Park Hoppers: Yay or Nay?

[pigletgirl]

Little background: Myself, DD and my mom will be headed to WDW in September of 2015. Our family was down there this past September and we opted to have park hoppers. Looking back, we park hopped twice.

Now, if I go ahead and opt not to use park hoppers and we choose later on that we do want them (while we are there), can we go to guest services to add them?

I hope we don't feel trapped by not using park hoppers.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yes, you can add them when you get there. That's what we do if we decide to hop.

 

[ObiWan]

Little background: Myself, DD and my mom will be headed to WDW in September of 2015. Our family was down there this past September and we opted to have park hoppers. Looking back, we park hopped twice.

Now, if I go ahead and opt not to use park hoppers and we choose later on that we do want them (while we are there), can we go to guest services to add them?

I hope we don't feel trapped by not using park hoppers.

Disney will let you upgrade the tickets. However, a better option may be to plan your park visits by selecting a one park per day strategy and maximizing that day by visiting each park when extra magic hours are offered (assuming you will be at one of the resorts). You can find out which parks will have magic hours well in advance on the park hours page of the Disneyworld web site. I have found that park hopping, even during low attendance periods like September, can be very time consuming and ultimately a waste of time and money.

 

[pigletgirl]

Disney will let you upgrade the tickets. However, a better option may be to plan your park visits by selecting a one park per day strategy and maximizing that day by visiting each park when extra magic hours are offered (assuming you will be at one of the resorts). You can find out which parks will have magic hours well in advance on the park hours page of the Disneyworld web site. I have found that park hopping, even during low attendance periods like September, can be very time consuming and ultimately a waste of time and money.

It is time consuming. The two days we switched parks was for dinner in Epcot. The other days we either ate at DTD or somewhere else.

Knowing that we can put the $60 somewhere else is quite appealing.

And like you said, it would help us maximize our park time and help with planning purposes.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

On our visits, we find that AK and Epcot close so early that we wouldn't feel that we got our full day's worth without the hoppers.

 

[Disneylover99]

Just keep in mind that parks that offer EMH are generally the most crowded parks. So more people = longer waits.

 

[Disfor3]

We always get park hoppers for two reasons... We usually start at one park in the morning and then head back to the resort for downtime/pool time/nap and then head to a second park for the evening. Also it helps with meals... We eat at restaurants in Epcot several times a trip but usually only end up at Epcot for a day or a day and a half tops for the park itself. It just gives you a lot more flexibility with your time and your experiences!

 

[North of Mouse]

Little background: Myself, DD and my mom will be headed to WDW in September of 2015. Our family was down there this past September and we opted to have park hoppers. Looking back, we park hopped twice.

Now, if I go ahead and opt not to use park hoppers and we choose later on that we do want them (while we are there), can we go to guest services to add them?

I hope we don't feel trapped by not using park hoppers.

You will get answers according to how people feel about park hopping. As for us, we would never go without them - like the freedom to move around if one park is too crowded, it's raining, etc. (and yes, it doesn't always rain at every park simultaneous).

We will never be tied to one park - lots of times AK and DHS are no more than 1/2 day parks at a time - we have no desire to stay the whole day, but we will usually go back another day. Well worth the extra $$'s to us.

As a pp said, wait until you get there if you are not sure - but just remember the price is the same no matter your park days.

Also, to us, it is never a waste of time and money, just part of our enjoyable experience!

 

[eliza61]

We do not go without Park hoppers.

Generally we park hop ever day. We don't find it time consuming at all simply because we go when it's very hot (late august) so we always go back to the room then after a swim or break it's off to another park for the evening.

Many a time we have found that the supposed "best park" of the day was way more packed than we wanted. Park hoppers allows us the flexibility to make a last minute change.

Magic kingdom is the absolute worst as far as restaurants so we never eat there. with park hoppers we can have dinner at Epcot.

allows flexibility with adr's. Basically we don't like to plan our wdw vacations, there is no restaurant at the world especially in the parks that we thing is so fabulous that we "have" to eat there. park hoppers allows us the ability to wake up, call Disney dining and change our adr if we so desire.

lastly, our favorite night time show is illuminations. we'll go see it 3-4 times in a week visit. could not do that without park hoppers.

 

[buzzrelly]

We always get them and I just cannot imagine going without them. Just in terms of planning ADRs, it makes life so much easier. However, I will say that when we went last June we stayed at POP with my daughter's dance school and we never ended up using the hoppers because it was just too much work going back for a midday break and then going back to the parks. We just stayed at the parks until we were totally done and then once we left, nobody had the energy to go back. The busses, while convenient, just make the process of getting from point A to point B a very long process.

On our normal trips, we usually stay at The CR and we always hop. It's just so much more convenient. We go back for a swim, a break and a shower and will usually "hop" back to either EPCOT or the MK.

So I would think about where you are staying and if it's not in a monorail resort or an EPCOT area resort, I don't think I would buy them ahead of time. See how it goes when you're there and add it on if you decide you really want to hop.

 

[kaytieeldr]

On our visits, we find that AK and Epcot close so early that we wouldn't feel that we got our full day's worth without the hoppers.

Epcot closes early? It's open a minimum of twelve hours year-round. Every other park's hours fluctuate depending on season or events predicted crowds. Could be as early as 5 (AK in winter)or 6-8-later at DHS, and 7 at MK. But Epcot?

 

[Mikie]

We do not buy hoppers in advance . . . Well we *have* and then found we made a point to hop just to say we didn't waste them!

Definitely depends how you tour. We don't travel in the worst heat, so a lunch break in a/c is sufficient without returning to our resort pool.

We go at least 6 park days - I think that's the perfect "non-hopper" amount of days. Any less and we'd have to do 1/2 days at 2 parks to squeeze them all in. Any longer and we may only need 1/2 a day to finish a park we'd already gone to once or twice, but still go elsewhere.

We stay at values mostly, so bus transport can be time-consuming. If we stayed monorail or Boardwalk, we might be more likely to hop.

I personally don't know how I'd use them to avoid crowds or rain - not sure how I'd really know if it's not raining at DHS while I'm getting soaked at MK, or whether AK is less crowded (I guess look up wait times?)

Finally, we go about 9-11 hour days without the long break. We're plenty pooped by then and wouldn't need to piece together 2parks to get us 15 hours of park time!

 

[KJF0528]

We bought them last year on our second trip and then I MADE us use them since we paid for them. I didn't find that it was something vital to the trip and the cost per person is definitely something to look at.

My sons are 11 and 12.

On our AK day, we just head to DTD when the park closes. My kids love that area and my oldest could spend a week in the Lego store

 

[JimmyV]

I used to get hoppers but found that during the course of a 6 day trip, we might hop twice. At that point, the cost was not worth it. When we go to the MK and Epcot, we easily fill a whole day at each park and never leave. DHS and AK are not "full day" parks for us, but on those days we usually build in a nice Signature dinner somewhere and use the extra time to go back to the resort to shower and change into nice clothes.

 

[nat8199]

We get hoppers, but that is because we love eating in Epcot. This year we are going to stay in the Epcot area so that we can eat dinner there as often as possible. We also like having the option for adults to walk over there while one stays back with sleeping kids. We have planned hopping for ADRs on our three MK days and imagine that adults might walk over at least 1-2 more of the nights.

 

[Cando86]

We haven't got them in the past couple trips and don't miss them. For me, it wastes time and money BUT I understand there are people who love them. I might consider getting them during a busier time, but I don't think I'd get them during a "slower" time like September. I would just follow park recommendations (through EasyWDW or Touring Plans) and stick with that park for the day.

 

[MrInfinity]

Don't feel trapped, WDW is perfectly fine without them. We've never gotten a park hopper, and it works out great.

* With our family, a fixed price addition is x6. So that $60 is $360 for us. That's an extra night at a Deluxe or 2 at a Value -- I'll take the extra day or two instead - it's like hopping - but on a whole new day.

* We tend to not hop lands much let alone parks... when we enter the MK, we'll spend the day in a couple of the lands, not cross back and forth. Mostly due to travelling w small kids. Kids can enjoy things more when you base yourself in a land for a while and just enjoy what's there, instead of darting from headliner to headliner.

* Walking. A hop is exiting a park, walking to the transportation, waiting in the bus line, then walking to a new park, then clear into the park. It's a lot of walking.

* Need... I've never been at a park and felt it was so crowded that we would be better off leaving to go to another park. We can always find something to do.

* Early closures... We tend to have planned some hotel-type activity, like the HDDR or Aloha show... so we'll just plan these on days when we'll be at the AK or on an MK party day.

* Staying out late... We always start off thinking we'll stay out till midnight... but... it just doesn't happen. After a midday break, half of our party ends up wanting to just hang out at the hotel. So other than the MK (given we stay at the Poly / Contemporary so getting there is quick) once we leave AK, HS, or EC, we will probly not be going back.

* I suppose if we were to leave one of the other 3 parks, it could be handy to go over to the MK in the evenings, but in practice that wouldn't happen much either. By the time we leave the other 3 parks, we're pretty done for the day.

Overall I think a lot of it comes down to us having more kids than adults. Our planning tends to be kid-centric, which is less maximizing park time and more minimizing transportation time and walking.

 

[kitkat4622]

My grandson and I took our first ever trip to Disney in November, I originally bought park hopper tickets and we never hopped not one day so for us it was not a good investment and I would not buy them again. when we were done with the park of the day we just wanted to go back to the hotel and relax.

 

[bookgirl]

I bounce back and forth.

I do like park hoppers and with an AP this year I've done a ton of hopping, but I've also done Disney without hoppers and honestly didn't have much of a problem with 1 park per day.

I'd wait if you're not sure.

 

[RebeccaRabbit]

We have never had hoppers and never felt a need for them, personally.

There is so much to do in each park - we spend 2 days at MK and Epcot anyway. See no reason to break it up into half-days here and there, plus wasting time and energy driving back and forth. The only potential problem is AK which closes somewhat early (usually 6:00 or 7:00 during our trips). That's ended up being ok - we just take a very welcome break that night, usually hang out at the resort and swim, eat at the hotel restaurant, etc. Another option would be to go to DTD on the AK night.

The only reason I can think of for "needing" hoppers would be to eat dinner at Epcot. I agree the food at MK stinks - I can see the advantage of hopping over to Epcot for dinner on our MK days. The cost does not seem justified to me, so I've never done it. With two full days at Epcot, we usually get in 4 excellent Epcot meals anyway, and just suffer through MK food