Is the park hopper option worth it?

[cansasman]

We are planning a trip to WDW and will be buying 4 day park passes. Is it worth the extra $100 to upgrade to park hopper passes?

 

[Dizzy for Dsny]

Well, it really depends on how you do the parks - I think personally. Take us for instance, we have been to WDW several times and we do prefer the hopper because we don't always ride all of the rides in an individual park and we like the flexibility of going 1/2 day and then heading back to the room for a rest and going into another park later in the day. Especially, since we love to eat TS at Epcot for dinner. That way it gives us the flexibility.

I guess I would ask you if this is your first time? If so, do you typically go full commando through theme parks when you visit. If you've never seen the parks and you want to make sure you see everything, than I would say you don't need the hopper. Especially if it is important for you to go early and close the park.

It really is an individual choice and people have different reasons for why they like it.

Hope this helps!

 

[cdndislvr]

IMO I would think the park hopper is worth the extra dollars. Although we have AP's, if I were to purchase MYW tickets I wouldn't hesitate about adding the park hopper option. I really like the flexibility of being able to visit more than one park in a day, even if it's a full day at MK and just being able to go over to Epcot to catch Illuminations or have dinner at MGM. Also, there have been days where we've walked into MK for an early morning and within 1/2 an hour realized the crowds were just too crazy for us that day and left for one of the other parks. For me, I wouldn't do WDW without a park hopper option!

 

[laceemouse]

We never hop and here is why. We have four kids and by the time we get everyone up, dressed, fed, out to the bus stop, wait for the bus, get to the park, go through security, go through the turnstiles, ect.... our kids have NO desire to leave that park and go through all of that hoopla again until they are DONE with that park. We don't go commando, we just do everything we want to do in that park before leaving it. We don't like criss-crossing and passing things up. If a line is too long we may skip something and come back later, but we try to go when crowds are not bad and have a plan. We have just always felt that the hour plus that would be spent moving to another park is a waste of time. We have left a park in the afternoon and returned later that day to the same park, but we have only done that a couple of times when we were at BCV and could easily walk to our room from EPCOT and return later. I know some folks will leave a park if it is too crowded, but we just investigate/plan ahead and avoid that situation as much as possible. The new MYW tickets will save us $$$$ because we will never pay for hopping, and we have been to WDW many times. Make a rough schedule and see if you really NEED to hop.

 

[all4fun]

We are planning a trip to WDW and will be buying 4 day park passes. Is it worth the extra $100 to upgrade to park hopper passes?

If you're staying on site and can take advantage of Extra Magic Hours, then having a park hopper is nice because you can start your day early at one park and then hop to another if that park gets too crowded. Or you can spend your day at one park and then hop to the park that is open late for EMH. This is one option we always use but like the pp's said it is sort of a personal choice. Park hopping works really well for some while other prefer to only do one park a day for various reasons.

hth!

 

[jayhjay]

I think the time of year you are going is also a factor. Because in the fall/winter months the parks aren't open as late. We have two small kids so by the time we spend the day, go back for a break, and have dinner, we don't really need to go back to the parks most days. On the days we have night time park activities planned (like Illuminations) we have been able to arrange it so we go back to the same park.

We have always done PH but this year found we didn't really need to. We are saving quite a bit of money so I think it is worth it for a little schedule juggling.

 

[donny]

for us it is because we like todo whatever we want everyday no matter what park we have planned

 

[Mr._The_King]

We love the park hoppers. I have never been to Disney without them

 

[ZanneMarie]

Last year we went twice-once with hoppers (old style tickets I had bought before they were gone) and once without(new style tickets). I think we liked the ability to hop and we did utilize the option a couple of times but I also did not feel like we were missing out when we did not have it. We are heading back in August and we are not getting the park hoppers--mostly because I don't think you HAVE to have it and I don't want to spend the money. I guess my call is if you have the money and don't mind spending it-go for it-it is nice. But if budget is a concern-skip it-it is definitly possible to enjoy the parks without it. Hope that helps some.

 

[HopperFan]

It really depends on your daily plans, how the schedule works for you with hours, kids ages, how often you go etc.

When our kids were younger and needed hotel breaks, yes we did hopper and they worked well. But we haven't had hoppers in years. We pick a park and we stick with it all day long.

BUT, we live fairly close and go often, so if we don't go to one park one trip, no big deal. Always there for the next trip.

 

[niklynn1]

We primarily did one park per day, but even so, we really liked having the park hoppers because it enabled us to see all of the nighttime shows/parades that we wanted, when we wanted. For example, we went to MGM our first afternoon after we had been up at 4 am for an early morning flight. By the time evening rolled around, the kids were too tired and grumpy to stay for Fantasmic, which we didn't want to miss, so we left the park and went back to the hotel to sleep about 9 pm. Then the next day, we did AK, which closed by 8, so we were able to hop back to MGM to see Fantasmic that night instead. We did this a couple of different nights, deciding what show we wanted to see that evening, regardless of what park we had been in. If we had not had the hoppers, we would not have been able to see all the evening shows.

 

[lexmelinda]

We are not early risers so do not take advantage of the early EMH and hear that the late EMH is too crowded....so no real need to hop into or out of an EMH park. Last time we had park hoppers and only used them once or twice. This trip we decided on one park per day and we're spending the extra $175 we save (for our family of 5) on MNSSHP tickets! Think of what you could do with that extra $100 and just plan accordingly.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I think hoppers give you flexibility during very busy seasons. If a park gets crowded, you can leave it and hit another, avoiding EMH parks to dodge the crowds. During busy seasons, it may be difficult to get ADRs for in-park restaurants for the day you want, and if you have hoppers, you can go to another park's restaurant. During busy seasons, there's lots of extra activities scheduled (like candlelight processionals, Osborne lights, MVMCP, special fireworks and parades) that you might have difficulty fitting into a one-park, one-day schedule. I'd say hoppers are a great convenience during these times of year.
During relatively slow times of year, when the parks close early, I think you can safely omit the hopper option.

 

[beattyfamily]

I absolutely think it's worth it! I don't even consider not including it in my budget. I don't even check to see the difference in price of with or without it.

I've been on 9 trips so far and I have 2 little ones and I always stay onsite and we use hopping all the time. We usually go between 4 to 6 days each trip.

I like it for the flexibility.

I like to be able to do the EMH in the am and then we it gets crowded, head to another park.

I like to do AK in the am (which we can finish in half a day) and then head to another park at night to enjoy the fireworks or parade.

I like to be able to enter a park, find out it's extrememly crowded, and just turn around and walk out and head to another park.

I like to do MK in the am for EMH and then go to Fantasmic at MGM at night.

I like to be able to run back to another park on our last day to go on a ride my girls are begging me to go on again!

I like to spend the day in another park and spend my evenings at Epcot.

Can you tell I LOVE the hopper feature?? I couldn't/wouldn't go without it.

 

[hezreck]

ABSOLUTELY get the park hoppers! We stay in the parks all day, no breaks, and we go in early Dec. when the parks close early. We always go to one park for the day and hop over to Epcot every evening. There is nothing like closing every day with Illuminations!

 

[iHEARTflorida]

i would upgradge if u want the flexably

 

[lexmelinda]

You don't say when you are going or how long you are staying but we decided to opt out of our park hoppers and use the money ($175) to buy tickets to MNSSHP instead. Here is a recent thread that may interest you:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1149498

 

[crisi]

We always hop..

Two kids who have been hopping since 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 - now 6 and 7.

We often spend our moring in one park, then back to the hotel now for a swim (we didn't do this when they were little - we then would be "done for the day" by 3 since my kids weren't nappers) and are in Epcot for dinner. We like being able to say "well, this park is busier than expected" or "we've done what we want to do in this park, lets go somewhere else."

I think not hopping is doable, but you either need to plan better than we do, or be more content with what you get than we are. We will decide on a whim that tonight is a Fantasmic night - despite having been in AK in the morning and be sitting for dinner in an Epcot restaurant at 5:00.

 

[jmurphy625]

We had 6 day non hoppers last week and never had the need to go into another park...but I kept in mind I could upgrade if need be.

We only took advantage of EMH one morning at the MK. The extra three hours at night were way too late for us. We did go back to the same parks later after swimming and dinner.

If you are making any ADR's- that could dictate what park you need to be in, at what time...The last time we were on the meal plan, we had lots of ADR's and the hoppers were a must have. I think the more things you have planned the more you need the hopping option!

 

[djm99]

IMO, if you are only planning 4 days in the park, hopping IMO is a must. If you are planning 6 or more days I wouldn't hop. For example, If you are only planning 4 days most would try to "do" a park a day. Well, Epcot is a half day park to me, so is Animal Kingdom. And I love to end my days at Magic Kingdom. But if you have 6+ days you have time to "do" all the parks and have a couple extra days to go back to something you missed.