For goodness sake, pay for Hopping!

[ratfam]

It really isn't about the money for some people.
Like I said, we paid for the hoppers last time and never had a need or desire to use them. But we also don't like taking afternoon breaks. To me, the most tiring part of the day is getting 4 kids and 2 strollers from one place to another. So instead of taking breaks or hopping, we like to spend the day at one park and take some time in the afternoon to see a show or do something else that gives us a chance to sit and rest. Then I like to have some rest days built in or at least half days.

Amen. In our three prior trips with kids we never hopped once, so it was a no-brainer to skip the option for our upcoming trip. The savings might not be huge but it paid for more than a day of our dining plan, and every bit helps. I can't stand dealing with the transportation. We will be there for over a week and at a time of year when the parks keep longer hours, so that does make a difference, as does the fact that its not our first trip so we don't need to squeeze everything in.

 

[holcomb-mania]

I wouldn't consider going without the option of having a Hopper. In Dec we're going for only 5 days (really only 4 to be in the parks cuz I wanna do IOA in the offseason), so having the Hopper will allow us to maximize our time in the parks.

On my tentative schedule, I hope to have us doing AK in the morning, MGM in the evening, then potentially leaving MGM prior to closing and hitting EPCOT for Illuminations. Or we could just stroll around the WS and enjoy being somewhere we rarely get to go. Then take the monorail up to Poly. Three parks in one day and we're in bed at 11pm, also having had a pool/rest break in the afternoon. Assuming no EEMH, which would make it too easy then.

 

[keishashadow]

Test Drive Those Tickets

Just an idea for 1st timers who are on-the-fence...you can buy your tix w/o the PH option, try it out for a day & see how it goes.
If you think you'll want the option, go to park guest services & add it on (will cost the same amount).

 

[rcraw45425]

We always hop. It never fails, we start out at MK, but almost never stay past lunch. By around noon you can see the swarms of people coming up Main Street. We usually leave, either go back to the resort or over to another park. Usually dinner is in WOrld Showcase so we need EPCOT daily, plus, if we want to scoot over to MGM for Fantasmic or MK for WIshes or EPCOT for Immuminations, we can do it!

 

[Family Fun Mom]

We didn't get the park hoppers when we went on our first trip last August and didn't feel like we were missing anything. Once we were in the Magic Kingdom, we couldn't imagine leaving. Same with AK, Epcot, and the Studios. I'll probably get hoppers next time because I feel like we have a better feel for the parks now and might not want to stay in one park all day, but for our first trip it was perfect. I guess everybody has a different take, I just think for a first timer one park a day is plenty.

 

[lclark0621]

We are hoppers here to!

We have been one of those families that hits all 4 parks in day! We dont hop that much normally, but we sure like having the option.

We also like eating dinner in a different country in Epcot as much as possible. So we can start our day in one park, go to Epcot for dinner, and if we dont want to stay there, off to another we will go for the evening.

I couldn't imagine not being able to hop. I might go nuts...

 

[Disfreek]

We hop. I don't think we could do Disney without having the option to hop.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

I can't imagine going to DW without Park Hopping! It's the best thing ever!! I love saying "Let's hop on the monorail from the MK and go to EPCOT for dinner" I LOVE PARK HOPPING!

 

[tink2020]

Yeah, I'm going to have to take the other side on this one. I've done trips both ways, and have NO desire to hop. Every now and then, maybe one evening out of a trip it would have been nice to, say, go to Epcot when another park closed earlier or something.... but that's it. And that one time (if it even happens) is certainly not worth it!

I agree with some that it's not worth the hassle to change parks, no matter how long or short our trip.

But... to each his own! Just sharing my opinion from the other side

 

[alecam]

Yeah, I'm going to have to take the other side on this one. I've done trips both ways, and have NO desire to hop. Every now and then, maybe one evening out of a trip it would have been nice to, say, go to Epcot when another park closed earlier or something.... but that's it. And that one time (if it even happens) is certainly not worth it!

I agree with some that it's not worth the hassle to change parks, no matter how long or short our trip.

But... to each his own! Just sharing my opinion from the other side

I have to agree here also. I find that with alot of research as to which parks on which day, time of year, etc. that I don't need to hop. Besides, with two small kids it's just easier to deal with one park per day. If we take a break, we can just head back to the same park.

 

[Pedler]

Test Drive Those Tickets

Just an idea for 1st timers who are on-the-fence...you can buy your tix w/o the PH option, try it out for a day & see how it goes.
If you think you'll want the option, go to park guest services & add it on (will cost the same amount).

That is an excellent point. Disney doesn't penalize you for adding on the park hopper feature later. If your not sure don't get it and add it on when there if you need it.

 

[HydroGuy]

Test Drive Those Tickets

Just an idea for 1st timers who are on-the-fence...you can buy your tix w/o the PH option, try it out for a day & see how it goes.
If you think you'll want the option, go to park guest services & add it on (will cost the same amount).

So how much does this cost? Say I buy 4 day non-PH thru Ticketmania for $203. PH from Ticketmania would add $35. If I take my $203 ticket to someone at WDW to upgrade to a PH, how much would they charge? $40?

 

[heart4dis]

I read through this whole thread. I don't think I ever used a hopper option even though I've had it. I am an outsider since I don't always get to stay on-sidt. Therefore I avoid the EMH park and plan my park days so that we avoid the heaviest days. We've also travelled off-season and did not have to wait in long lines. I feel like it wastes time and energy to travel park to park. The crowds seem to come in the afternoon no matter which park you go to, so why move parks? It just didn't occur to me or appeal to me to jump parks in the same day.

The only exception was when we had MVMCP tix and went to AK during the day--but we didn't need hopper for that.

I vote no. I think you get your money's worth out of each park going for the whole day (or however long your family can do it...depending on the age of your kids.)

 

[LoveWDW]

I figure I am spending a lot of money already on our trip, we don't go there very often, it is vacation, and I like to not feel restricted. We went for 5 nights in December and used the PH a lot. We stayed onsite at Yacht, so we hopped from MGM to Epcot a number of times and frequently finished up our day at Epcot since we could walk back to the hotel.

 

[zachnlucy]

Huh? If you are leaving the park anyway for a break, how are you losing any time? It wouldn't take any longer to go to Park B after your break than it would to go to to Park A.

Good point. Never thought of that.

We just got the free park hopper plus added to our ressie, so I guess now I have to rethink everything! Golly.

 

[firemanx]

I usually go for 4 days during value season. On my next trip i dont think im going to but park hoppers as the only days we would hop was AK day, and this time were doing AK early and doing either DTD or city walk that night. If im going for more then 4 days Park hopping is a must. All depends on what my schduled plans are.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We generally hop at some point during our stay. We would probably pay the little extra to get the capability of doing it.

 

[torinsmom]

No hopping for me. I paid for it last time and we never used it! This time, I decided to get the Plus ticket instead, so we can go to DQ and TL one day. If we get done with a park early(mainly AK), we will do DTD or just realx by the pool at Pop.

It's nice that you can add it there, just in case the need arises. And for whoever was asking, I believe it is $35 per ticket for park hopping, no matter how many days are on your ticket.

Marsha

 

[golden1]

Since WDW can very unpredictable as far as crowd levels, I think it is worth it to pay for Hopping. I'd hate to get "stuck" in one park. With 2 young kids, I want the flexibility to move around. Plus,my in-laws are coming with us on our next trip so it will be nice to go to MK or AK during the day and then take off and go to Epcot at night while my in-laws watch the kids.

 

[keishashadow]

Last time I looked it was a flat $35/tix to add PH'ing regardless of number of days (2+)...can't see why you'd have to pay more because you bought them from a broker.

Only time that should matter is if you want to convert to a longer MYW tix, then you'd get the actual value that the broker paid for the tix (which, is probably LESS than you pay the broker).

There are some "special tix"; convention that expire in a calender year...broker should be able to advise you what they're selling.

Good luck.

So how much does this cost? Say I buy 4 day non-PH thru Ticketmania for $203. PH from Ticketmania would add $35. If I take my $203 ticket to someone at WDW to upgrade to a PH, how much would they charge? $40?