Going First Time In April......Hopper????

[investgirlmd]

We are going to Disney for the first time in April. April 12-18 so I know it's going to be a very busy time. When I made the reservation I didn't include the hopper pass and now wondering if I should add it???

We are staying at the All Star Sports and will be using the Disney Transportation. Will it waste time jumping between parks??

It will be me, DH and 2 kids 11 & 5.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[mill4023]

Lots of people are going to tell you the hopper is a must.
So I'll give you my opinion first.

We bought hoppers on our first WDW trip last year and never hopped. Maybe it was because it was our first time there, but we felt like we didn't have enough time to see everything even with staying in a park for the entire day. So the thought of using up valuable time to travel from one park to another never seemed like a good idea. We do have 4 kids and 2 in strollers though, so that also made hopping seem like more trouble than it was worth.

 

[Sabrina90744]

Lots of people are going to tell you the hopper is a must.
So I'll give you my opinion first.

We bought hoppers on our first WDW trip last year and never hopped. Maybe it was because it was our first time there, but we felt like we didn't have enough time to see everything even with staying in a park for the entire day. So the thought of using up valuable time to travel from one park to another never seemed like a good idea. We do have 4 kids and 2 in strollers though, so that also made hopping seem like more trouble than it was worth.

ITA with above poster. We took our first trip in February, we only used the park hopper option on one day after we had spent two complete days in each park. IMO we spent more time walking out of the park and waiting for transportation then we spent at actual parks.

 

[investgirlmd]

Thank you... I was thinking the same way. The CM told me when I was booking a few ADR's that you should allow an hour for transportion. So leaving one park to go to another would waste a lot of time for us. At least for our first visit.

 

[estnh]

We have been going to WDW annually for many years, and wouldn't even consider not having a hopper. As you begin to learn the ins and outs of the parks, a hopper is essential to minimize wait times and make the most of your vacation. At Disney, the best way to enjoy the magic is to try and go the opposite way of the mob mentality.

A simple strategy that NEVER fails is to attend EMH morning hours at the designated park, then hop out before noon. The morning EMH are great , but usually by 11AM, the EMH park (especially MK) is too full to enjoy. However, the park that had EMH in the evening the day before is probably very manageable today. Leave your morning park, take a swim at the hotel, and give it a shot!

Also, by not having a hopper, you will not be able to use the EMH evening hours unless you went to that specific park that day.

I think the tendency is for most people who are coming to WDW for the first time to attack the parks one at a time with a go till you drop mentality, which is exactly the way NOT to enjoy Disney.

 

[drogerstn]

.... April 12-18 so I know it's going to be a very busy time...

When visiting WDW during very busy periods, we have been in a park when it was just too crowded and hopped to a different park and the change in crowds was really noticable. During the last couple of days of a long visit, we like to visit a couple of different parks to hit some attractions we missed or feel the urge to repeat. Also, we don't need the whole day for some parks so we can visit another park after we've done all we wanted in the first park.

During our previous visits, the PH option was included with the tickets already. Now that it costs $40 ($160 for a family of 4), it takes some thought on whether the PH option is worth the expense. We'll purchase the PH option on our next visit and make up the savings in food costs by not purchasing the Dining Plan.

During busy periods, the parks can get so crowded during the middle of the day that the time spent to hop (or take a break at the resort) doesn't seem like a huge loss. Crowds in the parks are smaller early and late on most days...

 

[handicap18]

We've gotten the PH option each time we've gone and used it extensivly. DW and I are going again in June and will be using PH again. One big example for the PH is Animal Kingdom. For many people it is a 1/2 day or 3/4 day park. Best time to hit AK is in the morning when it opens at 9am. For us by 2 or 3pm we've done what we've wanted. We can then head over to MK for the rest of the day to catch Spectro and Wishes. One day we are there we will do just that. AK in the am, then MK has EMH the night we are currently planning for the AK day. Keep in mind that AK closes the earliest of all the parks.

Or lets say that you want to eat at a resturaunt in Epcot and reservations are for 7pm and don't want to spend all day and night in Epcot. You could go to one of the other parks in the AM then hit Epcot around 3. Have a few hours to explore a bit then eat dinner then catch Illuminations.

PH gives you more options. What if you and one of the kids wants to do one thing, but DH and the other kid wants to do another park, but you have reservations or have something specific you all need to do later in the day. Well, split up. Go to the seperate parks then meet up at the other park later. It may not work out that way at the beginning of the trip, but by the last few days it could.

Just my $0.02

 

[Golf4food]

I would say that given that it is your first trip, and for only four days, by which I assume you are probably planning to visit all four parks for one day each (or the equivalen thereof), that you probably do NOT need park hopping this time. Once you've been a time or two and learn some tricks and know what you like and don't like, then hopping makes sense, or if you are taking a longer trip that allows you more than one day per park - in that case hop all you want, be Tigger!

But if you are a first timer with only four days, I say don't waste the time and money hopping because you'll probably be doing good just to see everything in one day per park (especially Epcot).

 

[mill4023]

We have been going to WDW annually for many years, and wouldn't even consider not having a hopper. As you begin to learn the ins and outs of the parks, a hopper is essential to minimize wait times and make the most of your vacation. At Disney, the best way to enjoy the magic is to try and go the opposite way of the mob mentality.

A simple strategy that NEVER fails is to attend EMH morning hours at the designated park, then hop out before noon. The morning EMH are great , but usually by 11AM, the EMH park (especially MK) is too full to enjoy. However, the park that had EMH in the evening the day before is probably very manageable today. Leave your morning park, take a swim at the hotel, and give it a shot!

Also, by not having a hopper, you will not be able to use the EMH evening hours unless you went to that specific park that day.

I think the tendency is for most people who are coming to WDW for the first time to attack the parks one at a time with a go till you drop mentality, which is exactly the way NOT to enjoy Disney.

I think the difference is that you have been to WDW multiple times. I can definitely see hopping being nice once you know all the parks and know which attractions you want to see and which you don't mind missing.

The other difference is that I avoided EMH parks on our first trip and I'm planning to avoid them on our next trip. I'd rather sleep in an extra hour and just go to a non-EMH park that should be less crowded all day. Again, if you want to use the EMH's, I can definitely see hopping being valuable.

I do agree that first-timers "attack the parks one at a time with a go till you drop mentality", but that worked fine for us and we thoroughly enjoyed Disney. In fact, it was by far the best vacation we've ever had. I do think you need to be careful about getting worn out, but I don't see how park hopping helps there.

Everybody has a different style of touring WDW and what works great for some may not for others, and that's the way it should be. I just think that a lot of the people who insist that hoppers are essential are WDW veterans and hoppers may make more sense for them. For the first-time visitors who don't yet know what they like best, it may make just as much sense to spend a full day or two at each park.

 

[ccw]

Have hopped every trip...even the first one which was with 4 small children and a set of grandparents. Because we get up early most days, it is never a big deal to do a couple of parks in a day...one year I hit all four. Admittedly, that is only doable when the parks are open early and late AND when you have seen the "biggies" before so do not spend time waiting in line for the star attractions. On my most recent trip, I was with 5 women friends (very relaxing!) and the LEAST commando-type in our group insisted that our first day we go from MGM to MK, just long enough to see the afternoon parade! So we did...took the bus over, saw the parade, then we went back to our villa for cocktails and then to EPCOT the night. For our upcoming trip with three teen boys, all of us will have hoppers (actually I have an AP...yay!)

I just like the option of moving from park to park in a day...the cost difference to add PH is worth it to me because I usually go for just a few days total. If I were to have 10 days or so, it might not be a big deal to not hop.

 

[f7prez]

Since this is your first of probably many trips to WDW, hopping is not a big deal. As others have said, you will be soooo busy trying to see as much as you can, you will have enough to do on a "One Park One Day" schedule.

Once you have visited WDW a few times, you get to know your way around and know what you want to see. Then it is nice to have the freedom to hop around. Near the end of the vacation we like to go from park to park riding on our favorite rides one last time.

Have fun and try to take your time and enjoy the things you get to, rather than rush through trying to get it all in. At WDW it is all in the details. Take time to notice the details.

 

[Hannathy]

If it wasn't Easter I would say don't hop BUT at Easter I would say hop. We went 2 Easters ago and it came in very handy esp. for a short trip for instance the day you go to Ak it will close by 7 but Mk will probably be open until 12. That is several hours of extra MK time. One night we did this and rode the mountains and Buzz several times while others were lining up for the fireworks
(we had seen them earlier By leaving epcot and going to Mk just to see the fireworks from Main street). Another day for some reason Mk was a zoo so we hopped over to Epcot and it was fine. I think at busy times the most important thing is to be flexible, and get there early, and have a plan and a back up plan.

 

[Anna114]

Everyone's got their 2 cents and here's mine lol. I'm not a fan of the PH, I rarely take advantage of it. WHy spend the money if you don't have to. I'm using it for this next vacation because I'm not planning on spending much time at AK and we are planning to go to Disney Quest afterward. The PH was cheaper then buying tickets seperately for DQ. Your time is rather short for a first timer. I think it would be better for you to just stay in each park for the day, even AK can be a full day park for the first timer. Well there are my couple O' pennies.

Have a magical day,
Anna

 

[mill4023]

Everyone's got their 2 cents and here's mine lol. I'm not a fan of the PH, I rarely take advantage of it. WHy spend the money if you don't have to. I'm using it for this next vacation because I'm not planning on spending much time at AK and we are planning to go to Disney Quest afterward. The PH was cheaper then buying tickets seperately for DQ. Your time is rather short for a first timer. I think it would be better for you to just stay in each park for the day, even AK can be a full day park for the first timer. Well there are my couple O' pennies.

Have a magical day,
Anna

Park hoppers don't include Disney Quest. You'll still have to buy separate tickets or buy the Plus options. Either way, you wouldn't need park hopping to go to AK and DQ on the same day.

And as far as AK goes, I agree. It's a full day park for us and the fact that it closes early is a plus because we can have a nice dinner at Boma, then get the kids to bed early and have them well rested for the next day.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

This is your first trip. You're probably going to want to see everything. A lot of the stuff that is complained about as old or get rid of it, or lame here is going to be brand new to you. We found that we needed a whole day to get through AK and MGM on our first time and two each to get through MK and EP. We then spent a 7th day at MK by choice. We were debating whether to add the hoppers at that time to finish up a couple things in AK, MGM, and do the rest in MK but we decided the price of 4 hoppers wasn't worth that. So we just spent it in MK.

You can always add them down there if you need to.

For instance. If Fantasmic is rained out on your MGM day, you might add the hoppers, hop over to another park and chose another day to try and hop back to MGM to see Fantasmic.
Or if you decide after a full day at AK, you want to finish up another park say MGM that you didn't quite get through but isn't worth another full day. But keep in mind, if you add hoppers, even if it's the last day on your ticket, it's full price. OUCH!!!!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Park hoppers don't include Disney Quest. You'll still have to buy separate tickets or buy the Plus options. Either way, you wouldn't need park hopping to go to AK and DQ on the same day.

And as far as AK goes, I agree. It's a full day park for us and the fact that it closes early is a plus because we can have a nice dinner at Boma, then get the kids to bed early and have them well rested for the next day.

We did the same thing on our AK day. We spent a full day there (and are probably more likely to spend one there now that EE has been added) and then went over to the AKL, spent some time on the observation areas, and ate at Boma. We got back in time to relax a bit, go to bed and end up well rested. On that trip, I learned the best parts of the AKL could be done without staying there.

 

[duckfan78]

i have always gotten the hopper option. i dont think it really costs that much more, besides you are going to disney, so you need money anyway..buy besides that..usually what we do is go to a park in the morning, stay till about 3-4, go back, swim etc. and head out to another one at night depending on what show we want to see.

its just nice knowing you can hop if you chose

 

[Anna114]

Regarding the tickets yup I had to get both options. The PHO cost me a $160.00 but when I wanted to add another day to my tickets it cost me a grand total $4.00. Go figure.

Have a magical day,
Anna

Park hoppers don't include Disney Quest. You'll still have to buy separate tickets or buy the Plus options. Either way, you wouldn't need park hopping to go to AK and DQ on the same day.

And as far as AK goes, I agree. It's a full day park for us and the fact that it closes early is a plus because we can have a nice dinner at Boma, then get the kids to bed early and have them well rested for the next day.

 

[mill4023]

Regarding the tickets yup I had to get both options. The PHO cost me a $160.00 but when I wanted to add another day to my tickets it cost me a grand total $4.00. Go figure.

Have a magical day,
Anna

My point was that you didn't HAVE to get hopping. Because DQ is a plus option and not one of the 4 parks, you can go to AK and DQ on the same day without having hoppers.

 

[Eeyore2003]

While we always get park hoppers, I can see your point and the only suggestions I would make is to get to the park early, whether you go on an EMH day or regular entry day and get the most popular rides over with right away so you won't be wasting time standing in lines. From there you can use Fast Passes and/or see the less popular rides.

If you don't, you might be wasting more than that hour travel time standing in long lines, which would make switching to a less crowded park a better deal time wise. For 4 days, I think you'd do fine.