Everything Park Hopping - Please Read Post 1

[scrappinginontario]

Has anyone tried to park-hop into a park at 1:47pm? I've heard that is kind of a magic time that cast members will let you early. Anyone have any experience with this?

Guests have reported hopping as early as 1:45 but as many gave reported being held until 2:00. There isn’t a pattern of when it is/is not allowed that I’ve found. You can try but be prepared for it to go either way.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Based on prior experience............here is my synopsis.

The tapstyle software allows park hopping as early as 1:47pm.....not 1:46!!....but 1:47 or later.

The challenge is dealing with cast members.

Epcot- they seem to make a big deal about segregating park hoppers due to the way transportation runs to the front and back of the park (Monorail and Skyliner). I usually avoid/ignore them trying to heard the masses and walk to a tapstyle and then enter as I had planned.

AK- I have not seen much of a big deal made about it

MK- I have not seen much of a big deal made about it

DHS- sometimes they try to herd the PH people off to the side, but I just avoid that area and go straight to a tapstyle

 

[ELT]

We are heading down to Disney on Monday September 12th We have reserved EPCOT as our park that day ( trying to get a boarding pass for GOG at 7am for later in the day) We have park hoppers. Do i have to go to EPCOT first? We wont head to the park until after 2pm. Can we enter magic Kingdom firs before entering EPCOT? Just wondering if you have to enter your reserved park first before you can Hop- thank you

 

[HashberryOTG]

You do have to tap into your reserved park before you can hop.

 

[ars0525]

You have to go to the park where your reservation is before you can park hop.

 

[ELT]

thank you all!

 

[Tom_E_D]

We are heading down to Disney on Monday September 12th We have reserved EPCOT as our park that day ( trying to get a boarding pass for GOG at 7am for later in the day) We have park hoppers. Do i have to go to EPCOT first? We wont head to the park until after 2pm. Can we enter magic Kingdom firs before entering EPCOT? Just wondering if you have to enter your reserved park first before you can Hop- thank you

In order to try for a Guardians boarding pass at 7:00, you need a park pass reservation for Epcot. The first park you enter must be the one that you have a park pass reservation for. If you had a park pass reservation for Epcot and got a boarding group for Guardians, I'm not sure whether or not you would lose the boarding pass if you then changed your park pass reservation to Magic Kingdom so you could enter it first.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

We are heading down to Disney on Monday September 12th We have reserved EPCOT as our park that day ( trying to get a boarding pass for GOG at 7am for later in the day) We have park hoppers. Do i have to go to EPCOT first? We wont head to the park until after 2pm. Can we enter magic Kingdom firs before entering EPCOT? Just wondering if you have to enter your reserved park first before you can Hop- thank you

To make sure you know regarding the bold comment - No matter what time your BG is for Guardians, you can use it later in the day. As long as it's been called, you can enter the queue at any time from that point till park closes.
Anyway, as for the rest, since you plan to be at Epcot later in the day anyway, would you consider parking at Epcot, entering the park to use your park reservation, then promptly exiting the park, getting on the monorail, going to MK, then returning to Epcot to use your BG and do whatever else you plan for the day at Epcot?

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Based on prior experience............here is my synopsis.

The tapstyle software allows park hopping as early as 1:47pm.....not 1:46!!....but 1:47 or later.

The challenge is dealing with cast members.

Epcot- they seem to make a big deal about segregating park hoppers due to the way transportation runs to the front and back of the park (Monorail and Skyliner). I usually avoid/ignore them trying to heard the masses and walk to a tapstyle and then enter as I had planned.

AK- I have not seen much of a big deal made about it

MK- I have not seen much of a big deal made about it

DHS- sometimes they try to herd the PH people off to the side, but I just avoid that area and go straight to a tapstyle

Curious though, how do they know, if you haven't tried to tap in yet, if you are a hopper or if you are just entering?
How do they segregate guests and herd them?
Are they just assuming guests entering about 2:00 are hopping?
That seems so odd

 

[scrappinginontario]

Anyway, as for the rest, since you plan to be at Epcot later in the day anyway, would you consider parking at Epcot, entering the park to use your park reservation, then promptly exiting the park, getting on the monorail, going to MK, then returning to Epcot to use your BG and do whatever else you plan for the day at Epcot?

This would not work as park hopping is not allowed until 2PM. If a guest enters Epcot first they must have a park reservation for Epcot and then will not be allowed to enter any other park until 2PM.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Curious though, how do they know, if you haven't tried to tap in yet, if you are a hopper or if you are just entering?
How do they segregate guests and herd them?
Are they just assuming guests entering about 2:00 are hopping?
That seems so odd

Please read post 1 to help understand how park hopping works.

The system tracks park reservations, park entry and park hopping. They must happen in that specific order and, there are time restrictions when hopping.

To enter the first park a guest must have a park reservation. They must tap into this park in order to hop to a second park. This is the same even if it's after 2PM. First park entered must be the park a guest has a reservation for.

 

[georgina]

Curious though, how do they know, if you haven't tried to tap in yet, if you are a hopper or if you are just entering?
How do they segregate guests and herd them?
Are they just assuming guests entering about 2:00 are hopping?
That seems so odd

Reading the post you quoted, I was thinking it was probably verbal as you walked up, as in they were telling park hoppers to wait in a specific area until 2, and she just ignored that at 1:47 and went right to the tapstyl.

 

[lovethattink]

Reading the post you quoted, I was thinking it was probably verbal as you walked up, as in they were telling park hoppers to wait in a specific area until 2, and she just ignored that at 1:47 and went right to the tapstyl.

When I’ve hopped I never saw a separate area for hoppers. If you tap too early it shows up on their iPad at the tapstile and the tapstile doesn’t turn green. There have been several accounts of cm allowing earlier entry. Not sure if the tapstile just allowed it, or if there cm did some type of override. Also been many accounts of people being denied entry til 2pm.

 

[xlauren13x]

I am confused on adding park hopper later, but it being added to the whole trip. Does Disney not allow adding the park hopper when there for just that day anymore?

I am going in October and my sister and I only have 3 days. We were thinking about adding park hopper on our very last day so we could do AK and Epcot. Will we not be able to do that just for that day?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I am confused on adding park hopper later, but it being added to the whole trip. Does Disney not allow adding the park hopper when there for just that day anymore?

I am going in October and my sister and I only have 3 days. We were thinking about adding park hopper on our very last day so we could do AK and Epcot. Will we not be able to do that just for that day?

Park hopper when added is always for length of stay. If you are planning to hop at all, it's best to add it at the beginning to offer you the option to hop any day(s) you wish. The cost added to your 3 day ticket will be the same if you add it day one or day three of your ticket.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Please read post 1 to help understand how park hopping works.

The system tracks park reservations, park entry and park hopping. They must happen in that specific order and, there are time restrictions when hopping.

To enter the first park a guest must have a park reservation. They must tap into this park in order to hop to a second park. This is the same even if it's after 2PM. First park entered must be the park a guest has a reservation for.

Thanks, but I don't think the first post is going to answer this, is it? None of that addresses "segregating guests at the gate"
Which was what was being discussed in the post I quoted. Bolded segments below.
I didn't understand how they could do that as I don't follow how they would know what guest walking up to the gate was a PH and what guest wasn't. So I asked for clarification
I mean, does transportation to Epcot really give them any clues to who is hopping? I don't see that do you?

Epcot- they seem to make a big deal about segregating park hoppers due to the way transportation runs to the front and back of the park (Monorail and Skyliner). I usually avoid/ignore them trying to heard the masses and walk to a tapstyle and then enter as I had planned.

DHS- sometimes they try to herd the PH people off to the side, but I just avoid that area and go straight to a tapstyle

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Reading the post you quoted, I was thinking it was probably verbal as you walked up, as in they were telling park hoppers to wait in a specific area until 2, and she just ignored that at 1:47 and went right to the tapstyl.

Verbal makes sense I suppose. Never seen it myself but maybe we've never tried to hop right at 2:00. I honestly can't recall
I was just not following especially at Epcot where the OP mentioned transportation and how it ran front and back and how it was used to segregate guests. I do not follow how that relates to hopping or could help them determine who it hopping at all.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

When I’ve hopped I never saw a separate area for hoppers. If you tap too early it shows up on their iPad at the tapstile and the tapstile doesn’t turn green. There have been several accounts of cm allowing earlier entry. Not sure if the tapstile just allowed it, or if there cm did some type of override. Also been many accounts of people being denied entry til 2pm.

That's what I best recall. Either you got in, with green, or you didn't. Either too early or you hadn't tapped in yet, or no reservation, or whatever reason. I mean, there can be any number of reasons for it to not allow entry before 2:00, some of which totally unrelated to hopping. It's hard to guess what they could be when you see someone not get green
Anyway, I think the mystery is answered and they do not herd guests who are hopping in any significant way

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks, but I don't think the first post is going to answer this, is it? None of that addresses "segregating guests at the gate"
Which was what was being discussed in the post I quoted. Bolded segments below.
I didn't understand how they could do that as I don't follow how they would know what guest walking up to the gate was a PH and what guest wasn't. So I asked for clarification
I mean, does transportation to Epcot really give them any clues to who is hopping? I don't see that do you?

Trying to tap in before allowed will show blue, similar to someone trying to access a park who does not either have a valid reservation and/or valid park ticket.

What they do with those guests is something that changes and honestly we don't have data as to what people's experiences have been as most don't try. Park hopping officially starts at 2PM so the vast majority of people wait until then to try and tap in. What they do while they wait is each guest's decision. Parks may/may not have an official gathering place for people to wait until PH is allowed and if there is a place, it's not been widely shared by Disney or by guests in this thread.

If people share this information we can update post 1 but as of now, more than 18 months after PH restarted with the 2:00 rule, that information has not been shared that I'm aware of. I'm happy to update post 1 with people's experiences if data is given.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Trying to tap in before allowed will show blue, similar to someone trying to access a park who does not either have a valid reservation and/or valid park ticket.

What they do with those guests is something that changes and honestly we don't have data as to what people's experiences have been as most don't try. Park hopping officially starts at 2PM so the vast majority of people wait until then to try and tap in. What they do while they wait is each guest's decision. Parks may/may not have an official gathering place for people to wait until PH is allowed and if there is a place, it's not been widely shared by Disney or by guests in this thread.

If people share this information we can update post 1 but as of now, more than 18 months after PH restarted with the 2:00 rule, that information has not been shared that I'm aware of. I'm happy to update post 1 with people's experiences if data is given.

thanks. As I said, the whole "herding of guests" was really misleading to me and that's is where I was trying to ask the OP to explain further. Since I don't understand how any CM would ever know by looking which guest is hopping and which isn't. Once they try to tap in, sure. That I can totally follow. Of course they know after that, that much is easy to understand. But the OP stated something very different, going so far as to site transportation methods at Epcot as a factor. So if there was more data to include I was asking about that and so far, that poster has not added more explanation about their post.