Contemplating adding park hoppers. What do you think?

[taraaplin]

This will be our third trip. We have always gone at spring break due to work schedules and will go during easter week this year. There are five of us. My youngest son will just have turned four the week before. I also have a 12-year-old and a nine-year-old. We have never gotten hoppers ever. With the ages of my kids do you think it would be beneficial to get hoppers during this busy time.

 

[mom2rtk]

We have never gotten hoppers. I find it to be a big time drain to leave one park and go to another. Others tour in blocks of time, with breaks at the resort during the day, so going back out to a different park isn't a problem.

If unsure, just buy single park tickets and add the hopper option at the gate if you decided you want to hop once you are there. I have done that on a few occasions, but always end up too tired (and cheap!) to want to hop.

 

[taraaplin]

That's what I was wondering. Carting everything, stroller included, in the buses is stressful enough for me. My husband thinks we really need them, but I just don't see how. Especially seeing how busy it is during Easter week! We arrive April 4th...

 

[mom2rtk]

That's what I was wondering. Carting everything, stroller included, in the buses is stressful enough for me. My husband thinks we really need them, but I just don't see how. Especially seeing how busy it is during Easter week! We arrive April 4th...

Do you plan to take mid-day breaks? Or to eat in a park other than the one you plan to visit that day?

You couldn't pay me to leave one park on Easter week and go to another. But if you were leaving anyway, it's just as easy to return to another.

We tend to visit at times of the year when it's cooler and we don't need mid-day breaks. So we don't hop.

 

[Newsies]

I think that park hoppers are a good investment if you're at a monorail hotel or a resort with a walkway/boat ride to Epcot/Hollywood Studios. For my family, since we've stayed at the CR and GF the past two trips, we invested in the park hopper option. That way if we finished up, say, AK or DHS after lunch, or had an ADR back at our hotel, we could still play a little bit longer in the Magic Kingdom without having much of a traveling hassle.

 

[taraaplin]

Right now, I have written out detailed plans literally by the half hour. Only one of those days (a MK day where we plan to stay very late (for kids) to see the MSEP- figured a mid day break was a good idea) we planned a mid day break. Other days we have meals planned at the parks and FP already chosen for early to mid afternoon

 

[WillAustin]

My advice is always to wait until you need the hoppers to add them.

 

[jaredjohn4]

We tend to park hop for table service meals. We might take advantage of early entry and shorter lines at one park, then move to another park for later in the day fast passes and a table service Restaurant that we like. After about eight trips to the parks, we are not in a hurry and know what we like to do.

 

[CAS239]

We're AP's so we have park hoppers, and we use them every day on our trips. So I highly recommend them.

We normally always go at opening, leave around noon, then go back later in the day. We try not to eat in the park so we eat once we leave. Then after those hot days it's nice to go back to the hotel and shower and change clothes if need be.

Especially with Hollywood Studios. I love the park, but they really need about 5+ more attractions. We go at opening and after about 2-3 hours we've done everything in the park that we're going to do. So we then hop to a different park.

 

[hsmamato2]

does it cost more to add hopper at the gate? vs. buying ahead?

 

[bbak30]

We personally love hoppers. I don't find that it takes too much time to go from park to park. However, we don't have tons of gear that we have to drag with us. If one park is too crowded or we just aren't "feeling it", then we go to another one. Also like hopping to parks with evening EMHs.

 

[jmkjr72]

We have always gotten hoppers. But we don't go when it's busy. They are nice for your ak day that way you can enjoy another park for 3 or 4 more hours. The ot h er time they are nice is if you miss a show at one park ie you only saw nemo and missed lion king you can catch lion king another day and head back to another park

 

[JanaDee]

We personally love hoppers. I don't find that it takes too much time to go from park to park. However, we don't have tons of gear that we have to drag with us. If one park is too crowded or we just aren't "feeling it", then we go to another one. Also like hopping to parks with evening EMHs.

We do the same. We get hoppers on every trip, because we typically spend every evening in the MK. At a busy time, having a hopper is a must *for us*. We like to maximize park time, so moving to a different park that won't be wall to wall people is a plus for us. Though finding a park that isn't wall to wall people will be difficult during Easter week.

 

[greentea]

I think in your situation, you'd be fine not getting them and adding them once there if you change your mind.

I really like having the option to change parks. I like going to Epcot in the evenings, I like being able to head to a different park after Animal Kingdom closes, and I like the flexibility. I am taking a group who has never been there, and this will probably be their only trip (for many years, at least). I am planning everything, and I added park hoppers because I know they won't want to pay the extra once we're there. So I just gave everyone a total cost that includes the park hoppers because I know we'll use them. When we go, Magic Kingdom will be open late. I don't want them to miss out on several hours of evening Magic Kingdom time because we hit Animal Kingdom that day. Or, if we get there and they're not feeling a certain park, it will be much easier for me to say we can just jump to a different one instead of saying "we can do that if you all pay $60." So for me it's about trying to help them focus on having fun and having the tickets fully paid for rather than worrying about whether or not to park hop. It will also make it easier for our group to split up and meet up somewhere later.

 

[Alesia]

does it cost more to add hopper at the gate? vs. buying ahead?

No.

 

[Laketravis]

My advice is always to wait until you need the hoppers to add them.

^^^ Yup.

 

[GillianP1301]

I got hoppers for the first time on last year's trip. Loved them! Before I got them and just went with the base ticket, I never envisioned a need or want for them, but I think it's one of those things you don't know you're missing until you try it. Which basically means you can still have a great time without them, no doubt, but I feel it's even better with and honestly I can't imagine going again without them.

I really like being able to do one park in the morning/early afternoon and then switch to another. I find the switch to be a bit of an energy boost and I always feel like I've done so much more in a day (where technically I know I really haven't). We drive around WDW and I do think that makes a big difference in the hopping equation. I would be far less likely to want to switch parks if I had to rely on soley on Disney transportation because that would likely chew up way too much time. Driving I can get between parks with very little lost time.

I do agree with all the other pp's that if you are on the fence, then your best bet is to just wait and add them at the gate if/when you decide you do want to hop on your vacation.

 

[Lovetherodent]

I love hoppers. When AK closes at 7, for instance, we can just hop over to MK and keep going until 11! However, my Disney stays are relatively short, so I like to go in early, take a little afternoon break during the worst of the heat (this next trip if the first time I haven't gone in the summer) and hop to another park at night and stay until closing.

 

[cakebaker]

We have always used the park hopping option. With little ones especially, we find they need that break from the parks. Our little one would never make all day and evening without a break. We like to make use of all the resort has to offer as well, eating at the resort, making lots of use of the pool area along with being able to clean up and rest before heading out for the afternoon or evening.

We also like mornings without fp+ with lighter crowds, scheduling our fp+'s in the late afternoon. Staying on site, we find it's not any trouble at all going back and forth. We accomplish more I think because we're rested and refreshed for the evening and can go much longer without wearing ourselves out.

We used the park hopping option before paper fp, with paper fp and now with FP+, with a baby and with just adults. We just adjusted how we tour the parks with each method.

So yes, if you're like us, they are worth it. If what we do doesn't sound appealing, no.

 

[rcraw45425]

We always hop. Always do TS dinners and they're usually at a resort or in World Showcase, where we wind up almost every evening. We'll go to a park in the morning, stay through lunch then head back to our resort to rest. Head out to dinner and then to another park if we're not already in EPCOT. With hoppers, if you find yourself in a park and it begins getting congested, you just hop to another one. We're long time WDW visitors though wit many stays under our belts.