Park Hopper with young kids?

[sarahbug79]

Hi thank you for reading and giving me your opinion. We are going to Disney the end of January I haven't been there in over 15 years. Our kids are 1,3,6. We have 7 day base tickets but now I am wondering if it's worth it to park hop. With the ages of our kids we will be going back for an afternoon nap and staying on site. I am just torn $200 to park hop ? Is it worth it for kids our ages?

Sarah

 

[Darcy03231]

I just got back from a week with my niece (4). We didn't hop at all. It was all we could do to get through one park a day. I found what worked best for us was to get up early and get to the park of the day, spend about four hours there and then back to the resort for a rest/swim and lunch. Back to the park in the late afternoon until it closed.

 

[sarahbug79]

Without Park hopper our schedule would be:

T (fly in by noon maybe get to MK for a few hours)
W MK
TH HS
F EP
S AK
S MK
M MK

But I really want to take the kids to the night parade which is only on Th, Sat, M so we would have to go to the Monday one the night before we leave or move HS to W and MK Thursday. Or I worry what if there is not enough to do in a park....what am I thinking I am sure there is plenty right?

 

[JackJack08]

We have taken the kids 9 and 5.....3 times. We never park hop. We do good to get through the day, at 1 park!! IMO it's a waste with young kids.

 

[perriwinkleblue]

Since having children, we never get hoppers. Hopping, IMO, is just too much of a hassle. It's time consuming, tiring and hectic for the kids. Disney is so big and busy that hopping just adds to the confusing sensory overload. I think it's just too much for little ones.

There is really plenty to do in each park. If you were to find that you needed less park time, it never hurts to sleep in one day and do the pool before an afternoon at the park. Or go nice and early and head back to the hotel to recharge around noon. Then return to the park for the evening. Also, don't forget that things like parades, character greetings and meals take lots of time (as do potty breaks).

We always have the best time when we take it easy. The pace with kids is always a little slower, so let them dawdle a little while you take it all in.

Have a great trip

 

[karliebug]

We have always park hopped. We start at whatever park has early entry and stay until it gets crowded-usually around lunch time. we usually eat lunch at that park and head back to the resort. When the kids were little, they would nap/rest and have a swim. Then we would freshen up and head back out to a different park around 4or 5 and stay until closing. This has worked for us. I guess it is just a personal preference but I can't imagine not hopping.

 

[enya1973]

We just got back from our 1st time with our kids (ages 3 & 5) and we hopped everyday but 1. We finished Animal Kingdom after the parade was over....went back to the resort for a recharge and then headed to Magic Kingdom that night because they were open until 1:00 am. Another morning we started out in HS but it was so crowded we left and went to Epcot for a while and back to HS later that night. I can't imagine not having the hopper option.

 

[Doogan]

Our first 4 trips with our kids were all when they were either infants or very young. We always get the park hopper, contrary to popular opinion here at least, and it served us well. We also return to the room for afternoon naps and then return in the late afternoon or evening. We usually ended up going to a different park in the evening than the morning, especially when we did Animal Kingdom in the morning. AK closes so early and doesn't have a night time show.

This was also our strategy for doing Epcot. Since the kids were less interested than we were, we would go to one of the parks they prefered in the morning and go to the World Showcase in the evening. We would let them ride in strollers while we enjoyed shopping and looking in the cool of the evening.

Finally, we always do a "best of" on the last day. We let the kids decide which 1 ride they would like to redo. We usually end up hitting at least 3 parks. Also, to limit the budget we only allow the kids to purchase one item and try to get them to wait to the last day to do it so they don't regret their impulsive earlier decision. By having the Park Hopper we can go back to where ever they found what they wanted.

That said, I can understand not spending the extra $$$ either. I think you could easily do it without, but for us it would feel constricting.

 

[cruellababy]

Our 1st 5 trips we always bought the hoppers- we rarely used them; soo finally a light bulb came on- and our last 3 trips we haven't bought the hoppers and we haven't missed them. Our kids ages are 16,7,3.

 

[Ariel8676]

We go 2x a year..my girls are 7,6 and 3..we always get a hopper or an annual pass. We always take an afternoon break, so it is nice to let's say go to MK in the morning, take a break and go to Epcot for dinner. Or go to AK take a nap or swim then head over to MK at night for wishes...or whatever we feel like at night.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

I would vote for park hoppers. Go to a park in the morning. Take the afternoon nap and then go to a different park in the evening. Part of it will also depend on how often you go. If you go to WDW often then hopping makes more sense as you already know what your "musts" are.

 

[laceemouse]

But, you can go back to the same park after your rest and save a lot of $$$$$!

We have been to WDW many times, 4 kids, never hop......EVER!

Remember, if you leave a park to rest and for some reason you DON'T want to go back to that same park later on there are other things you can do like DTD or go eat at another resort or whatever.

Hopping is a waste of money and time to us.

 

[crisi]

We wouldn't think of going without a hopper.

Hoppers let us spend mornings in our "morning parks" - usually MK or AK, then spend evenings in Epcot - where there are lots of restaurants and we can spend the evening watching shows and shopping through the World Showcase.

Hoppers let us walk into the MK for Early Entry, and LEAVE two hours later when the park is crowded - allowing us to get a lot done in those first two hours - and avoid the crowds for the rest of the day by going over to DHS, Epcot or Animal Kingdom.

Hoppers give us flexibility to spend a day and a half in a park - and not waste half a day. After many trips, there are a lot of parks for us that need more than one full day, but less than two. And a lot of parks that don't even need a full day for us (Hollywood Studios - we get through Toy Story Mania and Star Tours and my son rides Tower of Terror, and we are done).

Hoppers allow us to change our minds if we discover a park is really crowded and we think we'd have better luck dodging crowds somewhere else.

As for wasting time - we generally break mid day anyway - so going back to a different park takes a much time as going back to the same park.

As for wasting money, we figure that the ability to dodge crowds and make optimal use of extra magic hours, plus being able to hop in for Illuminations or Spectro or Fantasmic add more value than the cost of adding hopping.

We also stay at the Boardwalk though, so being able to cut through Epcot on the way back from the MK and grab fastpasses for Soarin on the way to the pool, or run through the single rider line at Test Track is worth a lot.

 

[FSUSammy]

For us park hopping is now the only option. When we went in July we got hoppers for the first time. DS was only 9 months old. But it allowed us to go to one park in the morning, go to the hotel mid-day for a nap and to hang by the pool, and then head to another park that night. Never felt like we had to do all 1 park offers in 1 day so it took away that stress.

 

[princesspwrhr]

We have ALWAYS park hopped and the kids have been several times - currently they are 3, 4, 10. We absolutely love the flexibility the park hopping gives us. the youngest we've had all 3 kids was 1,2,7, and the youngest any of them has gone was 8mo (and I was pg and my oldest was 6). We always had and always used the park hoppers.

In June when we went we didn't have park hoppers. We hated it. We couldn't leave the crowds of one park and go to a different one, we couldn't spend the am in MK and then dinner in Epcot, we couldn't do morning EMH with all the kids and then my oldest and I go to the evening EMH at the other park...

Yeah you can leave and go back to the same park, but that only works if you want to go back to that park. We will never go without park hoppers again. We got spoiled with them when they were included in the ticket price and now we can't do without them.

 

[tzolkin]

If you plan to go back to the resort in the afternoon, than I would suggest the park hoppers. We went to one park in the morning, back for a nap, and then went to a different park in the evening. If you're already going back to the resort it doesn't take any more effort to go to a different park than to go back to the one you were already at. Plus, since the hours are shorter in January, you would be able to take advantage of EMHs with the hoppers.

You may find that your kids really like something at Epcot, but you don't want to spend multiple full days there. The park hoppers allowed us to spend a few hours there and see what the kids were interested in (we have two preschoolers and they really enjoyed Epcot, but only for a few hours at a time). We were then able to come back to that park a few more times during our trip. We also went to AK one morning for EMH. After an hour or two it was packed, we couldn't push the strollers through the crowds, and we were all miserable. We went back for a nap and then went to MK. It would have really stunk to be stuck there all day or miss out on a park day because we didn't have the option of going somewhere else.

 

[brymolmom]

We don't hop. And even if you want to go back to the resort for an afternoon rest - you can always go back to the same park.

Personally I don't think it's worth the cost if you truly only want to hop once. I would just rearrange the schedule so that you're there on teh night with the evening show you want to see.

 

[tam626]

We had park hopping. We went last month with our 3 year old. I find it's worth the price.

 

[katie111]

One thing to consider is what time the parks close. We find that when the parks close early we rarely use the hoppers. We generally just go to a park at rope drop, and stay until everyone is exhausted & then head back to the hotel and have dinner there or at another hotel or DTD. Often in Jan its too cold to swim & our kids never sleep in the afternoon so going back to the hotel is kind of pointless for us when the parks are only open till 6 or 7. Also where you're staying is also a factor. I bought the hoppers when we stayed at WL and BW but not when we stayed at Pop. It was too much of a hassle to back to the resort & then back out again at Pop. But at BW we loved hopping over to Epcot in the evening & at WL we would take the monorail from Epcot & then hit a few rides at MK on our way back to the hotel.

 

[disny_luvr]

We would never go without park hoppers - we love to hop between parks! We like to come back to our room in the afternoons for a swim or to rest and we rarely return to the same park in the evening. Neither my DH or myself are big Epcot fans, so we usually start the day in one park and then hop on over to Epcot in time for a few rides, dinner, and Illuminations. When we were there a few years ago, Animal Kingdom closed at 5:00 and we thought it was great to hop on over to the Magic Kingdom in the evening.

In a few months we will be taking our first trip with our children and plan on park hopping then too. I think we'll spend a lot of time in the Magic Kingdom - I like having the option to park hop to the MK or any other park during the day.

Just my thoughts. If you don't have a park hopper, you'll be fine. I just think park hoppers give you more flexibility.