Big decision! Extra day or Park hopper?

[OnePrincessMom]

Having gone in September a couple of times, I didn't feel the parks were open late enough to hop back after dinner as some suggested. To me, that makes better sense when the parks are open much later, like they are in the summer. My daughter is older now (12) and that makes hopping easier too, folding up the stroller and getting on the bus several times a day was not fun for me....just my opinion of course. Either way, a family vacation in Disney can't be beat!!

 

[Alesia]

We prefer hopping - the change of scenery cuts down on fatigue.

When people talk about how much time hopping takes, I always wonder if they realize that there is direct transportation between all of the parks. When using disney transportation, it very rarely takes us more than 30 minutes to get from one park to another. It usually takes a bit longer if we're driving.

 

[HollywoodTowerHotel]

If you can already swing the price of the extra night in the hotel and the extra night on the dining plan, these are what would considerably change the price of your vacation, not the tickets.

Go for 8 days and options for tickets:
1. Still only get a 7-day ticket with PH (you only have to get a 1-day for the MYW package and not the number of days of your trip - that's only for the dining plan) and plan a non-park day
2. Get an 8-day ticket with PH - the price doesn't change much

We like the PH option and always get it, but we are not traveling with any children in strollers (as it sounds like you are) so we are able to hop pretty easily. Also, as a previous poster stated, we like the ability to start our day in one park and end in another. But, we do not focus on getting all the rides in - we just stick to our favorites. We also like to make several ADRs during our trip and having a PH allows us to not worry which park we will be in when making our dining choices. We hop pretty much every day of our trip, so a PH is a must for our touring style.

Ultimately, it really depends on your touring style and expectations. If you are planning to try to experience all a park has to offer, hoppers are not necessary because you can easily spend a whole day at every park. Yes, even at HS where so many things have been closed!

To sum it up, my vote for you would be to do the extra day AND park hoppers, but if it's one or the other, go with the extra day.

 

[Ensusieasm]

The time is close where I will be booking our trip. We are down to this.
1. Extra day. 7 nights 8 days.
2. Park hopper. 6 nights 7 days.

Kids ages. 15,12 and 2.

Booking a moderate resort. Standard room. During September. With the dining plan.

Absolutely Extra Day! With Fast Pass+ now park hopping makes even less sense than ever. If you want a rest break back at the resort you can always "hop" back to the park you were already in. AN EXTRA DAY IN DISNEY WORLD? Priceless!!!!!

 

[Tomh]

We have never used park hoppers, and never regretted the decision. Get the extra day. As others have said, traveling from one park to another eats up a considerable amount of time.

 

[jmkjr72]

We love hoppers
It's real simple until river of lights opens ak closes early and with all the closures at dhs is there really a full days worth of park there

 

[GaryDis]

Back in the days when the five day passport never expired (and I think was only available with park hopping), it was a no brainer. The dining choices at Epcot were so much better than anything in the other parks that it just made sense to hop. And wandering World Showcase after dinner was the best way to relax and unwind after a long day. We usually went in early February, so swimming mid-day wasn't a big draw.

Nowadays, I'm not so sure, largely because of all the negative reports about dining in Epcot going downhill. Nevertheless, maximizing your options is a cornerstone of strategic thinking, and it's what we're used to, so we're getting the hoppers, but we're also open to adding an extra day.

EDIT to add: I never go with toddlers. I'm in the rent-a-kid group (taking nieces and nephews), and never considered taking them until they were out of strollers and beyond needing afternoon naps. With the kids along, we'd always have a car, which generally sped up inter-park travel. YMMV

 

[PSUGuy]

We're hoppers, visiting a non-EMH park at rope drop, hopping to WS every day except Sat during F&W then possibly a third park in the PM. The flexibility is worth the cost to us.

Bill From PA

 

[starsweeper]

We always buy hoppers but I'm leaning toward no hoppers next time. My preschoolers can make it most of the day (3-5pm) now and we don't hop as much since there's no need for a nap. If I had the choice, I'd pick an extra day.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would definitely pick the extra day over the hoppers. An extra day of vacation is an extra day of vacation! Even if you are simply hanging out at the resort or going to DS. I don't need to be in a park at WDW to enjoy myself!

 

[loves to dive]

According to when in September you are going,F&W may be taking place in Epcot. If that is the case, hoppers are a must, trust me you might find yourself hopping over there more than once just to enjoy the booths. Personally, if the budget still allows for an extra night in the resort I'd go ahead and do the extra day with hoppers. The way the tickets are structured you can wiggle it where that extra hopper day isn't that much more. Of just get the original 7 day of hoppers and add a one day one park ticket. I have never been without hoppers and we have been going since there were only two parks to hop between. We just get bored spending all day in one park and usually love the break of hopping over to another one.

 

[vicb]

We always get hoppers and love them, with the caveat that we stay at the Epcot Resorts. That way we can walk to Epcot a lot of evenings. In December of 2014, we stayed at WL with hoppers, and only hopped once. I think if I weren't staying around Epcot, I would choose the extra day.

Personally I would not go to WDW without hoppers! That said we too mostly have stayed at Epcot area resorts and use Epcot as our evening dinner/atmosphere park several nights per trip. We also like to hop into MK for an extra evening and last trip we did an evening in HS which has great night time atmosphere (well that was over a year ago now).

We prefer hopping - the change of scenery cuts down on fatigue.

When people talk about how much time hopping takes, I always wonder if they realize that there is direct transportation between all of the parks. When using disney transportation, it very rarely takes us more than 30 minutes to get from one park to another. It usually takes a bit longer if we're driving.

Yes I agree with this and I wonder if folks know that each park has a cab stand. Last trip we hopped from Epcot to AK late in the afternoon by bus so our grown kids could ride EE a few times, then we grabbed a cab back to our hotel so we could shower and still make our ADR in Epcot!

I just really, really like the ability to hop and not feel like I am trapped in one park for the whole day... it helps when dealing with weather too.

 

[Flametamr]

We used to do Hoppers but found we only hopped once the last time we got them so we stopped. We are AP holders now but still didn't hardly use it. I would go for the extra day for sure.

 

[Lumpy Dumpity]

My parents always get the park hoppers and we just love it, but if you have the opportunity to stay an extra day I would definitely do that.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We used to get hoppers every trip, but we have the last two trips and we haven't missed them. I would go for the extra day. However, the extra day should only be about $10.65 or so per person. The hopper is much more than that.

 

[nkereina]

When are you arriving and leaving on your arrival day and departure day? If you arrive late and/or leave early on your last day, I'd opt for the extra night. If you'll essentially have full days on your arrival and departure days, I'd opt for the park hopper.

The park hopper provides flexibility which is what we like about it. If we miss something, if the weather is poor, if there's something we want to repeat, then we can hop back to that park without thinking twice about it.

 

[Jewel3k]

I like the hoppers in September. The Magic Kingdom closes early for the Halloween party at least twice a week and the Animal Kingdom closes at 5. I love taking advantage of the quiet Magic Kingdom park days before the Halloween Party and then heading over to EPCOT for dinner. We also plan to enjoy the evening entertainment in the Magic Kingdom after and Animal Kingdom day. The best part is I can save the 3 fast passes for the Magic Kingdom evening because its easy to plan non needing them in the Animal Kingdom (for my family).

 

[TGM]

The Park Hopper is the better option. If you want to use the extra day to visit a park, you can just use the park hopper to go to that park on another day!

The park hopper is great, because if you have an ADR at MK, and you want to be at AK that day, you can!