Do you park-hop with young children?

[emh1129]

We are planning our first family trip to Disney in January

We will be there for ten days and will have ten day passes as well (since it's only slightly more than the 7,8,9 day passes). DH and I can't decide whether or not to add the PH option.. I think it might be more of a pain than it's worth, since we will have a 4 yr old and 24 month old. And I'm not thrilled about the extra $$ it would cost.. (we're having a tough time with just the basic costs).
But on the other hand, I know the parks close pretty early in January and this would give us the flexibility to move to another park with later hours, or to catch a show.

Anyway.. I would love some suggestions!

 

[lclark0621]

We always hop, even with DS who is now 2.5

Especially on our AK days, since that park closes so early.

We enjoy the freedom of being able to go to a different park if it is to busy, closing early, nowhere to eat dinner, etc, etc, etc.

But that is just us. If money is an issue, you will be fine without the hop option. But if you can swing it, I would do it.

 

[rt2dz]

My kiddos are 5, 26 months, 6 months. They've been to Disney at 3 & 7 months and 4 and 15 months; going again at 5, 2 and 15 months this Dec. We park hop most days; couldn't live without it.

If cost is an issue, you will probably be fine without it. Or you could go, see how it goes the first day or two and add it then (no discount, but nothing wasted if you decide against it).

I like it because the switch in the day keeps the crankies away. Or sometimes one park is just more crowded than we were anticipating. It opens up dining options. You can spend a day at a park with non EMH, then switch over to the evening EMH later. Sometimes the kids have a different idea of what they want to do than we thought. Other times, we accomplish what we want at one park & move on to another. I love the park hopping option, but it wouldn't kill your trip if you forego it.

 

[jodifla]

We always hop, too.....


Like you said, some parks close early in January. We like having the option of moving over to Epcot for the evening.

 

[jodifla]

By the way, where are you staying??

 

[emh1129]

We're staying at All-Star Movies..
In terms of park-hopping to avoid crowds- do you think the crowds will really still be a problem in early January? (Jan.2-12)

 

[flynnmnstr]

We like the option to experience different things on the same day. Even in January their were days that we more crowded at say MK by lunchtime so we would go back to our hotel for a nap then head over to Epcot. Also like someone above stated the parks close earlier on those days so your family might not be happy to end their day at 4 or 5pm (which is when AK closes that time of year). We love ending most of our nights (except the one night we brave the crowds at SpectroMagic) at Epcot walking around the countries. Another reason for park hopping is the time of year you are going; its sometimes gets really cold then. We gone close to 15 times in Dec/Jan and the weather is never the same. On a colder day you may not want to spend a lot of time at MK or AK where mostly everything is outside, especially in the evening hours you may choose to go to Epcot or MGM where there or more indoor activities and more table service dining options. The great time about that time of year its very easy to get a ADR on the day that you want it as long as your flexible about your dining time.

Another reason to park hop is dining options. Some parks have better counter service restaurants while other have much better sit down options. We personally do not like the sit down restaurants at MK so I would want to be limited to only being in that park for the day. That being said you are going to be there a long time so maybe that flexibility is not important to your family. For us we couldn't imagine going and not park hopping.

 

[emh1129]

Thank you all so much for your opinions and suggestions! I really appreciate it!

I was going to buy our tix through ticketmania (via mousesavers) and it would be a total of $101 to add the PH option to our tickets. If I added PH to our tickets while at WDW, I would have to pay more than $101, right?

*sigh* I guess I should just suck it up and pay it!

 

[CleveRocks]

I think park hopping is tailor-made for families with young kids, like mine. Do you intend to take a break in the middle of the day back at the hotel for swim/nap/rest/tantrum prevention? If so, when that's done and you're ready to go back to a park, you can go WHEREVER you want to go! It's a nice freedom.

Hoping is very nice, but if the extra you pay for it will prevent you from doing something else (like, for instance, having to draw straws to see who gets to eat at each meal), then it is an easily avoidable expense.

 

[rt2dz]

According to mousesavers: Adding the Park Hopper Option lets you come and go as you please through any or all of the four major Walt Disney World theme parks for each day of your pass. Extra cost on top of the base-price ticket is a flat rate of $40 ($42.60 with tax).

So you are looking at an extra $120 plus tax at the gate. Of course, I don't know if that is for all tickets or just adult tickets and a discounted rate for a child's ticket. I just don't have the time to look it up right now.

 

[Kahana-ri]

We always hop the parks. I don't think I could do just one park a day? I love having the options and being able to utilize our time to see everything. This gives DS some down time in between Parks-then we could start all over again somewhere new.