Am I being silly/cheap?

[sueg]

We usually buy 5 day hoppers. This year, our 5 days inc. the day we arrive, which is a scheduled 8AM flight from ewr. I estimate that we wouldn't get to the parks before noon. I discussed buying 4 day hoppers & doing "something else" on our arrival day. Is this a false savings? The difference between 4 & 5 day hoppers is not great. Maybe I should buy the 5 day & save the last day for our next trip. I'm not sure we could resist going to the park on that first day if we had the 5 day hoppers.

 

[vicnmickey]

We had the same ordeal also! I decided to save the money, because we won't get to WDW until around 3ish. We are going to go to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. Maybe relax beside the pool. This way we are totally relaxed for the start of a Magical vacation.

 

[kaabost]

If money is not an issue, I would buy the 5 day hopper but only use 4 days......to help out the budget of your next trip. I would hate to waste the morning hours of a park day when there is non-park magic to be found. You might be a little tired anyway. I would go to downtown disney, ride the monorail around the resort loop and/or epcot loop, look at the disney hotels, etc. Plenty of "free" disney magic. Of course, a nice dinner at one of the resorts would be fun but not free.

 

[babyblue61]

save the money and play mini-golf!

 

[disneyvoice]

I think it depends on the time of year you are going. On our first trip we went the end of January when the parks are not very full. We arrived at Epcot at about 1:00, ate lunch and by about 5:00 we had done everything that was on our two day touring agenda for Epcot since the parks were so "uncrowded."

 

[mad4themouse]

If you're flight is leaving at 8AM, you'll need to be at the airport at what time? And what time do you have to wake up in order to do this? My guess is that you're going to be tired from your trip down.

Unless your budget allows for the extra day, I'd skip buying it. You can always just put the difference between a 4-day PH and a 5-day PH into the kitty for the next trip. Like you, I would be tempted to use the 5th day upon arrival b/c I'd be too anxious to get right into the magic!

I like the idea of relaxing poolside on the first day. But if you cannot get checked into your room right away, try Downtown Disney or miniature golf for the afternoon. Grab dinner at the Poly or GF and then watch the MK fireworks from the beach if they're doing them that night.

 

[beattyfamily]

Same thing with us except ours was should we buy a 5 day or a 6 day. We ended up getting the 5 day. I thought if we changed our minds, we'd buy a one day one park pass for that one day.

I also didn't want the plus option that you HAVE to get on the 6 day, so this was a bigger savings for me.

We ended up getting in around 12:30p, got to our room early, changed, ate lunch, rented a boat (at the Contemporary), went to evening Church and then DTD. Went to bed at a decent hour and were all set and fresh for our commando style day the next day!

If it were our first trip, though, of course, we'd have to do a park!

 

[XStAnt]

My vote is for the 5 day hopper. Getting to the parks by noon leaves a lot of time to do things. 5 days at Disney is not that long so you'll probably want to cram a lot of activities in that time and the extra half day can help. Of course, you know your family best (you don't tell us the ages of everyone, especially the kids). That first day will be hectic. If your family will get tired and cranky by early afternoon, or will be exhausted by day 4 maybe you should only get the 4 day pass. Personally, I like to run to the point of exhaustion on my vacations and do as much as possible.

 

[goofyernmost]

If money isn't a serious object, I would go for the 5 day pass. The difference in price is so small that, at some point in time you will spend a pretty inexpensive day at the World. I am assuming that you go fairly often. Just because you have a 5 day doesn't mean you have to use it right now. I have two days left on my 5 day that I bought last year.

I don't know if I will ever get the chance but I day dream about taking a long weekend, jumping on a plane and flying down, on a whim, to use them up. If the weather stays below zero up here much longer I may just do it soon.

 

[tripletvan]

We are having the same bout here. DH wants the four day hopper and I want either the four day plus or the five day plus. There are five of us so that makes a diffrence with cash but on the upside we will be getting them through Shades of Green. We will also be doing the Bike & Boat deal so I am not sure which way to go. Any suggestions?

 

[Cebhfhionn]

I would definitely go for the 5-day if I had the money! If you arrive and feel like going to the park that day then you can, otherwise you can always save it for the next time!

Have fun!

 

[Kallison]

I'm not sure but can you upgrade from a 4 day to a 5 day if you need the extra day?

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Kallison
I'm not sure but can you upgrade from a 4 day to a 5 day if you need the extra day?

Yes, you can. But you will not be able to get the advance purchase discount on the 5 Day ticket since you must upgrade on site.

 

[dansyr]

I say go for the 5 day. You will have almost an entire day in the park on your first day. Besides, if you are anything like us, we are just dying to get to the park as soon as we can.
I've done only 4 days at Disney and it just doesn't seem like quite enough time. I think if you do the five day you will have a much more relaxed time touring the parks. You will not feel quite as rushed to get everything in.

 

[tjkatie]

I also vote for the 5 day. We had an early fight in October, stopped at the grocery store, checked in, had relaxing lunch at the food court at ASSports, then hit Magic Kingdom by 1pm. It was our first time, we were to excited to do anything else! I wouldn't change a thing. We stayed until about 8 ....took the bus back to the hotel...dinner in the food court and collapsed in bed! We hit MK the next day also....just to fit in anything we missed and it was a good compromise for the kids...."we'll do it tomorrow!!" We have a 4 year old and an 8 year old and they hung in there....it depends on your family.

Something that helped was the night before our flight we did a park and fly promo at a hotel near the airport. They kept our car for the 8 days and shuttled us to and from the airport. We got to bed real early and got to sleep a little later since we didn't have to do the hour ride to the airport in the am!

Go for it!

 

[welovemickey]

How about a Length of Stay pass? I don't know how much they cost, but it might be within your budget.

 

[Bill3]

We have been going once or twice a year now for the last 8/9 years. We always buy a five day hopper but seldom use all 5 days. Before we went last month we had over 10 days saved up, I still bought a 5 day hopper, one of these years when I'm old and destitute(next?) we'll have awhole lotta free days.

 

[sueg]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. DH & I had many of the same thoughts. WDW is so clever, they actually build an incentive into buying the 5 day, even if you think you only need a 4 day pass. I have saved unused days on hoppers before. But you run the risk of losing them or forgetting to pack them. The fact that I'm debating such issues shows that I'm really getting into planning mode. We're less than 1 1/2 mos. away from departure.

 

[Cebhfhionn]

Hi,

Yes, those Disney people are clever. I read on Mousesavers that you should photocopy the front & back of your tickets. That way if they get lost, you'll be able to get them replaced. I'm sure that the "real" ones get disabled somehow but at least you won't be out the money.

Also, you could always sell them on Ebay. I just bought 2 days for my son because I already have 1 day left on his pass from last time and by the time we go again, he'll no longer be able to use a "child's" pass.

Have a great time! I'm going soon too!!!!