How do you do the parks without hopper

[lifepaused]

even though I still have about 120 days left I have started planing the parks I have 2 days for each park. I was wondering how you tackle it. Do you go clockwise or anti clock wise, 1/2 a park per day, or section by section, frontier then tomorrow land ect. Suggestions on all parks would be great. I have been once (14 years ago) but my partner has not been before. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Well, we don't find hoppers to be necessary. We go to a park and stay in that park all day. When we had small children, we would take a break in the heat of the afternoon (we also go in the summer).

As for strategy, we use https://touringplans.com/, which creates a plan for us using our dining reservations and FastPass+ reservations for optimum riding and minimum waiting. The strategy is different per park and what you want to accomplish. For example, any strategy I gave you for Animal Kingdom would totally skip Avatarland, because I've never seen the movie.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We sleep in, hit the pool, arrive in the parks at about lunch time and then stay in the park until it closes. We do hop sometimes, but rarely. We manage how we tackle each park based on ride wait times and FP+ schedules.

 

[pitpat]

Magic Kingdom I like splitting down the middle left and right.

 

[KittyKitty]

Last 2 times we did not have hoppers, and worked well. I made sure my ADR's in the park were at the same park I was touring. I plan 2 days at MK splitting the park in 1/2 each day.Doing the same thing for Epcot. 1 day front, 1 day World Showcase( with a standby for Soarin).
The issue I have is not enough park tickets for days I visit each trip. I usually visit for 2 weeks at a time. So plan to upgrade to AP this next trip, which comes with hopper.

 

[kmv]

We don't usually have hoppers and think it works just fine. We RD, often times go back to swim or kids nap in afternoon, back in the evening. We never have a specific touring plan, just go with the flow or find rides around the are we have FP in.

 

[KittyKitty]

You can always add it to your ticket with at least 1 day left on it( I think you have to have 1 day left). That way you can try it without. But it would be the same price as if you had it for all the days on that ticket.

 

[Jules76126]

I will chime in as someone who always has hoppers. We enjoy having the flexibility to hop to different parks, but we are also not park open to park close type people. It is just not how we travel. We typically will hit one park in the morning for RD and then head back to the hotel around lunch time. We tend to spend the afternoon hanging at the pool and then have time to shower before dinner (we find that we need the afternoon break to recharge). We then head to a different park that evening for dinner and nighttime entertainment. We do usually stay at an Epcot resort (usually BC) so it makes it easier to travel between different parks as we can walk/boat to two of them. My family can't spend the whole day in the park without a break - but that is just how we tour.

 

[TwinkleKS]

Our main reason for using hoppers is because I like to eat in Epcot more than at MK. Recently we have done away with hopping and have been trying out different resort restaurants. Use touring plans or hire a guide (that's what we do) if you want to maximize your time and minimize wait time. I don't think I've ever just totally stuck to a go in on the left side and come out on the right side type of plan.

 

[Atrain13]

We haven't had hoppers the last few times that we've gone and we've had no issues. We stay on resort which makes it easier but I'm not sure if that's an option for you. We usually wake up and make it to the rope drop and stay until lunch. Then we go back and take a little break and rest for a few hours. Then we have headed back around 3 or so and enjoyed things until dinner, then finish up the night at the park. Last time we went, we had 2.5 days at MK, 2 at Epcot, and 1 at AK and HS. That worked out perfect for us.

 

[Accident]

The doing a park different because you don't have hoppers is kind of confusing me. how would you do the park with hoppers? Your bringing someone new, your gonig to pick a direction and let them take it all in.. I wouldn't run someone new back and forth or loop the park many times.

 

[amandaleigh2]

We go for 7 nights and don't use park hoppers. I have two boys, 3 and 8. We're generally a park open to park close family and our typical week would look like this:

Sat: Arrival- no park, maybe Disney Springs
Sun: MK
Mon: Animal Kingdom
Tues: Rest day, no park
Wed: Epcot
Thurs: HS
Fri: MK
Sat: If later flight, whatever park the kids want to go back to.

For us, park hopping just takes too much time and effort. Maybe it would be different if we didn't have little kids... I do a rough schedule on Touring Plans, but we usually only follow it at MK and only for the first few hours of the day... We don't limit ourselves to one section of the park each day, but we do try to make sure we aren't going back and forth across the park all day. Too exhausting!

 

[Lesverts]

The only time I park hop is during if I am going to a party that night. Usually I will go to AK for a couple hours in the morning.

 

[Prinsessdai]

You can definately have a great time w/o doing park hoop. your day will revolve mostly around your FP+

So hit the attractions you have FP+ at the time and then other attractions that are near it before and after

 

[lifepaused]

Thanks. I am staying on at sports, which will give us more flexible options. I had thought of doing 1/2 park one day and the other the next time we go. I already know what fp to get so that makes it easy to split them up.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We have hoppers so we do AM park, midday break by the pool and a different PM park with FP+. If I didn't have hoppers I would still leave midday since I hate the bigger crowds and we go in the summer so I need a break from the heat. I would do the same and still save my FP+ for the evening. I know some would say do your FP+ starting around 10-11 so then you can pull a fourth before you go and come back in the evening but we find the lines pretty short in the morning. We leave the park by 12-1.

 

[KimBean]

One park at a time...

We've never used hopper but have it this time. I'm trying to figure out to use it. Lol. I like one park day, I know where to book ADRs and FPs and it isn't so complicated.

 

[LoopyDoopy]

Never do hoppers. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood are one day parks. Usually the first day isn't a full days, so I plan 1 1/2 days for Epcot. MK is 2-3 days.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Our main reason for using hoppers is because I like to eat in Epcot more than at MK. Recently we have done away with hopping and have been trying out different resort restaurants. Use touring plans or hire a guide (that's what we do) if you want to maximize your time and minimize wait time. I don't think I've ever just totally stuck to a go in on the left side and come out on the right side type of plan.

I'll agree with this. I sometimes hop to ride something I really want to ride (say Everest is down on my AK day, but open on MK day)...but usually I hop specifically for food or drinks at Epcot. The other parks have fewer places that interest me, rides like land are good for an afternoon snooze, and illuminations is my favorite show.

But my hopping is never planned- it's more like I had to take a break to shower or swim, and I don't have the energy to fight the crowds wherever I spent the morning.

Edit to add I do plan to hop on HS days. It just isn't a full day park for me, it's barely a half day. I don't enjoy hanging around- I ride my favorite rides and get out by noon or one. It's the reason I "need" a hopper. I would probably talk myself out of it if that park became one I enjoyed.

 

[hakepb]

With 3 parks having FP+ tiers, that doesn't result in a full even geography break.
Consider doing more of the favorite outdoor rides on the 1st park day.
The disadvantage of no hoppers means no wild-card hopping to a park if a ride happened to be down on your 2nd day in a park.