Am I missing something? Buy a park Hopper, why???

[WillCAD]

I suppose if you went to 3 or more parks in one day a park hopper would work great...but who does that?

Me! I do!

Most days I only go to 1 or 2 parks, but once in a while I go to 3 or 4, especially if I saw something in a gift shop earlier in the week that I want to go back to buy.

I have also done the "4 parks, one day" marathon, which is both challenging and fun. In fact, my version was "4 parks, 1/2 day" - I arrived in teh morning, got checked into my hotel, and hit the first park around noon. I had lunch, did two major attractions in each park, and had dinner, all by Epcot's 9pm closing time. It was tiring, but lots of fun, and stretched my knowledge of WDW to its limits as I adjusted my plans along the way to meet the goal.

 

[TSM1993]

We park hop. Usually AK takes us 1/2 a day and thats doing almost everything we want to do there. Then go to another park to get a jump on the next day for example MK then stay until the park closes and then the next day finish up in MK and go to maybe MGM pretty much a 1/2 day park for us so we may also combine AK and MGM in a day. We arent very much resort type people. We dont swim that much and we basically only use the resorts for sleep shower and change of close. So to us hoppers are worth it.

 

[revelstoke]

We don't hop. Never really bothered us. We also go to the water parks and those afford going to a park in the evening to finish up somewhere without needing to buy hoppers to do so.

So with the "Waterparks plus option" you can do Disney theme park and a plus option (ie. waterpark, quest) on the same day, right? You just can't do 2 theme parks the same day without a hopper...

I hope I have this right now...but

Can you do 2 plus options the same day?? ie. water park then DisQuest in the afternoon??

 

[Luv'sTink]

Flexibility for us too! When go to Disneyland we always buy park hoppers becasuse DCA just doesn't hold us for a full day.

 

[grimley1968]

So with the "Waterparks plus option" you can do Disney theme park and a plus option (ie. waterpark, quest) on the same day, right? You just can't do 2 theme parks the same day without a hopper...

I hope I have this right now...but

Can you do 2 plus options the same day?? ie. water park then DisQuest in the afternoon??

You can do all of this, including using 2 plus options the same day.

But I think the previous poster may have meant just paying out of pocket for a waterpark admission at the time, rather than including a plus option for them on the tix. I could be wrong, though. Putting WP admission on as a plus, or paying out of pocket for admission, should not affect the status of your remaining theme park days left on your tix.

 

[Jrabbit910]

Last year when I booked our Disney Trip we didnt have the park hopper option but we ended up getting it added to our tickets when we were there. for the last few days.
This year we booked with the Park Hopper tickets because we are going to be "Park Hopping". I think its great and gives you the oppurtunity to go park to park. If you dont have it added to your tickets you can always add when you are there. Feel it out and see how it works out for you.
Good luck!!

 

[lark]

Really? Wow...I didn't know that...I thought it would just burn 2 days on your ticket...

This comes up pretty frequently here and people are always really surprised that it won't work. It would be a pretty large loophole if it would work.

 

[XantheFan]

Another Park Hopper here! My kids usually get bored at AK, MGM and Epcot after half a day (since they are 4 and 6) and want to go back to Magic Kingdom. So we usually do half a day at Magic Kingdom and half a day someplace else with a nap in between. Works like a charm!

 

[puffinp51]

Another hoppin' family here. I think it's the only way to go. We've never done 4 in one day - I'm impressed Carol - but have done 3 with a hotel stop in between - does that count? My favorite hop was after an exciting and stressful turn in the hotseat at Millionaire at MGM, we decided to celebrate missing the 64,000 question in France with a creme brulee!

 

[DaniDownUnder]

I tried it the first time in Dec. 2003 and it was great. I loved being able to hop around and do the things I wanted, without feeling 'stuck' in a park where I was 'done' with the things I wanted to do.

On our upcoming trip I'm looking forward to using it so I can take advantage of morning and evening EMHs! Particularly so we can see the fireworks at night.

Not to mention that the flexibility of changing your mind is GREAT!

 

[msgrimm23]

i always buy the hopper cause i hop from park to park. I go to ak in the morning and hop to mgm can do them together in a day. i also have fav resturants at the parks and hop to go eat. and if the park is crowded i hop to another park too, there is a science to hopping and so people need the hopper but if you think you are going to stay in the same park all day then ok dont get it

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We are a family of non-park hoppers. Never really needed to park hop. We also will spend two days at BB and/or TL, then head to a park those nights also. With the new plan, this is allowed. You can use a water park admission and park admission on the same day. Also, my children have no desire to go to AK, MGM and EPCOT more than once during a trip. They are MK and waterpark children and they also really enjoy spending time at the resort pool.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

This comes up pretty frequently here and people are always really surprised that it won't work. It would be a pretty large loophole if it would work.

However, it has been about a week since the idea was last presented. The info is all up there in the MYW ticket "sticky." Park hopping is a wonderful option to have on the ticket -- even if you don't use it each day. The 4 parks-in-a-day park-hop sounds wonderful.

 

[deany]

We don't usually park hop but we are considering getting the PH option on this trip. How long does it usually take to go from one park to another? Are there frequent buses from park to park?

 

[madalex]

We stay at YC when we go to WDW and like to visit Epcot every day, so almost always do at least 2 parks in one day. As a result, a park hopper is a must.

Someday, I want to go to all 4 parks in one day and do at least 2 rides in each park. That would be a dream come true!

 

[nicknamy1996]

Although the OP was mistaken and sence corrected... Staying at an AS resort with 4 during free dining this is still "do-able" advice... just use the extra days on... well.... on extra days!

To stay for 5 days and hop lets say you cover 7 parks (3 non hop days, and 2 hop days)

To add hopping is about $40 pp right? So $160. Well at the AS (value season rack rate) I think its around $90/night/day. So if you were budgeted for a 5 day trip w/ hopping for about the same price you could drop the hopping and add 2 nights... which would also include 8 more table service meals, 8 more counter service meals, 8 more snacks, and of course 2 more nights in WDW hotel and 2 more park days. (not to mention theres no added cost for travel and actully you'd be eating for "free" for those two days vs. paying to eat if you had checked out and headed home)

I'd probably end up calling later an adding hopping back on... while keeping my 2 extra nights too!

But for a strict vacation budget this is an idea. Hopefully and idea that helps someone out.

 

[TinyLolitaBunny]

so you can park hop!!!

 

[minijeanie]

I have always park hopped

but looking back ..when kids were really young..
you really don't need it.

they are dead tired and don't want to go to another park

we really took advantage of park hopping around the time they were 9 and 10.

wouldn't go any other way now.

will say..

if you have toddlers or really young children,,, don't park hop..
save the money

 

[Danemom]

We love, love, love hopping! Here's why -
If a park starts to seem especially crowded, we just hop out!
I like to try new restaurants - I hope to eventually have eaten at all the TS restaurants - and some of the parks don't have as many choices (read: AK ) so we hop on over to a new park (read: Epcot ) to eat!
I just like to be able to change my mind!
Sometimes I realize I just need to ride RNRC, SM, MS, and EE in one day!

 

[bluedoggy]

Park Hopping really gives you the ultimate "Disney Experience" on my 50th BD - DH and I started by being at MK for rope drop - had our haircut at the Barber shop- Breakfast on Main Street- wandered around for several hours- then hopped the bus to MGM for the afternoon- back to OKW for a break at the pool and ended up at Epcot till it closed. Alot of walking, but it was one of the greatest days of my life. This isn't for everyone, but a park hopper makes it possible... Hope to do it again in November