Do I need a park hopper versus base ticket?

[Shelly]

In the past I have always had ap's. I'm trying to plan a "CHEAP" trip with the free dining deal. (ap's have expired). I was thinking I could cut corners by getting the base ticket instead of the hopper.
Is there a reason I shouldn't do this that I'm forgetting.
Also once I get to disney if I've changed my mind can I upgrade the tickets?

 

[WDWlover]

I would always do park hopping as it's only $35 total to each ticket. I like it for the simple fact that I can watch fireworks nightly no matter what park is open until when. Epcot has them nightly. It's also nice for when AK is only open until 5pm - you can go to another park. Just my opinion though. I guess it all depends on how long you're going and when. If you're used to AP's it'll be a big change with just a base ticket.

 

[marcyinPA]

In the past I have always had ap's. I'm trying to plan a "CHEAP" trip with the free dining deal. (ap's have expired). I was thinking I could cut corners by getting the base ticket instead of the hopper.
Is there a reason I shouldn't do this that I'm forgetting.
Also once I get to disney if I've changed my mind can I upgrade the tickets?

We originally booked our trip with the base tickets for the same reason you mentioned: money. However, we've thought it through and changed our tickets to hoppers. We've just decided that it's better to have more flexibility each day...plus we are doing one day less than we normally do, and we are used to doing 2 days at MK, 2 days at Epcot, one at MGM and one at AK. This time, we are only going to have 5 1/2 park days, and we want the ability to have more time in either MK or Epcot if desired.

good luck deciding!

 

[Stacy's a freak]

My concern with the base tickets without the park hopping option is that you will probably end up at the busiest parks everyday. From what I've heard, the parks with EMH are REALLY crowded on their particular EMH day. My guess is because people want to take advantage of the EMH so all of the non-park hopping people have no choice but to visit the EMH park on the EMH day.

So, in short, you might like the flexibility better with a park hopper, especially if you are going at a very busy time.

 

[paladin]

I agree that for the additional money, you get a lot more flexibility. We do a lot of hopping, going to one park in the am, going back in the afternoon to rest and then going somewhere else at night.

 

[becca011906]

we choice not do use the hopper option is year... we did last year and really didnt do much hopping except for when we would take the kids to a park all day long like MK then me and dh took them back to the hotel with my grandparents so me and dh would go enjoy a nice late dinner out at epcot for fire works, this was only one time we did that, and this trip we won't have the option of leaving the kids with someone and they wear quicker so we are just done one park per day for 4 days... for us it would have been an extra $140 just for the hopper option and we think that $$ would be better used on gas/food/ souveniers.
As for the EMH don't you know which days thoes are so you can avoid that park that day???

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

We get the hoppers because we like to eat in Epcot and play in the other parks. As someone else mentioned if one park closes early we like to go to another park. I guess over the years we have gotten so used to having them I don't even think about the other tickets.

 

[leanne11]

the difference is minimal..i know, i have been researching, just remember ak closes at 5-6. without a hopper you are done for the night.. you have used you day, we would like to then hop over to mgm and do fantasmic, or epcot for illum. also i am worried i'll be stuck at a buuusy park, and not be able to leave.
this site gives you a free base ticket day..
5th day FREE when you purchase a 4 Day Base Ticket with 14 days expiration!
http://www.park-tickets.com/index.aspx

 

[Ozymoe]

In the past I have always had ap's. I'm trying to plan a "CHEAP" trip with the free dining deal. (ap's have expired). I was thinking I could cut corners by getting the base ticket instead of the hopper.
Is there a reason I shouldn't do this that I'm forgetting.
Also once I get to disney if I've changed my mind can I upgrade the tickets?

OK Shelly,

Here's my 2 cents...if in the past you have always had APs I am assuming you WILL be back to DisneyWorld, whether it is in 1 year or twenty. If I was doing the free dining package...I'd get a one day, no frills base ticket with that package...and then buy 10 day premium tickets through the Mousesavers link (10 days never expire hoppers, plus 5 additional days of waterparks [BB and TL], DQ and/or WWofS = 15 days of never expiring Disney if you use those 5 additional days each as a day in itself)..for less than $360 each...and then I'd save those 1-day tickets for company...or to put towards an annual pass in the future. (I am not sure when those 1 day pass (package)tickets expire...if they expire soon...use 'em up on day one and then start using the non-expiring premiums...if they never expire, hold onto them to use toward an annual pass someday in the future)

This could save you a lot if you will be going back.

I hope that made sense to you...if not, ask.

 

[ChrisLei]

How old are your little ones? Hubby and I decided to save the extra cash and do the base tickets. We have a 6 and 2 year old, so we wouldnt be doing much hopping at this age. I think that it will only exhaust them even more. We are hoping that the days that we have planned for each park are not EMH since we hear that those are the days the parks are really crowded, so we will take our time in each park and just enjoy them. If we dont get to see everything we wanted to see, that's fine. It's vacation in the happiest place in the world so we are not going to stress about it, LOL.

 

[WeluvDisney2]

With the non-hopper passes can we still leave the park and return to the same park later in the day?

 

[Ozymoe]

With the non-hopper passes can we still leave the park and return to the same park later in the day?

That's an easy one...YES!