Park Hopping Strategies?

[MICKEY1024]

We will be in Disney 5 monthes from today neway I have been there in the past but this is our first time getting the park hoppers usually we just do one full day at each park, we will be their for 10 days with PH & waterpark n More option, my question is what are your park hopping stragies or advice we have having a hard time planning because we dont know what will be to much, but we want to get our moneys worth by hopping, btw it is just me and my boyfriend we are both 25 and dont have kids. TIA

 

[PSUGuy]

For the last 5 years or more this is how we made use of the Hopper. We choose an non-Epcot park, one without early EMH and get there for rope-drop. By smart use of FP we always get our fill of major attractions by the time the stand-by lines get to a 25 or more min. wait, usually around noon or so. Then, we always hop to Epcot which swallows crowds whole. Seriously, except for Sat nights during Food&Wine WS never seems crowded to us and we've been there in Jan., Oct., Nov. but mostly in March during Spring break. Our trips are usually 8 days or more so we do hit Epcot at rope-drop at least once to get on Soarin' a few times, sometimes when we hop to Epcot Soarin' still has FPs available, too.

This plan would work best for adults who enjoy WS, but we're old f@rts, so it works for us.

Bill From PA

 

[Princess.Neve]

For me, the best use of a park hopper is to go to a different park for dinner or the night time activities. Often times we will park hop to Epcot from another park to have a nice dinner, or we will park hop to DHS to see Fantasmic, since I am a huge fan!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

There are various points when considering hopping. One is distance. HS and Epcot are close together, joined by a short, fun, scenic boat ride (or even walking or walking part way). MK is far from all the others, but you can take the monrail to MK. AK is pretty close to Epcot and HS, but if you pair Epcot/HS thenmaybe a AK MK pair makes sense. Esp, as AK closes early and MK is often open the latest.

Epcot has many fine choices for dinner.

MKis often open latest, so it may be a good evening hop.

Your resort location. Getting back to a monorail resort from MK is a no-brainer. Same thing for an Epcot area deluxe and Epcot/HS.

The EMH park also matters. I especially think evening EMH is a better deal.
So hopping in to the evening emh park makes sense, if the overall crowds are high enough.

One more important point is the weather. In say February, evenings are cool/cold and days are warm. You'll likely want shorts inthe day and jeans/jacket at night. Come June/July/August, you may want to wash the sweat off. Any time of year it can be nice to change into better clothes for a nice TS dinner. Not required, but sometimes nice. Same thing goes after a day of slogging in heavy rain, or riding Kali at AK. FOr any of those reasons, going back to your resort to change your clothes can be refreshing. This is pehaps the disadvantage of AKL - it is close to AK park.

The mods and values fall in between when it comes to convenience of hopping. The mods are usually the worst, unless you are driving your own car. On days you plan to hop, it pays to have a car - SO LONG as you use the car for the hop. If you leave the car at one park and hop to another using Disney transport, getting back to your car can be tricky.

 

[serene56]

If you are going early in february you might not have to use park hoppers.

what we are doing with hopping- we go to rope drop in an Non emh park and stay til about 1:00-1:30 and head back to the resort for a relaxing swim, nap and then head out to another park for dinner.

(but we also have a 5 year old with us)

animal kingdom closes early so you will be able to hop to another park that is opened later.

 

[Planogirl]

In your case I would plan my meals first. Then I would be at a park for early entry, tour until I'm tired and go back to the resort to rest or swim or shop or whatever. Then when you feel refreshed go to wherever your ADR is and leisurely tour that particular park when you're done eating. You can see fireworks or parades if you have an interest.

Epcot is very nice at night. You can also eat at the Boardwalk or the other hotels in that area and head to World Showcase afterwards.

Do plan at least one evening in MK. The crowds there get on my nerves but there's a lot going on and it's pretty at night.

 

[qman]

We've used our PH so we could hit the "best park" (say Epcot) to avoid the crowds but still be open to whatever nightly entertainment (say Wishes) we wanted. Also, towards the end of our trips (after we have toured each park) we hop back to the things we liked the most and spend a few hours at two or three parks.

It also is great for "what the heck let's go for it" moments. On our second day during our last trip we had spent the morning/early afternoon at TL and then caught the early show of Fantasmic at HS. While we were waiting for our bus to take us back to the resort my wife said "Why don't we go over to the Magic Kingdom and watch Wishes" so we did.

The one thing to keep in mind that each hop might take up to an hour to complete,

 

[Stinky_Pete]

Then I would be at a park for early entry, tour until I'm tired and go back to the resort to rest or swim or shop or whatever. Then when you feel refreshed go to wherever your ADR is and leisurely tour that particular park when you're done eating. You can see fireworks or parades if you have an interest.

I always get the hopper option and this is exactly what I do.

Also, I like to go in December. Sometimes MK closes early (especially on MVMCP nights) so after my break I hop over to Epcot for the afternoon/evening.