Hopper or No Hopper

[Trina7020]

I have gone back and forth... We have a 2 and 3 year old and currently do not have hoppers... My thinking was by not having hoppers if "forces" us to take some breaks b/c if we are done in a park... then we can't go else. I feel like we have lots of time.... We have 7 day tickets


Day 1: No plans, but if we go to a park probably MK since we are having dinner at Chef Mickey's
Day 2: MK
Day 3: AK
Day 4: Epcot
Day 5: DHS
Day 6: MK
Day 7: open to return to wherever... (plane leaves at 8pm)

Are hoppers worth it for us?

 

[PrincessRora]

Personally, I can't remember a time when we haven't used park hoppers. Usually because some parks close earlier than others, and especially with Days in Epcot, our family would never spend a full day there. But it really does depend on what you're planning. Lines can be longer on certain days at one park, but you may have a dining there, so you need to be at that park for that meal, but with the hopper you can spend time at another park all day. I remember at Thanksgiving in 2004 we literally were at all 4 parks in one day: Animal Kingdom for a character breakfast; The morning/afternoon spent at Epcot; Dinner reservations at Hollywood Studios; and Magic Kingdom for a few rides, the light parade and fireworks. I loved that day.

 

[MOmousefan]

We always opt for the hopper as we generally visit two parks in one day. We will do the AM EMH and spend the morning in that park. We take a mid-day break back at the resort and then see an evening spectacular which is usually in another park.
On our last trip we started attending the evening EMH also which is in another park. It is well worth the extra cost to us.

 

[GoofyFairie]

This is a tough one. We have always hopped and wouldn't do it any other way, but our kids were older before thier first visit. Your kids are young and won't have much of an opinion about what they want to do. My kids like all the parks, but wanted to ride the rides so we always did half day at DHS, E, or AK then lunch and break at the hotel and hopped over to MK for the rest of the day. For you, with 2 little ones you may find staying at one park all day easier than trying to get the stroller folded and the kids out every time you have to get on and off the transportation system.

 

[Riverhill]

I only got the park hopper once. We ended up only using it one day. Ever since we opt out of hopping.

I plan our meals according to which park we will be at for that day. I try and avoid the park that has extra magic hours because that park is always the most crowded. We spend any down time at the pool. It makes for a more relaxed vacation.

 

[holly7347]

This will be our first trip but we decided not to get hoppers. Like someone else mentioned I planned our TS meals each day around the park we will be in for the day. We are also going in October when the parks are closing at 6 and 7pm. Since our budget is a bit tight I decided to skip the hoppers to save money as well as time. With the parks closing early the time of year that we are going it just seems like a waste to spend time on buses moving from park to park. When we are finished with a park we will either spend time at the hotel swimming in the evening or going to DTD.

 

[DVCsince02]

Go ahead and try the hopper. If you don't use it lesson learned, but you tried.

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Last time we went DH and I had hopper passes left over from our honeymoon and our kids were just under the age limit to require a ticket. We were there for a week and never hopped once. We found that rather than running around from place to place to get it all in (like we always did) being with wee ones forced us to slow down - WAY down, and just go with the flow. It was one of the most wonderful WDW vacations we had because we weren't trying to shove Disney down their throats and squeeze it all in because we had the capability to do so. We just stayed in one park all day, let them determine when they needed a break (napping in the stroller) and enjoyed many things we'd never even thought to see before because we were always rushing off to another park to do all of the "must do" things.
Our next trip DD is 2.5 and DS is 4.5 - we won't park hop until they are both much older and have the stamina (and understanding) to see / do it all.

 

[katybugsmom]

When I was single and lived in near Orlando(many moons ago ), I hopped all the time when I visited the parks.
Since I have been married and had children we do like so many of you do-we plan major meals around the park we are going to visit each day. We are going to have a character meal everyday we are there, but always in a different park or resort with different characters. This is DS3's first trip to WDW and we want to take our time and explore the parks one at a time with him. Due to health problems I have to use an ECV, so traveling around to different parks would be difficult. We do plan to take a break mid-day(our trip is in June), let the kids swim, take naps, etc. and go back into the same park each day.

Bottom line: It's whatever works best for you and you're family! Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[staci]

We went without the first time on our last trip, and honestly, I never missed them.

We always had hoppers before kids, but taking ds last time, I never missed them. We planned our day around one park. When we were 'done' it didnt mean that there was nothing left to do, it just meant ds was 'done' with all the stimulation.

Think of it like shopping. Before kids, I would run to Target, and then the mall, and then Kohls, and then Old Navy..... not thinking twice about all the stops. With kids, its one or two places and then time to come home. Not because I dont want to stop at Old Navy, but because the day is no longer enjoyable for my kids, and therefore no longer enjoyable for me. I have never 'run out' of stuff to do in a disney park, there may be something more exciting elsewhere in the world, but after an hour of disney transportation 'hopping' my kids would be beat before we got there.

This trip we have hoppers (because my family is going and they think the need them) but I honestly cannot see us using them. We will not pay for them ourselves again until our kids are much older (preteen-ish likely) and we know they have the stamina to conquer more than one park a day.

HTH!

 

[brymolmom]

We don't hop. I think the only way I'd really want them now - is if we had a really short trip and only had enough days to do the parks if we did 2 in one day.

Honestly - if you have enough days - and plan accordingly, I don't see the need and I love to save the $$ to put toward something else - like another trip in the near future.

 

[hbehrman]

Last time we went DH and I had hopper passes left over from our honeymoon and our kids were just under the age limit to require a ticket. We were there for a week and never hopped once. We found that rather than running around from place to place to get it all in (like we always did) being with wee ones forced us to slow down - WAY down, and just go with the flow. It was one of the most wonderful WDW vacations we had because we weren't trying to shove Disney down their throats and squeeze it all in because we had the capability to do so. We just stayed in one park all day, let them determine when they needed a break (napping in the stroller) and enjoyed many things we'd never even thought to see before because we were always rushing off to another park to do all of the "must do" things.
Our next trip DD is 2.5 and DS is 4.5 - we won't park hop until they are both much older and have the stamina (and understanding) to see / do it all.

That was our experience and our conclusion as well.

 

[seashoreCM]

Buy the ticket without the hopping feature. If per chance you do end up at a different park later one day, you can add the hopping on the spot. The cost is the same $48 for each and any ticket card.

While park hopping does consume time, once you have left a park for a siesta or meal, that interlude is allocated to nap time or meal time, not counted as park hopping time.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[jazzmine]

We didn't get the hopper option this time around because for us, we stay in one park the entire day. We don't usually take breaks through the day so we just went and stayed the entire day at one park. It wasn't worth the $48 per ticket for us. It is nice that you can add it on while you are down there though!

 

[Bethy Lou]

We use hoppers when it is just my husband and I because we can ride the major rides and get out of the park, but things are much slower with kids and especially if you have not been much I would not do the park hopper option. there is so much to do and to see that I cannot imagine getting enough done to be able to go somewhere else.

 

[ChristusG]

We never ever hop. I just dont see the need to. We go in one park, stay all day, and leave when it closes. Not sure what we would need to hop for.

 

[bgirl29]

We usually go in October and we always have the park hoppers. Since most of the parks will close early then we like to hop over to Epcot most nights so we can be out a little later since it is usually open until 9. We enjoy eating in Epcot and walking around the worldshowcase at night.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

We're going with a hopper as we're staying on site and likely will return to the rooms at some point during the day and would like the option of changing park if we want (plus we're there for a 14 day stay so the extra cost is minimal when you look at it per day) For us it was knowing we have a few reservations we need to be in set parks for, and alot of people mentioning AK is best done in 2 mornings rather than one full day. We've also gone for the add on for the minor parks & water parks too just to give us plenty of options. We're travelling with 4 kids and also as part of a large party- we liked the fact with hoppers we'd have the opportunity to move between parks if our party splits too.

 

[tnkr_bell]

I think we are going to skip the hopper portion this next trip also. My kids will be 7, 5, & 20months and I really think one park a day will be fine. I'm really trying to take a slower approach to this trip because it seems like we always wear ourselves out trying to do everything.

 

[twinsplusone]

DH and I are discussing this very thing right now. While part of me says we should get it just in case and DH thinks one park a day with the kids is enough, I think we'll skip it unless we feel the need when we are there. With 5of us that's a lot of money just in case.