Park Hopper with young kids?

[peanmunch]

Ditto! We always hop. .the one trip we didn't short pre-cruise trip) the kid's were BEAT because we stayed at the parks way too long without a break.
Lori

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.

 

[summerrluvv]

We just got back and didn't hop. It puts a huge dent in the day to wait for the bus, go back to the resort, attempt to get everyone settled to nap, load everyone back up on the busses and head back to the park. My DD napped in her stroller and we stayed at one park all day. It worked out PERFECT for us.

 

[happymommy]

I think you're going to (obviously) get many different replies.

It really depends on your likes.

Our family likes to always have park hopping. We only do a couple of morning hours at MK, since having kids. It gets crowded for us. Plus, we like Epcot and MGM (oops, DHS) in evenings. No beer at MK, sorry! It is vacation.

AK can be a morning, or all day, depends on how we feel.

With kids, we are flexible. Okay, 2 years we had AP's also. I don't like to worry if we only spend 2 hours in a park.

Honestly, go with what you think works. I just don't like to kill ourselves to do everything in one theme park only because it's our MK day or something. I'd rather skimp on a snack, or have a cheaper glass of wine.

 

[mykidsand_i]

My family has had the park hopper twice, and we did find it to be a hassle...our girls were young and still napping- but they would just nap in the stroller and that's how it worked for us.

Before going to Disney for our first time with young kids we had this "schedule maped out" in our heads of how perfectly everything was going to work if we'd go back to the room to nap for an hour, eat something, then go back to the parks. Believe me- more often than not I've heard people who have had that same thought. Trust me- for about 70% of us that think that way...our first day at Disney changes everything and we can't imagine going back to the room and leaving the magic... Because we think "hmmm...that One hour back at the hotel for napping, a little longer for eating something AND then ADD the transportation time into that- and we'll have waisted 3 or more hours of the best time of the day."

don't think that "going back to the hotel for an hour" will end up being an hour- but more like 3-4 hours. It takes longer to get any where and do anything there than other places.

Our first day there with little kids and we were dissapointed that we even tried to go back to our hotel. As soon as we got in line for the bus back to our hotel- both of our girls were sleeping (and believe me- they don't just fall asleep anywhere, they are usually quite picky about sleeping in a BED!!!)

Park hoppers are a waste of money for MY FAMILY...every family is different- but we'd rather save that money and buy a few fun keepsake items with it than park hop.

We've gotten park hoppers when they were the "free addition to your package deal" and both of those times we used them once durring our trip! ONCE.
I've heard many who say that they can't live w/o them- but this family definately can! It's all up to what the family is use to, what they prefer- it is a totally personal opinion. BUT, for people who are on a budget- and have not been to Disney in a while- I would suggest not getting them. If you are not on a budget, go ahead and do it!

 

[Tiger926]

We find park hopping is essential, especially with young children! We don't stay at parks all day as we find it too much for young kids, and ourselves, so we love park hopping as we can take a midday break and go to a different park afterwards. Also, we eat 2-3 TS meals per day, so we need to be able to park hop to get to different restaurants. We also love fireworks and love to park hop at night for that as well.

Sometimes we just go to a park for 1 hour to people watch - as DVC members we can do this as we also have annual passes, so for us, park hopping is an essential part of our trips.

Good luck, Tiger

 

[design_mom]

I think it totally depends on your touring habits. We usually get park hoppers. We don't always use them, but I like to have the flexibility.

As others have pointed out, if you're going back to your resort for an afternoon rest, that's a logical time to "park hop." (It's not wasting any time if you're back at the resort.)

If you get to DHS and the kids aren't crazy about it (mine weren't at your kids' ages), you could always switch back to MK for the afternoon. AK often closes earlier than the other parks, so Saturday would be a perfect time to hop back over to MK and catch the parade.

I like park hoppers and think it's worth the money for a trip as long as yours. (DH and I went for a long weekend in September and did not get PH because it wasn't worth the price for just two days.) But... you'll still have a great time if you don't have PHs... and, if I understand correctly, you can always add them to your ticket when you get on-site. It will still cost the same, even if you decide to upgrade on the last day, but it's an option.

 

[TinkerBrie]

don't think that "going back to the hotel for an hour" will end up being an hour- but more like 3-4 hours. It takes longer to get any where and do anything there than other places.

This is the truth! We went twice WITH hoppers and kids. NEVER used the hopper. I feel the same way about "going back for a nap". It take up so much time. The only thing that might change my mind is if you are staying on the monorail.

 

[JerseyMouse]

I was excited to see this post because I am also trying to decide whether or not to buy hoppers for my dd and I for our trip in January.

Well, after reading all of the responses, I have to say that I am more confused then ever.

We are staying at the Beach Club and so I figured it would be very easy to hop over to Epcot at night for dinner. The catch is that my husband will be in a conference during the day so we may just end up going to Downtown Disney or other hotel for dinner since he won't have park passes....

I guess it just comes down to whether or not I want to spend the extra hundred. sigh!

 

[ilandrazdsw]

We are hopping!!! With 9 days for parks over Christmas/New Years we wnat the option if one park is WAYYYY to crowded to go to another pary thta is just WAYY crowded . It also works well for us with ADR to make the most of Character meals at various locations. We also have a DF meeting us for 2 days and want to hit some of the highlights of each park. We have a DS5 & DD2 who will have a stroller to snooze in if necessary (with early morning & late nights they just may) so no need to go back to the room.

It all depends on your wants and needs. You can probably upgrade to park hopper whne you get there if you need to

 

[Elmo888]

We are park hoppers...I don't see how others don't, but it just sounds like a touring style preference. We love Epcot in the evenings, esp. to eat dinner (so much variety with both TS and CS). And as another poster said, the kids aren't crazy about Epcot, so it is nice to do it in half days. And I'm not crazy about DHS, so I would rather not spend the entire day there (I don't think that there is a bunch of stuff there for small kids, either).

If you don't want to spend all day at a park, you can always spend the rest of the day at DTD or your resort (you paid for that, too!)...you can find plenty to do.

Just an FYI...I believe that you can add the park hopper at WDW, even if you have been there for a few days (since the cost doesn't depend on the number of days). So, you could leave it off for now, and then add it if you feel the need to park hop while you are there. Please confirm this, but I am fairly sure that this is the case.

 

[Aliceacc]

How funny. My son and I had a chat today about last August's trip, and about how glad he was that I had done my homework. "Otherwise, mom, we would have missed out on lots of cool stuff- divers at the Coral Reef, misters, ponchos and park hoppers.

Our second day there, we went to Animal Kingdom. It poured and a costumed character suddenly appeared (accidentally) right in front of my son and scared the life out of him. He was miserable, and we were all miserable and soon soaked, ponchos or no ponchos.

We went back to the Polynesian, showered and got into dry clothes, and had a wonderful afternoon and evening in Epcot, where there are a lot more indoor things to do than at AK. That one day paid for the parkhoppers, aside from all the other times we used them.