Regretting park hoppers :(

[msdroz]

Hi all... I'm starting to have buyers remorse over the park hoppers. We stay at the Yacht Club which is great for walking to one park in the am and then relaxing at the pool midafternoon (sometimes along with a nap) and then taking a boat or bus to a different park at night.

I'm realizing that with the new fast pass system of one park a day, this might mean that our park hoppers are pretty useless. For example, if we book all of the rides for the morning at one park, I envision an evening at a another park that is going to be spent waiting in line the whole evening. We are going in June which compounds this problem. Can someone give me a little encouragement or tips for this dilemma! Thanks!!

 

[chiefmickeymouse]

Hi all... I'm starting to have buyers remorse over the park hoppers. We stay at the Yacht Club which is great for walking to one park in the am and then relaxing at the pool midafternoon (sometimes along with a nap) and then taking a boat or bus to a different park at night.

I'm realizing that with the new fast pass system of one park a day, this might mean that our park hoppers are pretty useless. For example, if we book all of the rides for the morning at one park, I envision an evening at a another park that is going to be spent waiting in line the whole evening. We are going in June which compounds this problem. Can someone give me a little encouragement or tips for this dilemma! Thanks!!

We have always enjoyed having park hoppers even if we weren't in "ride as many rides as possible" mode. You can plan dining reservations at whatever park you want, you can go to a park just for fireworks or a parade. One night DH and I went to MK just to ride the train at night. You might not get quite as much value out of park hoppers with the new system, but I think it would still be worthwhile. I am wondering when Disney will address this issue, because park hopper sales will be decreasing as people figure out the system.

 

[patty57]

Staying at the Yacht Club...they absolutely will NOT be useless. We always stay at the Epcot resorts, and walk in and out of Epcot all the time for food & drinks. I think you will be very happy to have them.

 

[lazer]

With fp+ we find park hoppers are even more useful for us. Hit a park at rope drop, ride what we want with little to no lines (in the fall at least), then have fp+ set up for another park in the afternoon. We almost always go to epcot at least every other night. You'll totally use them!

 

[2Tiggies]

I can see where you are coming from, but I think our hoppers may just give us the flexibility that FP+ feels like it's taken away from us. I am going to mix it up a bit and do some FP's for our first park and some days for the second. I have accepted that our second park may be an evening of shows, dinner and fireworks (where applicable) as opposed to rides but it's my form of rebellion against the system that presently makes me feel I'm being 'told' to stay in one park all day. We never have and if we continue going, we probably never will.

 

[JimmyV]

Hi all... I'm starting to have buyers remorse over the park hoppers. We stay at the Yacht Club which is great for walking to one park in the am and then relaxing at the pool midafternoon (sometimes along with a nap) and then taking a boat or bus to a different park at night.

I'm realizing that with the new fast pass system of one park a day, this might mean that our park hoppers are pretty useless. For example, if we book all of the rides for the morning at one park, I envision an evening at a another park that is going to be spent waiting in line the whole evening. We are going in June which compounds this problem. Can someone give me a little encouragement or tips for this dilemma! Thanks!!

When are you going? It seems that hopping might be introduced in the future. If you are going soon and don't think that will be implemented yet, then you could buy a new set of non-hopper passes and "bank" the hoppers for a future trip. Also, hopping can still be a good strategy. Rope Drop park #1 without FPs and enjoy light crowds for headliners for a while and then hop to park #2 where you have afternoon FPs.

 

[DisneyDiana]

In December, we booked our FP+ for the evenings since lines are much shorter in the morning. It worked well for us. Plus if I was staying at Yacht Club , I would be in Epcot every night for a special drink or snack.

 

[Mamiamjo]

Can you return your tickets and purchase the Non Hopper ones?
We usually buy Hopper Passes also, but will probably buy non hoppers for our next visit, as we can always add the Hopper feature after we arrive if we decide we really want it.

On the positive side WDW is looking at allowing FP+ in multiple parks as suggested in the threads showing the survey they are sending out ( see the thread with screenshots by ethanwa).
Maybe this will be in place by June.

If neither of those work out, you can Hop to parks in the evening for dinner, a few of the easier rides and night time shows. Dinner, WS and Illuminations in EP, dinner and Wishes in MK, dinner and Fantasmic etc.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

In December, we booked our FP+ for the evenings since lines are much shorter in the morning. It worked well for us. Plus if I was staying at Yacht Club , I would be in Epcot every night for a special drink or snack.

I'm planning on doing it this way too.

 

[msdroz]

We are going in June.. what have you heard in terms of changes to fast pass?

I guess we are going to have to change our way of doing things. It's vacation so we like to relax a bit in the morning and have never rushed around for a rope drop. We also are huge ride goers so I envision waiting in long lines (which is a product of going in June, I get it). Waiting in hours of lines is kind of like throwing our money away. I would love the option of hopping for dinner if I was just with my husband but with a 7 year old we really want to get the most out of our trip and don't want to spend our time in restaurants as we can do that at home. I know it goes against the current Disney model but that's what we enjoy when we are on a trip to Disney. A mix of rides, relaxation at the pool and then some fireworks mixed in

 

[2Tiggies]

We are going in June.. what have you heard in terms of changes to fast pass?

I guess we are going to have to change our way of doing things. It's vacation so we like to relax a bit in the morning and have never rushed around for a rope drop. We also are huge ride goers so I envision waiting in long lines (which is a product of going in June, I get it). Waiting in hours of lines is kind of like throwing our money away. I would love the option of hopping for dinner if I was just with my husband but with a 7 year old we really want to get the most out of our trip and don't want to spend our time in restaurants as we can do that at home. I know it goes against the current Disney model but that's what we enjoy when we are on a trip to Disney. A mix of rides, relaxation at the pool and then some fireworks mixed in

We are also going in June (overlapping into July). We have built in a LOT more rest time than we ever have in the past for this trip and also days offsite doing other stuff, which is something we hardly ever do. We are pretty much in the same boat as you are, with this being our first trip in the Summer. We have done Easter so I WAS working on that when I booked as a guide, obviously adding in the heat and humidity for June, but that's all gone for a loop now as FP+ was not in place when I booked our flights and paid my deposit on this. But to stay with your original question, I have no wish to get rid of our hoppers. It's the only flexibility we feel we have in the trip now.

I'm also planning to try not to leave a big space between our FP's so that once we are done, we are free to leave if we so choose

The changes referred to that are being speculated are discussed in two thread near the top of the Theme Parks page: Speculated changes .... and the other is called Screenshots from a survey.

 

[msdroz]

We are also going in June (overlapping into July). We have built in a LOT more rest time than we ever have in the past for this trip and also days offsite doing other stuff, which is something we hardly ever do. We are pretty much in the same boat as you are, with this being our first trip in the Summer. We have done Easter so I WAS working on that when I booked as a guide, obviously adding in the heat and humidity for June, but that's all gone for a loop now as FP+ was not in place when I booked our flights and paid my deposit on this. But to stay with your original question, I have no wish to get rid of our hoppers. It's the only flexibility we feel we have in the trip now.

I'm also planning to try not to leave a big space between our FP's so that once we are done, we are free to leave if we so choose

The changes referred to that are being speculated are discussed in two thread near the top of the Theme Parks page: Speculated changes .... and the other is called Screenshots from a survey.

Thanks for understanding!! We are planning on doing the water parks a few days and I suppose we won't even hop on those days. But I like your advice of planning rides close together so that you are free to leave after. I need to come up with a ride plan next!

We haven't paid in full so there might be the option of downgrading to regular park tickets plus the water park option. I'm definitely torn and would LOVE if they change the fast pass policy before our trip.

Thanks everyone!

 

[dminnie]

We just got them for the first time and I liked it. They were part of a non-expiring ticket we got and we didn't think we would even use them on the first trip. We were only there a couple days, so planned just one park a day. Well, it turned out it was really fun to go to DHS just to see the Beauty and the Beast show when we were done with Epcot. Then the next day, DH and DS fit in a couple hours at Epcot before we all headed to MK. They did the single rider line at TT and then a few other things. We just planned the fastpasses for the park we were going to be at the most that day.

In the past we have ONLY done one park per day, just not wanting to spend an extra $200 for the family to get the PH option. It was fun having the flexibility to go to more than one park. If we were staying at an Epcot resort, no question it would be worth it even if you can't get fastpasses at more than one park.

 

[msdroz]

ps I know that the Disney trip is truly an experience but it's hard to think about going to a park only for a few hours when you spend 100 a day on a ticket! We live near Cedar Point and there are the most roller coasters than any other park and I think I have the mentality of doing as much as possible for your money. However, I understand this is different because you are there for a week and you can be more relaxed, but it all costs money!

 

[HelenParr]

Do not regret having park hoppers!! I agree that adjusting to the new normal with FP+ (particularly since it is not all sorted out yet) is frustrating, but don't let it limit you from being able to make on the fly changes. Pros to hopping:

The flexibility to "just go see" Illuminations, Wishes (or nighttime parade), or Fantasmic after being in a different park earlier.

Going over to Epcot or DHS for just one or two attractions. Okay, maybe not E-rides, but there are still going to be shorter wait lines, even in June for M:S green, Nemo, Figment, Spaceship Earth.

The ability to come back to YC through Epcot from MK via monorail. Even with service interruptions, I still love the monorail every ride.

I would feel very confined if I did not have those choices.

 

[msdroz]

Ok so you had me curious... apparently it's only $83 more dollars for the Park Hopper so we'll keep it The biggest jump is from purchasing the water park option but those are my son's favorite parks. I still would LOVE if they change the fast pass option but time will only tell!

 

[disneyworldluvr349]

With fp+ we find park hoppers are even more useful for us. Hit a park at rope drop, ride what we want with little to no lines (in the fall at least), then have fp+ set up for another park in the afternoon. We almost always go to epcot at least every other night. You'll totally use them!

I think this sounds like the perfect plan.
I hope that Disney realizes that they should allow for multiple park fastpasses to make it more convenient for their guests. I don't feel like the guests should have to find a solution or a "bright-side" everything should be as easy as 123!

 

[elgerber]

Staying at the Yacht Club...they absolutely will NOT be useless. We always stay at the Epcot resorts, and walk in and out of Epcot all the time for food & drinks. I think you will be very happy to have them.

Absolutely agree! We always stay at the Boardwalk, and probably spend about 2/3 of our evenings in Epcot. Rarely riding, mostly walking, eating and drinking. And of course shopping.

 

[Ellwood970]

It seems to be part of the plan. Less park hoppers less steain on the transportation especially the monorails. Saves them more money in the long run.

 

[mesaboy2]

It seems to be part of the plan. Less park hoppers less steain on the transportation especially the monorails. Saves them more money in the long run.

I don't agree for a second that FP is part of a plan to discourage park hopping and save money on transportation. I'm quite certain the park hopping fee covers that money and then some.