If you stay off site, is it worth it to get park hoppers?

[Camping Griswalds]

I'm just wondering what the strategy is for those of you whom stay off site. do you go and park in the park you plan on ending up in? And then take transportation to the park you want to start in? Do you just park where you want to go, take Disney transportation to and from the next park and then pick up your car at the end of the day? Is this a trememdous waste of time?

Is park hopping really worth it if you are staying off site?

 

[AngieWin]

For us, yes it is worth it. We might start at Animal Kingdom one morning and then use the bus/other Disney transportation to get to another park. We have small kids and Epcot is only exciting for so long. Or we start at Magic Kingdom 2 mornings and end up somewhere else.

At times we have driven to another park, but using the boat or monorail to get to another park or visit a resort is fun by itself!

 

[swilshire]

We always seem to park hop to catch some special event. As an example, we only planned two Disney days for our recent Spring break trip. We were going to the Magic Kingdom and MGM the first day and Epcot the second.

On our MK visit, DS8 didn't want to stop riding rides to go participate in the family parade, so we let it go. About an hour after the parade, he suddenly was very excited to be in it. On our Epcot day, we road the monorail over to the MK in the middle of the day, mostly just for this parade. It was the highlight of our visit for him.

If you haven't seen the Family Parade, it's much more exciting than you would expect that sort of thing to be. The kids have a blast!

Sheila

 

[MiaSRN62]

We love having the park hopper option whether on or offsite. If we get to a park and find it's getting too crowded to have fun, we really appreciate the ability to hop to another park. And we also use both disney transportation as well as just driving to the next park. On average, we do not like parking in the MK parking lot because it's just too much of a hassle to get in and out of the park. We'll park at Epcot.....visit that park....then hop over to the MK via the monorail.

 

[dougsmom98]

We get the park hopper option and we stay off site. Usually we use the hopper option for the night shows. We just drive to the different parks. Once we took the monorail to Epcot from MK, but that was a pain in the neck. It took a long time. When we hop, we usually go back to the villa around 3, take a swim and have some dinner and then head back to the parks around 5-6.

 

[Mainebound]

I'm just wondering what the strategy is for those of you whom stay off site. do you go and park in the park you plan on ending up in? And then take transportation to the park you want to start in? Do you just park where you want to go, take Disney transportation to and from the next park and then pick up your car at the end of the day? Is this a trememdous waste of time?

Is park hopping really worth it if you are staying off site?

Our decision about park hopping is not affetced by whether we stay offsite, because we would never go straight through from park opening til close anyway.

We bought park hoppers in 2006 and used them once. We did not buy them in 2005 and 2007 and did not mis them.

You just have to plan slightly differently without them. I don't mind paying extra for PH, but I mind it very much if we don't (or hardly ever) use it. And we have taken longer and longer trips each year, so we end up buying extra park days with the money saved from park hopping, which works better for us.

Our perfect day is to get to the parks at opening, tour for 3-4 hours, have a nice table service lunch in the park, return back to the villa for rest, reading and swim, and then maybe return to the park that evening. We don't need park hoppers usually for that.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[isla bonita]

I think it depends on how you do the parks? There is not one way is better then another it is all about how you choose to spend your day.

I personally enjoy having the option but I tend not to recomend it for first timers. First timers are so over loaded by just everything that I think it is a waste of money. Most mahve young children and it is not such an easy task.

I would look at what I wanted to do while there, such as just certain rides or are you going thru the whole park? We went thru the parks in Feb for the 2 weeks that we were there. In Sept. we are going to do just the highlites. Pick and choose and then swim a real lot. Feb. this past year was cold and not enough pool time was had.

Each vacationer is on their own scedule and it will be difficult to make that decision for any one. I would really think thru the addition of the hopper there is a lot of $$ involved in the decision.

 

[ceopamom3]

We always bought the 10 day non-expiring ticket with hopping, but lately we haven't been hopping that much. We tend to travel at off-peak times, and with shorter park hours - it becomes too much time wasted to pop between parks. That said, driving between parks is way quicker than buses (except MK of course). MGM to EPCOT takes less than ten minutes! I would say it depends on your itinerary and budget. If you like the late night fireworks, this may work to your benefit. I believe someone else mentioned AK in the a.m. and fireworks elsewhere at night.
I don't think you will feel slighted w/o park hopping. Just avoid any park with EMH that day. Have a great trip!

 

[A&CsMom]

Park hoppers are a personal choice. It gives you flexibility, if you don't mind paying for it. Staying offsite, after using both Disney transportation and driving, we have decided that we will always drive because it wastes less time, and when you are really tired, it's nice to know your vehicle is in the parking lot where you are, and not that you have to get transportation to another park and then your vehicle. In our experience it is also much faster to drive between parks.

 

[Lewisc]

I think park hoppers are a "must" if you're staying in an EPCOT resort. Makes it easy to go back to your resort for an afternoon pool break and then go to a WS restaurant for dinner and Illuminations.

Also a must if have a short stay, makes sense to go to a night show the same night as your AK visit. Otherwise I don't generally park hop.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I agree with the others. I don't think whether you stay on site or off site dictates whether a PH is needed. It just depends on how you like to tour the parks.

We don't really park hop if we stay on site or off. It's just the way we prefer to plan our days -- a park in the morning/early afternoon, head back to hotel/villa/timeshare for rest and relaxation, head out to Citywalk or DTD for dinner and cocktails.

 

[mamacate]

Just wanted to say thanks for this discussion. I was wavering back and forth on whether to get the PH option, and this confirms my instinct to say "no." If we decide we absolutely must hop one day, we'll just add it to the tickets, but I'm guessing it won't be an issue, and nearly $200 for our family of four will make for an expensive dinner at Epcot. Even so, I agree with the idea that if you're walking distance and wanted to spend every evening at Epcot, that would be a nice option.

Anyway, thanks for the good feedback. One less decision to think about...

PS: AngieWin, I used to be the queen of NAK...nice to see that acronym again on here...

 

[perdidochas]

I'm just wondering what the strategy is for those of you whom stay off site. do you go and park in the park you plan on ending up in? And then take transportation to the park you want to start in? Do you just park where you want to go, take Disney transportation to and from the next park and then pick up your car at the end of the day? Is this a trememdous waste of time?

Is park hopping really worth it if you are staying off site?

My only advice is that if you want to save time, take your car from one park to another. If you want to save energy (i.e. having to walk to your car), take Disney buses. If I were hopping between Epcot and Disney, I might take the monorail, but other than that, take your car. One year, we started the day at AK, then went to Epcot for the light show. THe light show ends at around 9:20. We didn't get back to our car until almost midnight.

 

[MiaSRN62]

For those of you who are deciding not to buy the hopper option, plan your park days very carefully.
Don't go to any park that has an EMH (morning or evening) because that park will be crammed and you won't be able to hop to another less crowded park. Print out the disney calendar and follow it. Also, if you see there is only one night during the week that the MK will be open extra late or where Spectro parade will be showing, anticipate that this will be the most crowded park that day. I'm sure this is all common sense but some newbies might not be aware.
I didn't realize we were discussing the hopper option for a first timer because I agree.....if it's your first or even second time to wdw, you'll probably want to do practically everything and the hopper option will not be as necessary.
We've got 30+ visits under our belt and much prefer to do the things we enjoy most and then get out and hop to another park for other things. We've gotten to Epcot, for instance, and found everything our kids wanted to go on had 90 min to 2 hour waits. We like being able to leave and find a park that has more manageable lines. Some days we really don't want to spend time in MGM (it's our least favorite park). So we might hop over there in the evening just to do maybe TOT and see Fantasmic after spending the day at a different park.
But everyone's touring strategy is different---for us, we wouldn't be without the hopping option.

 

[spiceycat]

yes and no.

yes - because as Maria mentioned if you find your first choice with just too many people you can go to another park.

also I like to do a different park in the morning vs evening. evening it must either Epcot or MK. - but morning are fine in AK or Studios.

completely depends upon you and your schedule.

tell us your schedule - what park what day and then maybe we can answer this question a little better.

if you don't know what park you want to see what day - then you definitely need to do more homework.

'www.wdwinfo.com' - home site of the disney

www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm
www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/themeparks.htm
www.wdwinfo.com/disney-podcast/distv-ThemeParks.htm

 

[englishteacha]

We've always gotten park hoppers. Last time we didn't hop much, but in 2002, it rained every afternoon. We'd start the day at MK, MGM, or AK, then when the rain hit we hopped to Epcot. There's so much to do indoors there that it's perfect for a rainy afternoon. We sometimes would hop again in the evening if there was a show we wanted to see. We really dislike standing in lines, so if a park gets crowded and we have the option, we will leave and go to another park.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Okay a litlle more info about us. We will be going in Jan of 2008 for 7 days. We have been multiple times, but have always stayed onsite while visiting Disney. This will be our first time staying off site and visiting, not first timers in parks. We usually don't hop much. We were big defenders of the EMH am hours, return to room for lunch and nap and swim, and rarely went back to parks. If we wanted to do Illuminations, or something along those lines, we slept in those days, and went to evening park around 5 pm.

My concern this trip is that kids are taking friends, so I will have two 15 yo boys, two 11 yo boys, and I don't think they will want to go home and nap. So then we have the dilemma of 3 yo daughter. She cannot possibly go all day every day. So do we go to a park in am, let biggest boys wander and do their own thing, leave for lunch , then let the biggest kids go back with either myself or DH? I was thinking the park hoppers might be better then. Big kids won't want to spend too much time in Fantasy land. But they can definately do Illuminations and Fantasmic. Doubt they will dig the parades either. The age gap is just really great here.

We stayed in a house this past Jan, and DH and the kids just loved it. The private pool and spa and the space was great. Personally I would rather squeeze back into a hotel and stay onsite, but I must say that this past Jan vacation was very relaxing for all of us. (we did universal, Ioa, Bush, Seaworld) So the boys begged to do the home again, and with all of the extra space (5 bedrooms) we told them they can each bring one friend. Oldest seems happier that way now, and we love his friends. We aren't planning on eating a lot in Disney, one because of the expense for that many of us, and two, with a full sized kitchen bar b que and crock pot, we can cook for the seven of us easily.

So I just was trying to weigh the pros and cons of park hoppers. It is a lot more expensive if you don't use them. But maybe kids will want them? I also was trying to work out in my mind about the parking and hopping vs parking and disney transportation and hopping ideas. From the posts here, it seems like if we do hop, we should park, tour the place we wish, the get back in our vehicle to drive ourselves to next place and park there. Or park visit where we want, go home to vacation home, and then drive back and park to visit second park.

 

[spiceycat]

okay the 15 year old can go by themselves - Disney allows anyone 14 and over to be their parks without an adult.

the 11 year old might be a problem - but this house have a game player - right? that should entertain them when you need your daughter to nap.

I would go to the first park - then when the place gets too crowded (if it does - Jan is pretty slow) go back to the villa - then later on go back.

but remember the park closes early in Jan. I think the only thing open until 9 pm is Epcot. Another reason to get a park hopper.

I think AK closes at 5 (might be 4), and Studio closes at 7. MK varies.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

I just talked about the hopping thing with DH ( he said are we going to be talking Disney to death for the next year?) anyway he just dosen't "get It" the whole OCD and the DIS and Disney.

Anyway I think we are going to do the hoppers. It will just give us the options of changing our mind, and the kids will be older. I don't think I am brave enough to leave any of the kids in the park if we go back to the house, but will think about it as an option. We were thinking of using the games and pool as a lure. AK does usually close at 4 or 5. So we could definately just do Epcot in the evenings if we want to go back. I think studios and mk are hit or miss with late nights. I guess we will just play it by ear.

So still we are playing with doing two parks in one day. I think the advice is unless we are doing Epcot to MK o MK to Epcot, it looks like we should just go get our car and drive ourselves. I will definately need to look into this more,. Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I think the advice is unless we are doing Epcot to MK o MK to Epcot, it looks like we should just go get our car and drive ourselves. I will definately need to look into this more,. Thanks for all of the advice.

I wish you well with your plans. We didn't leave our kids alone in the parks until they were 16 so I can see your reservations there. I have an almost 14 yo now and just don't think she's quite ready for that but everyone knows their own kids.
Also, my other preference is, regardless of which park we do first (MK to Epcot or Epcot to MK), we like to park in the Epcot parking lot. Just feel it's less of a hassle to park and if you're there early (no later than 9 or 9:30 am), you usually get a spot close enough that you can walk to the front of the park and bypass the tram. This is something you can rarely do at the MK parking lot.
And PS---you're right ! Your DH doesn't "get it"
Take care