Help me decide if we should get hoppers!!

[vowens82]

I'm planning our first trip!! Very excited but overwhelmed too. Sorry if this is the wrong spot.
OK ~ help me decide if I should get hoppers.... Here's my tentative plans....with and without hoppers. We're staying at BCV so we're very close to Epcot and reasonably close to HS. It will be myself, DH, DD5, DD4, DS1, then my parents. I'm hoping that on some of the later nights my parents might stay in with DS, I don't think they could go all day and night either.

Tues Sept. 10 ~ Arrival 1:30 (i'm not sure how long it takes to get to WDW using ME from airport)~ Check In ~
w/o ~ swim and an early QS dinner at resort, early to bed.
w ~ Epcot, Coral Reef @ 6, Illuminations @ 9

Wed. Sept. 11 ~ MK @ RD ~ BBB 11:30 & CRT 1:00, Parade 3:00
w/o ~ free evening at resort/Boardwalk, QS dinner, early bed
w ~ QS dinner @ Epcot or Fantasmic Dinner Package

Thursday Sept. 12 ~ AK @ RD ~ Tusker House @ 10:30
w/o stay till whenever we are ready to go ~ free evening at resort/Boardwalk, QS dinner, early bed
w ~ stay till early afternoon, break at resort, go to MK for MESP and W, late night.

Friday Sept. 13 ~ MK for MNSSHP
w/o MK @ RD, break at noon, then head back around 5 for MNSSHP
w ~ sleep in from late night, hang at resort then head to MNSSHP around 5

Saturday Sept. 14 ~ Goofy's Beach Club Breakfast at 10:15, then DTD, Raglan Road at 6:30

Sunday Sept. 15 ~ HS @ RD, Hollywood & Vine @11:30, till early afternoon. Date night!
w/o ~ date night, dinner at Blue Zoo, then Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk
w/ ~ date night, dinner ? Epcot maybe, then open to ideas?

Monday Sept 16 ~ Epcot @ RD, 12:00 Princess Storybook Dining. Return to Epcot this evening. 5:30 Teppan Edo. 9:00 Illuminations

Tuesday Sept. 17 ~ MK @ 10ish, BOG 4:30, evening free

Wed Sept. 18 ~ check out, ME pick up will be 5:10am!! for 8:10 am flight.

Opinions? It would be an extra $350 to add them and I'm not sure we need to or not. I feel like I might be over extending ourselves if we add them because there is so much more we can do. But then I feel like we have a lot of "free" time if we don't have them. But I think there's a lot we could do at our resort and on the Boardwalk with our free time too.......ugh.....
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[amomma23]

Personally, I would skip hoppers. I don't think you will miss them at all. A side note... I would try and make rope drop again on your last MK day. Getting there around 10 gets pretty crowded at the bus stop and at the park. September is our favorite time to go. Have a great trip!

 

[Taylor'sMom]

I would agree that you don't need them. Especially with kids that age, they may just want to spend evening time in the pool, etc. If you and DH want to go back out that night, you can certainly go back to the same park u spent the day at.

 

[DisneyBum303]

I think if you have older children or are going without kids, hoppers are a great thing to have. It's awesome to go to two or three parks a day, hitting the high points then moving on to another park. But with little ones, park hopping sounds like a nightmare. I just can't see getting three little ones from one park to another in the same day without some major issues

I would save the money. Speaking from experience, you will probably be spending a little time in the parks and a LOT of time in the pool

 

[seashoreCM]

Order/buy the tickets without hopping. Wait until you get to the second park on a given day and then add the hopping. Same price.

 

[mm1971]

I'm planning our first trip!! Very excited but overwhelmed too. Sorry if this is the wrong spot.
OK ~ help me decide if I should get hoppers.... Here's my tentative plans....with and without hoppers. We're staying at BCV so we're very close to Epcot and reasonably close to HS. It will be myself, DH, DD5, DD4, DS1, then my parents. I'm hoping that on some of the later nights my parents might stay in with DS, I don't think they could go all day and night either.

Tues Sept. 10 ~ Arrival 1:30 (i'm not sure how long it takes to get to WDW using ME from airport)~ Check In ~
w/o ~ swim and an early QS dinner at resort, early to bed.
w ~ Epcot, Coral Reef @ 6, Illuminations @ 9

Wed. Sept. 11 ~ MK @ RD ~ BBB 11:30 & CRT 1:00, Parade 3:00
w/o ~ free evening at resort/Boardwalk, QS dinner, early bed
w ~ QS dinner @ Epcot or Fantasmic Dinner Package

Thursday Sept. 12 ~ AK @ RD ~ Tusker House @ 10:30
w/o stay till whenever we are ready to go ~ free evening at resort/Boardwalk, QS dinner, early bed
w ~ stay till early afternoon, break at resort, go to MK for MESP and W, late night.

Friday Sept. 13 ~ MK for MNSSHP
w/o MK @ RD, break at noon, then head back around 5 for MNSSHP
w ~ sleep in from late night, hang at resort then head to MNSSHP around 5

Saturday Sept. 14 ~ Goofy's Beach Club Breakfast at 10:15, then DTD, Raglan Road at 6:30

Sunday Sept. 15 ~ HS @ RD, Hollywood & Vine @11:30, till early afternoon. Date night!
w/o ~ date night, dinner at Blue Zoo, then Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk
w/ ~ date night, dinner ? Epcot maybe, then open to ideas?

Monday Sept 16 ~ Epcot @ RD, 12:00 Princess Storybook Dining. Return to Epcot this evening. 5:30 Teppan Edo. 9:00 Illuminations

Tuesday Sept. 17 ~ MK @ 10ish, BOG 4:30, evening free

Wed Sept. 18 ~ check out, ME pick up will be 5:10am!! for 8:10 am flight.

Opinions? It would be an extra $350 to add them and I'm not sure we need to or not. I feel like I might be over extending ourselves if we add them because there is so much more we can do. But then I feel like we have a lot of "free" time if we don't have them. But I think there's a lot we could do at our resort and on the Boardwalk with our free time too.......ugh.....
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If these are your plans, you have no choice. There are 2 days in there where you are eating at 2 separate parks and would need park tickets to get in. Unless you plan to change your schedule on the 11th, 112th and 15th you have to get hoppers. If not, you need to cancel the reservations that are in different parks on the same day.

 

[geraghty]

On your arrival day, you can do either plan w/o hopper.
I think akershus and teppan edo are too close. You'll be stuffed after eating a late lunch. I would move teppan edo closer to 7:00. Everything else looks good. Except for date nights, you really don't need hoppers, but if you can get a couple nights with just the two of you, it may be worth the 350 since your so close to Epcot and HS.

 

[parkhopping]

You can always add the hopper to your tickets if you decide you want them. Personally I think you'll wear yourselves out if you stick with the schedule you have listed with hopping. I'd purchase base tickets, then add the hopper once you are down there if you decide you really want it.

 

[vowens82]

If these are your plans, you have no choice. There are 2 days in there where you are eating at 2 separate parks and would need park tickets to get in. Unless you plan to change your schedule on the 11th, 112th and 15th you have to get hoppers. If not, you need to cancel the reservations that are in different parks on the same day.

I have two sets of plans ~ one if we use park hoppers and one if we don't.

On your arrival day, you can do either plan w/o hopper.
I think akershus and teppan edo are too close. You'll be stuffed after eating a late lunch. I would move teppan edo closer to 7:00. Everything else looks good. Except for date nights, you really don't need hoppers, but if you can get a couple nights with just the two of you, it may be worth the 350 since your so close to Epcot and HS.

I thought those were close too, I'll try to get them changed. We'll only have one date night and since we have the Boardwalk so close we might just do that.

I was mainly concerned about not seeing MSEP and Wishes, without the hoppers we won't have a chance to. Do we need to since we'll be doing MNSSHP? Will we be missing out if we don't see both?

 

[acm97]

I love the park hopper because you don't have to be strapped down to one park a day. Even if your not planning on going to two parks a day, you might just want to stop in to a second park to see a parade or fireworks or maybe just to go to dinner or something. A lot of the time my family for example will spend a day at a park ( lets say animal kingdom) maybe head back to our hotel and then go to another park for dinner (like coral reef at Epcot).

 

[parkhopping]

If these are your plans, you have no choice. There are 2 days in there where you are eating at 2 separate parks and would need park tickets to get in. Unless you plan to change your schedule on the 11th, 112th and 15th you have to get hoppers. If not, you need to cancel the reservations that are in different parks on the same day.

I think you're misreading her schedule. She's listed out first what their plans would be without the hopper, then what it would look like with the hopper. I didn't see anyplace where she has ADRs in 2 parks on the same day.

 

[parkhopping]

I was mainly concerned about not seeing MSEP and Wishes, without the hoppers we won't have a chance to. Do we need to since we'll be doing MNSSHP? Will we be missing out if we don't see both?

You could always do that on Wed. the 11th or Tues. the 17th. With a base ticket you can leave a park and later re-enter that same park on the same day.

ETA: Looks like MNSSHP is scheduled for the 17th so you couldn't do it that night, but the 11th is still an option.

 

[mm1971]

I have two sets of plans ~ one if we use park hoppers and one if we don't.



I thought those were close too, I'll try to get them changed. We'll only have one date night and since we have the Boardwalk so close we might just do that.

I was mainly concerned about not seeing MSEP and Wishes, without the hoppers we won't have a chance to. Do we need to since we'll be doing MNSSHP? Will we be missing out if we don't see both?

Ok, sorry I missed the two sets of plans part.

We like the hoppers for flexibility and in case one park is really busy, we can adjust and head somewhere else. I would also suggest the hoppers so you can see Wishes and MSEP if you can afford the extra cost. Both are must do's for us. If the cost is too much then skip them and go to just the one park each day.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Hopping is very time consuming, you have to walk through the park to the bus stop, wait for a bus then ride to the next park. If you have young kids 1 park each day is plenty. We always get base tickets and we have a great time.

You can watch Wishes from the Beach at the Polynesian Hotel, no hoppers needed. If you have a late ADR for 'Ohana you can see wishes from the restaurant. You can hear the music at both of these locations as well.

Hallowishes is a great show as well, and I think the Boo to You parade is the best parade at Disney. Enjoy the Halloween Party, we have been to it twice and we love it. Best Halloween we ever had.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Also, I wouldn't visit the MK on the same day you go to MNSSHP, to me that is like paying double the admission price.

On the day we go to MNSSHP, We usually sleep in, visit DTD, shop and eat lunch. Swim or nap after lunch, then go to the party. We get there at 4:00 and ride a few rides, eat a counter service dinner and then enjoy the party events.

 

[Reddy]

we always get hoppers but then I have teen boys. I like going to one park in the morning then heading to another after the parade or hitting a water park first thing then head to park then head to another park after the parade still

I think I enjoy riding the monorail from MK to epcot

 

[MissionMouse]

OP,

If you are staying at BCV, I would recommend get Park Hopper tickets. You have plans, but having the ability to change them based upon x factors you encounter is a great asset. Changing parks does take time, but its also a waste to be stuck in an overcrowded park all day without them. Just remember your plans should be subject to change, especially if you or other members of your group are not having fun. It a vacation and there is no need to be a die hard to maintain a schedule if it is not working for you or the crowds are taking away the magic. Just remember there is usually a park that is not crowded and you will start to know between 11am-1pm, if you are in the crowded park. In the long run park hopping saves time and we have found it makes everyone happy.

Also, staying at the Epcot resort area you have the ability to go to Epcot or DHS anytime you want during their park hours. Just to see Illumination and Fantasmic. Then you have the World Showcase dining and beverage options right at your door step.

 

[wdwfan22]

I second the opinion of don't get them yet. You can always add the option when you are there if you want, but it would be a shame to spend that much and figure out that it is too much for you and don't hop.

I have always gotten hoppers, but with kids your age, you may not need them.

 

[vowens82]

Also, I wouldn't visit the MK on the same day you go to MNSSHP, to me that is like paying double the admission price.

On the day we go to MNSSHP, We usually sleep in, visit DTD, shop and eat lunch. Swim or nap after lunch, then go to the party. We get there at 4:00 and ride a few rides, eat a counter service dinner and then enjoy the party events.

I think this is what I'm going to do for MNSSHP, sleep in, enjoy the pool, let the kids get a good long nap to prepare for a late night.

Thanks so much for all responses!

 

[forever11709]

The only reason for hoppers in your case is the fact you're staying at a Epcot resort, we stay at BC and we love the walk through Epcot to the monorail, it allows us to have a beer or two and maybe get a character in, we are in Epcot everyday.

That being said if I was paying for my own trip(I am very blessed to have my mom still pay for DD and I) and my hubby was coming with me I would figure out a way to do it without hoppers. With kids that young you can leave mid day take a long nap and return to the same park.