Do you hop?

I hope once...the day I am at AK since it closes early. When AK adds Rivers of Light I will probably never hop again.
 
DD and I don't park hop at WDW. We do at DL but that's an entirely different set up.

When she was younger we would be at a park by rope drop and leave by lunch for pool time and a rest and then we'd go back to the same park in the evening.

Now that she's older we will get to the park when we get there and stay until we want to leave -- whatever time that is.

We don't like the time it takes to get from park to park.
 
My last 2 trips have been short (3 park days each trip). The first one (about 15 months ago, so before FPP) we didn't park hop. I figured it was such a short trip it wasn;t worth the extra money. I really regretted it. I knew I could have added it while on the trip, but when it's halfway through the 2nd day of a 3 day trip, it's REALLY not worth the money, so we just didn't PH. We had no children with us and really wished we could go to Epcot or MK every evening, but we couldn't. For us, while we enjoy DHS, it's really a 3/4 day park. And we didn't even go to AK. No way could we spend a whole day there.
Earlier this month, DS (20) and I went, again for 3 park days. I paid up front for the park hoppers, I learned from last year... We hopped every day and were able to see A LOT more this way. Not all the nighttime shows were on every night we were there, but we still saw them all. Heck, we watched Fantasmic! and the MSEP the same night! We were able to take a short break at the resort every day too. We went to AM and PM EMH's when available, utilized FPP and got many additional FPP's each day, at the original park and the park we hopped to. We didn't eat any TS, all CS, because DS isn't interested in food that much (he picks quantity over quality! LOL!). We had a great trip that wouldn't have been nearly as fun or full if we hadn't hopped. I've learned my lesson, park hoppers are worth every penny for us, even on shorter trips, or maybe they're even more important on short trips!
 
We are park hoppers ... We may not go to 2 parks everyday of our trip, but most we do and I like having the option to do it if we like : ) plus we always go 10 plus days so we may change plans and I like the hopper to make it happen
 

We hop almost every day. We normally go at rope drop, return to hotel around 6 and shower and change for our ADR. After dinner we hit whatever park we decide on at dinner.
 
Just got back last week and we hopped every day of our 4 days. Here's why:

- stayed at Dolphin/Swan and went to Epcot whenever we could because it's walking distance

- I took advantage of late night EMH, which I could have planned but wasn't sure I'd be up for at midnight. I left the night open after DHS and ended up at MK that night. The next night, I ended up back at DHS after dinner.

- my husband decided he must have more French food after our Epcot day so we actually went from MK - Epcot (lunch) - DHS (dinner). We used our fastpasses that morning and I was able to re-schedule them the DAY OF when he requested world showcase for lunch. Made them early and monorailed over.

Hop. Hop. Hop. But I think it depends on your ages and location. World showcase seems like the best reason to hop but kids won't care as much about getting in that late night Grey Goose slush...I hope. ;)
 
We have always used our Park Hoppers. We like to be able to go to a water park in the morning and another park in the afternoon.

Just to clarify, you don't need a hopper to go to a water park and one of the "major" parks in the same day. The term "hopping" refers to going to two or more of the four major parks (MK, AK, Epcot, and DHS) in the same day.

Water parks are completely separate. You can buy a one-day/single use water park ticket, or add the "Water Parks Fun and More" option to your base ticket if you like. With either of these options you can go to a water park and one of the four major parks on the same day -- all without having a hopper option on your base ticket. Does that make sense?
 
We hop pretty much every day of our trips there. I can't imagine not having the option to do so. I find that it makes planning a lot easier, specifically when it comes to dining reservations and I find that being able to hop since the intro to FP+ is even better.

For example we'll do a morning at MK with FP+, then hop somewhere else later that afternoon/evening for dinner and get on attractions with minimal wait (we usually go during low fall season) - then the next time we do MK we'll do it in the evening and have FP+ booked for the later times for attractions we love.

Hopping really works for us. We're park commandos though, EMH mornings no breaks in the afternoon, parks in the evening (where is closing latest usually).
 
Out of 4 trips as an adult with my own family, I have bought hoppers twice and regretted it. My kids were pretty young, so could not be on the go for 14 hours straight and even on our last trip when they were older we practically forced ourselves to hop because we had paid for it!

Reading the boards and touring plans, I felt like I'm not "doing it right" but we're also traveling in fall when hours are shorter and our trip is only 6 park days - 2MK 2Epcot and one each at the others. Just enough to do everything without wanting an extra half here and there.

Only downside is if weather and/or unforeseen troubles and ADRs make us wish we could swap park days around.
 














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