Park hopper or not?

[duckboyone]

It’s $60 total, whether you add it to a one-day ticket or a five-day ticket. So a pretty good value to add to a five-day ticket ($12/day).

Yeah, that makes much more sense. It's still not a trivial cost, but not nearly as bad as I was thinking lol.

I think I still wouldn't do them anymore, unless I had a specific reason. We've done them in the past, the first time all the way back when they used to sell 7-day tickets (every time I mention this to people they think I'm crazy that we'd do 7 days, some people just don't understand the Disney obsession ). We ended up only hopping a few days out of those 7, and one day in particular, our last day we were spending at Disney, I took my 4-year old son over to DCA since we hadn't made it to the Monsters Inc ride, and he wanted to, then we met up with everyone else at DL. So, I used the hopper for one ride, but it was worth it to see my son happy.

If money wasn't a factor it would be a no-brainer obviously.

 

[StarlitNight05]

I love park hoppers, but the 1pm rule is annoying. With nighttime entertainment coming back soon, I'd probably still opt for the hopper. It'll give you more flexibility, which is important.

 

[chezcurrie]

With a 9 and 11 year old I would absolutely suggest the hoppers (agree with others if you can do 3 day w/hoppers even better. The reason is park hours - you can close down one park and hop back to Dland for another 2 hrs. Or vice-versa depending on park hours.

One of my favorite memories from our Dec 2021 trip is heading back to Dland with my 8 and 12 year old (whild DH and 5 year old went back to the hotel) to watch fireworks in Galaxy’s Edge, then booking it all the way to the Incredicoaster in DCA to ride it back to back before close. Similarly I took my 5 year old to watch the later parade in Dland while DH took the big boys back to DCA. Your Marvel fan may want to head back to Avengers Campus while your other wants to do Galaxy’s Edge and you split up. Those one-on-one moments are so special and hoppers give you that flexibility.

 

[Cal-Pie]

This is an interesting thought. May I ask why you'd recommend 3 days without park hoppers but when you get 4 or 5 day tickets you add the PH? We're looking at getting 4 (or maybe 5 day) tickets so curious. Is it because when you're in the parks for longer amounts of time you may just want to re-do your favourites and they're probably found scattered around both parks?

I'm not the person you quoted, but I feel the same way about hoppers. On a 3day trip, I choose non-hoppers, and we spend one day in DCA and 2 days in DL. It works out fine, there is less to do in DCA, so it's usually a slower-paced day. If we do 4+ days, we definitely get the hopper, because there are not enough things to do in DCA to keep us there for 2 full days. We like to hop in for a few rides or to watch WOC. Having the hopper on a longer trip just gives you more flexibility to repeat favorites, choose restaurants, and nighttime entertainment.

 

[magsnwonderland]

We are DL 1st timers and we're doing hoppers for our April trip. Coming from WDW trips where we haven't gotten park hoppers since we added kids to the mix because of the time/effort/generally slower pace w/ little kids, the ease of hopping in DL is too cool to pass up. Plus we want to be able to pop over to DCA for F&W options.

 

[mouschievous]

We have done both. In your situation, I would choose 3 days no hop to get that extra day in the park.

One thing for everyone to consider is the likely hours of the parks. DCA usually closes earlier than DL. If you're close-the-park people, that hopper can be really useful at night, especially if it's a time of year when when DCA closes at 10 and DL is open until midnight.

 

[Genie-In-Training]

I remember when I was a kid I would sometimes get obsessed with one particular ride or land, and would be thinking about it while riding other things. It might be nice to have the flexibility to hop when you're in Disneyland and start getting the pleading eyes to go back to Avengers Campus.

 

[Critter3]

I am not sure if I was just trying to save money when I got the tickets or I didn’t fully understand that it’s $60/ticket and not /ticket/day, but I only got 1-park tickets but after all I have ready I am thinking I should have got hoppers and spent the extra $240. So with that said is it possible to upgrade to hoppers? From what I can tell the only way to do it is by going to will call? Is that true? If so, can I go the day before our first day so that I don’t affect the start to my day? If I have to do it on my first day how long does it take and when does will call open? Would I be able to get a spot in line and then go swap the tickets as my family saves our spots? Does it matter if I bought my tickets through an online seller? Any other advice is welcomed.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I am not sure if I was just trying to save money when I got the tickets or I didn’t fully understand that it’s $60/ticket and not /ticket/day, but I only got 1-park tickets but after all I have ready I am thinking I should have got hoppers and spent the extra $240. So with that said is it possible to upgrade to hoppers? From what I can tell the only way to do it is by going to will call? Is that true? If so, can I go the day before our first day so that I don’t affect the start to my day? If I have to do it on my first day how long does it take and when does will call open? Would I be able to get a spot in line and then go swap the tickets as my family saves our spots? Does it matter if I bought my tickets through an online seller? Any other advice is welcomed.

This will not be good news but there is no easy way to do this. Technically the only way to upgrade is to do it at the ticket booths. But you can only upgrade if park hopper reservations are still available. These days, reservations are usually sold out leading up to the date and generally not available the same day or even the day before.

With the reservation system in place and with the parks as busy as they have been, the only feasible way to do this is to call now, ask to get your original ticket purchase refunded, repurchase new park hopper tickets and make your new reservations.

Unfortunately, Disney’s post-pandemic policies have made it extremely difficult to make changes and frustrating to do so.

Edited to add: I just noticed you bought your tickets from an online reseller. You will have to see if the reseller will let you return them and purchase new tickets. It will depend on their policies.

 

[greeneyedchick]

You can always buy regular tickets and upgrade at the park if you decide that you want to hop. We bought park hoppers ahead of time and ended up never hopping. At the time, I didn't realize we could just upgrade if we needed the convenience. It was wasted money.

 

[MonocularVision]

You can always buy regular tickets and upgrade at the park if you decide that you want to hop. We bought park hoppers ahead of time and ended up never hopping. At the time, I didn't realize we could just upgrade if we needed the convenience. It was wasted money.

As mentioned above, with the reservation system in place this is definitely not an easy thing to do and should not be counted on.

 

[jen7233]

Not a Disneyland Veteran, but if going for three days are in my travel plans, I'm spending the extra for park hoppers.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

I'm a big fan of hoppers. I think it is a bit silly that DLR makes it so hard to upgrade though - take my money already! Just don't take my reservations!

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

Found this thread and hoping for an opinion for tickets - just realized we need to make reservations in a few weeks (We frequent WDW, this is our first time going west).

We are going for 7 nights - 4 days dedicated to Disney and 2 for day trips (with Anaheim Tour Company). We are arriving at 1:00 pm, but coming from Toronto, it will feel like 4pm, so not sure if it is worth adding the 5th day (although I think it's only like $5/pp).

I'm wondering about park hopper and genie plus. For context, we are 2 adults our daughter who will be 6. Trip is April 16-23.

I was thinking 5 day, 1 park per day tickets, and add 2 genie days when there. When in WDW, we do split up adult times (so we will probably each take a 'single day' from after lunch to pass out), so we plan to do that there. I don't think the 6 year old will do a lot of the bigger rides (splash mountain, space mountain) - I think she will want to do both stars wars rides and def the cars one.

We have two hotels booked as we cannot decide on which one. One is more walking distance (Desert Palms) and the other would be using TS Shuttle (Hampton).

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Gaub]

We've always used Park Hoppers. However, there is now the stupid and insane "1PM rule." You cannot change parks until 1PM. That creates a large bottleneck of guests at the gates, going between parks (instead of people naturally coming and going as they please). With so many rides down (the new norm), I'm not sure the value is there in the Park Hoppers anymore. If you're going to stay until park closing, then there is more value. If not, I'd reconsider spending the extra money on the Hoppers.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

We've always used Park Hoppers. However, there is now the stupid and insane "1PM rule." You cannot change parks until 1PM. That creates a large bottleneck of guests at the gates, going between parks (instead of people naturally coming and going as they please). With so many rides down (the new norm), I'm not sure the value is there in the Park Hoppers anymore. If you're going to stay until park closing, then there is more value. If not, I'd reconsider spending the extra money on the Hoppers.

This might be a silly question - can I re-enter the same park? (Like leave for a swim and come back at night)?

 

[Gaub]

This might be a silly question - can I re-enter the same park? (Like leave for a swim and come back at night)?

Yes, of course! Not a silly question at all!

 

[Pluto468]

Found this thread and hoping for an opinion for tickets - just realized we need to make reservations in a few weeks (We frequent WDW, this is our first time going west).

We are going for 7 nights - 4 days dedicated to Disney and 2 for day trips (with Anaheim Tour Company). We are arriving at 1:00 pm, but coming from Toronto, it will feel like 4pm, so not sure if it is worth adding the 5th day (although I think it's only like $5/pp).

I'm wondering about park hopper and genie plus. For context, we are 2 adults our daughter who will be 6. Trip is April 16-23.

I was thinking 5 day, 1 park per day tickets, and add 2 genie days when there. When in WDW, we do split up adult times (so we will probably each take a 'single day' from after lunch to pass out), so we plan to do that there. I don't think the 6 year old will do a lot of the bigger rides (splash mountain, space mountain) - I think she will want to do both stars wars rides and def the cars one.

We have two hotels booked as we cannot decide on which one. One is more walking distance (Desert Palms) and the other would be using TS Shuttle (Hampton).

Any advice is appreciated!

I would add that 5th day, for sure. We usually go in on arrival day because we can't wait until the next day to go in, everyone is too excited. You can have a low-key time, look around a bit and maybe have dinner. You could do rides only if there are good lines for ones you want to do.

I buy hoppers every time, I like the flexibility. It makes it easier to do night time entertainment, too, because you have more evenings available.

I love staying in walking distance, so I'd probably go with Desert Palms if you know you'd like it.

We went for 5 days in June, but only used Genie+ for 3 of the days. It worked out really well.

Have fun!

 

[lalasmama]

But, I am of the sincere belief that its a good for parents to divide a little time (not all day) to separate the kids and from each other. I cannot speak for other families but my kids tended to get on each other's nerves after spending the day together all day. If we break them up for an hour or two, well the attitudes tend to change and there is peace and harmony throughout the kingdom.

EDITED TO ADD I didn't realize this thread was 8 months old when I replied, but my opinion still stands

Totally not Disney-related, but I WHOLEHEARTEDLY believe in this too!

As you point out, kids can get on each other's nerves and if they are separated for a little while attitudes will lighten up and the kingdom will reunite a bit happier. Many years ago, when we only had 3 grandkids (3 brothers in 3 years), they were too old for nap time, but too cranky with each other mid-day. On this particular day, Husband ran to the store to escape (haha), the kids were running amuck, and I was getting cranky. (Don't worry, we are equal opportunity escapers; i ran away to Walmart the day before.) My mind flashed back to my mom's in-home daycare days. She would separate the kids for quiet activities and rotate them every 10 minutes. Husband came home to find one kid at the counter with a LiteBrite, one in the living room reading, and one at the table drawing... and everyone chill and quiet.

At first he thought it was terribly mean that I separated them and told them they couldn't play together. But we'd all had a rough morning, they were all up in each other's space, and Hubs and I were nothing more than referees from the moment they woke up. After an hour of solo time rounding at each "station" we all came back together. The kids weren't badgering each other anymore, the tattling over nothing stopped, and we had a great evening.

I think we as parents often have the idea that our children should love each other enough that they shouldn't really "need" a break from each other, but that break can be so dang helpful, *especially* on vacation.

And that 1-on-1 time with mom or dad makes special memories as well! Win-win-win!