Do you hop? Any why?

[Mommytobree]

I have never used the park hopper, I am wondering since I am going for so long this next time if I should. I think it'll be like a $400 upgrade or something. And the another $400 to add water parks and more. Not sure if I want the water park option, but how about hopping? Is it worth it? Do you use it?

 

[Robo]

I have never used the park hopper, I am wondering since I am going for so long this next time if I should. I think it'll be like a $400 upgrade or something. And the another $400 to add water parks and more. Not sure if I want the water park option, but how about hopping? Is it worth it? Do you use it?

We always park-hop... every single day.

But YOU may not NEED to.
How do you know?
What should you do?

Simple:
You don't need to buy the "Hopper Option" UNLESS and UNTIL you need it.

If you are already at one park and decide that you'd like to "hop" to another... right then,
just walk up to a ticket window and pay the $52 (plus tax) per tix (its the same price whenever you choose to do it) and you're ready to hop (that day, and any others, for the rest of your trip.) You must make this and all other upgrade choices within the first 14 day of when the ticket was first used.

If you go and NEVER need to hop, don't buy the upgrade, and you can then spend all those "extra" bucks on more WDW souvenirs!


One advantage of HOPPER is FLEXIBILITY-

So, on your Animal Kingdom day (AK closes pretty early), you could "close" AK and then HOP over to, say, Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations that evening.

If, say, Fantasmic! got "rained out" on your DHS day, you could HOP to there on the day that you were at another park, and catch the amazing show.

If the "entire population" of Hukalockistan poured into MK on one of the days you were there, and filled all the queues and took all the FP's, you could hop to Epcot and escape the crowd.

If you were at DHS and wanted to eat at, say, Canada in Epcot (like WE love to do) you could ride over on the boat, use your Hopper to get into the International Gateway, dine on CHEESE SOUP, then retrace your path back to DHS for more fun!

Hopping can be a valuable asset, and, again, you don't need to buy it unless or until you NEED it!

If you are already at one park and decide that you'd like to "hop" to another... right then,
just walk up to a ticket window and pay $52 (plus tax) per tix (its the same price whenever you choose to do it) and you're ready to hop (that day, and any others, for the rest of your trip.)

 

[snickerdoodles]

We never used it before getting APs. Now that we have it, I couldn't imagine going without. We seem to end up back at MK in the evening on most days of our longer trips. I think it's worth it!

 

[DisneyMim]

We almost always park hop every day every trip, BUT we have APS. I don't think most visitors need to park hop, so it will save you money that you can spend on something else!!

Enjoy The Magic!!

 

[Mrsjvb]

Hopping is not for us, I can barely do one park a day as it is. we do not go Commando style, don't do parades or fireworks or any of those late night deals. we only do early EMH. so for us, it is not a need nor even a want.

if we want to, we go back to a park a second time on a different day

 

[BradyBz12]

We always hop - for pretty much all the reasons Robo mentioned. Since we usually stay at FW (only a 12 minute boat ride from MK) we'll sometimes pop in just to grab a Dole Whip float and watch the fireworks, or do a "fireworks blitz" just for fun (watch Wishes at MK, make a mad dash to hop the monorail to EP and watch Illuminations)

For us, can't imagine not hopping. But you certainly don't have to, and it's not difficult to plan a trip without it (and of course it's a way to save a good bit of $ in your budget).

 

[nansmama]

--------------------------

 

[grace&philipsmom]

We always get a hopper. We travel with small kids and we always go back to the hotel for a mid afternoon break. With the hopper we can then go to a different park in the evening if we feel like it. (Like Epcot with all of those dinner choices!)

 

[ChrisKsAngel]

I always thought it would be a nice thing to have, but never bought it until our last trip. Of course then we didn't use it!

The one time I wished I had it was when we went to Blizzard Beach, we stayed a few hours and thought it would have been nice to hop over to Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Personally, I could live without hopping. DH, on the other hand, will not go without it. The only reason he goes to WDW is to eat at Biergarten and see Wishes....he has a serious thing about Wishes. Basically, that means that any day which does not end with eating at Epcot or watching Wishes is a bad day for dh. We tend to try our best to appease him. I'm trying to convince him to book another trip and have been playing the Wishes CD all week.....he's pretending not to notice. Maybe I'll make brats for dinner

 

[Robo]

The one time I wished I had it was when we went to Blizzard Beach, we stayed a few hours and thought it would have been nice to hop over to Typhoon Lagoon.

Hopping is not connected with, or required, or useful for the Water Parks.

If you visit two different water parks on the same day, you may do so WITHOUT the Hopper option,
but, regardless, it would take two different Water Park and More "assets" if you did so.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi,
We always purchase park hoppers. We like the freedom to go to another park if the one we are at is too busy, and sometimes our daughter gets bored. The most important for us is flexibility with dining reservations at park restaurants and being able to go to the night shows easier. If one of the shows at night gets canceled and your in the park, then you have to decide do you go back the next day and spend the day in the park again, or be able to go to another park and just go for the show. One factor is your length of stay. The shorter the stay the better park hopping is. If you have a couple of weeks then I don't think it matters as much.
Good luck with your choice.

 

[cjlvsccm]

I have never used the park hopper, I am wondering since I am going for so long this next time if I should. I think it'll be like a $400 upgrade or something. And the another $400 to add water parks and more. Not sure if I want the water park option, but how about hopping? Is it worth it? Do you use it?

We usually do use Park Hopper. For instance, we might do AK in the a.m., go back to swim midday, then go to whichever park has evening EMH and stay late. Or maybe there's a restaurant we want to try in Epcot, but also wanted to see Rope Drop at MK... no biggie, just hop over. If we planned on Fantasmic!, but the evening was rained out, if it's showing again while we're there we can plan to hop back to catch it without another whole day at DHS. For us it's a matter of convenience of not having to stick to a tight schedule, or needing to see everything in one park in one day.

Our 2006 trip was super budget-tight, but we still ponied up for PH, because we only had 2 park days, and went to ALL FOUR parks and maximized our time with early and late EMH. Didn't know about the Disboards then, or we would have had lots more tips to help!!

 

[OhThePain]

We use and love the park hopper. Its nice to change things up a bit in the evening, especially on days we go to AK since it usually closes so much earlier than the other parks. If you are going for a week or more than the cost of hoppers is about $6 or $7 a day per ticket.

As for the water parks and more option... If you plan to use it more than once, it pays to get it. If you are only going to go to BB or TL or DQ once durring the trip than your better off just paying the admission price.

 

[marcielm]

We hop, often because we don't stay for very long at AK, and I like to go another park that evening. Also, we are only there for 6 days (one being half a day). If I was there for 8 days or more, I probably wouldn't feel the need to hop, because I could do 2 days per park, and would find something else to do on my AK night. Right now, we are a little commando in our touring style... "No time for the pool, kids!! We are at Disney! You can swim at home!"

Last year's trip was so last minute that we had ADR's at parks opposite of days we visited. I also didn't have my scheduling down as good as I do this year. There is a good chance the only day we will hop this year is on our AK day.

I do agree that if you don't think you will need it, then wait until you are there to add the option. Just be sure and budget your $400 into the cost. Depending on when you go, and where you are from (up north vs. in the south), the water park option might not be a great idea. I wouldn't dream of the water parks in March, because it's too cold to swim in my TX mind (I don't care if the water is heated, it's the air around us that is not)!! However, if we were there in summer, and had an extra day or so then I might consider the water park option. I too wouldn't add it until I was there, just in case we got busy and never made it over there (I'd hate to lose that $$).

 

[tawasdave]

Most of my trips are set up so that I have a day at each park...so while it would be nice to go to another park after Animal Kingdom closes early its not worth the extra money for me. I am the kinda of guy who wants to do as much as I can each day..so why would I want to waste 1 to 1 1/2 hours hopping to another park...not woth it to me in my humble opinion...

 

[Mommytobree]

Thanks for all the advice! I didn't know it was something I could add at any time. Thanks for that info-that is hugely helpful! Another question about adding options, can I add the Water Parks and More option to just dh and ds 13's tickets? Call me crazy but I do not do the water parks. I do not find them (or any water parks for that matter) fun at all. I'd rather hang out at the hotel pool and let dh and ds go have fun there.

 

[Robo]

1- can I add the Water Parks and More option to just dh and ds 13's tickets?

2- I'd rather hang out at the hotel pool and let dh and ds go have fun there.

1- Yes. (You may upgrade any MYW tickets individually once they are in your possession.)

2- That'll work.

 

[MHSweb79]

We won't go without park hoppers. We get up early for morning EMH, then head back to the resort for a break/ swim/ nap, then out again around 4pm for our dinnertime park (usually Epcot).
It's also nice if the weather doesn't cooperate with your planned schedule (rainy days are good for the Studios, extra-hot days are bad for AK, Fantastmic cancelled due to lightning, etc.) or if Disney changes its schedule and there's something you really don't want to miss. And finally, they are great if a particular park gets too crowded, or you run into huge hoards of tour groups- you can just hop a monorail or bus and try another park.
But plenty of people get by just fine without them. You may want to try them once and see if it works well for your family.

 

[ChrisKsAngel]

Hopping is not connected with, or required, or useful for the Water Parks.

If you visit two different water parks on the same day, you may do so WITHOUT the Hopper option,
but, regardless, it would take two different Water Park and More "assets" if you did so.

Wow, thanks! I never knew this.