To hop or not to hop?

[Jessieknj]

My son will be almost 6 when we go in January. When we went in Dec09 we did magic your way tickets but found that sometimes we were done in a park by 1 or 2pm since it wasn't crowded at all. It's usually a bit chilly for swimming so pool breaks are out. I'm thinking this trip maybe the hoppers would be worth it. At least if we finished up early we could head over to another park for a few hours.

What are your thoughts with kids at this age. He doesn't nap EVER lol even when he's sick.

 

[okw19]

My DD isn't that age yet, but growing up we have ALWAYS gotten hoppers. It is awesome to be able to spend the morning in one park, and then go to another. I say it's worth it IMO. I'm going in January too, and the light crowds make it even easier to hop.

 

[imthatgirl]

I like to have the flexibility of the hoppers. We like to go to a park in the morning, then go back to the resort where we can take advantage of what the resorts have to offer. We rent boats, bike ride, swim(the pools are heated so we would still swim in January) whatever our resort has. then we like to go back to the parks in the evening. This is where I like to have the option of going to a different park. We really love MK at night, Splash mountain and Big Thunder are both slightly different in the dark. We also like Epcot at night, but wouldn't want to go to DHS at night and can't go to AK at night.

We have never napped at WDW either, even when the kids were little.

 

[Hootch]

always had the park hopping option and that goes back to when we had three year olds. We have usually done the summer so the pool break and hot afternoons.

I still think that early morning EMH are the best way to hit the most popular rides more than once. In June, when we normally go, the park with AM EMH starts getting really crowded around lunch time. The park hopping option allows us to go somewhere else.

Another benefit we have identified recently is the end of trip multi park close. This past trip the kids wanted to hit Test Track, Soarin', Peter Pan, Dumbo, etc on the last day. Epcot had AM EMH. We rode Test Track and got fast passes for Soarin' before heading to the MK. We missed the opening show at MK but were able to get to Fantasyland for the kids to ride rides several times.

 

[itsdisneytime]

I'll throw my 2 cents worth in... my daughter is 9 years old and well, we have gone several times in the past ---

we usually always go the end of Jan -- and we have no problems swimming in the pool (our resort has heated pools) ... and if you get in the sun when you get out your just fine .. but,

Ive never hopped. To me, it is just too much sensory overload. I admit we too are usually finished with the park by like 4pm at the latest ... and well, we just go back to the hotel and shower up ... go get something to eat .. maybe do downtown disney for a bit (daughter LOVES LOVES LOVES) the dance party (and its free -- BONUS) .. Im sure as sure can be that my spitfire of a child could and would hop from here to kingdom come, but in reality .. once you leave one place and get into the gates of another ... Id be EXHAUSTED. I force myself to push on just in the bit of park time that we do AND I LOVE the parks and rides ...

 

[mpetti]

We always do park hoppers. It's nice to head back to the resort around 1 or 2 and then head out to another park around 5 until closing. Enjoy.

Maryann

 

[snykymom]

I always get hoppers. But remember, you don't have to decide now. Wait until you get there. Then, on a day that you decide that you want to hop, take your tickets to guest relations and buy the hopper option then and there. It's the same price whether you buy it now or then, it's the same price whether you hop once or ten times. If you don't need it, you save the money. If you do need it, you can enjoy it.

Easy.

As an aside, when I went in January 2009, it was in the 70s and 80s every day. We spent our entire departure day at the pool. That's another reason you might want to hold off buying hoppers - you don't know what the weather will hold. (Of course, when we went in December 2010, it was in the 30s and 40s every day, down into the 20s at night! So you really never can tell!

 

[chipndales]

Hop. We enjoy the freedom!

 

[kwdw]

I definitely say wait on the hoppers until you get there. The past 10 months I've spent 22 days at Disney (AP this year) - I have hopped twice. It's just not my normal touring style. One of those hopper days was planned, one was unexpected.

Do a rough plan of what you expect to do each day - including where you expect to eat dinner. See if it makes sense.

You can waste alot of time on transport around WDW - something I prefer NOT to do on vacation.

 

[damaris13]

We have always bought the hopper passes and use them at least one or two days of the three or four we spend in the park. MK is always one full day, with no hopping. Epcot is almost always shared with DHS (we take the boat to Epcot around 11 for lunch and after we've finished some of the major rides, and then return to DHS for Fantasmic and a few more rides). AK is often just an early night. Our last day is spent hopping between MK, Epcot, and DHS, depending on what we haven't been able to cover; sometimes it's just 2 parks, and sometimes it's more.

If your family can go go go, you won't necessarily need the rest; however, we found it nice to relax on the boat or the monorail for a few minutes as we travelled from one place to the next. And DD2 enjoyed a nice breeze-filled nap last July inbetween Epcot and DHS. We always buy the 10-day hopper with no expiration, and it seems to be the best deal for us. As a PP stated, you may have to plot it all out to see what is going to be the best for you.

 

[kappyfamily]

I always wait to add the hoppers until you get there. They can be added on at anytime and that way if you don't need them there is no waste of money. Either way have fun!

 

[MissMouseInTheHouse]

I like to nap during mid-day, because I get exasusted by the heat! But if your son doesn't like to nap, and it will be too cold for the pool, then I think park hoppers will definitely be worth the money! You can take a break, and go to 3different parks in one day if you want! I hope you have a fantastic time and lots of fun!

 

[Jessieknj]

Thanks for all the replies. I forgot to mention we're staying offsite and will have a car so I think we're going to go ahead with the hopper option. I think it's something we would use and it's nice to have the flexability to come and go.

 

[Belleandtinker]

Hop! We love experience different parks, activities and resort throughout our trip. We might was to be at the DS at rope drop then catch the parade/fireworks at the MK in the evening. We take a break in the afternoon just to regroup and rest alittle before heading out for the evening.

Have fun!

 

[lauritagoddess]

We always get hoppers. We're at the parks at rope drop and go back to the resort in the afternoons. We often go back to a different park for dinner or just to hit a few rides. It's nice to have the option and not be just locked into the one park.

 

[MHSweb79]

January hours can be pretty short and with a car, hopping is super-easy. You could start out at one park, head out to a nice off-site dinner or late lunch to recharge your batteries, then hop to a different park that's open later for the evening.

We usually end our days at Epcot because that's where most of our favorite eateries are.

 

[Kat&Dom]

We got parkhoppers for the first time last year in April (my son was 4) and it was awesome. We would do a park from rope drop to noon - leave to have lunch and relax - sometimes shop - we usually stay off-site too. Then we would go to a different park in the evening. It was so much fun to do Epcot while Illuminations is on - we were able to ride Test Track 4 times in a row since we had caught Illuminations a couple of nights earlier.

I really liked the flexibility we had with the park hopper - we felt like we accomplished so much because our 8 park days became 16 segments of park time. We could focus on each land at Magic Kingdom knowing that we would focus on a different land on our next segment visit. The kids loved Big Thunder and Splash so we would make sure to always grab a fastpass so they rode those 2 rides with each segment visit. i don't think that we would have done and seen as much if we wouldn't have had the parkhopper especially because there was grad nights at Magic Kingdom for 4 of our 8 nights.