Park Hopper (is it needed??)

[mbass01]

Would anyone be able to suggest if I should get a park hopper. We will be there Sept 26 to Oct 10. I am getting the 10 day magic your way ticket with waterpark option but am not sure if we will use hopper option also. I have all our days planned out according to EMH at parks (don't want to be there as we are off site). Do we really need park hopper, we have a 5 year old and a 1 /12 year old? Please share your experiences! Thanks so much.

 

[dissybroad]

absolutely, imho. you can customize your day according to weather, crowds, best times for certain attractions. if it's too hot/crowded at MK, you can bail and go to AK. If AK closes at 5PM, you can go have dinner and spend the evening until bedtime at MK. just account for the travel time between parks; waiting for the bus or motor launch. i wouldn't do without it.

 

[michelleiada]

We always park hop...but we prefer to stay on site too! When you stay on site you can walk back to the resort for a swim or nap and then head over to another park later that day. It allows for a lot more flexibility! Not sure if it is worth it if you are staying off site!

 

[NMAmy]

We wouldn't go without them. However, lots of people get along just fine without them. Here are the reasons why they're necessary for us:

We stay at an Epcot area resort--sometimes, we take a break during the day and then we like to go to Epcot for dinner or just to get drinks/snacks and watch Illuminations.

We like to hit the morning EMH's and then switch parks right after lunch when it starts getting busy.

For us, AK is only a half day park although we may spend a half day there a couple of times during our trip. That means we can do something else in the afternoons or evenings.

We have teenagers who like to go from park to park and hit the big rides. Obviously, you won't have this problem with little ones.

So, if you're the type of people who will be content with staying in the same park all day no matter what, then skip the park hopper. The good news is that you can add the park hopper while you're there if you should decide that you need it.

Have a great trip!

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

With kids that young, I'd definitely get the hopper. It gives you flexibility you wouldn't otherwise have without feeling tied down to one particular place. Even staying off-site it's nice to be able to spend a few hours at a park, go to Downtown Disney or back to the hotel for naps/downtime, and then head back out once everyone is refreshed.

For us, I guess it's more about the fact that we're on vacation and having the hopper option means we don't have any enforced "structure" to our days. We can come and go whenever we want. For me, that's relaxing so we always get the option on our tickets.

 

[mikehn]

It takes a lot of time and energy to hop around, especially with young kids in tow. You are not going to hop anywhere unless they agree to it. Keep that in mine when you make your decision.

 

[mbass01]

Thanks, I didn't realize that we could add the Park Hopper option later if we decided we needed it. That is great! Even if I ordered the tickets from Undercover tourist would I be able to add this option later? Would it matter that i didn't buy tickets directly from Disney? Sorry for all the questions! This is our first time visiting. Thanks.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I am by no means an expert ~ our first trip is coming up! We are going without hoppers and don't plan to upgrade, but from what I understand one can upgrade to a hopper at any time - 1st day, 4 days in ~ whatever. So perhaps just wait and see if you want/need to hop.

 

[sweetmonkey]

I guess we are of a different breed. . . We NEVER park hop. For us it is just a waste of money. I take a lot of time planning beforehand though and it seems easily done to avoid the crowds.

The real problem for me is that by the time we trek through one park WITH LITTLE ONES it is more time consuming and exhausting then simply unleashing teenagers to run about, flitting between parks. We do stay on site and return to the hotel room (and will again this next trip with our DD 4yrs and DS 9months) then back to the park of the day for the evening activities. We would rather spend that money on extra days at the World, dining, or activities, especially with children too young to run around on their own.

I suppose the one exception is if we had 4 days or less. Then
I might consider adding the hopper option.

 

[lanasboys]

Park hoppers are a necessity for us. We like the flexibility of being able to switch parks if the need arises. We also like to eat our meals at different resorts, EPCOT, etc., and we just feel we have the freedom to roam about as we please if we have the hopper.

 

[mbass01]

Awesome, thanks for your replies, they have all helped me! I will wait and if we need it, will add it later. I doubt we will as I have planned the days carefully and we are off site at Shereton Vistana Resort with lots to do there. We also have a rental car and plan on day trips. I think we can get by with just tickets and water park option! We will only be at either MK, Epcot, HWS and AK for 8 days of the trip at the most so we can always use other 2 days if needed to enter another park.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Awesome, thanks for your replies, they have all helped me! I will wait and if we need it, will add it later. I doubt we will as I have planned the days carefully and we are off site at Shereton Vistana Resort with lots to do there. We also have a rental car and plan on day trips. I think we can get by with just tickets and water park option! We will only be at either MK, Epcot, HWS and AK for 8 days of the trip at the most so we can always use other 2 days if needed to enter another park.

Wait ~ if I'm getting this I think you're mistaken about "using the other 2 days to enter another park" ~ check this out -

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33248759&postcount=1

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Thanks, I didn't realize that we could add the Park Hopper option later if we decided we needed it. That is great! Even if I ordered the tickets from Undercover tourist would I be able to add this option later? Would it matter that i didn't buy tickets directly from Disney? Sorry for all the questions! This is our first time visiting. Thanks.

Yup, you can add it later although I believe you need to add it for all the days of your ticket, even if you're in the middle of your trip. So if you do decide to add it, do it early.

The tickets you get from Undercover Tourist are just as real as a ticket you buy at the gate and can be upgraded with no problem.

 

[WantToGoNow]

You will not be able to use your extra 2 park tickets to enter a different park on the same day.

We are on the fence about hoppers this year as well. We are going with a large group (our family of 5, another family of 6, including 6 children). Looking at our pictures from last trip, we only hopped one day. Our tentative schedule doesn't have up hopping one time. I wish park hours for December would come out soon (like before we make ADR's).

 

[LWatson]

I wish park hours for December would come out soon (like before we make ADR's).

The Nov hours came out like a day or 2 b4 we made our ADRs so I completely understand.

 

[xipetotec]

Would anyone be able to suggest if I should get a park hopper. We will be there Sept 26 to Oct 10. I am getting the 10 day magic your way ticket with waterpark option but am not sure if we will use hopper option also. I have all our days planned out according to EMH at parks (don't want to be there as we are off site). Do we really need park hopper, we have a 5 year old and a 1 /12 year old? Please share your experiences! Thanks so much.

You are going for TWO WEEKS and don't know if you should get the hopper? I could see if you were there for a few days. Concentrating on one park a day. But in this case, I would really really recommend it. Why you ask? Well after having been to each park extensively, you may want to start hopping around for your favorite attractions. What's more ( and this happens a LOT with our group ) you might want to start splitting up, but meet for dinner in a certain park. Or in the same vein, spend the day at one park, but eat at another or catch another park's fireworks show. We never go without it. Even my father who is not much of a park goer gets a park hopper optioned pass.

 

[rt2dz]

I can't imagine not having hoppers, especially with young children. Hopping can make for a great diversion or adventure if they aren't happy where they are. Plus, we have those kids that aren't all into Epcot. We can do two half-days there and get it all in without them breaking down out of boredom.

However, they aren't for everyone. I always suggest waiting to add it. That way, if there is any question to hopping or not, you aren't spending money on something you won't use if you go the "not" way. You can add it at any time, and it's the same price if you add it to a one-day ticket as it is to add it to a ten-day ticket: $52 + tax.

As far as using extra days on your ticket, no can do. You purchase the number of days you spend at a park on the base part of your ticket. On the water park fun and more option you purchase the number of entries. The park turnstiles will lock you out if you try to enter a different park on the same day; same park re-entry only without the hopping option. Disney isn't going to lose that difference in funds by allowing you to just use another day (it's only a few dollars more to add days v. the $52 for the hopping option). It's why the price of tickets did go done on base items when they went a la carte in 2005.

 

[Chelley00]

We usually go in October for 10 days, staying offsite, and we've never had park hoppers. That's money we can spend on food or souveniers.

We use TourGuideMike or the Unofficial Guide calendars to plan our days, and then spend 2 days at each park, and let the kids decide on the last day or two where to go. Sometimes we leave for a break midday and come back for fireworkds in the evening. Sometimes we stay all day and just leave early evening to go back and swim. If the kids get bored with that park, it probably means they are tired and not really going to be happy at a different place either and we just make it an early night.

It can be done without hoppers if you plan well.

 

[jackie101]

I would say no. We went in dec with 4 small children. It was exhausting enough doing 1 park a day

 

[bicker]

In one way, I think "if you have to ask..." then you need a park hopper. I think doing without a park hopper is a lot more tenable when:

• You have been there enough that even if the lack of park hopping means you miss something, it's no big deal; and/or
• You are familiar enough with the parks that you are going to very efficiently deal with hitting the attractions you want to visit most in the park or parks you're going to visit least

We're doing without park hoppers for our five night trip this fall.