please help me understand.....

[Shannone1]

Park hopping....This is indirectly connected to FW, but the people on the other DIS boards aren't quite as active so I am hoping my friends here can help me.

I read about how people like to go to one of the parks for a meal, or just for the fireworks or their favorite ride. We are going back to the fort for 2 weeks next year and I would love to be able to go to the parks a little here and there instead of the entire day. It seems very expensive though to use up one of your days just for a meal or fireworks show. Is there another type of ticket you are using that I don't know about ??

We were going to get a 6 day park hopper but it's my understanding that we can only go six times....so if we go just for a meal or fireworks it will use up one of our days. Is that right ??

Thanks guys....

 

[clkelley]

Many of us have Annual Passes, so yes, hopping into a park for just a meal, isn't a big deal.

If you have a MYW pass, if you enter a park, it will use a day off of the pass, if you have the Park Hopping option, you can enter a 2nd park on the same day, but will still only use 1 day off of your pass.

Since you will be there for 2 weeks, why not get a 10-day Park Hopper, there is only an $8.00 difference (+ tax) between 6 days and 10 days.

That will give you a few more entrances for your 2-week trip, and then you won't feel like you are "wasting" a day to just enter for a meal.

 

[clkelley]

Then again, after your 2-week trip, you may feel you need another 2-week trip, but a few weeks earlier in the year.

Then an Annual Pass will be beneficial!!!

 

[LarryJ]

Then again, after your 2-week trip, you may feel you need another 2-week trip, but a few weeks earlier in the year.

Then an Annual Pass will be beneficial!!!

Also there are quite a few bennies with the AP, such getting the DDE along with the AP getting you a discount at some restaurants not on the DDE or blacked out I think like Fulton's, etc. I think all the bennies are probably listed somewhere here on DIS, but I haven't looked closely. We just like the freedom the AP gives us and include that extra cost into an already expensive vacation. However, we do try and go in not less than 30 day increments. This year we will get 75 days use out of our APs in two planned trips.

This year we will be saving close to $75 off 2 APs since we will be getting them thru SOG.

Larry

 

[becky1960]

I see your from MIch., if you make more than one trip a AP is not cost wise beneficial. A 10 day park hopper would be the best to use unless you make two 10 day trips.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

AP also can help with a discount to you camp site! It's not much but every bit helps!

 

[loveDmouse]

We use the park hopper ticket. We go for 7 days.
You can hop around as much as you like in those 6 days. Now since you will be there for two weeks I am not sure how they work as far as spreading it out over that time maybe someone else will know more. I think that they expire 14 days from the first day you use them so I would guess you would be ok. It really isn't much more to do a 10 day hopper. Maybe you should try that. I think someone above mentioned like $8. For that you might as well have those extra days.


Have fun on your trip. 2 weeks would be AWESOME! Maybe some day.

 

[Mr Man]

My family may be an exception to most. We very seldom get Park Hoppers and never get AP's.

Our reasons:

1. Our children are young: DS1 & DS6. They are early risers.....and slow down early. We open up the parks and stay until noon-1pm and then spend the rest of the day at the resort. We do not go back out at night generally.

2. AP seem to be of best benefit if you can use them for more than 10 days per yr. There is a thread here showing the break point. I will look for it. We generally arrive on a Sun and leave on a Sat. We get a 5 day base ticket and do just fine. We do this twice yearly (usually Spring Break & late summer).

This will likely change as the boys get older and want to do more commando style vacations. Also, DVC does have a AP discount currently that may make it more beneficial for us. I don't see it yet though and actually prefer the laid back approach.

Works for me and mine. YMMV

Regards,

 

[Shannone1]

Thank you everyone, I knew I could count on you !! If we lived closer we would definitely go for an annual pass. That sounds great. But we will probably only make it there once every other year. Unfortunately there are lots of other places everyone in the family wants to check out. Me- I would be happy at the fort every year And I promised the kids that sooner or later we would go back to Universal and I.O.A.

We are actually only going to be at the fort for 12 nights (taking a few nights back and forth). I thought with the 6 day we would be able to have one day on and one day off at the parks. We are going over Christmas and I know the parks will be really busy. We will have to go early in the day so we don't risk not being able to get in due to the crowds. So I thought a day off to relax at the fort would be great inbetween crowded park days.

Speaking of parks....our kids will be 14, 12 and almost 8 by then (gulp). They have never been to Epcot or A/K and don't remember much of MGM from a trip 4 years ago. I was planning 2 days at MK, 2 days at Epcot and 1 day each at A/K and MGM. Do you all think that is enough ?? I want to make sure we see the big attractions and holiday happenings.

We also want to do a fireworks hayride at the fort next time...we missed it last time around !!

It feels like FOREVER until we get to go again. In the meantime I am living through all of you and enjoy reading trip reports and checking out those pics. Keep them coming !!

 

[mdoc]

My kids are 13, 11 and 8, and when we go for a week, we usually spend 6 days in the parks and split it up the way you are (2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day MGM and 1 day AK). As long as you're there EARLY to ensure getting on RnR, ToT, EE, Soarin', etc., it should work out well. My kids like to ride all of those rides multiple times (plus do everything else), and you need to be there first thing to accomplish that.

 

[campingmomto2]

We spent 2 weeks at Ft. Wilderness in August and we purchased the 10 day park hopper. Like you, our plan was to only go into the parks 6 or 7 days during our stay. But when I looked at the price difference between a 7 day hopper and a 10 day hopper, it was only an extra $28 TOTAL for our family of 4!! So we went for it and I am glad we did!! There were a couple days when we went into the park just for a meal or parade. I would think this would be very beneficial if you are going during peak season. We too, were at the parks at opening time. By early afternoon we were beat and would head back to the camper. On days we didnt go into the parks and hung out at the Fort (or whereever), we sometimes would go to Epcot for dinner or the Magic Kingdsom for the SpectroMagic parade and fireworks. Or just to catch our favorite ride/attraction one more time!

Oh I wish we had plans to return to the Fort for another 2 weeks.....Have a great trip!

 

[ntsammy5]

An AP gives me an excuse to come back several times during the year. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Mr Man]

Shannone1,

In reading back over your OP and our responses, I just want to make sure you understand the difference between a base ticket and a base ticket w/hopper.

It appears that you plan to purchase 6 day base tickets for your next vacation and then visit parks as follows:

2x MK
2x EPCOT
1x DAK
1x DHS (formerly MGM)

This will work perfectly fine as long as you understand that you cannot do 2 different parks in the same day w/o using up another day on your ticket plan.

However, if you were to purchase the park hopper add-on, you can add a lot of flexibility and additional opportunities into your park touring plan. Such as:

1st day: Morning DAK, evening MK for fireworks.
2nd day: morning MK, evening DHS for Fantasmic.
etc etc

IMHO, if you are big on EMH (early or late), Park Hoppers make it real easy to use EMH to your advantage. i.e. hit early EMH at MK and then late EMH at DAK (or whatever is on the schedule).

Hope this makes sense. It did to me when I was typing it.

Again, for us we don't use the hopper. Our secret tip is to visit whichever park had late EMH the day before. Crowds are generally much lower the day after late EMH.

Regards,

 

[Shannone1]

Shannone1,

In reading back over your OP and our responses, I just want to make sure you understand the difference between a base ticket and a base ticket w/hopper.

We did get the park hopper. I wanted them in case we can't get on a ride that is closed for some reason, or maybe we just "have" to go back and see/do something again that the kids loved. I wanted the option to do it, even though I don't plan on doing it, make sense ?? I'm afraid to get the 10 day because I don't want to be sucked back into the parks. I really want to spend time at FW and check out some of the other resort Holiday decorations and restaurants.

I am also thinking I may try to get someone to keep my dog for us for that trip. Last time we came back to FW from the parks in the afternoon to walk our dog. I'd hate to do that over the holidays and then not be able to get back into the parks because they are full and I can't leave the poor dog in the motorhome for 10 hours or more !!

 

[bevypoo63]

The reason I use Park Hopper tickets is the fact that AK and MGM close earlier than Epcot, so we usually go to Epcot in the evenings after leaving the other parks. This is especially nice when leaving MGM since we love to take the boat to Epcot, which is very relaxing.
I understand your concern about the temptation of having the extra days on your tickets but if you are going Christmas week you may wish you had a couple of extra days just to be able to get on the rides you want or see the parades or shows. Since you don't expect to go back for a couple of years you may regret not having the extra days.Just something to think about.
Have fun!

 

[ntsammy5]

Since you don't expect to go back for a couple of years you may regret not having the extra days.Just something to think about.

The other thing to think about is that from a 6 day to a 10 day pass only adds a few dollars onto the price. WDW encourages people to stay longer, so adding more days to your pass can be ridiculously cheap. I think on a per day basis days 7, 8, 9 and 10 only cost a couple of bucks per day. Have fun......