Do I need a Park Hopper? Worth the price?

[mrodgers]

IMHO.... NO !!

Just plan yourself a bit and there should be no need... you waste to much time going back and fourth.... Maybe a difeerent situation if it was just yourself and a friend and you were only paying 58 dollars for yourself and not x 8,6 or 12....

Wow, no reason to scream. If one would like to try food in every country in Epcot, then they are planning if they make reservations in Epcot for 11 meals in 11 days if they wanted to. Thus, the park hopper certainly would be worth every penny if one wanted to see any of the other parks.

 

[disney4us2002]

Over a 10-day period in June I think it is a bargain. We went in 2009 for 10 days in June too and our experience was that there wasn't enough to do at AK for a whole day without heading to another park for the nighttime festivities, plans got changed because of sudden thunderstorms and Fantasmic being cancelled one night, etc. No need to decide right now of course. You can decide on the spot one day when you want to go to a different park.

 

[scrappinannie]

Everyone will place their own personal value on park hoppers no many how many people you ask, Before kids, I would not have gone without them. Like you and and many others have noted, we liked to be able to eat at parks other than the one we were in. Liked having the flexibility of leaving one park to go to another for dinner or fireworks or a parade or whatever. However, now that we're the parents to toddlers, I have to say park hoppers are not a good option for us at this point. It is a huge hassle to pack up a stroller/wagon and take Disney transportation to another park JUST for a meal. And by the end of the day the kids are just too tired and cranky for that kind of hassle. When they are older, yes, I see us returning to park hopping, but for now, one park per day is plenty.

 

[Marionnette]

We're going in June and don't have Park Hopper tickets. We have made ADRs and I was wondering if we are limited to the parks where we are eating? I'm assuming if we have dinner ressies at EPCOT we won't be able to spend the day at MK? We just received a PIN for 30% off and I'm wondering if it will be worth it to add Park Hoppers.

Thanks in advance!

I didn't weigh in with an opinion when I answered your follow up post.

My thoughts go both ways when it comes to hoppers. There are certain times during the year when hopping is a must-have for us. That would be in the slow seasons when some of the parks close earlier. If AK is closing at 6:00 and you don't have hopping, then you'll need to make late dinner plans at a resort or DtD location on the day that you're there. If DHS closes at 8:00 and you want to catch the fireworks at Epcot, you'll have to do it from the bridge by the Boardwalk if you don't have hopping.

Of course, June will be different with longer park hours and more EMHs. You could get by without hopping quite easily. You will just have to plan you dining around your parks. And don't ignore the resort restaurants. Some of the better table service restaurants are not in the parks. The monorail resorts are great if it's an MK day. If you visited DHS and are looking for a nice dinner, it's easy to head over to the Boardwalk restaurants or YC/BC before heading back to the park for Fantasmic.

It really is up to the individual and there is no right or wrong answer.

 

[njmom47]

Last time we went, we did get hoppers. I thought it was great, but then again, my kids were teens and ended up going to other parks in the evening with a group of kids from the bb team. DH and I went elsewhere or hung out at the resort with other parents, and one night ds and I hopped over to DHS for the night to check it out. However, I agree with probably not getting them when there are young children in the group. But if you're dining in Epcot that many nights, I think limiting yourself to Epcot every day (or eliminating the chance to go to ANY park that day) you probably should get hoppers.

 

[dolfinjuls]

We never get park hoppers for our family. Maybe when my kids are older I'd reconsider, but for now I don't think it's necessary. It means planning ahead of time, deciding what park each day, where to eat, etc. But it works for us! And I'd rather use the money for souvies or something else.

 

[msmama]

For me it depends on the ages of kids, too.

I'm heading down with my 4 year old soon and will do the park hopper just because I don't know what he will want to do each day (though this is also going to be a kid focused trip and I plan on letting him lead).

If you do have lots of ADRs at Epcot, I probably would go for them because then I wouldn't have to be there everyday.

I like them and tend to generally go for it.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Hoppers are generally not worth it for us. We tend to see the travel time from park to park as wasted, and not get much use out of them. But, in your case, I would get them because of the the length of your stay and all the ADRs you have planned for Epcot. I think you'll want to have flexibility between where you go in the morning and where you eat dinner (or breakfast vs. evening).

 

[KarenAylwood]

I've been to Disney dozens of times and would never consider not getting the park hopper, especially on the dining plan. MK is one of our favorite parks for spending time, but Epcot is our favorite for food. Also with the fact that Fantasmic and other special events (parades & such) are not shown every day, we find that we'll spend one day at one park and then hop over to another to see a show/parade or grab dinner. I just can't imagine not having the park hopper.

For a trip that long and a lot of ADR's at Epcot, I'd definitely get them.

 

[tzolkin]

This is always a topic that people feel strongly one way or the other on-- half the people feel park hopping is a waste of time and money and the other half feel PHs are a necessity. Neither is always best; it really just depends on your family.


We are a park hopping family and have been since our first trip. We hop (at least once) every single day. We plan part of each day (ex. AM EMH at MK on Tues, dinner at Epcot on Wed, etc) and then leave the rest to be flexible.

We always have 10 park days, so the cost is spread out. We also don't find travel time between parks to be a waste of time because we would usually be leaving the park for a mid-day break anyway (so it doesn't take any more time to go to a different park in the evening than it does to return to the same park you were at that morning). We also like a break from other people (the busses leaving the parks are usually empty in the afternoon) and enjoy some of the transportation (especially the monorail between MK and Epcot).

 

[Sagginit]

personally we always do PH. the freedom is worth more than a tshirt to us. we like the food in epcot but the rides in MK. our last trip we did three parks in a day twice. it depends on how you tour and how you dine.

what you need to understand is that you are locked into the first park you go that day. so if you have most of your reservations in epcot, you will spend most of your trip there. for a trip that long i think it is totally worth it.

 

[mirage0306]

For our first family trip, we didn't buy park hoppers and while we would have loved them, were okay without them. This time, we are staying longer and half of it is at BWI and we are going to be eating a lot in Epcot, so will be getting park hoppers. If we weren't staying there, I'm not sure what we'd do.

 

[disney1990]

Most of our trips, we go for 6 nights/6 days - going in the parks Sunday - Friday. We always buy park hoppers. A couple days we spend all day in one park, but for the last two or three days, we spend the morning in one park and the afternoon in another park catching up on what we didn't get to do the first time around.