Planning our visit...do I need the hopper?

[Islandmom71]

Our families first trip is 9/3-9/8. We have three daughters ages 5, 7 & 9 and will be staying at the Polynesian. Not huge ride people - I think we will be more about the shows and low key rides. I would anticipate that we will leave the park every day to swim and lay low in the afternoons.

Would appreciate anyone's comments:

3rd - arrive around noon and spend the afternoon at MK
4th - Epcot
5th - MK
6th -HS
7th - was going to leave this day open because my original thinking was that we would skip AK since my impression was it was a glorified zoo, but upon further inspection I think there is some fun stuff.
8th - ? and leave for airport around noon

So my questions are:
1 - right now we have 5 day passes, the airline backed up our departing flight to 3:30 so should I add the 6th day so we could go back to MK one more time?

2 - Do you think I need a hopper? Just not sure there is going to be enough reason to go back to AK on the evening of the 7th? Is it worth the $300? I know you can add it at the park but there is no way I am going to be able to justify to myself or my husband to spend $300 to be able to go to another park once maybe twice but if the money has already been spent, that is another story. That being said, man am I going to kick myself if I pay for it and don't use it.

Thanks so much. Very excited!

 

[W.E.D.]

Doesn't sound to me like you need it. If you plan on going back to the same park after your mid-day break, I say save the money.

We are huge hoppers and I can't imagine going without them, but we spend most of our nights wandering EPCOT. We'll tour a park in the morning, take our break in the afternoon, and then head over to catch some rides in FW and dinner at one of the WS restaurants.

Regarding doing a park before your departure: I've found that to make my departure day more stressfull. Trying to get some last rides in while worrying about getting to the airport on time--not for me. But, you know how you would handle that.

 

[g-dad66]

You could wait until you are there to decide whether to add an extra park day. It will cost only about $8 per person.

If you like shows, there are 3 at Animal Kingdom you will like (Lion King, Flights of Wonder, Nemo). Also maybe Tough to be a Bug 3-D (can be scary for young kids, though).

In 11 trips over the past 5 years, we have never once bought Park Hoppers. Plenty to do at each park for a full day or more.

 

[g-dad66]

Just not sure there is going to be enough reason to go back to AK on the evening of the 7th?

Just noticed this....

Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00 pm on September 7, so that won't work.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

They really price it to make it a tough call don't they? Any cheaper or more expensive and it's an easier decision either way.

We always get them and always use them.

When we stay at Epcot resorts we are in Epcot almost every night no matter what our park day is like.

When we stay at MK we do the same at MK...or at least some of us will.

Our trips are longer than yours so we have days we will hit one park for a bit and then hop to another.

You have 4 park days and 3 young ones so I think in your situation I would opt not to get them since it seems like your first trip and there will be plenty to do in each park and then some. Then again....will you want to pop into MK after your Epcot or DHS or AK days? It's just a short boat or mono ride away....

 

[ghtx]

OP I don't think you need the hopper. I love the hopper and am addicted, but most people can do fine without it. And it's really expensive.

Don't buy the extra day yet. You can add it on when you get there before your ticket days are used up (it actually will cost $10 plus tax per ticket).

 

[disney_girl125]

I use to always go with park hoppers, now I never get them. I like it much better without them. It takes too much time traveling between parks to switch. Plus it's tiring..lol. We usually stay at a park all day until we're done, then leave for the day. Alot less travel time that way. But, if we did take a break, we have no problem going back to the same park. You could always add on park hoppers when you're there. So, if you get there and decide you want them, you can always add them on at that time. No need to buy them now.

 

[ultimatefans]

I also don't think you need the hopper. For a first visit there is sooooo much to do at each park that you can easily fill one day at a park even if you're not huge ride people. I would also highly recommend visiting Animal Kingdom on the 7th. The Finding Nemo Musical and the Festival of the Lion King are my two personal favorite shows in all of WDW. The safari is a fantastic low key ride as well. Also with the addition of the Wilderness Explorers experience everyone could have fun earning their badges throughout the park. If you finish early there is plenty to do outside the parks without paying for the Park Hopper Option (enjoy your resort, explore Downtown Disney, Boardwalk area, Chip and Dale's campfire at Fort Wilderness, etc)

Since you're at the Poly you could head to MK on the morning of your departure day since transportation will be easy, but I'd recommend waiting until you are there to make that decision. It will be roughly $50 to add the last day on.

Also one tip about the Poly if you haven't read it yet, the beach is a great place to watch the MK fireworks and the Electric Water Pageant!

 

[juliebug1997]

Just noticed this....

Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00 pm on September 7, so that won't work.

This would be one reason to not visit AK.

Our experience--and it's just the two of us, so expenses are different--is that we can knock out AK in the morning through early afternoon and then we go to the hotel for a quick cool down and then we spend the rest of the evening somewhere else, sometimes DHS or Epcot, but you will be very close to MK.

We usually head to MK on the morning of our flight and stay until noon. You would probably have to be back to the Poly by noon, so you could go for some quick rides before going home that morning. For us, it starts and ends with Peter Pan.

 

[bdklein]

I would anticipate that we will leave the park every day to swim and lay low in the afternoons.

Ok for the afternoon. What's your plans/thoughts about what you are going to do in the evenings? Dinner? That's when you may need the hoppers. Back to the MK and Epcot on those days? Resort on the other days?

 

[smorkovsky]

My kids are the same ages and we are skipping AK and not using park hoppers. We will take midday breaks and return to the parks for the evening on our MK and HS days. All that complicates is making sure our days at MK and HS are the days for when Wishes and F! are being performed.

Park hoppers are too expensive in my opinion.

 

[mummabear]

We have always bought hoppers but this last trip realised how little we used them for the price and will not purchse them again, looking at your plan I don't think you would get value from them but I would add a 6th day to return to MK before you fly out.

 

[shell8558]

We really enjoy the hoppers and use them well! We go to one park in the morning then head back to resort after lunch to swim and change for supper - then we are off to a different park that night.

 

[photo_chick]

We never get hoppers, never miss them. I know others who can't live without them. I think if you have your trip planned and know what you want to do each day then you'll be fine without them.

We do DTD at night on our AK day.

 

[orangefan15]

So my questions are:
1 - right now we have 5 day passes, the airline backed up our departing flight to 3:30 so should I add the 6th day so we could go back to MK one more time?

2 - Do you think I need a hopper? Just not sure there is going to be enough reason to go back to AK on the evening of the 7th? Is it worth the $300? I know you can add it at the park but there is no way I am going to be able to justify to myself or my husband to spend $300 to be able to go to another park once maybe twice but if the money has already been spent, that is another story. That being said, man am I going to kick myself if I pay for it and don't use it.

Thanks so much. Very excited!

I don't think I would pay to add the 6th day in your scenario. If you are using DME to get to the airport, you'd be looking at leaving the hotel around 12:30, which means that you would only get about 2.5-3 hours max (unless its an AM EMH day) in the park that day. Of course, only you can decide if that's worth the extra dollars to you or not. If it was me, I'd be thinking about booking a character breakfast at one of the resorts (O'hana at Poly, 1900 PF at GF, CM at Contemporary) instead.

Based on the plan you've outlined, I don't think you need the hopper unless you decide you want to go to a park on the evening of the 7th. That said, there are many non-park options available that could be just as much fun for your crew that evening... dinner/shopping at DTD, mini-golf, resort activities (watching the movie out on the poly beach followed by watching wishes from there as well), pool time, etc.

 

[P00H1010]

I am an avid fan of parkhoppers....we use them constantly on our trips. We normally do 10 day trips and generally park hop everyday and maybe stay at one park on our arrival and departing days depending on flight times (last year our flight times were great so we had time to do 2 parks on arrival and departing days). That being said, If you are only think you'd be hopping on 1 day of your trip it probably is not worth it in your scenario.

 

[excitedfamof4]

I would wait and decide when you get there. We went in April and had 5 day park tickets. We decided on the 2nd day it would be worth it to us to go ahead and add the Park Hopper option. We are SO glad we did. We had so much fun going to MK in the morning then Epcot at night....or AK in the morning then Epcot at night..etc.

The added bonus was the nice cast member at guest services gave us 8 fastpasses for our family to use! So I would just wait and see what works best for your family. After a day or two if you see you will be fine without it then you saved some money...if you see that you are wanting to go to different park..ie..Epcot at night..then go ahead and spend the money.

Have fun on your trip!!

 

[KateMW]

I'm a veteran by no means, but we've always enjoyed park hoppers. We like to go to dinner in Epcot, so wherever we spend the day, we can still go to dinner somewhere yummy!

 

[excitedfamof4]

I'm a veteran by no means, but we've always enjoyed park hoppers. We like to go to dinner in Epcot, so wherever we spend the day, we can still go to dinner somewhere yummy!

I couldn't agree more! That is the main reason we did the park hopper! We just couldn't imagine not going to have dinner (and a few margartias) at Epcot and watch Illuminations! What a great way to end the day!!

 

[ZoZo]

7th - was going to leave this day open because my original thinking was that we would skip AK since my impression was it was a glorified zoo, but upon further inspection I think there is some fun stuff.

I would definitely encourage you to try AK! It's tied for first (along with MK) as my favorite park! And it's not a glorified zoo. But if you're not sure, wait until after you get there to decide. You can always add an extra day to your tickets after arrival.

Regarding hoppers, lots of people do without them. I usually get a hopper, but we use them for a very specific purpose. We go in October during the Food and Wine Festival, and usually start off at a different park, but end our days at Epcot or F&W.

Again, you can add the hopper option after arrival if you decide you want them. But remember that the hopper option is a flat fee (around $60) whether you hop one day or every day. So it probably doesn't make financial sense to add the hopper feature if you only hop once during your trip.