? Park Hoppers

[Albertan mom]

I have a question about park hoppers. Do you need them?
Or is it better to just concentrate on one park a day?
Because the parks are really far apart right?

I keep thinking I need them, because we used them at Disneyland/CAdventure. We would spend the day at one park, hop to the other for fireworks, hop to the other for a parade. But they are right beside each other too.

It adds a huge expense to get the 'hopper' option. Is it worth it? Do the parades run every day, fireworks every night?

THanks!

 

[jeannief]

Hi Albertan mom,
It depends how long you are going for and what is on at the time. We went for 4 days and had hoppers (old ticketing system) and only hopped on one day, but we missed the fireworks at MK and wanted to go back. You can always add the hopper on afterwards if you find closer to your dates that the parades, etc. you want to see are not on the day you are in a specific park.
We had a car and stayed on disney property, it took about 15 minutes to get from AK to MK (from gate to car, car next parking lot then onto to monorail boarding), we did do a detour back to our room for supplies.
I say don't take it but budget for it just in case you find you really need to add it on later. If you don't then you can use the extra $$ on other things.
Hope that helps.

 

[idno9999]

I have the same dilemma. Trying to decide 5 day base or 5 day PH. Using the Mosuesavers discount the difference between them is $124. Now, all the parades, fireworks etc are on all 5 days . So, I am thinking just stick to 5 day base ticket , spend all day at one park ( spend 2 days at MK, 1 day at AK, 1 EPCOT, 1 MGM). If the Park doesnt take all day ( e.g AK) just go early to hotel and hit the pool or hot tub .

Feedback please

 

[d96j97]

Yes, it can definately be done. However, who doesn't love the freedom of knowing you can "hop" back and forth at any time of the day. I know it is a bit more pricy and we are all on a budget, but it is one option well worth the cost. Believe me, I am very frugal, but there are certain things that are "priceless".

This time, we actually went all out and got 10 PH/No Expriring Tickets and we are only going for 3 days. By the time you add up 3 days/park hoppers it was going to be something like $750 for the 4 of us. We paid the extra $500 and now have 10 day tickets, 3 days for our Christmas trip and 7 left over for a future trip.

 

[kelleigh1]

Personally, I prefer the hopper. I just like knowing that if a park gets too crowded, I have the option of leaving and going somewhere else. Or, if we decide to do one park on a particular day but want to see the fireworks at another later on, we have the option too.

I'm sure that others prefer one park per day, but I just like having the flexibility.

 

[Cynt]

Thanks for asking this question. I'm debating whether or not to purchase the hopper as well. Am I clear that you can re-enter the same park on the same day? For instance mid afternoon we live MK and return to the hotel for lunch and pool break. Can we re-enter MK that evening w/out the hopper pass, just a regular base ticket?

I'm going 6 nights, 7 days and the first day I plan to book the earliest flight via Air Tran to Orlando and on the return trip book the latest flight out. This will allow me 7 days and I plan to go to MK, MGM and AK two days and Epcot one day. I went to WDW in 1997 and one park a day was plenty. In the evenings we went to Pleasure Island for the comedian and New Year's eve party.

 

[crow11ad]

The past 2 times we had the old dream maker package where hopping was included. We used it every time we had it. This time originally we only had just the base tickets. But we are going for my bday and I will want to hit as much parks as possible on that day. Plus we have one day where we have lunch at Prime time at MGM and then going to Epcot for the evening. You may not need them or you may do. It's just great that if my DW says she needs a nap, I can say I am going to ride TOT and then SOaring or whatever. And with the discount code that came out earlier this month, we got a discount on the hopping option....

 

[lovemy3girls]

We went the first week of October. We had the 7 day tickets without the hopper. This worked out fine for us. We did our first 2 days in MK, then hit Epcot, MGM, and Animal Kingdom each for a whole day. Then our last 2 days we did MK again. We have 3 dd's under the age of 7 so of course MK was where they wanted to be. We enjoyed being able to do the MK at a very leisurly pace-the MK days were our easy days. I know if we would have had the hoppers, we would have felt like we needed to hop, for example, after leaving MK early, to get our moneys worth. Instead we were able to swim, relax, enjoy our hotel (CR). It worked out great for us.

 

[huskies90]

It definitely can be done without hoppers and for a family of 4 it is signficant expense. That being said, the need for hopping depends on your touring style. BTW, yes, you can leave and return to the same park with non hoppers.

But if you either 1) like to go commando or 2) like to break up your days into different experiences or 3) you are going for a short period of time, hoppers are probably worth the $$. If you are going for an extended stay and plan alot of non park time, I think you can easily get by without them.

 

[Albertan mom]

Thank you so much for your excellent input!!!
I am going to get the final prices, and then decide from there.

Like someone mentioned, I am scared that if I have the hoppers, I will think I have to use them. And if the parks are all a 20minute shuttle trip away, then that is time consuming too.

My kids are 7 and 10, so I was thinking
Day 1 MK
Day 2 AK
Day 3 Other-waterpark, Circue De Soleil
Day 4 MGM
Day 5 Other- Richard Petty Driving Exp, Watersports, Parasailing
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7-Whatever park we liked the best, go back to it?

Is that how it goes? That if we liked say, MK the best, we could go back there for day 7? (without hopper)
But without the hopper, we could only stay in the park we checked in right?
(if we did MK and were done by 3, we couldn't go over to MGM right?)

And if you have the hopper, we could use it to check out the fireworks in a park on day 5 even though we didn't go there?
And if we were bored at Epcot, we couldn't go to another park without the hopper right?

Sorry for all my confusing questions!!

 

[huskies90]

Thank you so much for your excellent input!!!
I am going to get the final prices, and then decide from there.

Like someone mentioned, I am scared that if I have the hoppers, I will think I have to use them. And if the parks are all a 20minute shuttle trip away, then that is time consuming too.

My kids are 7 and 10, so I was thinking
Day 1 MK
Day 2 AK
Day 3 Other-waterpark, Circue De Soleil
Day 4 MGM
Day 5 Other- Richard Petty Driving Exp, Watersports, Parasailing
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7-Whatever park we liked the best, go back to it?

Is that how it goes? That if we liked say, MK the best, we could go back there for day 7? (without hopper)
But without the hopper, we could only stay in the park we checked in right?
(if we did MK and were done by 3, we couldn't go over to MGM right?)

And if you have the hopper, we could use it to check out the fireworks in a park on day 5 even though we didn't go there?
And if we were bored at Epcot, we couldn't go to another park without the hopper right?

Sorry for all my confusing questions!!

Yeah you have it correct and yes, it just opens up some possibilities. I think it depends on your touring style and how much time you have. With only five days, the hopper makes sense because there is going to be something you'll miss and want to check out later. And if you are even thinking about going to one park then checking out fireworks later at another, you should get the hopper. Your style is more commando than relaxed. Don't take that the wrong way. There are different levels of commando and it doesn't mean you are at a full sprint from one attraction to another. I define it as you want to see as much as you can at whatever pace you set. So hoppers are good for that. Also for that last day when you want check out a few "one more time" attractions. They may be at different parks.

So, if you get the hoppers, plan on the same schedule doing one park each day. I think you'll see that even with that plan, you will take advantage of the hoppers.

 

[henrylovespooh]

Hopping is a must for us and well worth the money. We just got back from WDW and hopped every day. Here's how we benefited from hoppers - it might answer some of your questions:

1) We were able to avoid the most crowded days at parks but not miss the fireworks and parades at night. MK is more crowded on the nights it has Spectro and Wishes. That was the case last Saturday and Monday. We had a dinner ADR at Cinderella's Royal Table at 5:00 p.m. last Monday, and we went to the park an hour early to ride some rides before dinner. We couldn't ride anything because the lines were so long and the Fastpass Returns were around 7 p.m. for some rides. Ugh. Tuesday was our last day at WDW and we went to MK. There was no parade or fireworks that night and the park was wonderful - no crowds at all, not even at 1 p.m. If we didn't have hoppers, we would have to go to MK on Spectro and Wishes nights and have to endure 40-60 minute waits for rides that were only 10 minutes on a non-Wishes day.

So if you have hoppers, you can spend the day in a park that tends to be less crowded on a certain day, and then go to a different park that has a nighttime attraction you want to see.

On a typical trip, we go to MK a few mornings and avoid it most afternoons unless we want to see the afternoon parade. The mornings are less crowded in MK and we walk on most rides, and then either before or after lunch we head to Epcot to walk around the World Showcase because it tends to be less crowded before dinner. We can do morning EMHs at any park but not be stuck in that park for the rest of the day when it can get very crowded.

2) We didn't waste days on parks we don't spend a whole day in. We usually only spend a half day in AK and MGM, so we use the hopper to not waste the rest of the day, and we can go to another park for dinner and maybe Wishes or Illuminations. We went to AK on the EMH morning, so we were out right after lunch. Then we went to the pool and let the kids nap - then we went to Epcot for Illuminations.

 

[hockeybabe]

I would like to add that you never know when you'll need to hop. Like we planned on spending an entire day at AK, but it was so crowded and I was so frustrated, I was glad to get out of there and head somewhere else. We had to hop to see Spectromagic, since it was only showing on the 4th night of our trip and I didn't want to wait 4 days to see MK Sometimes your ADR's might mess up your schedule, and sometimes the needs of people in your party might. I like having the hoppers, especially for longer vacations, when you might go back to your room for a swim or rest in the afternoon, and prefer to go to a different park than you did that morning. But that's just my opinion!

How 'bout them Flames?!!!

 

[never_enough_pooh]

We like to park hop, as that allows us to start the day at one park, and have dinner at another!
Plus, towards the end of the trip, we like to split our day between 2 parks (to do what we didn't have time to do before).


I think it is worth the extra money!

 

[indigoxtreme]

If you purchase the non-hoppers and then decide you needed it, you can always go to guest relations and add it. You will have to pay the whole price as if you had it all along though.

 

[Cinderella94]

I would say get the park hoppers. What we did the last times we went, we did a park early in the morning, went to a water-park around noon, and did another park until closing time that evening. It was really nice.

 

[johde]

Our family has alway been park hoppers (at least since there were parks to hop). At this point I can't imagine not hopping. We also go in December when park hours are reduced. AK closes at 5:00, MK closes at 6:00 on MVMCP nights, Epcot is open later though 9:30. We would start our day at one park take a break and then go to Epcot in the evening. That strategy saves us a whole day on our tickets so we always plan 1 day to relax at the resort and resort hop.