Contemplating adding park hoppers. What do you think?

[DisneyFive]

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

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.

This will be our first year with hoppers, and one of THE primary reasons is AK. In late Sept, it closes at 5pm! We want to hit another park that same day. To be honest, as much as we love AK, I don't think we'll even make it to park close before we head to Epcot or Magic Kingdom to close out the day. After seeing the shows so many times, and the rides, there isn't enough to hold us there as long. After our 1st trip it was our second favorite park, and now probably our 4th.

Dan

 

[Virtucomp]

We usually get hoppers but have experimented with not getting them. We had the free dining plan last trip so we had to hop to get to our dinner reservations. With just adults we usually hop out of Animal Kingdom and usually end many nights at EPCOT for a walk around the countries. If your expecting to spend most of the time with the little ones at MK then you can work without hoppers. Just make sure you plan which park you will go to each day so you can make any dinner reservations in that park or the hotels near by.

For what it's worth.. When we do get the park hopper passes we usually only Hop 2 or 3 times in a 7 day stay.

You can wait to add the hoppers the day you need them but they will cost the same if you get them on day 5 or day 1.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

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...

Add them the day you think you need them. He may find he agrees with you that they aren't needed after all.

 

[Mikie]

To extend the question. . . When giving hop/no hop advice, Do you think yiur recommendation to hop favors veterans over new visitors? We don't hop and would be inclined to tell new visitors to save the $$. Reason being, I think a new visitor is more likely to try a little of everything and need more time to find everything, where a veteran maybe gets done with a park quickly by knowing their way around and knowing that they won't see certain attractions that they've done before and aren't interested in. Not being a hopper myself, maybe I'm looking at it backwards? Would it be just as (or even more) useful for a newer visitor?

 

[wdwjeffc37]

It sounds like you have your days planned out pretty well. I would play it by ear with the Park Hoppers. You can add them at any time but remember they cost the same whether you get them for 5 days or just 2 days. We alway hop. It fits the way we tour. The flexibility is worth the price for us. We like to end our days either at the MK for Wishes or EPCOT for dinner and Illuminations. We never have a car so we use Disney transportation. It really doesn't take that long if you hop at off peak times. Sometime we go back to the resort for a swim and rest before we hit the late EMHs. We have done Disney a lot and always stay a week or more so the time to hop isn't a big deal. Whatever you decide have a great trip!!

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

We never did hoppers because the thought of going back to the park after being there earlier is just too overwhelming and tiring to me. And the price not worth it. We're always exhausted after leaving a park. Also we like to enjoy our resorts. I don't want to feel like I need a vacation from my vacation hehe.

 

[sharadoc]

My opinion - with the new Fastpass+ system, hopping takes a bit more work.

We generally will hop to Epcot in the evening and Future World usually has short or no lines, other than Test Track or Soarin', or World Showcase only has the Mexico Ride for a "line" so it's a nice evening stroll.

If you want to go to another park then to MK in the evening, you either have to save your FP+ for MK, or plan to only do shorter line rides (which may not exist Easter Week).

Have you done a trip yet with FP+ or is this your first one? If you haven't done it yet, it could be frustrating and you may not feel you got your money's worth. It's over $300 for hoppers for your family, if that's worth the gamble, then go for it!

 

[MainMom]

We only get park hoppers if we: 1. are going in to summer and taking mid day breaks every day 2. We are staying at an Epcot resort.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I used to hop when it was just me and my DH or me and my sister (from when she was 9) With the birth of my kids, I stopped hopping. It is just so much hassle to travel from one park to the next with young kids in toll. I still have days left in my non-expiry hopper tickets. LOL

In your case, I would try it now your kids are at the right age. I also agree with other that you should consider adding the option once you get to the park if you are still not sure. You can do rope drop in one park and hop to another park with FP+ in the afternoon.

 

[tmbacon]

Sounds like you've got a detailed itinerary, so I would agree with some PP'ers to stick with what you got and 'play it by ear' if you think you want to pick up a hopper once there. Admittedly though, we leave in a week for our 13th trip to WDW, and this is the very first year we are NOT doing a hopper (primarily to keep costs down this time). We were last at WDW in '13, before FP+. I see that a PP'er mentioned that the new FP+ seems to put a wrench into hopping plans, and I can see why, which is something to consider.

 

[lroger01]

The only advantage I can see is if you want to do EMH's. Since you're going during a busy week staying in an EMH park all day will add to the crowds. Instead, you could go to the EMH morning park (it starts very early on busy weeks), have fun there, and then when it starts to get busy, hop to a non-EMH park and have your FP+ at that park. If you're not doing EHM then skip the hopper until you see if you'll actually use it!