Park Hopping - Observations + Thoughts 2021

[sethschroeder]

I feel like last trip we had (Dec. 2018) was rushed, park hopping to make all our ADR and FPs and rope drops and parades... When they said that they were reinstating Park hopping, a part of me actually thought that we might actually forgo park hopping to make us slow down a bit...

I think if you were scheduling tight and jumping from a park to another park make something specific I could see it.

Our thing is we absolutely are leaving the park when it gets busy and stopping back by the resort.

Normally as we wind down in one park I start refreshing for a FP in the afternoon park to see what we can get.

I never hop to an ADR unless it's dinner but never for lunch.

Disney has also said they have reserved the right to change the 2pm park hopping time, which means we might see them allowing guests to park hop earlier OR later. I'm interested to see the experiences people have with PH in January.

Ya I would expect a place like AK to have it open earlier.

I suspect HS will always be after 2PM to avoid the rush for a boarding pass and then people immediately leaving the park if they don't get it.

I think people are reading way to much in to things. Reminds me when people thought Park Hoppers wouldnt return and I said it would likely be Jan 1.

Maybe during Spring Break, 4th, 50th, and Christmas it might be an issue next year though. They have capacity in the parks it's just how willing they are to just let it "overfill" the capacity limit they self imposed right now.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I heard that you won't be eligible for the 2pm HS boarding groups if you hop to HS. Only if it's your first park.

 

[DebbieB]

I heard that you won't be eligible for the 2pm HS boarding groups if you hop to HS. Only if it's your first park.

Thats correct - you have to have a DHS reservation.

 

[bariww]

Any chance they increase the hours in January or do we think that it's pretty much set by now?

 

[BoatDriver]

Any chance they increase the hours in January or do we think that it's pretty much set by now?

From your lips to God's ears

 

[sethschroeder]

Any chance they increase the hours in January or do we think that it's pretty much set by now?

I don't see them increasing hours but also don't like to get my hopes up to high.

 

[evlaina]

Any chance they increase the hours in January or do we think that it's pretty much set by now?

No way to know but I hope they do. I'm going the last week of January and in 2020 hours were: MK - 9am-8pm, Epcot - 9am-9pm, HS 7am-8pm, and AK 9am-8pm. I don't expect those hours, but I'm hoping we get at least another hour later than what we currently have posted each night due to people hopping around. We're staying at Yacht Club and I'd love to hang out at Epcot each night!

 

[BoatDriver]

The problem as I see it, is that the staggered closing times could potentially drive large numbers into DHS and Epcot, as they open the latest.

Animal Kingdom has always been that strange park that has tried to find reasons to stay open later in the off-season, but closing Magic Kingdom at 6:00pm really leaves a lot of open time for families staying on property.

 

[BoatDriver]

No way to know but I hope they do. I'm going the last week of January and in 2020 hours were: MK - 9am-8pm, Epcot - 9am-9pm, HS 7am-8pm, and AK 9am-8pm. I don't expect those hours, but I'm hoping we get at least another hour later than what we currently have posted each night due to people hopping around. We're staying at Yacht Club and I'd love to hang out at Epcot each night!

Same here. We're at Boardwalk, so we'd love to get some extra time on either end. Unfortunately, any hop over to either AK or MK is pretty much useless, especially if you're starting in Epcot, which doesn't even open until 11:00am. With these hours, hopping may be a moot point.

 

[focusondisney]

It’s looking like Epcot might be the hardest park to hop to, unless you get there by late afternoon. I think everybody except for 1or 2 posters named Epcot as the park they would hop to. A lot of guests at Epcot resorts might be disappointed if the park reaches capacity around dinner time.

My question is how will guests with reservations be handled if they leave their park midday & return later. Will their spots be held for them? They should certainly be able to return with no problem, but I wonder how Disney will determine the adjusted park capacity for park hopping.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

The main value of park hopping to me was rope dropping AK/Pandora or DHS/Star Wars and then do a couple rides and be out of there by 10 am to go to another park. I don't want to wait around till 2 pm to be able to hop to another park.

 

[Rusty2rules]

The last time we went to WDW was the first time we had hoppers. I thought it was great! But, with the way things stand at this moment, I'd pass on them. As someone else said, with the shorter hours, and not being able to hop until 2 pm, I'm not sure it's worth the added cost. Not to mention, there's no guarantee you'll get into the park you're hopping to. But the biggest thing for me is the shortened hours. If that doesn't change by the time I go, I'll be passing on the hoppers.

 

[sethschroeder]

The main value of park hopping to me was rope dropping AK/Pandora or DHS/Star Wars and then do a couple rides and be out of there by 10 am to go to another park. I don't want to wait around till 2 pm to be able to hop to another park.

HS is opening at 10am in most of January. Plus they can adjust and will post Hopping times as the see how it works.

Edit just looked all Jan and Feb HS opens at 10am and I would expect these rules and policies to change by March so don't put thought in to it 3 months out.

 

[subtchr]

I heard that you won't be eligible for the 2pm HS boarding groups if you hop to HS. Only if it's your first park.

Well, I don't see how you COULD get a 2 pm boarding pass if hopping is not permitted until 2...

 

[bariww]

It’s looking like Epcot might be the hardest park to hop to, unless you get there by late afternoon. I think every except for 1or 2 posters named Epcot as the park they would hop to. A lot of guests at Epcot resorts might be disappointed if the park reaches capacity around dinner time.

My question is how will guests with reservations be handled if they leave their park midday & return later. Will their spots be held for them? They should certainly be able to return with no problem, but I wonder how Disney will determine the adjusted park capacity for park hopping.

Will be VERY interesting to see how this works in January....

 

[ArielSRL]

Hubs and I are booked for a very quick adults only Jan 16-18. We are APs so no extra expense to hop. We had originally booked two Epcot days and an MK day (on departure) as our focus is Festival of the Arts. But, with the return of park hopping, I figured we would try it, so I switched our second Epcot day to HS. We'll try for a BG at 7 and make a plan from there. Most likely we will try to hop as close to 2 as possible because I am slightly worried about how popular hopping to Epcot will be, and we have a Narcoossee's ADR at 7:45, I believe. I will be interested to see how it all works.

 

[sethschroeder]

Will be VERY interesting to see how this works in January....

Just throwing out some numbers:

The 35% Capacity Represented by Normal Crowds vs % of Capacity
AK - 63%, MK - 55%, HS - 51%, Epcot - 30%

Math: Park Capacity (Average Crowd)
MK - 100k (55k avg crowd)
AK - 60k (38k)
HS - 60k (31k)
Epcot - 110k (34k)

Current crowds if at capacity for 35% would be X% of normal crowds:
AK - 56%, MK - 63%, HS - 65%, Epcot - 116%

So in reality right now Epcot is able to take on 116% of the normal attendance that visits Epcot. I would bet that January and February are typically are below the daily average attendance as well.

So if there is a park that takes on crowds it absolutely should be Epcot as it can handle it if we are simply talking about capacity.

Disney will have had 30-45 days to gather data at which point they will likely start to outline what will happen in March-April for spring break.

 

[Krandor]

Well, I don't see how you COULD get a 2 pm boarding pass if hopping is not permitted until 2...

They have said the exact time may vary from day to day so I think the rule is there so IF they had a day where they allowed it earlier then 2 it still won't get you a BG so don't rush to HS.

 

[cjlong88]

We have 2-day PH tickets for early February. Our plan is to start at HS on our first day and head over to Epcot to enjoy Festival of the Arts if the park isn't filled to capacity. Our second day is AK and we haven't decided if we will try to hop that day or not. We need to keep an eye on park hours, but it would definitely be Epcot again so we can continue to eat/drink our way around WS.

It sounds like everyone has the same plans...

 

[subtchr]

Just throwing out some numbers:

The 35% Capacity Represented by Normal Crowds vs % of Capacity
AK - 63%, MK - 55%, HS - 51%, Epcot - 30%

Math: Park Capacity (Average Crowd)
MK - 100k (55k avg crowd)
AK - 60k (38k)
HS - 60k (31k)
Epcot - 110k (34k)

Current crowds if at capacity for 35% would be X% of normal crowds:
AK - 56%, MK - 63%, HS - 65%, Epcot - 116%

So in reality right now Epcot is able to take on 116% of the normal attendance that visits Epcot. I would bet that January and February are typically are below the daily average attendance as well.

So if there is a park that takes on crowds it absolutely should be Epcot as it can handle it if we are simply talking about capacity.

Disney will have had 30-45 days to gather data at which point they will likely start to outline what will happen in March-April for spring break.

What is your source for full and normal crowd capacity numbers?