Park hoppers or no?

[3gr8boys]

We get hoppers... .I like being able to follow the kids' lead if they want to go to a different park late afternoon/evening. PH also means we can be flexible about when we experience the various nighttime shows....changing our intended schedule based on weather, mood, whatever.

 

[mindeola]

I am pro-hopper. It just gives us so much flexibility. I like to close out MK several days of a trip.

 

[Vasiliki76]

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.

Thanks! So I was going to buy from undercover tourist to save about $250. If I add the hoppers later how will they charge? Just add the hopper price or re-price the whole thing so I lose my original discount?

 

[Vasiliki76]

How many park days is the trip in total?

We are there for 8 nights. The first night we get there really late so will miss park time.

 

[sharonabe]

Thanks! So I was going to buy from undercover tourist to save about $250. If I add the hoppers later how will they charge? Just add the hopper price or re-price the whole thing so I lose my original discount?

They should just charge the hopper price. @Robo, any reason why they wouldn't?

 

[subtchr]

We always have hopper, because we use military salute tickets, and now I have an AP. We don't use the feature every day, but it proves extremely useful many times.

For example, on our upcoming trip, we have an HEA dessert party booked on a night that has evening EMH and every indication of being the most crowded park that day. We will spend most of the day at AK, then hop to MK for the party and fireworks. Some of the group may stay for the EMH, while we grandparents take the little ones back to the resort after the party. Another day we have plans at DHS, and a dinner reservation at Akershus for my princess-loving granddaughter.

A previous trip was during MVMCP season. I think a hopper is very important during party season. Go to MK on a party day, with relatively low crowds until late afternoon, then hop somewhere else. On a non-party night, just hop to MK for the fireworks.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

A previous trip was during MVMCP season. I think a hopper is very important during party season. Go to MK on a party day, with relatively low crowds until late afternoon, then hop somewhere else. On a non-party night, just hop to MK for the fireworks.

This is very true, and I should have mentioned this in my post. During party seasons, park hopper is a necessity, for sure.

 

[loves to dive]

We have always had hoppers and have only gone to one park a day once in over 30 years of going. We have been going since my son was just shy of 3 and yes, we hopped between MK and Epcot then (those were the only two parks).

 

[AdamEfimoff]

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!

for how many days? This is not as big deal as you making it out to be. it really depends on how to vacation

 

[Bullseye]

Have never used hoppers. We do one park a day and it's always worked out fine for us. Since we always do midday breaks there is plenty left to do at the same park when we return in the evening. That being said, next summer we will buy hoppers since that's the only way now to get Water Parks too. That's ok though, so many people endorse them I look forward to giving it a try. After going for so many years my park time is declining so I think hoppers could be beneficial to an evolving touring strategy.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Before getting our AP's we always got hoppers. Our experience when we were staying at the Boardwalk was that, unless we had something else planned, we always wandered over to Epcot in the evening. With your proximity to the MK I predict that there would be a strong pull to go there whenever you have a free moment.

 

[sanapp]

I have never gotten hoppers for any of our trips with DD as it is just to much traveling. During our next trip DD will actually be 16, so I am going to get them. I think she can finally handle the travel and later nights. In the past we rarely did evening entertainment at any of the parks as DD just always did better going to bed early. I preferred to rope drop and get the rides in than do the evening entertainment, but she also has never been that big on fireworks. She has seen everything at least once and never wanted to repeat it. If we were to go back out in the evening after our afternoon break it was typically to a resort for dinner or DTD (Disney Springs).
I think it really depends on your kids and your priorities.

 

[Micca]

We've been going to WDW for a long time, I can't remember the last time we spent an entire day in only one park, and there are days we might go to 3 parks. Highly recommended if it doesn't break the bank.

 

[LSUfan4444]

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!

Yes...it's as much as my WDW budget as gas if I drive or airfare if I fly