Park Hopping for Newbies?

[Sailormoon2]

we will be staying at BC Aug 26-30 with the following plan:
Aug 26: 5pm WS watch Illuminations (hopefully with our R&C ADR)
Aug 27: all day MK (am EMH)
Aug 28: morning TL, evening FW (evening EMH)
Sat. Aug 29 DHS with Fantasmic (am EMH)
Sun Aug 30 AK then DTD? (am EMH)

I haven't been since childhood. Am a very early riser by nature so RD is no issue. Just trying to decide given our location if there would be any value in Park Hopping to get more done, or at least have repeat ride experiences. To the veterans, could we get more value out of splitting our days between 2 parks? Have no idea how tiring we (2 healthy adults) are likely to feel. Thanks for any advice, or if you would alter the itinerary.

 

[worm761]

we will be staying at BC Aug 26-30 with the following plan:
Aug 26: 5pm WS watch Illuminations (hopefully with our R&C ADR)
Aug 27: all day MK (am EMH)
Aug 28: morning TL, evening FW (evening EMH)
Sat. Aug 29 DHS with Fantasmic (am EMH)
Sun Aug 30 AK then DTD? (am EMH)

I haven't been since childhood. Am a very early riser by nature so RD is no issue. Just trying to decide given our location if there would be any value in Park Hopping to get more done, or at least have repeat ride experiences. To the veterans, could we get more value out of splitting our days between 2 parks? Have no idea how tiring we (2 healthy adults) are likely to feel. Thanks for any advice, or if you would alter the itinerary.

1: Can you get more value from park hopping? Not really if time is an issue. You are looking at close to an hour to hop from one park to the next. Since it has been so long since you have been I suggest you stick to one park per day. Also, prioritize what you want to get done and what you think/feel you can skip. We go around once a year and still pretty much stick to one park per day unless we do dinner reservations at Epcot but even that is rare.

2. Unless you guys have jobs where you are on your feet all day, you will be sore and you will be tired at the end of every day. Peppermint foot spray works wonders on your feet and calves. Moleskin in case you get blisters is best bought before getting to Disney. Remember sunscreen.

 

[Reddog1134]

Personally, I wouldn't park hop just to park hop.

I would park hop for 2 reasons:

1. If I was planning on taking an afternoon break, I might go to a different park in the evening. I wouldn't buy PH's for this purpose but I would use them if I had them.
2. To take advantage of EMH. Go to a morning EMH then switch to another park when it got crowded. Or go to a low crowd park in the morning and then hop to a late EMH.

 

[Sailormoon2]

2. Unless you guys have jobs where you are on your feet all day, you will be sore and you will be tired at the end of every day. Peppermint foot spray works wonders on your feet and calves. Moleskin in case you get blisters is best bought before getting to Disney. Remember sunscreen.

This sounds like solid advice. DH stands all day, but I do not.

 

[jcdean]

I'm not a big fan of park hopping, but staying at the BC might change my mind. Wandering over to WS every night would be too much of a temptation...

 

[worm761]

I would also suggest you start walking. Your legs need to get used to doing that many miles a day. I walk on my treadmill and we will start evening walks so we are used to walking in the heat. Plus I have a 5 year old that I need to get up to speed too.

 

[Alesia]

If you're planning on taking advantage of EMH, I definitely recommend hoppers. A park with EMH will be significantly busier than the other parks from lunch time through early evening.

If you decide not to hop, avoid the park with EMH. Use the crowd calendars at easywdw.com to help chose your days.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I would also suggest you start walking. Your legs need to get used to doing that many miles a day. I walk on my treadmill and we will start evening walks so we are used to walking in the heat. Plus I have a 5 year old that I need to get up to speed too.

I'm actually an avid runner, it's more the heat that worries me than the endurance. I can't imagine how exhausting these holidays must be for the wee ones. Lots of stroller time I guess.

 

[sharonabe]

The best thing about the park hopping add-on is you don't have to make that decision ahead of time to save any money. You can add it once you're there if you decide you want to hop. So my advice is to just wait and see if you want/need to hop.

With that said, you are doing morning EMH parks which tend to get busier later in the day than the non EMH parks. Our strategy is to always hit the early EMH parks (early risers too) and then switch to the more recommended parks in the afternoon/evening. That way we get the best of both worlds. You could do the same thing with late EMH parks. Go to the more recommended park in the a.m. and hop to the late EMH.

Also, hopping has become our "break time." We don't go back to the resort for a break. That 30 min - hour of bus/boat/monorail time is enough of a sensory break and gets us in the a/c long enough to keep going.

 

[BunsenH]

I'm not a big fan of park hopping, but staying at the BC might change my mind. Wandering over to WS every night would be too much of a temptation...

This is our strategy. We typically stay at the BWI and use Epcot as our "hub". AK, MK, or DS in the morning, then pass through Epcot for a few rides and/or lunch on our way back to the hotel for a rest. We then visit WS or just the Boardwalk in the evenings.

 

[2Gma]

We've been 3 times and never park hopped. Being from a northern climate the heat gets exhausting for us (healthy athletic adults) even when taking some "breaks" while watching air conditioned shows, etc. But if you plan to go from opening to close a few days a park hopper just might be worth it.

 

[Sailormoon2]

If you're planning on taking advantage of EMH, I definitely recommend hoppers. A park with EMH will be significantly busier than the other parks from lunch time through early evening.

If you decide not to hop, avoid the park with EMH. Use the crowd calendars at easywdw.com to help chose your days.

This was essentially my dilemma, from the research. Should we AK for EMH but then go to HS and Fantasmic afternoon/evening? Would we really get more done? Given the 9:30 close time I'm doubtful. Being a morning person I like EMH.

The best thing about the park hopping add-on is you don't have to make that decision ahead of time to save any money. You can add it once you're there if you decide you want to hop. So my advice is to just wait and see if you want/need to hop.

I actually didn't realize this. Lol. Too simple.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

We park hop because we like to end up at the Magic Kingdom for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes or EPCOT for dinner and Illuminations. Also, we go for EMH and leave when the park starts to get crowded and sometimes take a break at the resort before hopping to the second park for our FP+. Like jcdean said above, being at the BC resort makes it so easy to go to EPCOT in the evenings. The World Showcase is so nice at night. Cheers and have fun!!!!

 

[Baptist]

If I were you, I would use park hoppers to end the evening in Epcot for dinner. The walk to the Beach Club is short and pleasant. I agree with using park hoppers to take advantage of EMH. Just like others suggested, go to morning EMH then park hop out or start at another park and hop into evening EMH. It's such a freeing feeling to hop out of a crowded park. However, you are going at a decent time as most kids are already back in school.

 

[tlmadden73]

I park hop because I have been to the parks many times and even on short trips I like to hit certain things, but if you haven't been in a while (or the people you with have NEVER been) .. then simply staying one day in each park is sufficient. There are plenty of attractions and shows and shopping to spend more than a day in every park.

I would only consider getting a park hopper:
1) My park days is 5 days or greater
or
2) I am getting a 10-day no-expiration ticket. (which you no longer can get)
or
3) I am going with a big family group where splitting up/handing off the kids is an option (grandparents take the kids while the parents hop over to another park for nice dinner and the night shows)

Honestly there is plenty to do in the resort as a whole without having to park hop even if you are done with a park in the afternoon.
On the day you go to AK ... pick a nice resort restaurant to go to instead of hopping.
If you have other half-days .. go to Downtown Disney and do your shopping there.

 

[Sailormoon2]

@tlmadden73 we actually were planning on doing Sanaa (at Kidani) following our AK day. Seemed like a solid way to unwind.

 

[Alesia]

This was essentially my dilemma, from the research. Should we AK for EMH but then go to HS and Fantasmic afternoon/evening? Would we really get more done? Given the 9:30 close time I'm doubtful. Being a morning person I like EMH.

Keep in mid that the crowd level number are an average of all of the parks. For example: if a day is predicted to be a "3," the parks without EMH can be 1s or 2s all day, while the park with EMH is more like a 7 by lunchtime.

Even with shorter hours, you'll accomplish a lot more if you avoid parks with EMH (if you don't hop.) It literally means the difference between standing in 20 minute lines vs. 60+ minute lines.

 

[kaybird]

We love to park hop. We use the transportation between parks as our rest time, cool and off of our feet. The easiest IMHO are MK/Epcot Epcot/DHS. Rarely takes an hour between those parks. AK in the AM, then a bus to anywhere works fine.

 

[Lucius Best]

Given you have a relatively short trip, and haven't been to WDW for a while, I'm inclined to say you don't need to hop. If you want to maximize your time in the parks, you lose time hopping from one park to another. Park Hopper is going to cost a flat ~$64 regardless of how many days you hop, even if you add it on your last day. If you were planning on taking pool breaks, then park hopping could be useful, however you could always just go back to the same park after the pool.

With the new FP+, one strategy is to go to a morning EMH park, then hop to an expected less busy park, and have your 3 FP+ reservations at the second park. On our last trip, our strategy was to go to a less busy park, and have our 3 FP+ reservations before noon, then we could start getting additional FP from kiosks. Our goal was to get as many FP as possible.

This is what I would do:
Wed: Epcot evening dinner/Iluminations
Thurs: MK EMH, all day, Wishes
Fri: HS, pool, back to HS for Fantasmic
Sat: Epcot, TL, back to Epcot for dinner/Illuminations
Sun: AK EMH, dinner Sanaa

You have MK Thursday for EMH. Yes, MK will be more busy because of morning EMH, but it will also be busy (busier?) on the weekend, and can get busy on Friday afternoons as well. Predicted crowd level 3 is not that bad. There are so many attractions at MK, even when it gets busy in the afternoon, you can find things to do at MK in between FP.

You have HS Saturday for EMH. I would recommend moving HS to Friday. HS is a much smaller park, with fewer rides, and those rides get long lines very fast. I've found that HS is busier at 8am on EMH day than 9am on a regular day, everyone is going to the same handful of rides. Also, BC has one of the nicest pools, I'd want to spend some time there. When you leave HS for the pool, you can also grab a FP at a kiosk for when you come back.

You have Typhoon Lagoon morning and Epcot evening EMH? You can usually get a lot done morning EMH because most people can't get out of bed. The mornings are the times when the lines are shortest. Evening EMH typically still has long lines, unless it's MK with one of their 1am or 2am closings. I think you can do many more rides at Epcot rope drop than evening EMH. I'd do Epcot rope drop, leave by noon to go to water park.

AK will likely be slightly busier Sunday than Saturday, but if you are at 8am rope drop, you can get a lot done early, then walk the nature trails and see the animals/shows in the afternoon in between FP.

 

[Sailormoon2]

This is what I would do:
Wed: Epcot evening dinner/Iluminations
Thurs: MK EMH, all day, Wishes
Fri: HS, pool, back to HS for Fantasmic
Sat: Epcot, TL, back to Epcot for dinner/Illuminations
Sun: AK EMH, dinner Sanaa

You have HS Saturday for EMH. I would recommend moving HS to Friday. HS is a much smaller park, with fewer rides, and those rides get long lines very fast. I've found that HS is busier at 8am on EMH day than 9am on a regular day, everyone is going to the same handful of rides. Also, BC has one of the nicest pools, I'd want to spend some time there. When you leave HS for the pool, you can also grab a FP at a kiosk for when you come back.

You have Typhoon Lagoon morning and Epcot evening EMH? You can usually get a lot done morning EMH because most people can't get out of bed. The mornings are the times when the lines are shortest. Evening EMH typically still has long lines, unless it's MK with one of their 1am or 2am closings. I think you can do many more rides at Epcot rope drop than evening EMH. I'd do Epcot rope drop, leave by noon to go to water park.

AK will likely be slightly busier Sunday than Saturday, but if you are at 8am rope drop, you can get a lot done early, then walk the nature trails and see the animals/shows in the afternoon in between FP.

OMG!! Thank you soooo much for taking the time to write such a detailed response. I truly appreciate your time and advice. I will definitely look into flipping the EP and HS days.

My only remaining question would be the likelihood of TL being busier on weekends with local traffic, than during the week.