Do you really NEED to have a park hopper pass???

[mermaidwannabe]

I found this thread very interesting because it will be my family's first trip and we are only going to have 5 or 6 days in the parks. I'm not sure $140 extra is worth the hopping feature since we've never been. Since I have a toddler, I thought we'd come back to the resort during the afternoon but we could always go back to the same park. That being said, what if the kids aren't enthralled with MGM and then we have part of the afternoon and evening "stuck" at the Poly? Still not a bad thing. I'll be interested to see what others have to say. Oh, also, I know one of the nights that we're there is early graduation night at MK so we would have to be out by 7pm which is fine for us, but maybe not for someone who likes to stay until closing.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

We are NOT Hoppers and can live without doing it VERY VERY easily! WE are going for 8 nights and getting 9 day passes. We will have a blast without hopping. That is why I LOVE these new passes, as it really helps those on a budget! Hopping is a very easy thing to give up IMO.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

That being said, what if the kids aren't enthralled with MGM and then we have part of the afternoon and evening "stuck" at the Poly? Still not a bad thing. .

Then go add the hopper option if you think you might like it at that point. Another thing I LOVE about these new passes, is you can add any of the extras later if you want. You do NOT have to decide when you buy them. You can have a 7 day pass and add the hopper, expiration, etc even if just one day is left on the pass.

 

[Skroops]

Is not to hop. You don't really need it for the WDW experience. I agree that it is handy at times, but it's something a budget minded family could do without. You'd have to plan ahead of time to know which park has the early entry or late night, but that is not a big deal.

 

[GarrettJD]

I don't know if we could do without the hopper option. I guess first time visitors don't really "need" it, but we enjoy hitting one park in the morning, going back to the room about 1:00 for a break, then going to a different park for the evening (usually Epcot as I LOVE Illuminations.) The change of scenery keeps things fresh.

And not really related to this, but even though we are two young adultswith no kids, we ALWAYS take an afternoon break for at least an hour or two. Otherwise, we'd "burn out" by the end of the trip.

 

[Trinity721]

I guess it all depends on a lot of things, like what parks you want to spend more time with and also the company you're with. Last time DH and I went with DD, we had PH's and we only used it once; after a half day at AK we thought why not go to Epcot WS again and we enjoyed that. But this time, I don't think we're going to get PH's. We plan on getting the FL res 3 day Play without PH, just do MK, Epcot and AK. We don't really care for MGM that much. Plus the big factor is having DD2 yrs, I think it's just better this way. But to each his own! If not for being practical, sure I'd go with the PH option!

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

Guess I'm in the minority, but we'll be hopping and this is our 1st WDW trip as a family!! Have seen lots of recommendations about newbies not needing hopping -- huh? We're going for a week -- Peak Easter/Spring Break week -- but taking out the arrival and departure day, and allowing 1 down day (Saturday before Easter, which is rated a 10 out of 10!), that leaves 4 full days and nights. We want to visit MK, Epcot, MGM and AK, and know which are our "must sees" at every park, and are fine with not seeing everything at any one park.

We have 2 kids under 8. Our family will love Fantasmic, so I booked the dinner pkg with H&V, but I don't want to devote one of my 4 days to just MGM. Likewise, we want to see AK, but the MK hours are longer, so we'll probably do both AK & MK one day. Our last full day is Easter Sunday -- Know the kids will want one last time at MK, but anticipate it getting pretty crowded and so we'll go elsewhere later.

Think hopping is well worth it for our situation. Good luck to you all whatever you decide.

 

[mom23boys]

We also have done Park Hopping and then some trips no PHing. For our upcoming trip this summer I did do PH because the price difference was only $100 for 4 tickets. We are staying at BCV so Epcot and MGM are so convienent.

Sharon

 

[k_k_100]

We stay at the hotels in the Epcot area (BCV's, BWV's & S/D). I would really be bothered if we could not go to Epcot for dinner on a whim. For us Wold Showcase is a major part of our vacation - it feels like an extension of our hotel. If we went more often (we can only go 4/nts. per year) I would probably feel differently. With such a limited time I want to make the most of my time!

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

I really enjoy the park hopper option. I do a solo vacation in early December. For that time of year, I might need my sweatshirt only when the sun goes down. When I don't need my sunglasses or my sun visor anymore, I just hate to carry it all around all evening, too.

So here is what I do: When MGM closes earlier,
I go to my room at The Boardwalk, get rid of my sunglasses, and sunvisor. I wash the sunscreen off my face. Now I pick up my jacket or sweatshirt, and head out to Epcot for the rest of the evening. I love World Showcase at night.

Also, if I get to a park and it becomes to crowded for me, I just hop to another park.

 

[kerry34]

We have only park hopped once out of the last 4 visits. I bought basic passes for this upcoming trip also. It costs way more than i want to spend for 7 people to hop. My kids are always content to stick to one park per day and it doesnt bother me either.

 

[bugsy]

I don't know if we could do without the hopper option. I guess first time visitors don't really "need" it, but we enjoy hitting one park in the morning, going back to the room about 1:00 for a break, then going to a different park for the evening (usually Epcot as I LOVE Illuminations.) The change of scenery keeps things fresh.

And not really related to this, but even though we are two young adultswith no kids, we ALWAYS take an afternoon break for at least an hour or two. Otherwise, we'd "burn out" by the end of the trip.

I agree, this is my 1st trip to WDW, but we have hopped at DL/CA adventure, a much smaller scale adventure to be sure, but we enjoy the freedom of choice, and like you said, a little nappy in the afternoon (....
ooooh, naps...... one of my favorite little luxuries!!!)

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

For us, Park Hopping is a must! My kids have Disneyland APs and they are used to hopping between DL and DCA. You know teenagers, after a couple of hours they will ditch me and want to hook up later when their funds run low. My kids have a disturbing interest in public transportation, too. The price of park hopping is worth it just for the ability to let them ride the WDW transportation system all day between resorts! ha!

 

[newholidayx2]

this yr I bought annual passes for DS & myself - we're going for 2 wks this time
the 2nd wk we're staying at bcv - there may be times i want to go listen to british invasion or off kilter during the day and then at night go to the other parks

 

[laurabelle]

If I am reading right, there are 4 parks at Disney world - MK, Epcot, MGM, Animal Kingdom. If you go for 7 days what is the point of hopping parks??? Why not just go to one each day instead of going to two (or more) each day for several days days? I know Animal Kingdom isn't a whole day activity but if you get the Magic Plus you can always go to a water park, Pleasure island, shopping, or seeing other things other than another big park. I can understand if you are going for only a few days maybe you need to shove multiple visits into one day, but if you go for a week, what is the benefit of park hopping? It just seems tiring.......

Usually we do hop, but for our next trip we are buying 7day expiry non hoppers. I agree with you, for the amount of time, not hopping makes sense. And it ends up costing our family the least amount per day. If I were doing a short trip, or wanted to save days on a non expiry ticket, I would def. be hopping to get more parks in...