Park Hopper worth it??

[all4fun]

Isn't it possible to add the hopper option onto your tickets once you get there? In other words, let's say a family is two days into their vacation and decide that they really need the hopper option. Can't they add it at that point?

Yes, they will let you upgrade your non-hopper passes to hopper passes after you get there. The catch is, that say you have six-day passes and it's day three and you want to upgrade to hoppers. The fee charged will be based on the amount of days originally on your passes, not just the remaining days. In other words, they don't pro-rate it for the days you've already used. Pay now, or pay later, it will be the same price. hth.

 

[stavidt]

I purchased the hopper and we did not park hop even one day in seven days!!!

My kids are 2.5 yrs old and 14 mths. They were too young by the time we got up showered...grabbed something to eat (in the room...we even brought snacks to save money and time)....put on sun screen...packed the bag for the trip.... it was usually around 10am..by the time we were at the park it was 10:30am....a couple of attractions...then time for lunch....then a few more attractions....it was almost 3pm and I had a goal of making it to the room by 4pm everyday to avoid total meltdown.

Plus we stayed at the Wilderness Villas which were very close to the Magic Kingdom which we spent a lot of time at. We did see every park at least once but once was enough. I guess if we didn't have little ones and we could go out to eat around 8pm every night it might be worth it to check out some eateries at Epcot but the kids would be fried by then....come to think of it so would I.

Good luck...p.s. I read the same advice before going and choose to get the hopper anyway...I simply didn't want to miss anything.

 

[DISUNC]

We are HOPPERS!!!!!!!
We always do one park (emh) am & another at night!!!!!!!
Sometimes plans change and the PH allows you to do this.

For instance we went to MK one evening last July....The Crowds were HORRENDUS Really the worst I ever saw!!!! And it was 103 degrees out.....we just turned around & went to MGM!!!!!! If we didnt have PH we would be 'stuck' in MK!

We gotta be flexible!!!!

 

[DKH01701]

With the little ones, I would say you could do without the park hopper and save yourself some money. Plan your days to hit the major attractions as noted in the other posts. I'm assuming with the young ones you don't get around the parks as quick as we do and that you turn in a little earlier also.

Personally, I could not do without park hopping. I plan our agenda to make the most of Extra Magic Hours. We are up at 6:30 am and in line at the gates to the park that opens early. We stay until early afternoon, go for lunch and then off to the park that closes late that day. Back to the room around midnight or 1:00 am, sleep and start over again. We also like to throw in a few water park visits, midday, on the hot days.

It really all depends on who you are travelling with and your length of stay.

 

[cjnix29]

bartleby1...thanks for the advice about the difference between purchasing the park hopper and staying an extra day. Just added another day to our stay...only cost me 111.00! Cheaper than the park hopper!

 

[bartleby1]

bartleby1...thanks for the advice about the difference between purchasing the park hopper and staying an extra day. Just added another day to our stay...only cost me 111.00! Cheaper than the park hopper!

Glad it worked for you! With very little difference in the ticket prices on longer day tickets, disney is making it very tempting to stay the extra days, lol! 10 day tickets aren't much more than 5 day tickets if you just want the base tickets. Of course, they are counting on the extra spending on food, hotel, etc.

 

[7lords]

We love the hopper option. Worked great when they were 11 months and 3 and will work great in a couple of weeks when they are 2 ad 4. Park in the morning, back to the resort to swim and naps in the afternoon and then back to a park in the evening (almost always a different park from the morning).

 

[yogibigdog]

I just looked at ticket prices at ticketmania and adding the hopping on to your 6 day tickets is roughly $136. You could instead add on one additional day and get a 7 day NON hopping for an extra $2 (adult tickets are $1 more each and childs are the same) and spend the additional $134 for another night hotel, lol! Just another option if you're considering what to do. I'd personally rather have a whole extra day.

Does this work? Will they let you use two tickets in one day?

 

[beattyfamily]

Does this work? Will they let you use two tickets in one day?

No, that doesn't work.

 

[rt2dz]

I can't answer for you, but for us, we can't live without park hopping. We let the kinds kind of call the shots. If we start out at MK & they're wanting to go to AK instead, off to AK we go. And that has happended. Also, ADRs don't dictate what we do all day if we simply aren't in the mood. And my kids aren't big Epcot fans, so we only spend 1/2 a day there at a time. There are days we stay at one park only, but there are more days we switch. The more flexible we can be, the more fun we have.

You can always upgrade during any part of your vacation (at full prices) if you try to go without & then realize you need hoppers.

 

[mom2my3kids]

My children are 13,9, and 3. We decided not to get the park hoopers money was the main reason but..

we are going to be plenty busy without the worry of park hopping.
we are doing MNSSHP on one night of our stay so its like park hopping for a day.
we are staying 6 days so we will have plenty of time to see everything and go back to a park that we had the most fun at.

Good luck deciding, if I had plenty of money we would of gotten the park hoppers. But no matter what you will have a wonderful time.

 

[Clotho]

We are big time hoppers!

As Beattyfamily pointed out, sometimes you get to a park and discover it is more crowded than you might like. Or what you planned to do, you aren't actually in the mood for, and would prefer to hit something else. You want to do something in the morning, and something else in the evening. You want to ride rides at one park, but hit the restaurants and fireworks at another.

We love the flexibility. Vacations are all about doing what you like on a whim! Following your bliss! And the possibility of park hopping is big for us.

I agree with whoever suggested you could buy it once you get there. In the first few days, suss out whether you have any desire to hop. If you do, then go ahead and buy it. Sure it will cost the same as if you had bought it beforehand, but you may discover you *don't* want to hop, and you will save that money!

 

[eliza61]

We also are hoppers.
We tend to go to WDW late August/early september and the parks are always open to 9:00 - 10:00 pm. This allows us to go back to the resort if it's outrageously hot, take a great pool break and then hit another park in the pm. Especially since AK is not a whole day park for us, you can't beat the flexibility.