Park hoppers or no?

[Vasiliki76]

we are going in April with 6-7 crowd levels and staying at bay lake tower. Kids will be 8 and almost 5. Last time we went was 3 years ago and we did rope drop and then rested. Would you get hoppers to go to magic kingdom every night? The price difference is $280
I’m so torn! Thanks for any advice!

 

[FastPass Dad]

We stay at the Poly and get it every year. Being so close to MK & EPCOT makes it worth it. Our kids are 8 & 10 but even when they were 6 & 8, we found it much more productive to hit one park in the morning, go back to the resort to recharge and then hit another park in the evening. If we hit the same park day and night, even with a resort rest mid day, they got a little burned out and ran out of energy. The change in scenery works wonders for their energy level and enthusiasm. Of course, every kid is different but it's an automatic for us.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

No real right or wrong answer, but I am pro-hopper most of the time. Especially staying at a resort where you can walk to the MK - having the flexibility to just “pop over” when the mood strikes at any given moment is “worth it” for us.

 

[mom2rtk]

No, but I tend not to hop if possible. But then I'd probably be tempted to spend every single day in the MK.

FYI, you can buy base tickets and add hoppers later if you decide to hop.

 

[sharonabe]

No, but I tend not to hop if possible. But then I'd probably be tempted to spend every single day in the MK.

FYI, you can buy base tickets and add hoppers later if you decide to hop.

THIS!

The price will be the same no matter when you add it, so if you're not sure you'll use it, leave tickets as base and just add when/if you decide you want to hop.

 

[ajwolfe]

We always add the hopper option. We like being able to move around from park to park on a whim or for a meal somewhere else. Especially given where you are staying I would think it would be nice to have.

 

[unveilmyeyes]

we are going in April with 6-7 crowd levels and staying at bay lake tower. Kids will be 8 and almost 5. Last time we went was 3 years ago and we did rope drop and then rested. Would you get hoppers to go to magic kingdom every night? The price difference is $280
I’m so torn! Thanks for any advice!

How many park days is the trip in total?

 

[Gehrig1B]

you can buy base tickets and add hoppers later if you decide to hop.

Although this is true, some of the flexibility of hopper tickets is lost if you buy them after arrival. Being that close to the parks you can easily make ADR's at Epcot, MK, and/or HS for the evenings and still go to whichever park you wish in the morning. Also it makes it easy to see all the nighttime shows without staying in the same park all day!

We are hopper people and never go without them. We think they are especially worthwhile when staying at a monorail resort... Our last visit of 8 nights included 5 MK visits and 4 Epcot trips.

How many days will you be there? To make the cost more palatable figure by ticket/day. For an 8 day trip, a hopper add on costs less than a hamburger/day per person at a Disney QS restaurant. Hey, skip a meal, get hopper tickets? For a 5 day trip the cost per day is a burger and soda!

 

[kj2mom]

I didn't find them necessary when my children were that age but like the others have mentioned, you can also add the hopping once you get there if you decide you really need/want to hop. We never added it on so I am glad I didn't spend the $$ buying hopper tickets right from the start.

 

[CAS239]

We have AP’s, but we park hop every single day we are at Disney

 

[Delirium]

Hoppers are absolutely worth it to us, especially being at a resort that close to the park.

 

[wgeo]

I'm very frugal when it comes to Disney - always try to get the most out of my money/time and even I've done hopper every time we had normal tickets. We always were happy that we had done so.

I guess it kind of depends on how many days you are staying, but that close to MK - I know we'd end up hoping over there.

 

[MrInfinity]

Simple. If you don't know that you need hoppers, then you don't need hoppers. There may come a time later, and you can consider them then. But for now, no. You'll probably spend a little longer in the park each day and you're not likely to be going open to close with the little kids anyways. If you find you're there and you really want to go for an evening you can just stop by Member Services on your walk to the Magic Kingdom and add them for the same price.

 

[Meriweather]

We have APs and very seldom hop.
But DS and family are going with us and they want the water park option added, so they will have hoppers

 

[erikawolf2004]

We don't spend the money on hoppers, we chose to spend that money on other things. Really it is a person preference. If you feel like you have the extra $$ do it, if it would take away from your budget for other things don't. No 2 budgets are the same.

 

[Spencer Wright]

I am absolutely %100 pro-park hopper.

There are reasons which have been outlined above, but also it gives you the freedom to maneuver if there is some kind of issue at one park.

For instance, last trip, we were at Ohana and were going to progress to MK. However, per the App lines were INSANE (i.e. 90 minutes for Small World and 120+ for main attractions). We found out it was EMH and there were a ton of school groups and things there.

We went to Epcot which was busy but not bad at all, and had a wonderful evening.

Just one anecdote, but highlights the flexibility the park hopper provides.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I think it is worth it to hop. The flexibility is nice and like others have said, it can keep your days interesting. On our last 7 day trip, we park hopped on 3 of the days, so we visited MK 5 out of the 7 days at least for a little while. And it meant we could catch multiple night time shows. It meant we got the most park time possible, really.

I would really plot out your days though. If you have days where there seem to be several hours of free time, I would get it. That way you can have the option to hop to another park during that time to make the most of it. If your days seem to have no free time or only very limited free time, I would skip the park hopper option to save the money.

 

[1911]

normally we have hoppers but this year we are going to use the price difference for the hoppers to spend a day at Kennedy space center.

 

[melana]

I have had hoppers twice. The first time we didn’t use them at all but they were part of our package. During my trip this past October, I had them and I hopped each day. It was a laid back trip. Would go to one park in the AM, back to hotel to rest or hang by the pool, then to another park in the PM.

I probably will get hoppers again. It’s nice to have the option if you decide you want to hop.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We don’t get hoppers but this will only be our 4th trip with kids so there is still a lot to do for us in each park. If we were going during party season I would get them but I think planning is easier if you just stay in one park each day. Generally there isn’t any compelling reason for us to get them at Disney. There may come a time when we feel differently about that though.