Tell me why anyone would spend $ for a parkhopper?

[BeckityBobbidyBoo!]

Looking thru the cost for tickets, it seems that to add a day (after the 4th or 5th day) costs only $2 per ticket for an entire day. My thought was, if I wanted to go to Disney for 5 days and park hop one or two days, why wouldn't I buy a 7 day ticket and just use the extra 2 days to park hop. For my family of 6, it would cost me $300 to add the park hopper option, but only$24 to add 2 more days.

 

[Rachie0507]

That isn't how the park passes work. The passes are electronic and only allow you to use it for one park each day. If you want to go to more than one park a day, you must have the hopper option.

 

[DVCLiz]

That isn't how the park passes work. The passes are electronic and only allow you to use it for one park each day. If you want to go to more than one park a day, you must have the hopper option.

Yep,what she said. Otherwise, you can be sure we all would be doing exactly what you are asking about!!! But you can only use one day of a park hopper pass per day - if you try to use a second day at another park you'll be denied. Disney wants you to stay those extra days and spend more money!!!!

 

[BeckityBobbidyBoo!]

Ah, ok, that makes sense. When we went 3 years ago, we hopped and my kids were exhausted by the time we hit the 2nd park. I was thinking we might possibly hop on a day we did AK, but I think I'll stick to one park a day and save the $. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[SaraMc]

This is why we get the park hopper option. Animal Kingdom often closes at 5pm at the time of year we go to WDW. 5pm! I can only hit Downtown Disney so many times, but I could see Illuminations every night

 

[dementia412]

I was seriously thinking of hopping just so I could eat whereever I please... there is one sit down meal in Animal Kingdom 9which I wouldn't go to), and few I even have a slight interest in at Magic Kingdom... I like several places in MGM, but don't want to spend a bunch on days there.

 

[houseofmouse]

We never know what each day will bring or who will be up for a late night ride on ??? at ??? So we get the hopper and enjoy ourselves.

My DD and I had one of the most memorable nights of our lives in MK when after a day at Epcot my DH was pooped out, just the two of us hit MK about 8pm. Got a walk up window table at Cindys castle and saw the fireworks through the windows then hit Fantasyland before closing and went on EVERY ride with in 1/2 hr. Saw Mickey at the Mainstreet Train Station saying goodnight to everyone....

That kinda of spur of the moment thing is something I don't want to miss out on because we "used" our day up...

So we say:

Tix: $$
Park Hopper Upgrade: $$
Memories for a Life Time: PRICELESS

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Our last trip we skipped on the parkhopper. We figured that with the parks closing early that we wouldn't get our money's worth. It turned out that we would get everything but a few things in each park done and then with the extra 2 days we had to decide which 2 parks had the most that we didn't get to do. So to clairify we never did get to do everything in every park that we wanted to do and we had too much left over time in a couple of parks because we did everything we wanted to but felt like we were stuck there for the day.

 

[tiggermei]

Another huge benefit of Park Hopping I've found is that I avoid the park with EMH during the day but go only for the extra hours (especially nighttime ones). That way, I avoid the busy day in that park and still get the benefits. It has always tended to work out for me really, really well.

The main reason I get them is because DD can do everything she likes/will do in 1/2 a day at MGM. I hate to waste an entire day and miss out on more time in Epcot. So, we typically start early at Epcot -- visit future world, etc. and have an early lunch -- then we finish out the day at MGM. The bus ride is a nice break for her, too. We also do the AK to MK switch out, too. We do AK most of the day then hop over the MK to finish out the night. Even on non-peak days it works b/c we'll do the EMH days.

 

[scraptoons]

We stayed onsite in December. AK and MK both closed early. So we went to MGM and Epcot in the evenings.

I don't know what we would have done if we didn't have our park hoppers.

Our kids are young. We normally have them in bed by 8:30 at home. Naturally I thought they would be exhausted and falling asleep early.

However, we were surprised to find ourselves staying out at those late closing parks and watching the entertainment on the boardwalk. Then sleeping late in the mornings.
We would go to the parks for about three hours, go back to Boardwalk to rest, then spontaneously hop to another park (or two) later in the day.
All on boats, monorails, buses, etc.

The most favorite thing for the kids, was to ride a boat from the Boardwalk to Epcot, then walk through EPcot to get on the monorail and go to the Magic Kingdom. The park hoppers allowed us to do that.

We had a WONDERFUL time.

If you are staying off site, you would probably wouldn't be able to have such flexibility.

 

[momto2girls]

I think that Park Hoppers are really useful if you are going during busier times when the parks are open later.

However, for my family, they are a total waste when we go during non-peak times. We have young children and it is just too much of a hassle to leave one park for another when the parks close at 5:00 or 6:00. We haven't used the park hopper option on our last two trips (even though we paid for it ).

If you aren't sure if you would use the park hopper option, don't purchase it right away. You can always add it on.

 

[scraptoons]

I think that Park Hoppers are really useful if you are going during busier times when the parks are open later.

However, for my family, they are a total waste when we go during non-peak times. We have young children and it is just too much of a hassle to leave one park for another when the parks close at 5:00 or 6:00. We haven't used the park hopper option on our last two trips (even though we paid for it ).

If you aren't sure if you would use the park hopper option, don't purchase it right away. You can always add it on.

It is just the same amount of hassle if you have to hop on Disney transportation to go to a hotel, as it is to go to another park.

We did that with stroller and all.

My young kids were begging to go to another park when one park closed.
I was shocked to see them have so much energy to keep going!

Everyone is different.

 

[momto2girls]

It is just the same amount of hassle if you have to hop on Disney transportation to go to a hotel, as it is to go to another park.

We did that with stroller and all.

My young kids were begging to go to another park when one park closed.
I was shocked to see them have so much energy to keep going!

Everyone is different.

Exactly. That is why I said "for my family".

 

[BeckityBobbidyBoo!]

Just to clarify...I wasn't questioning why anyone would parkhop, rather why would someone pay for the privilege when (I thought, incorrectly) you could just buy extra days for a few $'s more and use more than 1 ticket per day. Parkhopping is cool. My dh and I did it when we went without kids, but for us (with our four kiddos), we wouldn't get the $'s worth for only hopping 1 or 2 days, we're trying to be as laid back as we can on a Disney trip.

On a side note: 3 of the kids got Mickey crocs today and we have a countdown calendar going with doors we open (like an advent calendar) with different character stickers behind the doors! We are so excited to be leaving in 3 weeks!