Park Hopper

[AdamsMum]

We personally always do the park hopper But we stay onsite and tend to go to one park in the morning and a different park at night. I’m not sure with staying off site how easy it would be for you to hop parks.

I have also always added the park hopper. Sometimes the park you are in can become incredibly busy so it isn't a pleasure any more (especially if that park has emh that day). Then you can hop to another park once your fastpasses are done. I also enjoy dining in EPCOT and as a family we frequently end the evening there. We even did this when we were staying off site years ago. Getting into EPCOT is so much easier than Magic Kingdom. We often parked at EPCOT, monorailed over to MK and back to EPCOT at night time.

 

[dreamit]

For a first trip I agree with others who have said that park hoppers are not necessary. If you do decide to plan your trip around park hopping, it can be beneficial to start your day in the park with morning EMHs and then late morning/ lunchtime hop to a different park which is likely going to be less busy than the one with the extra magic hours.

 

[Elle :)]

We've always gotten park hoppers. We don't use them every day but it's nice to have the flexibility. I've stayed both off site and on site and we always take a mid day break (I just don't have the stamina to keep going through that heat). I think you have a good plan in the works with your mid day breaks.

Personally, I like to RD one park and then switch to another park after your break. You don't even have to make any real plans for your second park. Sometimes, I plan MK but we end up at AK. You just go with the flow. I feel like that helps us maximize our park time, while still remaining fun. I will say that, occasionally, we plan to hit up a park in the evening but I'm too worn out so I blow it off. That's the kind of flexibility I'm talking about.

 

[ErinTwinmom]

I am a big fan of park hoppers, for food if nothing else. So first timers love the Magic Kindom and I'm sure you will be spending some time in hollywood studios with toy story or maybe star wars, But both MK and HS are lacking in quality food, especially good counter service food. On the other hand epcot is right between them with all the yummy food and fun non bus transportain between them that my kids enjoy.

 

[joyjoy]

.......... Park Hopper is great, because we could possibly get more done/see more.

Any thoughts?
TIA!

Park Hoppers provide flexibility to bail on one park if it gets super crowded or you want daily variety, but keep in mind, travel between parks is not quick. I think "getting more done" seems possible in theory, but your travel time between parks offsets the likelihood of it. You're going to have PLENTY to do just by doing one park per day. We go every year and I have never felt like there was nothing left to do at any park we're in. HS is a little bare right now but that's quickly about to change. That said, we always get the hoppers anyway.

 

[Scar1199]

We didn't do hoppers on our first visit, but I soon realized that we were locked into the park where we made our table service reservation. With some reservations being hard to get, it's easier to change parks with hoppers than worrying about changing your dining reservation. And with Disney not updating their hours until the last minute, hoppers give you even more flexibility.

 

[dachsie]

With this being your first trip, I would just stay in one park per day. You will waste a lot of time changing parks. There is plenty to do and explore in each park to keep your interest. Why spend the extra money? Basically look at it as though you never knew the difference. Our first trip we stayed with one park per day. It worked great. This trip will be my first to actually be able to park hop (AP). I have never bought a park hopper - have never needed it as I could always find plenty to do in the one park per day

 

[NH-to-FL]

I think I am going to start out agreeing with one of the previous posters and say that if you are going to be there for more than a few days then you don't need hoppers. One park per day with a few days left over to repeat a favorite or two.

Some background... we always got hoppers (evolving to AP's) for our trips to Disney. At first because we stayed on site at an Epcot resort so no matter what park we visited during the day we would usually find ourselves wandering over to Epcot sometime in the evening. When we shifted to staying off site we had longer visits (thus the AP's) but found ourselves visiting one park per day. Mostly because we lacked the energy to get up and get going twice in one day.

I am also going to resonate with the comment that staying off site does add to travel time, especially to the Magic Kingdom, so off site mid day breaks will take some extra time. Depending on your families energy levels consider a table service lunch as a way to break up the day. Relax a bit and then head back out into the park.

Finally I'll ask a question: do you think you will return to WDW sometime in the near future? If not, then I propose that hoppers will give you the flexibility to, in the moment, decide whether to return to your "park of the day" or go someplace different. You will have the opportunity to respond to a "I'd really like to go back and see...." without having to use up a whole park day.
Wishing you a first visit!

 

[dkrauss]

We will be there for 6 days.

Have you decided on ADR's yet? If not take a moment and think about where you'd like to add a sit down meal. Once you get that information. You'll be in better shape to understand if park hopping will work for you. Do you plan on spending all 6 days in the parks? I agree with others who state you probably don't need park hoppers, especially on a "first" trip. Even with ToyStory Land HS is the only park that "may" not get you a full day. The other 3 are easily full day parks in my mind. With a 6 day ticket you can do each park once.........throw in a water park if its hot. And then use your extra day in the park of your choice (for me that would be Magic Kingdom). If you get antzie one day you can go over to Disney Springs to break up a day.

The one thing to consider is being offsite are you driving? If you are with park hopping you may be forced to pay parking in 2 locations. I know there are ways around that but if you go to AK in the morning.........and then want to do MK until Midnight.........if you don't drive to both locations you need to find a way back to AK after its closed...........that's a lot for first time visits.

Doug

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

For a first visit as long as you have at least a 4 day base ticket I would recommend skipping the park hopper option.
There's plenty of attractions in each park to fill your entire day up without wasting another 30 minutes to travel from one park to another.
In my opinion park hopper is a good option if you are going for a very short trip or a very long trip and for people that have been a number of times.

 

[ashleyr409]

Have you decided on ADR's yet? If not take a moment and think about where you'd like to add a sit down meal. Once you get that information. You'll be in better shape to understand if park hopping will work for you. Do you plan on spending all 6 days in the parks? I agree with others who state you probably don't need park hoppers, especially on a "first" trip. Even with ToyStory Land HS is the only park that "may" not get you a full day. The other 3 are easily full day parks in my mind. With a 6 day ticket you can do each park once.........throw in a water park if its hot. And then use your extra day in the park of your choice (for me that would be Magic Kingdom). If you get antzie one day you can go over to Disney Springs to break up a day.

The one thing to consider is being offsite are you driving? If you are with park hopping you may be forced to pay parking in 2 locations. I know there are ways around that but if you go to AK in the morning.........and then want to do MK until Midnight.........if you don't drive to both locations you need to find a way back to AK after its closed...........that's a lot for first time visits.

Doug

I have decided on the ADR that I want per park. I plan on spending all 6 days at the park. I assume that Epcot would not be a full day.(This is just me reading things, don't know for sure). Without park hopper our plans were: 2MK,2AK,1/2 EP, 1HS.
Yes we are driving, but I also assumed that if we had Park Hopper and decided to go to a different park than the first we wouldn't have to pay for parking.(I could be wrong, once again first time.
It feels like if we get Park Hopper we get to do more and see more. But on the other hand I am not sure about parks, map, dining so I am not sure that it will be worth it for us.

 

[NH-to-FL]

The one thing to consider is being offsite are you driving? If you are with park hopping you may be forced to pay parking in 2 locations.

You only pay to park once per day... just save your receipt and show it at the second park.

 

[ashleyr409]

I think I am going to start out agreeing with one of the previous posters and say that if you are going to be there for more than a few days then you don't need hoppers. One park per day with a few days left over to repeat a favorite or two.

Some background... we always got hoppers (evolving to AP's) for our trips to Disney. At first because we stayed on site at an Epcot resort so no matter what park we visited during the day we would usually find ourselves wandering over to Epcot sometime in the evening. When we shifted to staying off site we had longer visits (thus the AP's) but found ourselves visiting one park per day. Mostly because we lacked the energy to get up and get going twice in one day.

I am also going to resonate with the comment that staying off site does add to travel time, especially to the Magic Kingdom, so off site mid day breaks will take some extra time. Depending on your families energy levels consider a table service lunch as a way to break up the day. Relax a bit and then head back out into the park.

Finally I'll ask a question: do you think you will return to WDW sometime in the near future? If not, then I propose that hoppers will give you the flexibility to, in the moment, decide whether to return to your "park of the day" or go someplace different. You will have the opportunity to respond to a "I'd really like to go back and see...." without having to use up a whole park day.
Wishing you a first visit!

Thank you. I think we will plan another trip 2-3 years after this one.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Park hopping is about the only add on I'm totally comfortable with getting.

It adds flexibility. Even if you used it for one-day you've gotten usage out of it (because of how Disney price structures it with multi-day tickets). It's up to you of course but with having a 12 and 14 year old along with a 6 year old you may find park hopping could work for you. If you just had a 6 year old with you and it was your first trip I'd be more on the fence about saying getting park hoppers.

If nothing else it frees up the possibility of going to another park whereas without it you're locked into a park the whole day--which may not be an issue just pointing that out.

I love being able to see that wait times are higher than I'd like, or I'm done doing the attractions I want and now I'm ready for something else and being able to just go to another park.

Now as far as FPs there are two strategies with park hopping and if you'd like some discussion on it check out the first page of https://www.disboards.com/threads/fastpass-frequently-asked-questions.3491680/ That thread may seem overwhelming at first but take your time reading through it and for the park hopping aspect see Strategies part of the thread.

Also they have moved more discussion about park hopping over to this thread as well: https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...l-tier-1-booking-cl-fp-trial-program.3538258/ (I'd take a look at the first thread linked first then go to the second thread)

 

[luvallprincesses]

I always recommend first trippers do not get park hopping. It’s just one more thing on top of a million to think about and experience on your first trip. Yet you can always add it at a ticket window if you change your mind. I understand you plan to leave and return, but by then you will have just figured out the layout and gotten your bearings on that park, so I would think returning to the same one is less overwhelming for the evening. I can’t imagine not spending a full day at Epcot, unless you don’t want to experience the World Showcase at all. One full day is never enough for us at Epcot. The only reason I’d ever recommend a family get park hopping on their first trip is if they are staying at a monorail resort or a walk away from Epcot for the sole purpose of going into one of those parks as a second park that day to eat dinner or see a night show.

 

[ashleyr409]

I always recommend first trippers do not get park hopping. It’s just one more thing on top of a million to think about and experience on your first trip. Yet you can always add it at a ticket window if you change your mind. I understand you plan to leave and return, but by then you will have just figured out the layout and gotten your bearings on that park, so I would think returning to the same one is less overwhelming for the evening. I can’t imagine not spending a full day at Epcot, unless you don’t want to experience the World Showcase at all. One full day is never enough for us at Epcot. The only reason I’d ever recommend a family get park hopping on their first trip is if they are staying at a monorail resort or a walk away from Epcot for the sole purpose of going into one of those parks as a second park that day to eat dinner or see a night show.

I will need to do more research about Epcot. Thank you

 

[ashleyr409]

I always recommend first trippers do not get park hopping. It’s just one more thing on top of a million to think about and experience on your first trip. Yet you can always add it at a ticket window if you change your mind. I understand you plan to leave and return, but by then you will have just figured out the layout and gotten your bearings on that park, so I would think returning to the same one is less overwhelming for the evening. I can’t imagine not spending a full day at Epcot, unless you don’t want to experience the World Showcase at all. One full day is never enough for us at Epcot. The only reason I’d ever recommend a family get park hopping on their first trip is if they are staying at a monorail resort or a walk away from Epcot for the sole purpose of going into one of those parks as a second park that day to eat dinner or see a night show.

I will need to do more research about Epcot. Thank you

 

[bryanb]

I love park hopping. But I usually also enjoy leaving the parks in the mid-afternoon, and leaving the evening to mostly spontaneous activity. Park Hoppers also help extend the amount of park time, because it is possible to leave a park that's closing early and switch to one with evening EMH or a later close time.

I do like @luvallprincess' idea about getting hoppers if you're in a monorail or Epcot resort. My first visit was my first visit was during the Food & Wine Festival, and ended up going back to Epcot most nights to sample more of the fantastic dishes.

 

[JenLovesMM]

Our first 2-3 trips, we didn`t add park hopper but I knew that I could add it at anytime if we needed it. I was glad I didn`t add it in advance, we would not have used it those trips and this way, I did not end up paying that amount for something we would have ended up not using. I prefer keeping that $ in our pocket unless I am sure we will use the hoppers. Our 4th trip just recently, it was a short visit, this time we added it knowing we would use it. Like others have mentioned, I don`t usually recommend it for a 1st trip unless it`s a very short one which yours isn`t. For a first time planner with so many things to learn and figure out, I always preferred concentrating on the one park a day. If we did book dining reservations, we tried to make them for breakfast or brunch that way we weren`t attached to any plans later in the day and felt that offered us more flexibility especially when taking afternoon breaks, then there`s no set time to return to the park.

 

[cbl1]

If you have as many park days as parks you want to visit I wouldn't do park hopper. Some people like it but it just means taking time out of your day going between parks. I have always enjoyed doing everything want to do at one park and calling it a day.

I do like the ...More option for the tickets. If you have a 5 day pass that means you get 5 waterpark/extra days.

The biggest thing I have found is don't overload yourself in doing too much every single day (split park days with off days in between). Then you can really do it all out each park day and sleep in the next.

To me the perfect 7 days plan is 4 park days and use 3 waterpark days. No hopping. Mix the Waterparks in every other day so you don't do 2 theme parks back to back days.

This year however I got a 3 day pass - - so I actually did get hopper option.

Doing Epcot full day
Open Day
Waterpark Day
Animal Kingdom until early afternoon / Magic Kingdom Evening
Open Day (use my 3rd more playing Mini Golf)
Waterpark Day
Hollywood Studio until early afternoon / Magic Kingdom Evening