How much park hopping is too much?

[Hootch]

We generally schedule two parks per day, but we remain flexible. This past trip we all four in one day because we wanted to hit a couple of good FPs in DHS and we wanted to see the new MK show instead of Illumumunations.

On Monday, try to get to the park at least 45 minutes before opening so you can hit mine train early the PP.

We did rope drop one morning at DHS. I did Rocki' Roller Coaster twice and Tower of Terror twice in less than hour.

 

[SaraVee]

With two adults, I don't think this is too much. Except for the FP+ you want to book, you've kept your schedule quite loose which will help a lot. I think if you were running around trying to get to RD every day and then staying until close, I would think differently.

BTW, you really could do Ample Hills on any of the days you will be in EP. Either your first night or any time you're hopping from EP to another park. Simply exit through IG and walk over to the Boardwalk. That's another good way to park hop (simply head out of IG and go to BC or BWI to catch a bus) if you don't want to use express transportation. You could even uber from one of the resorts (it's cheaper than a Minnie Van). If you uber to MK, just have them drop you at CR or GF.

Thanks! Yeah, I did a solo trip for F&W two years ago and planned for rope drop and park close each day. By the end of my second full day, something had to give. I kept my rope drops as I'm a morning person anyway, and gave up the really late nights. This time I knew better, and since my sister isn't a morning person, I did my best to do either an early start or late night, but not both back-to-back.

 

[SaraVee]

Generally speaking the crowds are much heavier at night, even on weekdays. Even in early September we found wall to wall people and a 15 minute line for some kiosks.

However... the atmosphere was great and most of the kiosks were reasonably quiet. I could still get my glass of champagne in France with almost no wait which is enough to keep me happy

Were headed over to food and wine at the end of august.... only for one night, as it's the end of our trip, but it's a bonus for us as when we booked a year ago we weren't expecting it to start so early. I'm jealous you get to fit in so many days there

Thanks for your take on the evenings. Last time at F&W I was solo, and was normally there right when WS opened at 11, or in the early afternoon. Very few lines and easy to sample a lot. However, my sister is more outgoing and more of a "party" person than I am, and I actually think she'd really enjoy the atmosphere that probably comes with the evening at F&W. I'm hopeful we can experience at least one evening in WS.

 

[SaraVee]

This sounds like the perfect plan to me. If DH and I ever get to do an adults only trip during food and wine (a goal of mine), then our plan would be similar.

When I did a solo day during Flower and Garden, I RD HS, did RNR and TOT of few times. Headed over to Epcot and did Mission Space, drank a margarita, then ate around the booths. Finally, I went to MK and used my FP+s there (SDMT and Space are the ones I remember). Then I ate at Cali Grill to watch the fireworks. It was a totally awesome day and I was able to do Universal the next day without being tired.

That sounds like a great day!

 

[SaraVee]

I think this schedule sounds awesome; I love F&W and I love park-hopping! I've started a new birthday tradition: visit all four parks and at minimum ride one ride, see one show, eat one thing, browse in one shop, and visit one restroom in each park. It's a lot of fun!

That is an awesome tradition! I may have to steal the idea...

 

[SaraVee]

Express bus is awesome! My son and I do 4 parks/one day this way this week.

HOWEVER-:express bus for wpcot drops you off just inside the front entrance- it's still a hike to get to WS. If you can- plan your last attraction for the park before you hop to be near the express bus: Tusker house in AK, by Buzz light year at MK, front of future world at Epcot, and by RnR at Studios- and the first attraction at new park by the bus to save your legs

Thanks for the tip, I definitely want to keep in mind the locations for the express bus. That may be where having the option of the Minnie Van may come in handy at certain times.

 

[Skippyboo]

Thanks for your take on the evenings. Last time at F&W I was solo, and was normally there right when WS opened at 11, or in the early afternoon. Very few lines and easy to sample a lot. However, my sister is more outgoing and more of a "party" person than I am, and I actually think she'd really enjoy the atmosphere that probably comes with the evening at F&W. I'm hopeful we can experience at least one evening in WS.

I don't know how much "party" the atmosphere gets in the evening. Last year when I was at F&W, it was mainly a bunch of people in matching shirts drinking around the world. Ran into a batchelorette party in Italy with some X-rated straws in their drinks.

 

[scrapquitler]

Hello,

My sister and I are taking a short trip this fall to enjoy Food & Wine at Epcot. We want to enjoy as many of the offerings at F&W as possible, but I also know there's only so much we can eat at one time before we'll need to take a break and do other things.

We're getting close to FastPass booking time, so I'm working on our itinerary, and it's shaping up to have a lot of park hopping so that we can pop into Epcot every day on each of the 4.5 days of park time we'll have.

I will be purchasing the Express bus transportation for us, and I also am not opposed to using the Minnie Van service 3 - 4 times during the trip to help expedite us getting around.

I'm just wondering if maybe it will be too much moving around to ever feel like we can just kind of settle into a park and enjoy things as they come. Right now I have us being at 3 different parks/places per day for three of our days.

Here's my rough current plan, but I'm still open to changing most everything except the MNSSHP day, as those tickets are already purchased:

Sunday (arrival day): Get to Epcot around noon and enjoy F&W for as long as wanted. Planning FP for Frozen Ever After, Spaceship Earth and one other attraction. This may not be a late night as we have a very early flight this morning and will have gotten up before 4 am this day, and have an early day planned for tomorrow.

Monday: Rope drop at MK. Ride some things standby (Mine Train, Peter Pan and whatever else we can get on). Head to Epcot for F&W when we get hungry for lunch. Later in the afternoon, head to Animal Kingdom for fastpasses/rides and evening in Pandora (hoping to have FP for Flight of Passage for this evening).

Tuesday: Head to Epcot for some morning fastpasses (not rope dropping as this will be a late night) and enjoy F&W for lunch. Mid-afternoon head to MK and ride attractions, then MNSSHP this night.

Wednesday: Head to AK for some morning fastpasses (not rope dropping due to late night previous evening). Go to Disney Springs for a couple hours, then Epcot for evening F&W and attractions. (Even on a short trip, I enjoy Disney Springs enough to include a stop there).

Thursday: Rope drop at HS for RnRC and TOT. Head to Epcot for F&W around lunch. Then go to MK for the afternoon/evening fastpasses and hopefully Happily Ever After fireworks.

Friday: Early departure flight.

I also hope to add in a jaunt over to the Boardwalk to Ample Hills Creamery, as I'm an ice cream fanatic and loved what I had there on our last trip.

Open to any ideas...I've been staring at this plan for so long that it's hard for me to step back and evaluate it objectively. Thanks!

This definitely doesn't sound like too much park hopping to me. Using express transportation makes park hopping so quick and easy that you won't feel like you are rushing around.

 

[loves to dive]

I go to F&W every year and all my meals except breakfast come from there. I'm not a big planner so I rarely book FPs, just go with the flow. I tend to do a park in the morning then around 11:30 or 12 depending on if I have a seminar scheduled, hop over to Epcot. Graze around some booths, again I don't plan what I want to eat or the direction I'm going in, I see a booth I stop and get something and either cop a squat somewhere or walk around until I'm ready to stop at another booth. I've been known to circle WS at least 5 times in one day. Once I get too full to stand it, I'll hop over to another park or back to the resort for some pool time. Then I hop back over to Epcot to graze some more, if it's not too late and another park will be open for a couple more hours, I'll hop over there. I never use express transportation or Uber, but I do stay at the Epcot resorts so going between Epcot and HS is easy, I walk. According to my mood I'll either take the monorail to MK or take a bus (I'm not a fan of the monorail). I don't do Disney Springs, didn't do it much as Downtown Disney and don't need to do it as Disney Springs, I do all my shopping in the parks. Keep in mind, I'm a frequent visitor and don't have to ride all the rides since I know I'll be back.

 

[Skippyboo]

This definitely doesn't sound like too much park hopping to me. Using express transportation makes park hopping so quick and easy that you won't feel like you are rushing around.

There is some doubt about the Express Transportation lasting much longer so don't fully count on using it because it maybe going away

 

[bryanb]

During my first visit to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, I ended up at Epcot every single day of my stay! I wasn't even planning to do that.
It just ended up happening, after a day at MK or AK, that we'd wonder what would be good for dinner... and it seemed like there was so much more to try at Epcot.

I really enjoyed the spur of the moment hopping style so much that I've always hopped since then and kept my plans loose. I haven't tried Express Transportation yet, but from all the positive reviews on here I hope it sticks around!

 

[Mopedmom1]

There is some doubt about the Express Transportation lasting much longer so don't fully count on using it because it maybe going away

According to a couple of VERY reliable sources (CM's in the know) Express Bus will be gone before the month is over.

 

[SaraVee]

According to a couple of VERY reliable sources (CM's in the know) Express Bus will be gone before the month is over.

I just saw that today, too! Now I'm definitely wondering if I should scale back the hopping. It's still only 2 adults which makes most things easier, but having to enter from the front of each park with the security and tapstiles seems like it could still eat up a good amount of our time.

 

[dodolitsky]

I wouldn't recommend 3 parks in a day unless you were going rope drop to park close (and potentially making use of EMHs), and using uber (or equivalent) for travel. It's doable, otherwise, but I think it's hard to justify such a large ratio of travel time to park time.

My suggestion would be to try to consolidate Epcot into 3 visits (perhaps the day you go to DS, you could skip Epcot, as DS and F&W are both food-heavy activities), MK into 2 visits, and AK into 1 (if you could get an evening FoP FP. Otherwise, it's worth it to go one morning to RD FoP and one evening to see nighttime Pandora)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

For those talking about using Express Transportation. It will be gone as far as we know the last day to purchase a ticket is August 16th and those who purchased a multi-day ticket it will operate through August 23rd.

So basically if you want a single day pass you can only buy through August 16th. If you buy a multi-day day pass you'll be able to use it through August 23rd.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/walt-disney-world-eliminates-express-transportation-service/

 

[SaraVee]

I wouldn't recommend 3 parks in a day unless you were going rope drop to park close (and potentially making use of EMHs), and using uber (or equivalent) for travel. It's doable, otherwise, but I think it's hard to justify such a large ratio of travel time to park time.

My suggestion would be to try to consolidate Epcot into 3 visits (perhaps the day you go to DS, you could skip Epcot, as DS and F&W are both food-heavy activities), MK into 2 visits, and AK into 1 (if you could get an evening FoP FP. Otherwise, it's worth it to go one morning to RD FoP and one evening to see nighttime Pandora)

Thanks for the feedback! And I see what you're saying about DS and Epcot both being food-heavy. I was really looking forward to doing either Homecomin' or The Boathouse at DS, but was having trouble justifying eating at DS because of all the eating we'll be doing at F&W on the same day, so your suggestion makes a lot of sense and gives me something to think about for sure.

 

[finedice]

Not on one or two days, but your feet will be killing you if you try to do it multiple (or every) day - especially with the trek around World Showcase every day! Overdoing it is a sure way to a not so great time!

 

[Micca]

We've done 3 or four parks a few times, we always had a car at our disposal. We mostly felt that it was a lot of driving/parking/walking just to get situated every time we hopped to another park. I guess if you had a special plan or itinerary you might find it enjoyable, for us usually one hop per day will suffice.

 

[PSUGuy]

We're F&W guys also and we buy hoppers to do a park at RD then hop to WS for the food. In the evening we'll often stroll to DHS or to WS for Illuminations and that's pretty much it since there are no parades in MK.

Bill From PA