Do we need hoppers if we have a lot of ADRs?

[Colleen27]

We do the deluxe plan every trip now, and we never pay for hoppers. We had them once during a free upgrade discount period and only hopped one day. I just don't like losing all that time between parks, and we usually have plenty to occupy us for a full day. I plan our meals in/near our park for the day rather than having to do a lot of travelling just for dining.

The only way I could see us wanting hoppers is if, as a previous poster mentioned, we were to go back during Food & Wine Festival because then it would be worth hopping to Epcot on AK or DHS days just to sample a few things before calling it a night.

 

[leebee]

We used to hop because we stayed offsite and only got 4 or 5 day tickets. Now that 7+ day tickets are so cheap (per day, that is) we just get tickets for the full time we are there and don't hop. I just plan park days/ADRs to coincide. Just make sure to make your ADRs in advance so you can get the restaurants you want.

If you decide to hop, you need to plan on at least an hour to head out of the park, get to the bus stop, w-a-i-t for the bus, get to the next park, and into the park... and sometimes longer if you get caught in a crowd or it's a slow time of day for the busses.

 

[OhThePain]

When planning on hopping from park to park, we usually figure in about an hour to go from gate to gate. Not that it usually ever takes that long, but we take into account things like traffic, waiting for the bus, things like that. If you just miss a bus it could take a while, but at the same time we have gone from the gate at AK to the gate at MK in 25 mins. Plan for the worst and anything better is a bonus.

As a PP said, we don't consider it waisting time to hop. We like to change things up on some days. AK closes on the earlier side and DHS is a half day park for us at best. Sure, there are other ways to fill in the time that don't revolve around a park, but we usually do those types of things on the day or 2 where we don't visit any park. That's the thing with Disney, there are so many options and opinions about touring that no one is really right or wrong.

Side note: We usually figure 90 mins to go from resort to resort, provided they are not both on the monorail loop (CR, GF, Poly and even WL/Ft.W) or both at the EC resort area (YC, BC, BWI, Swan or Dolphin)