Park Hopping Worth It? Pros/Cons

[tndisney5]

We have never done park hoppers before. We have our next trip booked for Dec, NYE week. This is the first time we are considering park hoppers. We currently have 5 day MYW tickets. If we do want the PHs would this be considered an upgrade? Call in and they tack on the difference to our bill? Does anyone know how much extra PHs are? We would only need them for 4 days and then a regular 1 day MYW ticket for the last day of our trip (no time to park hop). We are a family of 5, 2a/3c.

Also is PHing worth it around NYE? The parks are so busy. Last time we went for NYE only MK was hard to manage. Now, with so many different attractions we are thinking MK might get hairy in the afternoons and we could hop to another park for a while. Anyone a frequent PHer with advice?

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have never done park hoppers before. We have our next trip booked for Dec, NYE week. This is the first time we are considering park hoppers. We currently have 5 day MYW tickets. If we do want the PHs would this be considered an upgrade? Call in and they tack on the difference to our bill? Does anyone know how much extra PHs are? We would only need them for 4 days and then a regular 1 day MYW ticket for the last day of our trip (no time to park hop). We are a family of 5, 2a/3c.

Also is PHing worth it around NYE? The parks are so busy. Last time we went for NYE only MK was hard to manage. Now, with so many different attractions we are thinking MK might get hairy in the afternoons and we could hop to another park for a while. Anyone a frequent PHer with advice?

Since you are staying at the CR I would definitely get park hoppers. It is so easy to go in and out of MK from the CR, you can go there every day. It is really nice if you just want to catch Wishes at night, but spend the day in a different park.And if the park you choose is mobbed, you can hop to a less crowded park. The MDE app will tell you the wait times at each park.

The park hopper is a one time charge. If you add them them they apply to all of your ticket days.

 

[tndisney5]

Thank you! Any clue how much extra it is? Usually we don't fool with the PHs but I am thinking it might be worth it this time.

 

[cakebaker]

We think they're absolutely worth it any time of year, but especially when it's busy.

We stayed one trip from just before Christmas thru New Year's Eve. On Christmas Eve, we spend time at HS until it got jam packed, then hopped over to Epcot for dinner and the rest of the evening. New Years, we did the opposite- Epcot, then hopped to HS for the fireworks and New Years Eve celebrations.

Offhand, I don't know what the additional cost is.

 

[rwdavis2]

I think so yes. Especially with FP+. I would make rope drop at a park each day but schedule fastpasses at the second park of the day. Once the first park starts to get crowded head to where the FP+ reservations are. IMHO, this would mostly apply to MK as the first park.

 

[FFMickey]

We always get park hoppers. It's especially nice when you go to AK or HS and finish out the day/night at MK or EP. I think the park hopper option is like $60-70 per ticket for adults. I don't know the costs with child tickets.

 

[RookieLady]

Hoppers especially work well with EMH. You can open a park, but when the crowd starts building, as others have suggested, leave. It allows you to really get a lot done before the crowd comes. We also use it for fireworks. I just love WISHES. We also don't spend all day at HS and AK, so it's nice to have another park option.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thank you! Any clue how much extra it is? Usually we don't fool with the PHs but I am thinking it might be worth it this time.

It will be an extra $63.90 per person with tax to add the ph options. Both adults and children pay the same price.

 

[ZoZo]

It costs around $60 to add the hopper option to a ticket. It costs the same whether you hop one day or all days - it's a one-time, flat cost per ticket.

Since you're going at such a busy time of year, I'd definitely spend the money to hop. It will give you much more flexibility. You can take advantage of morning EMH, then hop to a less busy park. Totally worth it at such a busy time of year.

 

[hakepb]

MK in the afternoon / evening will have more same day, additional FP+ options available (although it may mostly be secondary rides like Buzz, POTC..) because MK has more rides than the other parks.
I do love hopping to EPCOT for dinner.

 

[linskypens]

I think so yes. Especially with FP+. I would make rope drop at a park each day but schedule fastpasses at the second park of the day. Once the first park starts to get crowded head to where the FP+ reservations are. IMHO, this would mostly apply to MK as the first park.

my thoughts exactly...hit RD to make the most out of your day, and then make your FP+ for the afternoon in the second park.

 

[Mikie]

How old are your kids? In the past, we bought hoppers when our oldest was only 4 & and then with a 6&4yo. With kids that age, we can't go open to close, even if we took a midday break. On those trips, I think we hopped once, literally to feel like we had gotten *something* for our money. The next few trips, we always had someone 6 of under and no hoppers and never missed them. We have never in our lives gotten bored in a park and needed to leave to find something more interesting to do. We have never traveled at Christmas/NYE, though, so those kinds of crowd levels will make a big difference. We have gone at pretty crowded Easter/spring break and "moderate" crowded October.

I'd consider hoppers my next trip, when all my kids will be 9+; on a very short trip (4days or less when I don't have at least a full day per park); or a very long trip (10+ days when I've seen everything 1-2 full days already and still have more vacation to go around).

 

[tndisney5]

Thanks for all the replies! My only park of concern is MK. We plan on spending our first two days there (Dec 29 and 30). I know the crowds will be thick! Last visit we went to MK on Jan. 2 and it was unbearable. We rode a few attractions in the morning, but had to leave after lunch. We didn't go back until after dinner to see the MSEP. So...should we plan on getting to MK early then using our FP+ for the afternoon park? We were not planning on going to AK next visit but with a PH it would be a nice laid back afternoon. We found crowds last NYE trip at AK very manageable.

We were not bored last visit at any park, just didn't get the most out of our MK day.

Could we do two day PH upgrade and just keep our MYW tickets for the rest of the trip? I really only think we would PH on the first two days we are at MK to get out of the heavy afternoon crowds. We are planning on HS for NYE and EP for NYDay. We went to HS for NYE last time and stayed from park opening to 10pm with a 4 and 5 year old.

This visit our children will be 8, 7, and 5.

Again, thanks for all the advice!

 

[chelseabun76]

We have used hoppers 3 times now, and made use of them every time. I like the idea of spending the day at one park and since you are so close by, you can head over to MK to catch wishes and the late parade, etc. as well.

 

[hakepb]

Park hopper is an all or nothing upgrade. It's not per-day, it is priced per-ticket.

And you would pay the same to upgrade on day 1 as you would on day 5... Even though the day 5 upgrade would only let you get one day's use from it.

 

[tndisney5]

okay...becoming clearer now for the PH novice. So, it doesn't matter how many days we want it for--if we want to upgrade one day, we automatically upgrade all 5 days? I am right?

 

[dayvewc]

$60 per ticket. Or that is what it says on the Disney website.

I did not do park hoppers my first several visits. Last year I had an AP, and park hopped seldom, but it was nice having the option. I think in the future, I will probably have park hoppers, but it is totally possible to manage without them.

 

[Wood Nymph]

okay...becoming clearer now for the PH novice. So, it doesn't matter how many days we want it for--if we want to upgrade one day, we automatically upgrade all 5 days? I am right?

Yes.

 

[shalom]

Last I knew, you could upgrade to hoppers while you're there, meaning you don't have to make up your mind until you're there, and then only get it if you're going to use it. Has that changed?

 

[tndisney5]

Yes.

Got it! Sounds like it could def be worth it! My kids are troopers, so late EMH could be a good thing for us. That time of year there are all kinds of EMH in the evening at MK, etc., so we could always check back in after dinner if we wanted to and see what we might be able to get done attraction wise. Thanks for all your help