Park Hopper...Is it nescessary?

[1Princess1Prince2006]

Is it really nescessary? We're planning on going in November of next year and will have a 5 and 3 year old with us. Is the Park Hopper a good idea or not?

TIA!

 

[all4fun]

Answers are probably going to be all over the board on this one.

We usually park hop, I would dare to say on a daily basis, or at least almost.

You can start out in one park and if it gets crowded hop to another one.

If you're going back to the resort for a break anyway, then it's really nice to have the option to "hop" to a different park after your break.

If you want to spend the whole day at MK and then end it with Fantasmic! at MGM(or Illuminations at Epcot), you can! Or if AK closes early (like at 5pm) you have the option to go to another park. Also, some people still think of this park as a 1/2 day park... (not me though)

Granted with two small children you might not find they have the ability to stay up very late...

ETA: And of course it might also depend on how many days you're staying. If you're only going to the parks for 3 days or less, then I would recommend it. If you're going to be there for, say, a week or more then you could definitely get by without it.... How many days will you be there for?

 

[woodchuck]

we think it is because when you have little ones they need naps and with the park hopper you can go first thing in the morning leave later in the day then later that night you can go back to the same park or another one if you want. You can do more then one park in one day!!

 

[lynninpa]

Keep in mind that you will need park entrance if you have an ADR in one of the park restaurants. So, for example, if you want to go to CRT for breakfast and then to another park later that day you will need park hoppers to do so. IMO, having park hoppers just makes the whole trip more flexible and therefore more enjoyable. Just my opinion!

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

I always say yes, yes, yes! I swear by Park Hoppers and wouldn't dream of going without them.

 

[Ariel8676]

We always get hoppers!!!

 

[Evil Queen]

We do have the freedom of this with our passes, but we haven't used it. So for us, it's not anything we need. But my groups ages are 23,22, 10 and myself.

With the ages of your kids, if you are planning afternoon naps, you will want it, should you want to hit a different park that evening.

Also, comes in handy if you have dining plans within the parks and don't want to be in the same park all day.

 

[AJKMOM]

We get hoppers because we want to see Illuminations more than once without spending the days at EPCOT. Also, we only spend 1/2 day at Animal Kingdom, then hop to another park for the evening. We ordered our park passes online through Mousesavers and TicketMania, and feel that the savings we got buying ten day passes justifies getting the hopping option.

 

[Chris]

Another fan of the hoppers

 

[brat5063]

We have always gotten the hopper. Love the flexabilty. I think it depends on you though and what you see yourself doing. Like one poster said, if a park closes at 5pm (which AK does) you have the option of going to another park. We are going with a 2 1/2 year old and plan on taking naps, so we will probably do different parks in the evening. I see us going to MK in the morning a lot and then going to the park where we have dinner in the evening.

 

[revelstoke]

Is it really nescessary? We're planning on going in November of next year and will have a 5 and 3 year old with us. Is the Park Hopper a good idea or not?

TIA!

A couple years ago my wife and I had hopper passes and enjoyed the flexibility it gave however we found that it took (what felt like) FOREVER to grab the transit and hop from park to park...and to put the kids through that would just be a huge headache

So Last fall we went for 2 weeks (DS5, DS7 and DD2) we opted not get a park hopper pass, we chose instead to use the $$ to go to MNSSHP (which was well worth it by the way)

We had planned on going back to the hotel for naps on a daily basis but honestly once you get to the park you choose and settled in the nap thing really didn't pan out like we had planned (we only maybe made it back to the hotel 2 or 3 times) and when we did go back to the hotel for a sleep, swim etc. no one felt like going back to any park at all....so we just took the afternoon off

This year we have decided to add the PLUS option instead of a hopper b/c going to a waterpark or Disney Quest is a break for us from the whole theme park overload which you'll get with the kids whether you hop or not...

Think about the plus option...it gives you the ability to hit MK in the morning and a waterpark for the afternoon...and going in Nov. maybe you should check out the MVMCP...

good luck

 

[emer95]

We got hoppers last time, but we only used it once and we ended up feeling like it was a waste of money. IMHO there is enough to do at one park to keep us busy for the entire day.

 

[1Princess1Prince2006]

Thanks everyone! I guess maybe we will go with the park hopper. I'm just starting to plan (our first trip) and had no idea about the whole dining in the park adn then not being able to get in if we didn't have the park hopper. I guess it seems like a good thing to have.

I don't know if we will go back to the room or not for naps...I guess it's going to depend on my kids and how much they can go without one.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Necessary... no

Nice to have to you don't feel limited and have lots of options... YES!

 

[Tosie]

I've done it with and without. Now we prefer to do it without. Crowds are not an issue for us thanks to TGM. We found that dragging dh (health issue) and the kids around to different parks didn't enhance our vacation.

We did a trip for the first time in May without it. We had a much more relaxing time and really were able to enjoy ourselves. If there were things we missed, we either went back to the park on another day, or later the same day after a swim at our resort.

Whatever you decide - have a great trip!

 

[wrldpossibility]

We got them for our upcoming trip, even though I only have us scheduled to hop a few times in 10 days. We could easily adjust our plans to NOT hop those few times, but I decided to keep the option available. Even though we have small children and don't plan to go to evening EMH, a few adults in our group may decide at the last minute that they have the extra energy. At that time, we'll be glad we have the hoppers. Or, if a park gets crowded, we can decide to hop.

 

[beattyfamily]

I couldn't/wouldn't go without it! I can't even imagine not having that option at my disposal.

I have two little ones and we still hop almost everyday.

Once we entered MK and it was PACKED so we walked right back out and went to another park.

We like to do EE morning and then head to another park once it gets crowded.

We like to do 1/2 a day at AK and then head to another park at night.

We like to do EE in the AM at Epcot and then head to MK for Spectromatic.

Those are just some examples of why I couldn't/wouldn't live without it.

 

[MamaK]

We didn't have park hoppers and just scheduled accordingly. However, I think if you're a family who will be taking a mid-day break at the hotel, then it'd be nice to have - because from there you can go anywhere you want.

Also, Animal Kingdim didn't take us all day, so we would have liked to have gone to another park that evening for dinner or a night show.

I think with good planning, you can certainly do without them, but you may find that your kids really love one park over another, so if you finish with a park by your break time you can revisit their fav park in the evening.

 

[yaddo121]

Another Park Hopper fan here I wouldn't say it's *necessary* but Dh and I have always gone with a Park Hopper. Our last trip was with DS (13 months at the time) and having the Park Hopper made it more enjoyable because we could visit say the MK in the morning, go back for a nap/rest, and visit a different park that night.

I like to park hop from one park right to the next so it was also nice when Dh volunteered to take care of DS back at the resort and I could visit AK (my fave) and then hop a bus right to MGM.

So necessary? I wouldn't say that. But worthwhile....absolutely, if you like to park hop

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would say yes.

I would not get it on a single day option (way too expensive)...but my personal disney tastes make park hopping just a fun and necessary thing to do (especially towards the end of a vacation when you want to resample what you liked and may not spend all day there).

If you can keep to a one park a day regime and it helps you save money..that is fine to.

We have park hopped with our kidlets many times .