Park Hoppers or Not?

[bjgrazi]

We're going to be in WDW for 4 days. I was wondering if we should get park hoppers or one park one day?

Which would be better?

 

[Mistyhon]

I had the same issue but decided to get hoppers since I figured if the kids really liked something we could go back or if it's busy we could keep motoring through the parks and go back to what we missed. I'd say get the hopper gives you a few more options for the parks.

 

[hockey mom]

For me I would save the cash and concentrate on one park per day.

 

[sanibelover]

I think it depends.....if it's your first trip, you should be just fine not hopping. If it's just adults, I think hopping is great - you can go to Illuminations, Fantasmic, etc. any night you want, you can go walk around EPCOT at night, etc. If you have kids with you, hopping really isn't necessary - there is plenty to do in all of the parks. The first couple of times we went we didn't hop at all. Now, when it is just me and hubby, we do hop quite a bit. When we take the kids, we still don't need to hop, but you will get lots of different answers which just goes to show.... it depends. Think about what you want to do and how that fits with one park/day. Also, if you get there and realize that you wish you could hop, you can add that option at the parks.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

For me I would save the cash and concentrate on one park per day.

This is what we do.

 

[lucas]

For me I would save the cash and concentrate on one park per day.

That's what we do, too.

And, we decided that park hopping takes up a lot of our time. There is the travel time between parks and the security check you have to go thru every time you enter a park.

 

[ChristyJ]

We liked the hopper option when we went in Dec., primarily because at that time of year, some parks closed earlier (AK closed around 5pm and MK closed early some nights for the MVMCP), so we could go to another park and still enjoy fireworks if we had the energy!

It was me, DH, DD5 & DD8.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I did a 3 day trip and got Hoppers. I like them because I don't always spend a whole day at Epcot or MGM and like to be able to go to another park on those days if I want, especially since I can just hop the boat between MGM and Epcot. There have been times I started out at Epcot, went to MGM and then went back to Epcot! Also if it's really hot or it rains, I don't tend to spend a whole day at AK either.

It depends a little when you are going, but if it's your 1st trip though, I'm sure you can get away with one park a day.

 

[NancyIL]

Are you staying onsite? You need hoppers to take advantage of the Extra Magic Hour...unless you plan to spend your whole day in that park. And, Animal Kingdom isn't an all-day park IMHO, besides the fact that it usually closes at 5 or 6.

The 4-day base ticket is $197.03/$157.62 (adult/child). The 4-day park hopper is $234.30/$194.90. However, if you buy your tickets in advance (Disney Store), you can get a FIVE(5)-day park hopper for $235.37/$195.96!!! So, maybe you could use the 5th day on your arrival or departure day.

 

[TMTIP]

We enjoy the park hoppers. We like the flexability of being able to change parks when we want. Especially with the extra magic hours you can hop over to the "late" park and enjoy it while the others are closed.

 

[madurbi]

I think the park hopper is the only way to go. Especially if your resort is very close to one of the theme parks. I always stay at the boardwalk so I am able to walk to epcot everynight to see fireworks, eat dinner, or have a couple of drinks. the park hopper is great for dinning options.

 

[AJKMOM]

We enjoy park hopping to see some things like the fireworks twice. For us, AK isn't a whole day event, so we always go to EPCOT after that.

That being said, I have not priced out tickets for our December trip, and we never paid extra for it before, so I don't know what we'll do.

 

[Amyg]

I had asked that question a month ago and most recommended the hopper. After researching further, we will be hopping. Mainly because I've read that certain parks are better in the a.m. and others can then be done in the p.m. One source mentioned that AK is compact and can be done in about 4-5 hours, so we'll do that one early morning when most of the animals are active, then hop over to say EPCOT or MGM. We'll also do MK in the mornings and hop over to EPCOT or MGM in the afternoon.

Of course we will be there for 7 days so we will have a few more days than you. In any case have a great time!

 

[MonorailPilot]

If your staying off site I would definitly say yes. Because you would want to get away from EMH. But a toss up if you are staying on site

 

[tekmom]

We stayed onsite and hopped 2 weeks ago. Enjoyed the freedom of a change in parks each day.

 

[bubba73]

I'm a hopper, You're a hopper, He's a hopper, She's a hopper. Wouldn't you like to be a hopper too? (lol) I love hopping. I was able to do all 4 parks twice in 5 days, ride and see everything that I wanted, and was able to avoid most of the lines and this was in June during Father's Day and Star Wars Weekends. I recommend it HIGHLY!!!

 

[becca011906]

We have always hopped before, but this time around we aren't going to, with our kids ages and taking a first time family with us we though it was best to take 1 park per day and get the most of it. If that park is closing a little earlier then we just have an early night, no big deal for us. I think it really takes time for get from say MK (get all kids on boat or mon. then unload, then reload onto tram unload then into car, drive, park, reload into stroller, unload onto tram, unload into park) to MGM, that's a lot of work for us when we have 3 kids 5 and under!!! I guess we'll know if we enjoy not hopping after this trip! But it was a savings of $140 total so that is like 2 days worth of meal at the parks so we decided it was right for us this trip!

 

[Honeybehr1]

We are going in Oct for 5 days and decided NOT to do the park hopper. The extra money and the time to change parks plus the security checks with a 2 yr old was not an option. Plus each time we have gone, I cant remember ever hopping. We stay and do one park that whole day. AK does close early but that night we spend at the pool. I planned our trip so that we have a long day at a park that stays open longer (MK or EPCOT) and then a shorter day( MGM or AK) so there arent two long days next to each other.

 

[bjgrazi]

We're going for 4 days and staying onsite. Our last day we were doing AK and then off to the plane. (We have 3 full days and 1 day till 3pm) Flying in late at night.

We're 2 adults and 2 teenagers. I figured the early nights we'd either do DTD or just hang at the hotel and relax.

I'm still undecided. I'm just afraid if the park we pick is crowded, it would ruin things with out the hopper, but I'm not sure it's worth the expense. We have dinner reservations at the parks we were going to be in.

We can come and go with the 1 park 1 day correct? As long as it just that park.

I can't ask my crew what they want to do, most of the plans are a surprise to them. My son still doesn't know we're going.

 

[SDRocKGirL]

I'm a first timer to WDW and I decided to get the park hopper only because with my experience here in California, getting a park hopper for Disneyland and California Adventure are the ways to go. There was a day that my bf and I finished EVERYTHING at disneyland in 4 hours... It would have been nice to get a park hopper for CA... so I'm not taking any chances with the disappointment at WDW.. IM HOPPING! it's better to have the option available to you rather than wish you had it before...