touring style is to take it slow and take in all the small stuff, so using one park per day works fine for us.

I also agree that transportation time could really eat in to park time if you don't drive between parks. However, hopping from MK to Epcot, or Epcot to DHS and back are very easy because there are non-bus options.

My advice - buy it when you need it and if you don't, then have fun saving that extra money. For our trip, we're hoping to not need it, then use that cash to upgrade and buy an AP.