Is the park hopper option worth it?

[SadieDog]

If you're staying on site and can take advantage of Extra Magic Hours,... you can spend your day at one park and then hop to the park that is open late for EMH.
hth!

This is exactly what we did. Worked out great!

 

[princessblueeyzes]

INMHO I think that paying the extra bucks is definately worth it for the park hopper passes. My DF and I go to one park then to the hotel to relax for about an hour then we go to another park then sometimes we want to see a couple of different things so we usually end up at all 4 parks in one day.

 

[dougsmom98]

On our first two trips, we didn't hop. On our last trip we hopped twice. My kids are at the age where they want MK all the time. I am happy to go to MK for the majority of our days, but I also love the night shows at the other parks and for us that made the hoppers worth it.

 

[cjnix29]

We don't hop. I agree with previous posters that it is not worth the extra time out of the day. I actually debated on whether or not to upgrade for our upcoming trip. Instead, I looked at the difference between adding another day to our trip...with hotel and park tickets (and free dining), it was $18 cheaper just to stay another day. One extra day of magic is worth more to me than being able to hop from park to park!!!

 

[slbeaute]

We really used our park hoppers. Out of seven days, I think the only day we didn't hop was the day we were leaving. We usually did most of a day at one park. We left in the late afternoon for something to eat or just to take a short rest at the hotel. We then headed back for EMH at another park. It really worked great for us. I think it is totally doable not to get the park hopper. For me, that would just mean a lot more planning. I planned part of our vacation around when and where we had meals, but the park hopper would leave a lot more possibilities open. Plus we have a three year old which can require adjusting your schedule. We just like the flexibility. It's also handy if one park is too crowded, you can leave and try another. Also, if it's raining a lot, you can head to Epcot or MGM where there are a bunch of indoor attractions, so the day's not wasted. I think it really depends on your family's needs.

Oh, I should also add that depending on the age of your kids, the park hopper can be a big help. I really expected DD to love MK, which she did, but she was also adament about certain things at Epcot (Soarin) and some shows at MGM. These surprised me and I probably wouldn't have scheduled as much time as we needed at these parks. We spent a long time at Epcot and MGM watching shows, finding characters, etc, and then heading back to MK at night to ride her favorites. I expected her to like AK more, but she really didn't. So, I really wouldn't have been able to plan ahead for her favorites and the park hopper made it possible to do those things!

 

[Fionasmommy]

I agree with the others that said it depends on how you plan your days.

We went with Park Hoppers in June, and it was nice because we didn't feel locked in to eating in one specific area. I felt free to make ADR's for wherever we pleased, without worrying about where we'd be on which day. It was nice to spend the day at MK and hop over to Epcot for dinner.

That said, hopping for dinner was generally the main way we used the hopper option. If you can plan your dining ahead (or will be eating CS so it won't matter) you could easily get by without paying extra for park hopping.

You might also consider if you'd go to any EMH while you're there. If you plan to do that it would probably also be worthwhile to have hoppers, so you aren't locked into one park for the whole day.