is it me, but I don't see the need for a hopper ticket?

[slzer0]

I can see its merit but for this trip we aren't doing it. If we were throwing epcot into the mix, maybe.
With a toddler we aren't moving fast enough to make good use of it anyway.
It would make ADRs easier though.

 

[dkrauss]

I think the hopper is a nice option........required......depends on your plan. On our last visit.......we bounced around parks quite a bit so it was really helpful. We were at the YC and actually walked through Epcot to get to the Monorail to get to the Poly for the Aloha show.

Our trip coming up in Sept started with some park splitting, so we did get the hopper. Now 7 months later our plans are completly changed and we won't be hopping at all. Looking into removing the hopper from our ticket (BUT.....only if there's not impact AT ALL to our tickets and plans we've already set up). In the end because we're only a 2 people on a 5 day/4 night trip the cost isn't that outrageous. So if we can't we'll live..............can see for a larger family where cost could play a role.

Doug

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Personally, I don't "hop" that frequently even though I have an AP (which includes hopping) as it can just eat up so much time. You're talking about at least 30 minutes but usually closer to an hour. For me, that's a lot of time. Some don't see it that way; doesn't make anyone wrong just a matter of which you care about most.

That's the biggest reason I don't. Most people tend to say they don't for longer trips, only shorter trips, but the only time I could see myself doing it is for a longer trip (10+ days), when taking an hour to switch parks isn't as big a deal.

 

[hakepb]

10 days is a long stay to not need one. My only reason for wanting them is weather. Some parks are better than others to navigate in the rain. Having the capability to switch plans due to weather if you've already been to a certain park that day is important to me. But with your length of stay I wouldn't really see a need to buy them.

I think its still worthwhile on a long trip
I'd enjoy 3-4 dinners in EPCOT, but not that many full park days.
Plus its fun to hit everyone's favorites one last time on the final 2 days.

I've done both, I just think non-hoppers take more planning.

 

[W.E.D.]

It's personal preference and how you plan on touring during your stay. We spend a lot of evenings at WS in EPCOT, so the hopper comes in very handy for us. Also, DHS and AK are 1/2 day parks for us so we usually hop somewhere else later in the day. If it works for you, it's very much worth the extra $$$, IMHO. If not, then yeah, save the $$$.

 

[redheadx3]

I only see 2 reasons to get hoppers.
1. If you want to eat nice dinners at Epcot every night.
2. If you will only be there 2-3 days and want to get it all in, morning emh to evening emh.

 

[MichelleVW]

I only see 2 reasons to get hoppers.
1. If you want to eat nice dinners at Epcot every night.
2. If you will only be there 2-3 days and want to get it all in, morning emh to evening emh.

Lol....we don't do either of those and we always get hoppers. I guess we just have short attention spans because we can't spend more than 5-6 hours in any one park.

 

[itchin2go]

No, Park Hoppers are definitely not a necessity.

I bought them for our first two trips, because I wanted the option of switching parks. We hardly used them. I feel stupid for not knowing I could have upgraded the tix when and IF we wanted to hop.

Knowing that now, I buy base tickets, knowing there's the option to add the hopper later. We have never needed or even wanted to.

Keep in mind, hopping from park to park requires extra travel time.

Generally, the only park we have a dinner ADR in is Epcot, so I make sure to book Epcot restaurants for our planned EP days. Our other dinner ADRs are outside of the parks, so they don't limit us in terms of what park we can visit that day. We don't do that many evenings in the parks, so that frees us up as well. We almost never do lunch ADRs.

I have friends who "always get hoppers". They can't even tell me if they needed them or used them. That's a waste of money.

Some of the best advice I ever got on the DIS was to save that park hopper $$$ until you know you'll be hopping.

The only thing listed in this thread that makes any sense to me as a reason for buying hoppers is if you legitimately want to dine in Epcot every night. Epcot at night is very special, and this makes perfect sense to me. It's a splurge, but I get the appeal.

Short trip? Not a good reason for me. I'd rather limit the number of parks and do them properly, than to barely scratch the surface at any of the parks. That's just me. But I'm not a fan of AK or DHS, so take that into account.

 

[Retro Magic]

I love to use the park hopper for long stays. It allows us more freedom to do what we want during the day/night, at any time we want. It's also great for dining reservations or if you you just want to go into a park on a whim to see a show or fireworks.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I loved the convenience of them. But when Disney began charging for them, we could not justify the price. We didn't use them enough when free to add the expense. When we has AP's, we were more likely to hop. But we also went much more often.

 

[momto3boysillbe]

going 10 days 8/9 with DD 15, first time onsite at POR. We didn't do any ADRs, trying to save on our food budget. We've never done hopping. Trying to save some money. If you don't have ADRs, why do you need it besides just being able to change parks on a whim?

I like having them but have found they aren't a necessity especially when not staying at a resort close to the parks. When we stayed at BLT and Beach Club they were definitely handy. When we stay at Riverside we can do without them.