Park Hopping

[Lyncha]

My family has never felt the need to Park Hop, we have always been totally content to take our time in whichever park we chose to visit that particular day. We have a trip upcoming in two weeks and I would especially like to hear from people that have not previously park hopped on whether or not they intend to in the future.

 

[harbin]

We just returned and park hopped more than ever before. I think FP+ makes it more beneficial to do so. We often would start at one park and then hop to MK or Epcot depending on how late we wanted to stay up that night (longer hours at MK than Epcot). We scheduled FP+ at our first park, And then ate dinner and hopped to second park. Took advantage of short wait times in the evening during night time entertainment or close to park closing. It worked beautifully. Our last day we started at HS rode TSM standby (40 min wait) rode RnR and TOT as well as star tours. We then ate lunch and hopped to AK during parade. Rode Everest, primeval whirl, dinosaur, and watched Nemo. Went back to hotel (CR) for a rest, cocktails for mom and Dad. Went to 8:30 show of hoop de do, and the to MK after until 12am closing. Rode tons of rides there and then walked back and went to bed. It was a great day! Park hopping if done right and in the right order works very well. We also had several days with mornings to mid afternoon at one park, back to hotel for swim and rest and then off to another park in evening. I don't know why I didnt hop as much on prior trips. I really enjoyed being able to see more than one park in a day, they all have something different to offer!

 

[photo_chick]

We have never park hopped and do not plan to on our trip this summer. It just doesn't fit with the way we like to tour the parks.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

We prefer park hoppers as we like to stay out pretty late.

For example, in June AK closes at 7 while MK stays open until 2 am on EMH nights.

Without hoppers, our AK days would feel like a half day and the kids would feel cheated out of park time.

Even Epcot closes pretty early. It's nice to be able to hit another park for a few hours.

 

[ElizabethG]

We have park hopped only a couple of times. I don't plan to on our upcoming trip this summer and we have PAPs, so we can hop if we choose. I just don't like to.

 

[Lyncha]

I figured with FP+ you would benefit more from park hopping now than in the past. Does this sound like a reasonable statement?

 

[harbin]

I figured with FP+ you would benefit more from park hopping now than in the past. Does this sound like a reasonable statement?

this was exactly our experience. I truly believe Park hopping is a much bigger benefit now with FP+. Once they add the ability to make FP+ reservations at more than one park per day, it will be even better to hop

 

[WilsonFlyer]

We are just the opposite of most people that are posting, I guess. We would never even think about staying in one park for a whole day. We visit at least two different parks each and every day and sometimes 3. We have been to all four major gates in the same day quite a few times as well, but mostly just to say we did.

We're DVC and AP holders and have been for years so I guess that matters. we go often and the APs make it easy to hop around. We get to a park and it's crowded or we're just not feeling it that day, and we just jump back in the truck and head somewhere else.

I also should add that we travel now with no agenda/planning other than a few FP+s and an OCCASIONAL ADR, and if we miss them (FPs not ADRs so don't scream), it's no big deal to us. We go mostly just to soak in the atmosphere now, much more so than the attractions, so the more ground we can cover in a day, the greater the diversity of atmosphere.

Just a different perspective.

 

[Tebrown96]

We park-hopped on our previous trip (2012) and loved it so are doing it again for our upcoming trip (3 weeks away!). We love the flexibility it gives us. For example, if a park is busier than expected - leave and try another one. We don't have to schedule our meals in a certain park each day. And this trip, since we're staying at an EP-area resort, it'll be great to pop in and out as we want, esp. since we're going during F&G Festival. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the ability to book more FP+ happens before we get there, as that will really make our hopping experience better.

 

[sky13]

The first and last time I went to WDW (13 years ago!) we didn't park hop and just spent almost a full day in each park.

Fast forward 13 years and I am currently planning an upcoming trip in 2 months - and I will definitely be park hopping. Part of this is because this is going to be a very short trip (4 full days in Disney parks), and part of this is because I want to maximise my time - e.g. start off the day in one park at rope drop, head back in the middle of the day for a break, then end off the day in another park (MK closes at midnight while I'm there!). Similar to what another poster has said, I don't think I'd be happy leaving AK at 7pm knowing that I could have headed over to MK for another 5 hours...

Will see how things go once I'm there (as WDW park hopping is going to be incredibly different from Disneyland Paris park hopping) but am hopeful that this will work out!

 

[Lyncha]

Should I be able to upgrade tickets to park hoppers when I check in? Should I call and do so now? Flat rate per ticket?

 

[minniemous]

I think it matters how long your stay is at WDW. In the past we stayed for around 6 nights and we would get the Park hopper. That said, we rarely hopped even then. This last trip being 11 nights there was even a less need to hop and we dis not have park hopper. Did not miss it.

I would rather stay in one park all day then waste time on transportation to another park in the middle of the day. On Animal Kingdom days we go to Downtown Disney or explore our own hotel in the evening since AK closes earlier.

A shorter trip where you want to see everything it in can be indispensable.

 

[Tagstime]

We have gone W/O park hopper 1 time..Never again for us. We like to spend most all day in the parks. So on days like AK for example we can get thru that park in 5-8 hrs no less park closes early..Then venture off to MK for some great night fun. We also like to rope drop in one park in the am then after dinner visit a another park at night. With the new FP+ is even better with PH as you can rope drop and beat lots of the crowds at 1 park and enjoy the rides..Then later at night use FP+ in another park. Also have been to parks where crowd got out of control even with a "Green" day and left to another park with less crowds.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Should I be able to upgrade tickets to park hoppers when I check in? Should I call and do so now? Flat rate per ticket?

Yes you can definitely upgrade to park hoppers when you check in.

Me personally, we park hop a couple of times during our trip, but not every day. Frankly, i wonder if its even worth getting sometimes.

 

[Brad Bishop]

About 5 years ago I thought park hopping was kind of dumb. I'm not paying to go to WDW to ride around in buses between the parks all day.

Sine then I've come to really appreciate it. I have annual passes now so it's just included in that price but it is really nice to open Magic Kingdom, head back to the hotel after lunch for a break, then head out so some other park for the evening.

It's also come in handy for those times when we've entered a park, decided it was too busy, turned around and went to a different park. I don't want to stay in a park when it's really busy.

We have done all four parks in one day before but not because we set out to do it. It was more of us just wandering from one park to the next.

I'd also say that for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom that it's tough to stay in there for the full day. Animal Kingdom closes early, anyway, so it's nice to head off to some other park for the evening.

 

[hakepb]

I think it matters how long your stay is at WDW. In the past we stayed for around 6 nights and we would get the Park hopper. That said, we rarely hopped even then. This last trip being 11 nights there was even a less need to hop and we dis not have park hopper. Did not miss it.

I would rather stay in one park all day then waste time on transportation to another park in the middle of the day. On Animal Kingdom days we go to Downtown Disney or explore our own hotel in the evening since AK closes earlier.

A shorter trip where you want to see everything it in can be indispensable.

I'm the opposite. I enjoy hopping more on a longer trip. Mostly because I want to eat more dinners in EPCOT than I want to spend mornings there.

Most of my "hopping" is after a mid-day resort break, so going to park B instead of returning to Park A doesn't cause more transportation time.

 

[donnajherren]

Strangely, we fit your question--though we always buy Park Hopper tickets, we've never park-hopped as such. We buy them because we stay at the Beach Club and often walk over to Epcot's World Showcase for dinner.

In the future, however, we plan to park hop for the purpose of touring. Our kids are older now, and better able to handle longer days as long as they have some downtime in the afternoon.

 

[jfelcie]

We always park hop to relax and enjoy our resort. We are DVD at BWV so that makes a big difference. For example, we might go to HS in the AM, we always take a pool break and then EPCOT at night. We try to hit late night EMH. We go for 8 days and do 2 different parks each day. We visit each park twice, a morning visit and a late night visit. We enjoy our afternoon break from the mad rush . . . swimming, reading by the pool, roasting marsh mellows, kids love the Community Hall, lunch at ESPN Club or even a nap in the room. Love my Disney experience!!!

 

[SGMCO]

After 4 Trips (staying onsite) this will be our first time Park hopping. We want to eat at Epcot TS most evenings. My DS is now an Adult and Epcot is his favorite park now. When he was younger we spent most time in MK.

 

[lustergirl]

We have always hopped around between parks every day. One park in the morning and one park at night. I like EPCOT more at night.