How realistic is Park Hopping

[PeteSh]

Currently I have a 5 day standard magic your way ticket. But I am considering upgrading to the park hopping option once I arrive

What I'm wondering is... is it realistic?
I've read that it could take (at worst) up to approx. an hour to travel from MK to Epcot using the monorail, so I can only imagine how much longer it takes using Disney's bus system.

Mainly, I am interested in using the park hopper option to tour Animal Kingdom and Epcot, how long does it take by bus (or by car) to get from one park to the other?

 

[HunnyPots]

You should be able to get from MK to EPCOT in much less than an hour by monorail. If you have a car, it depends on what time of day you're traveling as to how long it will take to go from park to park, but still much less than an hour. The bus system is the slowest, for sure, but park hopping is still doable. We've done it on 3 out of 4 trips.

 

[muscarello4]

You might wait 10-15 minutes for a bus from AK to EPCOT. The ride doesn't take long. (I'm thinking about 10 minutes.)

The PROs: Epcot has lots of nice restaurants. It is nice to visit AK in the a.m. and then head to Epcot for dinner.

The Con: We have 6 in our family. $300 for hopping privileges is just not worth it in my opinion.

We pick a park and then stick with it for the day. The MK monorail resorts doe have nice restaurants with easy transportation, if you're looking for places for dinner without needing to buy the hopper.

 

[CathieArms]

I've found this website to be very helpful in calculating transportation time between resorts and parks: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.aspx. I don't know what the accuracy is, but I've found it to be a useful tool for planning.

As for hopping from one park to another, that's the only way I know how to do it. Sometimes it just makes sense to hop on over to another park for part of the day.

 

[laceemouse]

Honestly, it depends on your group. We never hop. Even when we had park hopping included in the tickets we didn't do it. As much as we love the Disney transportation system it is very time consuming to get to the front of the park, exit, wait for the bus, ride to the next park, and get inside. You are looking at at least an hour in the best of circumstances.

HOWEVER, I am in the minority here. Most people love to hop. I just feel like with kids it is too much of a hassle.
Basically, on our AK day we stay until it closes and then use that night to just swim, go to DTD, see a movie, eat at another resort, or something else like that. We get plenty of Epcot time by scheduling two days at Epcot.

If it were just dh and I we may try hopping, it is just too much money and too much hassle for 6 of us!

 

[Haley]

Are you staying onsite?

What I do (and a lot of people) is go to one park in the morning, leave around lunchtime when it's crowded and the hottest. Go back to the hotel to swim, rest, shower and then we go to a different park that evening for dinner, rides and fireworks.

 

[agame2323]

Honestly...don't do it! Because once you experience Park Hopping it becomes hard to go without it. Trust me.

 

[Teacher03]

We have always park hopped whether we stay onsite or off. It's not bad whatever method of transportation you use. As someone pointed out, once you do it, you'll always want to park hop!

 

[rsimon]

Currently I have a 5 day standard magic your way ticket. But I am considering upgrading to the park hopping option once I arrive

What I'm wondering is... is it realistic?
I've read that it could take (at worst) up to approx. an hour to travel from MK to Epcot using the monorail, so I can only imagine how much longer it takes using Disney's bus system.

Mainly, I am interested in using the park hopper option to tour Animal Kingdom and Epcot, how long does it take by bus (or by car) to get from one park to the other?

We park hope every day we are there. We have done it with the bus system and by car. It is MUCH easier by car IMO because you can predict how long it will take. Between DHS and Epcot, we usually just walk.. MK and Epcot we take the monorail many times.. Either way, it has never taken us an hour to get from one park to another unless we were using the busses. They are unpredictable.

 

[Daydreamer]

I think it depends on your touring plan. If your touring the parks commando style then hopping doesn't hold many advantages. When you factor in the fast pass opportunities you loose by hopping versus staying in the park you are probably better off not to hop.

However, if you are planning on taking mid day breaks and or take advantage of any EMH's then it is definitely worth the time and cost. For us, one of the worst things is to be "stuck" in an EMH morning park all day. We love the EMH mornings but are ready to be out of the parks by lunch time due to the crowds. Without hopping we wouldn't be able to move on to a different park.

 

[Mcbruns]

Currently I have a 5 day standard magic your way ticket. But I am considering upgrading to the park hopping option once I arrive

What I'm wondering is... is it realistic?
I've read that it could take (at worst) up to approx. an hour to travel from MK to Epcot using the monorail, so I can only imagine how much longer it takes using Disney's bus system.

Mainly, I am interested in using the park hopper option to tour Animal Kingdom and Epcot, how long does it take by bus (or by car) to get from one park to the other?

We always hop. It really gives a lot of flexibility. AK is not a park that needs a full day (imo) plus they typically close earlier than the other parks making that a good day to hop. No way will it take an hour to hop from any park to another.

 

[danceintherain]

It depends.
I find that it comes it very handy, but yes it can be time consuming.

We enjoy it when we take afternoon breaks, or one park is open later than the others.
For example, on our last night on our last trip we went to Fantasmic at 7pm, then took the boat to EPCOT and watched Illuminations. It was the only way we got to see both shows before we left, because we didn't make it to either earlier in our trip.
Also, the Animal Kingdom closed very early in January (5pm), so it was either sit around the resort all evening, or go to another park.

Next week, the Magic Kingdom is open past 10 every night we'll be there, so I look at hopping as a nice way to take advantage of early morning touring, an afternoon nap, and late night touring all on the same day.
If you have small children that need to be in bed early, then it may not be as practical.

 

[topmonkeygirl]

Alot of people complain about the Disney Bus system, but I really don't think it's all that bad considering you don't pay for the gas, fight traffic, pay for parking, and when you're hot and tired drive back to your resort. that being said it does take some time to get from park to park. I'm a pass holder and usually don't park hop except maybe for dinner, and I usually try to plan where I'm eating where I'm at. Personally I think it wastes alot of time and there is so much to see, do, and eat right in the park you're at. If I were you I wouldn't waste my money with the hopping options.

 

[redrosesix]

Honestly...don't do it! Because once you experience Park Hopping it becomes hard to go without it. Trust me.

That's us. We had some 1-day passes and decided to use them on our last trip (long story) -- we found it almost unbearable to be stuck in Epcot once we had done everything we wanted to that day. And, we missed EMH at MK -- never again.

We find it easier to hop by bus or monorail if we're going to be going back to the same park later eg. MK in the am, monorail to Epcot when MK gets too crowded, back to MK for EMH. In fact, when our hopping includes MK we prefer not to take our car because of the whole tram-monorail issue -- that takes a lot of time and energy compared to bus or monorail which take you right to the park entrance.

But if we're doing something like AK, then DHS, having a car is nice at the end of the day (although that is also very doable by bus)

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We have always park hop except for our last trip b/c we were staying at AKL and my son still naps. He takes like 3 hour naps so we just enjoyed the resort in the afternoon/evening. I'm glad we did that but for our next trip we are doing park hopper b/c we are staying at the Epcot resort and like the idea of going to Epcot for dinner but spent our morning at other parks.

 

[Alesia]

I've read that it could take (at worst) up to approx. an hour to travel from MK to Epcot using the monorail, so I can only imagine how much longer it takes using Disney's bus system.

It won't take an hour.

It's a good idea to allow for an hour when traveling from park to park, especially if you need to make it there by a certain time, But it will not take that long. Don't sweat it.

 

[mainegal]

I was at WDW for seven days in December and bought the park hopper for its flexibility. We only used it twice. I would not buy it again. Could be because December has shorter park hours and it was best to just stay in one park.

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

Ditto Lacee and Top Monkey...

I've been 18 times...and never ever park hop! There is plenty to do in each park to fill a day....with (IMHO) exception of AK (for my family with older kids) ...and that is a half day to plan the rest at the pool or at DTD...

There are a LOT of pp that love Park hopping. I think those are folks who
1. Do not have children...so they get bored easily at one park running to the top attractions...skipping most of the other stuff...
2. Have a long extended vacation....(folks who don't get the standard 2 weeks per year....but have some other arrangement so they take LONG vacations)

Our WDW vacations are usually 10 days...One week Off from work plus weekends to travel...and we usually spend 5 FULL Days at WDW ....which means 1 park per day (Plus 1 day at SAB/BC) ....we always see everything we want to....and since we have been so much....we know exactly what we want to see.....

I vote for No Park Hoppers...

We spend that 'extra' $250 (for our family) on other stuff.

Have a Magical Visit!

Mary

 

[thepwa]

I don't think I would do Disney without Parkhoppers. An incredibly useful tool for helping avoid lines and getting stuff done.

 

[Cinderella94]

Are you staying onsite?

What I do (and a lot of people) is go to one park in the morning, leave around lunchtime when it's crowded and the hottest. Go back to the hotel to swim, rest, shower and then we go to a different park that evening for dinner, rides and fireworks.

That's us, too!