Park hopping

[RLGNC]

So many great points and some things I hadn't thought of! Thanks, everyone!

 

[Princess_Kirky]

Hopping from DHS to EP (or vice versa) is so nice via the boat! Consider doing this. You get to see the resorts and Boardwalk from a different vantage point. It's also very cool to enter EP though the WS.

 

[missnikki411]

We've only used park hoppers so I don't know any other way. I love having the freedom to go wherever we want. We don't spend a whole day at AK so its nice after the morning to be able to go elsewhere. DHS closes at 7-730 during our upcoming trip so I've planned a hop to MK to see Wishes just to make the most of our days.

 

[Delirium]

During the Party season, life without hoppers can be brutal at MK if you want to spend any time at all there in the evening. You only get 3 chances over the course of the week for nighttime entertainment during that time of year, and those days are absolutely slammed. We love our MK nights, and the hoppers allow us to do that without having to fight twice the normal crowd all day in order to experience it.

 

[scottb8888]

We are heading to WDW in August and we received a pin code that basically upgraded us to park hoppers for free. We've never had park hoppers before, and as I'm planning our schedule, I'm finding that I almost have to "force" myself to schedule 2 parks in one day. On my daughter's b'day we will do MK in the a.m. and Epcot in the p.m. because we have an ADR there, but on the other days it just feels more natural/easier to go back to the same park in the evening that we did in the morning. We don't have any other ADRs that would necessitate different parks in one day (I know that's what a lot of people use hoppers for). Anyway, I'm just curious for others' thoughts on this and what other reasons people have for hopping. I guess it will be good to have it in case we make any spontaneous changes in plans while we're there.

Thank you!

Where does one get a pin code?

 

[Pkltm]

We are also big park hoppers!! We like the freedom to choose where we are going at a moments notice, one of the reasons we aren't the biggest fans of the new fastpass.

 

[biondagirl]

We always get park hoppers. Last summer was the first time we were there with magic bands and fast pass. We were there 7 days and the first four we didn't use the hoppers at all. Which is very unusual for us, but our days were pretty mapped out. It was useful for our second trips to the parks and the day we had at AK. I wouldn't go with out them.

 

[disneymom0104]

We haven't been to WDW in 6 years, prior to FP+, and in those days you could collect FP in the morning to use in the late afternoon/night. We had done park hoppers, but didn't really use them much due to the FP. Last time we went we didn't get the PH and it worked fine but you really are locked into a park with no other options. This time we will have PH again and I think it has the potential to be great- with the FP+ system and the potential of being able to get a later FP+ at a different park. We have always taken afternoon breaks, I like that we will be able to have some spontaneity in which evening park we choose- especially with the kids being so much older this time- they will definitely want a say in what we do

 

[joannamet]

We plan our morning park and fastpasses and then use our Hoppers to do whatever we want later. We usually hop to WS and hang out. We love having choices about where to spend our time.
One night we hopped from MK to DHS for Fantasmic but it was full. We went back to MK and caught the parade and fireworks there. Turned out to be a memorable night.

 

[RLGNC]

Where does one get a pin code?

My husband randomly (or so it seems) received one via email. I'm not sure how or why, especially since he's not the one who does the Disney planning, so I don't know why they even had his email address.

 

[quagmire0]

We got hoppers for the first time this time around. What I've discovered is that it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to plan two parks in a day. Why? Because you can only do Fastpasses in one park at a time. So, the hopper is really more useful as a 'spontaneous' action - i.e. when you find yourself bored of a park, or it's just too busy and you want to check something else out, or if you'd like to jump to a show or dinner at the end of the day at another park.