4 day magic ticket or hoppers?

[penguincrazie]

Here is my dilemma. I haven't been to Disney in about 7 years, but have been many many times. I am going there now with my now spouse and our 3 children. My spouse and 2 kids have never been before. I have always done hoppers because I like to end in Epcot but I think this trip is going to be a whole new experience.

I was planning to go with 4 or 5 day hoppers. Then I saw the magic your way ticket and it is a very good deal so I am torn.

What are some of your reasons for wanting hoppers or not needing them? Going with first timers, would it make more sense to hop or concentrate on one park at a time, then again I wouldn't be able to revisit a park either..... hmmm...

 

[Robo]

I have always done hoppers because I like to end in Epcot
but I think this trip is going to be a whole new experience.

There's your answer.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Hoppers still allow the same awesome flexibility that you remember. I wouldn't drag first timers to hell and back, of course. But I'd also not do Disney without hoppers, either.

 

[Capang]

My first trip with my daughter we never used our hoppers. It's always nice to have the option to hop but it's not worth the money if you aren't sure if you would use them.

 

[bethzfl]

I think for first timers, you dont NEED hoppers. They'll find so much to do in each park .. I doubt anyone will be bored.

 

[DizDaD7]

Here is my dilemma. I haven't been to Disney in about 7 years, but have been many many times. I am going there now with my now spouse and our 3 children. My spouse and 2 kids have never been before. I have always done hoppers because I like to end in Epcot but I think this trip is going to be a whole new experience.

I was planning to go with 4 or 5 day hoppers. Then I saw the magic your way ticket and it is a very good deal so I am torn.

What are some of your reasons for wanting hoppers or not needing them? Going with first timers, would it make more sense to hop or concentrate on one park at a time, then again I wouldn't be able to revisit a park either..... hmmm...

When we 1st went, in the earlier years, we had hoppers & rarely used them. Maybe once a trip at best. Having been down w/ AP's and touring differently now, w/ midday breaks and then returning to let's say EPCOT for a nighttime meal or something is nice.

In your situation, (as PP's stated) I too wouldn't go gung-ho running around like crazy either. If you're only going for 4 nights/5 days then I would go w/ the special 4 park ticket...(I know everyone says the other 2 parks are only 1/2 day parks) Well maybe HS is kinda (right now) but AK, there's plenty to do...
As you stated you won't be able to return to another park for that trip? Easy answer: If you have the $$ then buy the 4 or 5 day hoppers.

Actually no one has asked this yet but, Where will you be staying? This might change it entirely..

 

[IrishNYC]

after finding that we were forcing ourselves to use the hopper because we paid for it, we don't buy it anymore...for now. DD is an early riser, early sleeper, so all our big plans to keep her up late were dashed, and hoppers were mostly a waste for us. Now we plan our days around just one park, leaving and going back to the same park again later.

In the future we will continue to purchase non-hoppers, then add it on the fly if we find ourselves needing it.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

The 4-day ticket offer is a good deal, however, if you are unsure about how you want to spend your days, I, personally, would be hesitant to buy them as you are really locking yourself in to one park per day with zero flexibility of hopping or even revisiting a park you find you like on another day. I think I would start with base tickets to at least give you the flexibility of, say, visiting MK or another park more than once and then adding the hopper option once onsite if you find you want to hop.

 

[DisneyDeb83]

Two things make me nervous about that 4 day pass, it expires in May and is non-refundable. My husband and I are arriving this Saturday. I plan on buying the discounted pass on Friday at AAA. Even though I won't be able to do my fast passes until the night before, I am afraid I will get stuck with them. My MIL has been sick and I am being paranoid that we might have to cancel last minute. And I'm not sure if we will be back before the tickets expire. I just can't justify spending a couple hundred extra to hop, rather use the money elsewhere. But I'm thinking I will probably hate only doing MK once, so I am saving that for our last day!

 

[jen7233]

I would want the flexibility to park hop.

 

[HeatherC]

We have three kids who are now older teens. We have been to Disney more times than I count. Even when we had hoppers, we never hopped. Always felt like it would waste too much time traveling between parks with kids and strollers, etc.

But in order to do everything we wanted at a relaxed pace, we were always at rope drop and utilized fastpasses.
We also always check touringplans for crowd calendar and visited whatever park had EMH on the following day since it was less crowded. Reason being that most Resort guests use EMH and then move on to the next EMH park the next day leaving less people at the original one. Has always worked great for us.

Because our park days were long, we also always booked a late lunch or early dinner sit down. Nice break with kids and break from heat and crowds without having to leave park to go back to Resort. That took too much time to us.

We also go every other day to parks. Hard to stay until 11pm and then be back for rope drop the next morning. That is no vacation for us or the kids. Sleeping in, pool and shopping is also fun and makes it feel like a vacation as opposed to a trip.

I would get the 4 day Magic tickets. Have a great time whatever you decide!