Parkhopper: Pros vs Cons?

[Liz311w]

We are going to DW in June'15. We had originally planned on getting the park hopper on each of our 5 day tickets (6 people total). But after further discussion with my parents and my hubby, we are thinking maybe we should nix it and just plan our itinerary & dining reservations according to what park we will be in that day.
What are some of the pros & cons of both sides...aside from the obvious being able to go to more than one park/day...
Thanks!

 

[DisneyObsessed87]

My first trip as an adult (me and DS - 5 almost 6 years old at the time in 2012) we got the park hoppers for 5 days in 2012. At the time I wanted to make the most of every minute of our trip and not miss a thing, because I wasn't sure if we would be back. It is nice being able to pop over to MK for fireworks or a parade whenever, in general to be more flexiable with your plans.

Fast forward a couple years and we are heading back next month! This time without park hoppers for our party of 7. But this time I am much more knowledgable about WDW. We took time to plan out our park days (looking at park hours including EMH) and book our dining by what days we would be where. I believe we have good touring plans in place and will have a great time. For a party of 7 the savings was put to more fun things like MVMCP.

Hope this helps.

 

[Arden01]

We are going to DW in June'15. We had originally planned on getting the park hopper on each of our 5 day tickets (6 people total). But after further discussion with my parents and my hubby, we are thinking maybe we should nix it and just plan our itinerary & dining reservations according to what park we will be in that day.
What are some of the pros & cons of both sides...aside from the obvious being able to go to more than one park/day...
Thanks!

We got them on our first trip only because we stayed at the Beach Club. We went to Epcot several evenings for dinner. Next trip, we are staying at POFQ and I'm not getting them. For less than price of 4 PH's for my family, I added an extra night to our trip. I'd much rather have a longer stay at WDW than PH's. For us, there was plenty to see in one park. Also, we go in August and the heat is tiring. My kids would rather "hop" to the pool than another park.

 

[Liz311w]

We got them on our first trip only because we stayed at the Beach Club. We went to Epcot several evenings for dinner. Next trip, we are staying at POFQ and I'm not getting them. For less than price of 4 PH's for my family, I added an extra night to our trip. I'd much rather have a longer stay at WDW than PH's. For us, there was plenty to see in one park. Also, we go in August and the heat is tiring. My kids would rather "hop" to the pool than another park.

That's kind of what I was thinking...especially about the kids in the pool bit! LOL
We had the PH when we went in '10 but we didn't plan that trip we were just told what we were doing. This is our first trip that *WE* are planning for ourselves and originally we decided to do it just because its what we had before but the more we talked about it today the more it didn't really make sense... but from what I gather (searching for parkhopper in posts) a majority of people on this board say do it, but I wanted more reasoning behind why. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks they aren't necessary!

 

[lizard1]

I know a lot of people like the PH option. However, I have never used it. I spent 4 weeks in total at WDW this summer, using an AP, and we didn't hop even once. For me, it seems like a waste of money (additional cost on a regular ticket) and a waste of time. I prefer to plan what I am doing each day in only one park. I figure with all of the planning that I do anyway between ADRs and FP+, I can certainly plan activities in only one park per day and manage to fit in everything I want to do in each park.

Another thing to remember is that you can't take the PH off of the ticket you buy. However, if a few days into your trip you decide that you really would like the PH option, you can always add it onto your ticket.

 

[Stephaniesue]

For our first trip we did hoppers. I felt like we wasted more time getting from one place to another than they were worth.

We leave in just 8 days! We did not do hoppers this time. We have 4 days in the world, so we are going to do one park each day. If it gets crazy wherever we are, to the pool we will go.

 

[fairy oma]

We did Park Hoppers when we went with DD and her family and they worked great.
We could go back into MK each evening for the fireworks if we chose to with DGDs.
When DH and I were finished with AK we hopped over to Epcot while the rest of the group opted to stay at AK for a few more hours. I think PH works best for those of us traveling with multi-generational groups.
We could also PH to a different park for the evening with an ADR and enjoy the evening festivities there as DGDs went back to the resort each afternoon for a nap anyway.
Whatever you do you will have a great time.

 

[rustyanchor]

Whenever I try to go without park hoppers, we end up adding them anyway. I guess I'm just indecisive, but there are a lot of days where I decide that I would like to go to another park by late afternoon/early evening. Especially on a day when MK for instance stays open late, I like having the option of spending the day at another park, having dinner somewhere, then hitting MK for the parade/fireworks at night. And since we always go off-season, AK usually closes at 5:00, so we hit another park that night. I dunno, I think that when we were Disney newbies we probably weren't as efficient with our park-hopping and we did end up wasting time, but now we are pretty good at it. On our last trip, just for fun we spent one day park-hopping around based on wait times for our favorite attractions. It ended up being one of my favorite days of vacation. It really just depends on your touring style and what you think will work for you and your family.

 

[bigbabyblues]

You could plan without it, and then add it any time if you decide you need it. It is the same price, regardless. We have done seven trips with and two without; it just depends on the trip.

 

[Kingdome8]

I never was a fan of it and never got it since our first trip.

But my last trip 2 weeks ago I wish we had it. We did 5 day base tickets
Everyday was pack with food reservations and fast pass so I couldn't switch plans around. But my Hollywood studio which is my favorite park by far had a lot of rain and we didn't stay for fantasmic. Kinda wish we had a hopper so we could watch the show after animal kingdom day

 

[themysciran]

I have been going back and forth on this. It is our first trip to Disney as a family and we have six full days at WDW. The first 3 days I am planning carefully and making sure we hit our assumed, can't-miss attractions and activities. The next 3 days have a loose plan that we can change around since we actually don't really know what is most important to us. I am thinking that the park hopper will be an extra that adds to our flexibility and makes the week potentially less stressful.

I also know that it may end up being entirely unnecessary...

 

[Feberin]

We hopped a lot on our trip in May. There was only one day that we didn't park hop and one day we did three parks! For us it being our first visit and wanting our kids to experience as much as possible it really helped. Our kids also enjoyed the transportation to and from different parks as much as the rides in the parks in some cases. We didn't stay on a monorail resort but my son LOVED riding it when we hopped from Epcot to Magic Kingdom. We also took a boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot. Also one thing with having them that we enjoyed was that we were able to do the nighttime stuff at Magic Kingdom the last night. Having little kids we didn't want to keep them out late earlier in the week when we knew it would result in them being exhausted but we also didn't want to make Magic Kingdom last.
However as much as we loved our park hopper tickets I'm not sure if we'd do them again. I feel like if we go back having older kids and have a better plan that doesn't require park hopping we may not do it. My son was also obcessed with Toy Story during our trip and park hopping let us avoid the insane line at Toy Story Mania for the slightly better line at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.

 

[silenttuba]

We got them for our four day trip last November, and will be getting them again when we go back in February. My wife and I don't have kids, so we really liked being able to take advantage of EMH in one park, but spend the rest of the day in a different park. We really enjoy evening EMH at MK, when the park is open to 2:00 AM. The crowds really thin out, and you can get a lot done. One of my favorite moments from our first trip was sitting in the MK at 1:00 AM on our last night, sharing a Mickey Bar, and just soaking it all in.....hours after watching Fantasmic and the Osborne lights in HS. That was a really fun day.

 

[smiths02]

I can see how it would benefit most people, but it just doesn't seem worth it to us.
Our last two trips we had a child 5 and under and this trip we will have two toddlers. Our touring plan is generally rope drop (or EMH or character breakfast before rope drop), get a lot done in a few hours, lunch/snack break, back to hotel for nap, out to dinner (generally a resort or DTD), back to hotel for bedtime.

We don't need to do PM EMH and we don't really do fireworks and night stuff. We take a relaxed pace. We might do fireworks once our next trip, but I am thinking we could do Pirates and Pals for the price of adding PH.

We also don't stay at a monorail or boardwalk area hotel. I would probably plan on PH then. If I had to see the different Fireworks shows, I might get it then.

 

[mustardman]

Guests without the park hopper usually base their park choice on the EMH because they can only go to one park. This will make the lines at that park longer than usual all day long. You could start at one of the other parks that guests passed over and then switch to the park with evening EMH.

The parkhopper gives you more flexibility in how to plan your trip. Other reasons to parkhop are to switch parks for a dining reservation, for the night shows (Illuminations, Fantasmic, Wishes), or to go on some attractions that you didn't have time for on another day.

I wouldn't ever tell someone that they need it because it's purely personal preference. It comes down to if you want to pay the extra money for it and if you think you'll use it. If money is tight since you're already paying for travel, hotel, park tickets, food, souvenirs, etc you can certainly live without it. Even if you get it you probably won't use it every day, so in theory you're paying for something you won't use.

 

[Ladcassidy]

We get them for flexibility. Most days we start at one park, take an afternoon rest back at the resort, then later afternoon or dinner at another park. DD6 is particularly fond of MK, so we usually end up there for a part of every day. We are not late-nighters at all.

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

We are going to DW in June'15. We had originally planned on getting the park hopper on each of our 5 day tickets (6 people total). But after further discussion with my parents and my hubby, we are thinking maybe we should nix it and just plan our itinerary & dining reservations according to what park we will be in that day.
What are some of the pros & cons of both sides...aside from the obvious being able to go to more than one park/day...
Thanks!

We got park hoppers for our first trip and kind of stressed ourselves with trying to "make the most" of the money spent on them. We tried to do EVERYTHING.. it was exhausting! So now we get base tickets now and really enjoy spending days at the resort. I felt more relaxed and was able to enjoy the amenities of the resort.

Off To Neverland



Disneyland Resort annually Spring Break 1993-2000, Caribbean Beach Resort July 2001, Paradise Pier Resort 2009, November 2014, Grand Californian April 2010, Pop Century Sept 2012 & Sept 2013, Disneyland Hong Kong July 2013, Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Villas & Universal's Cabana Bay Sept 2014, Pop Century & Disney Dream Feb 2015!!

 

[missbrooke06]

We get them for flexibility. Most days we start at one park, take an afternoon rest back at the resort, then later afternoon or dinner at another park. DD6 is particularly fond of MK, so we usually end up there for a part of every day. We are not late-nighters at all.

This is exactly what we do too. We also like staying at the Epcot resorts so it's nice to be able to pop in there whenever we want.

 

[Luv0fDisney]

In my opinion the park hopper is great. But not that great with the new fast pass system. But we still love it because when we get bored of one park we can go to the next. Also gives you more places to eat . Let's say studios is open early but you want to eat at magic kingdom or epcot with the park hopper you can do this.

Comes in handy with big parties too. People can go to different parks and can meet up in the same park afterwards.

 

[ZoZo]

I think hoppers are great if you have a specific purpose for them. We use them during Food and Wine Festival time. We end most days at Epcot after starting at one of the other parks.

We hop most days during F&W. But oter times of the year, we don't hop nearly as often. I like hopping on AK days, since AK closes very early; we usually hop to Epcot or MK in the evening on AK days.