DDP and the ParkHopper.

[adamtraci]

We were not planning to go to other parks because this is our first trip and will have so much to do without adding more parks to the mix.

But then we realized that some of the restaurants are in other parks, so that made us have to re-evaluate.

Just making sure that if we want to go to places like Akershus in Epcot to eat, we need to buy the parkhopper option.

Are we correct in thinking this? (seems obvious but just want to be sure - my wife is telling me not to bother posting this since it's so obvious! But I'm going to anyway )

Thanks,
Adam.

 

[brymolmom]

It might be obvious - but I'm not quite understanding the questions. When you say not intending to go to 'other parks' do you mean you want to ONLY go to Magic Kingdom??

You do NOT need the park hopping option to go to a meal at EPCOT, however, if you do not have that option it means that EPCOT is the ONLY park you will be able to enter that entire day (but you can leave and return to the same park).

How many days is your trip? If you do mean only Magic Kingdom - I would rethink that - there is a ton to do at Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

With a non-hopping ticket - you can go to ONE of any of the 4 major parks (MK, EP, HS and AK) every day of your ticket (if you have a 5 day ticket - every day for 5 days) - but you may only go to a single park on that day. WIth park hopping - you can, for example, go to Animal Kingdom in the morning and EPCOT in the evening.

Please clarify the question if this does not help with an answer.

 

[adamtraci]

It might be obvious - but I'm not quite understanding the questions. When you say not intending to go to 'other parks' do you mean you want to ONLY go to Magic Kingdom??

That was our initial plan.

You do NOT need the park hopping option to go to a meal at EPCOT, however, if you do not have that option it means that EPCOT is the ONLY park you will be able to enter that entire day (but you can leave and return to the same park).

Ah thank you! We had completely misunderstood the definition. We were thinking parkhopper gave access to all the parks but really you already have access it just lets you go to more than 1 in a day. Got it

How many days is your trip? If you do mean only Magic Kingdom - I would rethink that - there is a ton to do at Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

We are planning to stay 7 nights. Our DDs will be 5 and 4 and DS 1 in 2010. So you really think we should plan to go to all the major parks? I guess we were thinking that it might be too much to handle but I guess we don't have to see the MK in its entirety.

So you think the other parks would appealr to kids our age?

Thanks for your info.
Adam.

 

[KristiMc]

With you being there for 7 days, I would take a day at all the parks. There is something for everyone at all of them.

That way you can try out the different restaurants.

 

[SilverL]

You can basically see MK in its entirety in two days or less. We're going this December and have no kids, so we are actually only spending one day there. If you have kids, definitely spend two days there. But don't skip out on the other parks! If you only go to MK, you are only going to less than 1/4 of Disney World, and that is a huge bummer. My family's favorite park is Epcot, and every park has rides and shows that you do not want to miss out on!

I strongly encourage you to go research all four parks. Epcot has Future World, which is where they have Test Track and Mission Space---two very popular rides. Future World also has a lot of fun activities for kids to do in Imagination and Innoventions, where they get to play with cool technology. The other part of Epcot is World Showcase, where you can tour something like 14 different countries of the world in a few hours. It's a fabulous cultural experience for the kids. They have KIDCOT stations where your kids can do a craft activity in each country. They can also get a fake passport and get it stamped in each country. When we brought my cousins there when they were young, we got pressed pennies in every country. The World Showcase is my family's FAVORITE thing at Disney! You need at least one day at Future World and one day at the World Showcase to really experience everything here. They also have a fireworks show at 9:30 called IllumiNations

Animal Kingdom has Everest, Disney's newest roller coaster. They also have a Lion King show and a Nemo show. Another one of our favorite rides is Kilimanjaro safari, a fun, exciting ride where you are driven through AK's fake Savannah and you get to see all of the animals out there. All of the animals in AK are real, and it is way more than a zoo! AK is our other favorite, but it usually closes early---around 5 or 6. If you have a lot of energy, you can easily go get a few more hours at another park the same day with Park Hopper. You can probably do most of AK in one day. We have before.

Hollywood Studios has Disney's best thrill rides: Rockin Rollercoaster (insanely fun) and Tower of Terror. They also have an Indiana Jones show and an incredible car stunt show, which is always a must see for husbands or boys! It's my dad's favorite thing in Disney. The Backlot Tour is a ton of fun, and we love the Great Movie Ride. On some nights you can see a great show that's a Disney classic: Fantasmic. I don't know exactly what they have because I've never traveled with very young children, but I think that HS also has shows for very young ones. It is also possible to do HS in one day, but it can be hard.

I know your kids won't want to do thrill rides, but I believe that you can go through the line and have one parent ride while the other watches the kids, and then swap if you ask the ride op. They usually let you do that so you can both enjoy all of the rides you want to do too!

We are going for 7 days when we go in December. If we were bringing kids, this is what we would probably do (and we are Disney veterans - we've taken three trips, one of which we planned for ten people of all ages!):

Day 1 & 2: Magic Kingdom
Day 3 & 4: Epcot
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
Day 6: Animal Kingdom
Day 7: Split between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Don't miss out on the other three parks because you want to see absolutely everything at one! You will still have a good time, but it makes everyone who knows what you're missing out on so very sad! With a touring plan like I posted above, you can see the best of what EVERY park has to offer, and get the most bang for your buck. I also think you would get incredibly bored of MK after an entire week. Mix it up! You'll have the most fun if you do.

 

[Sparkie]

I think you should consider trying the other parks. I think there are things your little ones would enjoy.

Epcot.... In the Living Seas pavillion is a Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush. In the Imagination pavillion is Journey into Imagination with Figment. In the Inoventions is lots of interactive video games and things for them to run, jump and climb on.

Animal Kingdom.... Kilamanjaro Safari, Its Tough to Be a Bug, there is a petting zoo, Kali River Rapids... the baby wouldnt be able to ride but the other kids should be able to... There are 2 really great shows... Nemo and Festival of the Lion King

Hollywood Studios... Not as much here I dont think but there are a couple of shows... Playhouse Disney type stuff

I'm sure I have forgotten some. There may not be enough to do a full day but I think it would be worth the hopper option to check it out and it gives you more flexibility with your dinning.

I have gone a long time ago with a 7yo, 4yo, and 18 month old and we found plenty to do. Most recently I have been traveling with teenagers. But we now have a new grandbaby and plan on seeing Mickey, summer of 2010 when she is 18 months and plan to do the park hopper then as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[MelanieC]

If your going for 7 days, you should see all 4 parks. Trust me - your missing out if you don't.

We don't park hop - we stay at one park for the day in it's entirety for that day.

If you have 6 days in park I would do -

MK - 2
Epcot - 2
AK- 1
DHS -1

If you have 7 days in the parks - spend the extra day in the park you enjoyed most or do AK for 1 more day (or even go back to MK for an extra day).

Don't cheat yourself out of all the parks - A week is a perfect time to see everything. You obviously can't see everything, but I bet you can get pretty darn close

 

[TDC Nala]

If you want to go to a restaurant that is inside a theme park, you must have admission to that theme park. They won't let you enter a park just to eat.

If you use your non-hopper admission only for MK, and you have the dining plan (thus restricting yourself to Disney restaurants), you can eat at MK and at any of the resorts or Downtown Disney. You will not be able to access restaurants in other theme parks.

I'm of the opinion that you will not want to spend 7 days only at MK. It will not take you that long to see all of it. That doesn't mean you need a parkhopper pass - only that you can go to one park per day. Doesn't matter which park it is, but you can't go to more than one park per day without a park hopper.

The downside is that if you use your pass to enter Epcot for a day, decide you don't like Epcot and want to return to MK or try another park, you can't do that on the same day.

 

[septbaby]

We really appreciated the Parkhopper option. We hopped because we wanted to, not just because of a meal. You can definitely see every park, plan inside park meals for the days you'll be there.

Good luck with your decision. By the way you can add this option once you are at WDW, even after you've used the ticket. So maybe buy them without and add it if you find you want/need it. That will take some angst out of your planning.

Here is what I recall of our park days:

Day 1: Early start at MK, lunch at Epcot, returned to MK using Party tickets at night

Day 2: Late bfast ADR after the killer Day 1, rained so ended up touring a couple of resort and at DTD, MK at night for Spectro, Wishes

Day 3: AK in the afternoon, AKL for dinner, Epcot for Illuminations, MK for EMH

Day 4: Epcot, MK, DHS for dinner, Fantasmic and EMH at DHS

Day 5: DHS prior to departure(missed characters arriving in the PM)

Day 1 was the most magical as it was our 5yo's first day at Disney! Family seemed to like Day 3 the best, we swam at the hotel in AM, arrived at AK around 1pm and hit the items on our plan" Lion King, Nemo, parade, Rafiki's Planer watch and a few others before leaving the park around 5:30 (last Nemo show ended after park closing), we rejuvenated at Boma dinner just caught Illuminations and closed the night at MK past midnight.

 

[brymolmom]

My kids were 4 (dd)and 5 (ds) on last trip - I just don't have that 3rd one in tow! We never hop, at least not when we're there for a full week. It is way possible (and way less expensive) just to leave and go back to the same park - there is plenty to do at each park to make that doable. Just plan meals at the same park you plan to go to that day OR at resorts or DTD if you don't know where you want to be that day.

I think you should definitely do all the parks - if it gets to be too exhausting just plan on doing the mornings at the parks most days - then pool/naps at resort from 1:00 - 4:00 or 5:00 - then a couple of evenings go to nighttime stuff at parks - other nights just go to bed 'on time'. That's what we do and it always works well.

My thoughts on a basic plan:
Here is a sample plan what I would do when my kids were that age:
Arrival day: get settled in - let kids take a nap - either go to a character dinner (like Chef Mickey's - not in a park so no park ticket) or go to a park for dinner and evening show. This plan is only if you arrive at hotel by early afternoon.
Day 1: MK - I know some people say to leave this one for last - but we like to do it once in beginning and once toward the end.
Day 2: AK (I offset our 'all day' parks which are MK and EP with AK and DH which only take us 1/2 to 3/4 of a day) - arrive at rope drop. Not to be missed: safari, boneyard playground, Kali river rapids (if 4 year old is 40 inches tall), nemo the musical, FOTLK, maybe Donald's Safari breakfast. Tough to be a bug might be too scary for the kids - my dd hated it until over 5 years old.
Day 3: EPCOT - Not to be missed: If 4 year old is 40 inches: Soarin, test track, if not: Living with the land, nemo ride, turtle talk with crush, journey into imagination with figment, Acrobats in china, voices of liberty in american pavilion, maelstrom, kidcot stations OR passports that get stamped in each country.
Day 4: Rest day - hang out at pool, maybe schedule late lunch or early dinner at Wilderness Lodge, Hoop De Doo or one of the meals at Grand Floridian so that you can check out some other resorts. Maybe catch MK fireworks from the beach at one of those resorts after dinner.
Day 5: DHS - Toy story mania, muppets, playhouse disney live on stage, voyage of the little mermaid, shrunk the kids playground, High School Musical 3 show and the 'parade' Block Party bash. Maybe think about Play & Dine at Hollywood & Vine meal if kids like JoJo, Goliath and/or Leo and June.
Day 6: MK again - anything you didn't do the first time around (can't miss - and I would recommend in this order if you get there at opening: dumbo, peter pan, Pooh, teacups, Goofy's barnstormer, if 40 inches - fastpass for Splash Mtn. Then later: It's a small world, philharmagic, carpets of aladdin, buzz lightyear, country bears, carousel, plus the parades)
Day 7: last day - maybe do DTD and relax in afternoon then hit EPCOT for an evening meal.

Have fun planning!

 

[Faldred]

We did 7 nights deluxe with 7 day base tickets. It can be done, it just requires planning. It also helps to eat at the resorts and DTD as well as at the parks (I believe we had 5 out of 19 meals outside of the parks, but that's a low number, and we did a lot of character breakfasts).

 

[adamtraci]

well I guess we will rethink our plan then! sounds like everyone is appalled by our idea to only see MK

those other parks do sound fun. we need to research them to learn more about what they have to offer.

thanks for the suggested schedules.. we will be staying 7 nights so plenty of time to hit MK and Epcot several times and AK too.

Might not do the parkhopper since we are staying for a pretty long time. Any ideas how much that adds to the cost?

Thanks,
Adam.

 

[brymolmom]

well I guess we will rethink our plan then! sounds like everyone is appalled by our idea to only see MK

those other parks do sound fun. we need to research them to learn more about what they have to offer.

thanks for the suggested schedules.. we will be staying 7 nights so plenty of time to hit MK and Epcot several times and AK too.

Might not do the parkhopper since we are staying for a pretty long time. Any ideas how much that adds to the cost?

Thanks,
Adam.

Yes - $50 per ticket...And you can hop each day of that ticket for that one price.

 

[SilverL]

Just another note - there are tons of great restaurants at the Resorts if you don't want to get the Park Hopper option. We're dining at a resort the night we fly in, as well as the two nights we go to AK since it will close early. But I know what you mean about good restaurants at Epcot! It's so hard to choose. However, another option is to spend your day in the world showcase snacking around the world for breakfast and lunch and picking on really good TS restaurant for dinner!

 

[WantToGoNow]

The hopper option is a flat $50 per ticket - whether you have 1 day or 10. My kids were 5.5 and almost 3 last trip and their favorite park was Epcot followed by DHS. They liked MK fine, but some of their favorite attractions were in the other parks. My dh's favorite park is AK so we usually spend two partial days there as well. I would highly recommend that you visit more than just MK - as much as I love it, I think after 6-7 straight days there, I might be just a touch bored.

 

[cnorth]

Do know that if you are on the fence about park hoppers that you can get them at any point during your trip. They will be $50 per ticket regardless of when you get them. You could even get them on the last day if you wanted. But basically, you DO NOT have to get them prior to the trip.

 

[DISNEYNY]

I agree that you should go to all 4 parks. We never get the park hopper option anymore because for us it just takes up too much time traveling back and forth between the parks. That is just what my family prefers, others love the Hopper. I plan my in park restaurants for the day I will be in that park. Some days we travel to resorts and eat at restaurants there. Most often ones located on the monorail that you can get to easily from Magic Kingdom or ones at the Boardwalk area that you can walk to from Epcot. You can then reenter the same park when you are finished with your meal. You can ask lots of questions on these boards to help you plan your trip....people love to help out Disney newcomers!!!