Park Hopper or Don't Bother?

[Halefamilyof6]

We are going to WDW for 14 nights next May. We are working on our budget now...seeing if we can squeeze in Universal Studios. We're not totally sold on Universal because we, at time of travel, will have a 6 year old, an 11 year old who is NO fan of scary rides, and a VERY short 11 year old (who LOVES scary rides). So, I'm not sure how limited we'd be...

But, back to my main question. A little info:

14 nights
1st trip to WDW
We are DVC owners and will be staying close by (no idea where yet, lol)
We will be traveling the very end of May and into early June (so Memorial Day weekend is during part of our trip).
For the entire 14 nights we will have 3 adults, two 11 year old kids, one 6 year old (who doesn't respond to heat well - gets heat rash and heat sickness very quick...and we live in a VERY hot part of Ca.)
For 7-10 days (at the beginning of the trip) we will have 2 adults (grandmas - almost 60 in good shape, mid fifties not great shape)

Our plan is to hit parks early, have a TS meal between 2-4pm, and from there, play things by ear. I plan to use our Fast Passes for early in day so that everything is done before we sit down to eat.

Should we buy park hoppers? Or would we better off buying regular tickets? Also, water parks...are those tickets even worth it with all the pools (we are going to try a split stay - one week at one resort, one week at another)?

Mentally I have us 2 days Epcot, 2 days MK, 1 day AK, 1 day HS, 1 day Legoland, and a couple resort days. We have flexibility to go to Universal, or Water parks, or extra time at parks....

Thoughts? Opinions? Am I missing anything that might make me reconsider any of my plans so far?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

With that many days, base is probably ok. After two base days last yr with horrible lines when our friends had hoppers and got to see a ton, I won't do a less than 3 without hopping now. If crowds are high that day, you are stuck in that park only.(Now I have unlimited hop and we do use it a lot.) But if you have a few weeks, it's probably ok if thats the kind of experience you want. We also like to hit our highlights and faves towards the end, which you can do easier hopping...

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I will not tell you to buy Park Hoppers but I will tell you what we do with Park Hoppers. We often go in June, we are going in July this year.

We will go to Animal Kingdom in the morning without FP scheduled at rope drop go until 11am-noon, we will either eat at Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, or a resort go back to our room and swim or nap or do both. We will then have FP for Magic Kingdom, Epcot or somewhere and maybe a dinner reservation at 6pm and then we enjoy the evening. We do this more often with Magic Kingdom. Sometimes we have dinner at 5pm at the resort and then go to the park. We like to park hop.

We will also hop, for the reason we are bored or extremely tired and we decide to change our plans for the day. Say we are at Hollywood studios and we were just here 2 days ago and we have discovered we are tired and we do not want to go back here. So we will go swim, and pick a different park of the evening.

Park hoppers can be beneficial especially in the heat.

 

[JZCubed]

**Since you're DVC, why not buy Annual Passes? Solves the problem and would likely be cheaper.

But in general - It's the 11 y.o. who may become the issue - what to do after a shortened day in the Parks as the heat rises?

Movies poolside or Downtown Disney Springs?

I don't know your family, so you'll have to decide.

But if staying off-site, seems Park Hoppers might be too much of a hassle.

If staying on-site, we enjoy the ability to 'play it by ear' and go into Parks in the evenings without a plan or FP+.

If we plan on using Park Hopper, we seem to drag along. If we have dinner on a lovely night and have no additional plans, we might decide that Park Hopping is a better option than an additional cocktail.

With Park Hopping, what we attempt to do is knock off any 'must-do' items for from the days we are scheduled to that same Park. For instance, if we can get to Haunted Mansion during a Park Hopper experience, then we are less rushed when we go back to MK to use our FP+.

Similarly, if you're going to be seeing the nighttime shows a few times (i.e., fireworks, Fantasmic!), then getting onto rides (i.e,. Toy Story, 7 Dwarfs) during those performances when the lines are relatively shorter is a good strategy, with or without FP+.

 

[jacksgirl]

I like my park hoppers, especially for longer trips. We can do one park in the morning, break in the afternoon, then head to a diifferent park for nighttime shows or activities. Its the one perk I don't think I'd go without.

 

[Alesia]

I think it's a small price to pay for the amount of flexibility they give you.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

When you travel to WDW for more than 7 days, you have hit the "sweet spot" for maximizing value. 14 days is the optimal length for US customers as it is the max time that you can get out of tickets without upgrading to APs.

Skip US, get the Hopper and WP&M, have a blast at WDW! Try US on a shorter trip to WDW.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I think it's a small price to pay for the amount of flexibility they give you.

+1. Especially on a long trip.

We never used parkhoppers until our last trip, when we bought APs. We really did like having the flexibility to leave one park and go to another on a whim. Mostly, we hopped to the MK to pick up more SOMK cards because my husband and kids lost their minds over it. LOL. The park-to-park buses also make hopping extremely easy.

 

[Quellman]

The youngest kid (6) and the Grandparents are the ones that really won't like having to hop parks. My FIL and MIL are almost 60 and in good health, but the body just gets old and rushing from A to B is a pain. Often times the sitting on a bus/boat/monorail will also make joints stiff and that much harder to move again when you get to the final spot.
The above assumes everyone wants to be together all of the time. I can see a good scenario where some of the group might go back to the resort for a few hours after completing Animal Kingdom and then everyone meeting at EPOCT for dinner.

 

[tlmadden73]

For that long of a trip the flexibility is nice .. with park hoppers. (and when you are going to be getting 6+ days of tickets .. it is only about $10 more /day to add the hopper option)

Though if it is your FIRST trip ... I don't see park hoppers as a necessity as you really want a full day in each park to experience it all. Remember it takes a lot of time to go from one park to the other ... you'll probably only use the hopper on a few of the days.

If you are considering going to Universal, but still on the fence I'd just take the money you would spend on tickets there and get annual passes for your trip.
7 days of Disney tickets plus 2 days of Universal tickets is probably the same price as a Disney Annual Pass.

Then you can go to any Disney park you want .. every day of your trip (even if it just to see a night show or hit a few rides one morning). If it rains? who cares ... The ultimate in flexibility .. you can then truly relax on your long vacation.

 

[cnorth]

Normally, I would say to wait and see if you want them. You can add them at any point in your trip, so waiting is not a bad idea. However, you have a lot of variables that lend to park hopping. With the grandparents, they could spend a little while with you touring in the morning, go back and relax after that, and meet you in another park for dinner. Or maybe they would like to go see something else during the day, and just meet you in the evening. The time that you plan to go is when we always go. And it is HOT! We always get up for rope drop, leave around lunch time for lunch/swim/break/nap, and return to the parks in the late afternoon when it is cooler. It's really easy to just choose a different park to go to for the evening when you do that.

 

[hiroMYhero]

If you hop when visiting DLR, then you will want to hop at WDW. It will feel limiting to be confined to one park per day especially when Epcot and Studios are so close in proximity.

I think it's nice to finish off a day by hopping to Studios for Fantasmic or to hop to whichever park has evening EMH. We also hop from Studios to Epcot to enjoy a TS meal there. The Grandmas can always stroll Epcot in the evenings while the rest of the group chooses rides at another park.

 

[Halefamilyof6]

THANK YOU so much for all the feedback!! Having never been, I'm flying blind and relying on everyone else's experience, opinions, and feedback! Thank you all for taking the time to offer input!

 

[emsstacey]

IMO, it would also matter where you stay. If you are close to a park, then it would be super nice to easily go to a different park during the day and then the close one at night. I plan to get park hoppers when we stay at Beach Club and/or Contemporary because it opens up our dining options, too.

 

[Lucius Best]

I think with it being a first trip to WDW, that could be a reason to get park hoppers. With young kids, it's difficult to predict which parks/rides they will like the most, so flexibility is good. And it sounds like if your plan is to "wing it" after late lunch, that's also perfect situation for park hoppers. Also good to have hoppers on a long trip, in case you want to visit a park like HS or AK for a second day, but not spend the entire day there.

The good thing is that you don't have to decide now, you can add park hoppers and/or extra days to your tickets during your trip.

One thought about your plan to eat late TS lunch 2pm-4pm, note that some (many?) TS restaurants shut down between lunch and dinner so they might be closed 2:30pm-5pm.

Regarding Universal, it sounds like your kids might be too young/short/scared? Universal has many more intense thrill rides and serious roller coasters than WDW.

 

[Rosebud123]

I never feel the need for Park Hopper, but we wouldn't go without the WP option! We hit the WP's 2-3 times on an 11 day trip, plus DQ 2x. Disney WP's are a whole different animal than the hotel pool!

Have fun!

 

[Dano13]

We park hop every day. Even if it is just for the purpose of a meal at a second park. The park hopper option adds a ton in the way of flexibility.

 

[MainMom]

1st trip with kids young, scared & short I would skip Universal and add the Park Hoppers with Water Park & More option. Have a great trip!

 

[nat8199]

I like the park hoppers just for the dining options. Epcot has so much yummy food, and MK and HS, not so much, yet Epcot is easy to get to from them!

 

[Mikie]

I go for 6-8 days and do not hop. It's just the right amount of days for 1-2 full days per park. If I went any shorter, I'd hop because I'd have to double up some half days just to get in each park once. If I had a longer trip, I'd again do hoppers because I'm sure I'd want a little more time in certain parks, but not more sunup to sundown days in the same parks. The $60 per ticket spread out over 10-14 days seems very worth it for the flexibility, even for a cheapskate like me.