Park hopper or no?

[Boardwalk_bride]

We are headed to Orlando dec 1-9. Dec 1-3 we are staying at universal and switching on that third day to Disney. I’ll probably get a 3 day pass for UO, so we will switch to wdw in the afternoon - we are staying at dolphin.

We are two adults and a daughter who is 7 (will be close to 8). She’s been to WDW for her 3rd bday and we were in DL last year. Both these trips she was done with the parks around 1-4pm (I think in our recent trip it was heat and time change).

For our upcoming trip - I’m wondering if we should do 4 or 5 day tickets and whether or not we should get a park hopper - especially considering we are at dolphin. From your experience, can a 7 year old park hop? She’s prettt energetic (even at 3 didn’t use a stroller in wdw), I’m just worried from our Cali trip. She also loved the pool.

The point of this trip is to take in holiday stuff more vs running to rides (we will still do rides - I just don’t want a full on run to this, then this, day).

TIA

 

[Mouse Tracker]

The point of this trip is to take in holiday stuff more

Look at Undercover Tourist for 3 or 4 day tickets with extra day. Compare to Disney 4-5 day base tickets.
It might allow the flexibility to hit a park but also explore nearby resorts decor (the extra days might feel like throw away days).

I've never been to Florida in December but the amount of pool time may be limited.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I did - undercover tourist is a lot cheaper!

We’ve been (pre kids) a few times in December. Once I got a sunburn and was always hot - and once in sweaters and too cold to swim (saying that coming from Toronto area, too). So I know it’s tough to plan!

I feel like she’d be happier going back to Epcot vs a day seeing monorail resorts.

 

[sponica]

I've park hopped with 20 month olds, so I'm probably the bad person to ask . You could just play it by ear that first day and if PH seems feasible, upgrade the tickets then.

You could also just buy the 4 day tickets and upgrade to the 5th if you need it.

 

[NYCgrrl]

You can always add to your trip but it’s hard to subtract.
Since your pre arrival thoughts are to concentrate on the decor- do that .
Were it me, I’d pass on the hoppers for this vacay.

Have fun!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I've park hopped with 20 month olds, so I'm probably the bad person to ask . You could just play it by ear that first day and if PH seems feasible, upgrade the tickets then.

You could also just buy the 4 day tickets and upgrade to the 5th if you need it.

Amazing!
We are two adults to one child - so sometimes we split up time for parents to do their thing, so if wr need them for us adults might as well get hers I think. I like the option of going back for dinner or even just some entertainment

 

[sponica]

Amazing!
We are two adults to one child - so sometimes we split up time for parents to do their thing, so if wr need them for us adults might as well get hers I think. I like the option of going back for dinner or even just some entertainment

We usually end in Epcot at night and I don't think if we stayed in the Epcot area, we'd forgo hopping.

 

[Anna131517]

Yea it’s possible (especially between EP and HS if you’re staying at the Dolphin. However, if you don’t think your family would enjoy a full day of parks then don’t do it.

 

[accm]

I will preface this by saying that we are AP holders, so the cost of tickets/hopper isn't really a consideration when planning a trip.

What we like to do with two young kids (4 and 6 now) is go to one park in the morning, leave around lunchtime for a break at the hotel, and then go back to a different park in the afternoon. This way, we can stay later in the parks without it being too much on our kids. With yuo staying at the Dolphin, this would be even easier to do, since you're so close to 2 parks.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I will preface this by saying that we are AP holders, so the cost of tickets/hopper isn't really a consideration when planning a trip.

What we like to do with two young kids (4 and 6 now) is go to one park in the morning, leave around lunchtime for a break at the hotel, and then go back to a different park in the afternoon. This way, we can stay later in the parks without it being too much on our kids. With yuo staying at the Dolphin, this would be even easier to do, since you're so close to 2 parks.

This is what we were thinking! So with a mid day break they are usually game to go back out?

 

[accm]

This is what we were thinking! So with a mid day break they are usually game to go back out?

Always. We'll usually do a pool break, back to the room to shower and relax a bit, and then we head back to a park. We're usually pretty flexible with our plans, so a lot of the time we let them decide which park they want to go to after the break.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Always. We'll usually do a pool break, back to the room to shower and relax a bit, and then we head back to a park. We're usually pretty flexible with our plans, so a lot of the time we let them decide which park they want to go to after the break.

I love this! Thanks! When we were in Disneyland I was so strict in our touring plan and I think it burnt her out. I’d love to give her some control and force us to slow down

 

[Brian Noble]

I found park hopping really valuable, even with kids that age. That's primarily because we would nearly always take a mid-day break, and we might or might not want to go back to the same park. Like @accm our plans tended to be very flexible--especially later in the trip, after we've done most of the high-priority things.

 

[accm]

I love this! Thanks! When we were in Disneyland I was so strict in our touring plan and I think it burnt her out. I’d love to give her some control and force us to slow down

Again, we're AP and go about 3 times a year, but we never have a strict touring plan. We plan to always rope drop, unless we do EEH the night before, and while on the way to the park we talk about what ride we're going on first. Then at the parks, we mostly follow their leads, grabbing snacks when I think they're getting grumpy, and doing rides without long waits.
Honestly, my biggest recommendation when talking to friends taking kids for the first time is to go at your kids speed. Don't try to do too much with them, because it just won't be fun, and you'll be frustrated that you spent all that money and everyone is miserable.
Go over the ride options with her before the trip. Figure out what she's really interested in, and do those first thing in the morning when lines are usually shorter.

 

[CarolynFH]

whether or not we should get a park hopper

Keep in mind you can upgrade to a PH after you get there, once you've had chance to see how things are going. It will cost the same, whether you upgrade the first day or the last day (you have to add it to the full length of the ticket, cannot add it for just a single day or two).

 

[North of Mouse]

We always PH. We find it a very big part of our enjoyment. Even when our kids were small they were always game for 'all dayers'. They took naps in stroller when they needed to, and after stroller age seemed to always keep up with us as they were having so much fun. We did take a day break every couple days usually. We didn't make firm plans, mostly would just wing it.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Again, we're AP and go about 3 times a year, but we never have a strict touring plan. We plan to always rope drop, unless we do EEH the night before, and while on the way to the park we talk about what ride we're going on first. Then at the parks, we mostly follow their leads, grabbing snacks when I think they're getting grumpy, and doing rides without long waits.
Honestly, my biggest recommendation when talking to friends taking kids for the first time is to go at your kids speed. Don't try to do too much with them, because it just won't be fun, and you'll be frustrated that you spent all that money and everyone is miserable.
Go over the ride options with her before the trip. Figure out what she's really interested in, and do those first thing in the morning when lines are usually shorter.

She doesn’t remember being there when she was 3 but a lot of the rides we did at Disneyland are the same or similar so she knows. I think she’ll just want to see all the Christmas stuff, parades and performances.

I think universal will be low key so the first 3 days should be relaxed assuming our flight is fine.

 

[katyjeka]

I like hoppers on trips that have parties at Magic Kingdom. It allows you to visit MK with smaller crowds and gives you the option to go somewhere else in the evening.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We use to hop but found that staying at 1 park just gave us more time to enjoy it and not needing to rush anywhere, compared to trying to get more done so you can hop. If a ride has a long wait, no problem, we will hit it later. Also the time you take to leave a park to go to the next one can be a lot.

 

[jtopp]

There is so much to do in each park that we no longer get the park hopper. We plan what to do each day in each park, and spend extra time either revisiting an attraction or adding to our plans. Paying the extra for park hopper, and then losing all that time traveling between parks, was just not worth the time or effort.