Should we add the park hopper (staying at BC)?

[MissMagnolia]

Question for you all...

We have 6 day park tickets with no add-ons. We are staying at the Beach Club. I didn't see a need to add park hopping onto the tickets because in each past trip to WDW we always bought 5 day park hoppers and only used 4 days and only "hopped" once.

Well, I got to thinking...my DS6 and DD3 LOVE LOVE LOVE fireworks. We are so close to Epcot that it would be possible to walk on over after a day at one of the other parks and see Illuminations again. Plus, Epcot is not one of the parks I intended to use an extra day on and I usually run out of time there. However, for those of you who have stayed at the BC, can you see Illuminations from the resort? Do you think it is necessary to hop? I know this questions has been asked many times, so forgive the repeat.

If this helps in your answer, this is our "plan" with the possibility of each day when at the park we will head back to the resort midday for a swim and break:
Sat. - arrive
Sun. - MK
Mon. - MGM
Tues. - Epcot
Wed. - AK
Thurs. - ??MK again??
Fri. - MGM again - got to see the Wiggles!
Sat. - go home

Thanks!

 

[Markstudy]

. We are staying at the Beach Club.

Sat. - arrive
Sun. - MK
Mon. - MGM
Tues. - Epcot
Wed. - AK
Thurs. - ??MK again??
Fri. - MGM again - got to see the Wiggles!

The best part of Beach Club is the fact that its next door to Epcot.
You can walk over for dinner or fireworks and its only 5 minutes to Epcot's back-door
from the BC. ( You can't see fireworks from the BC unless your in BCV)

Day one- I took the bus to MK but then rode the monorail home (just for fun and I like the monorail) then cut through Epcot to get back to BC (10 minute walk)

You'll find yourself cutting through Epcot from time-to-time and it was lots of fun. YOU NEED THE HOPPER IF YOU"RE GOING TO USE EPCOT AS A CUT-THROUGH

On my third day- we took a cab to the Poly for dinner but it was a EMH night at Epcot so we again hopped the monorail to Epcot....strolled around for 20 minutes and then used the back exit to get to the Beach Club.....it was a lovely stroll.

One morning while I was waiting for a late-sleeper to get-up and-going... I walked over to Epcot and rode Soaring before coming back to join my party and go to AK for the day.

(not hopper related, but length of ticket related)
The best thing I did..... Was dinner the 1st night. We checked in at BC arond 3:00 and rested a bit, then took a casual walk around the WORLD at Epcot...and had dinner in Mexico, and watched the fireworks. (On our forth day we went back to Epcot for the rides and the park). But It was nice to do Epcot's World the first night if you're staying at BC.

 

[Mariaºoº]

I would definitely buy the add on feature of park hopping. AK and MGM in my opinion can be done in one day. I also like to hop from MK to Epcot for a TS meal. The hopping feature gives me the flexibility of going anywhere I like.

 

[SusanD]

It is a great thing to be able to go which ever park you wish. If you want to you can leisurely walk over have a meal at Epcot, watch illuminations and then go back to your room. If you don't buy that special something one day, you can go back and get it later in the week. Go for it!

 

[ainmama2001]

It's good to have the hopper if you are trying to get specific ressies for dinner too. If you happen to get a good seating at CRT the day that you're scheduled for MGM (just a for instance), you want to leave yourself that option. For stays longer than two days, IMHO, you should get the hopper.

 

[disnut8]

I'd definitely add on the park hopper if you are that close to Epcot. The allure of Illuminations is too much. Plus, I can see from your plan that one day at Animal Kingdom would be perfect for a later night at Epcot. I just had someone ask me for advice on a four day trip and she wanted ticket options. I didn't even give her the non hopper ticket price. Maybe you won't use it but it sure is nice to have the flexibility - especially with your locale.

 

[MissMagnolia]

It seems everyone is in agreement - hopping is the way to go. We have all our ADRs planned - I scheduled around the park we would be at for the day (overplanning all the way! ). Thanks for all your advice!

 

[MissMagnolia]

Oh, BTW...
Markstudy,
When you stayed at the BC what did you do for breakfast each day? On Sunday at MK we have an ADR for CRT breakfast and Cape May Breakfast for the day we are at MGM, but no other breakfasts planned.

 

[Markstudy]

Oh, BTW...
Markstudy,When you stayed at the BC what did you do for breakfast each day?

The breakfast at Cape May was so good! We went 4 times in 7 days.
Plus...I was always in a hurry to get going, so BC was the best use of time for getting breakfast quickly and out-of-the-way.

I had made the mistake before, of staying at a resort and then running all over to try all the other resorts. I've learned my lesson.... BC is very nice, so I wanted to spend some time at my Home-Resort since I had diner in a different place every night.

Also wanted to do the Donald Duck Breakfast at AK but didn't get going early enough.

 

[hockeybabe]

One other plus to the hopper is weather. If it rains all day one day, you don't want to be stuck at AK. You want to be able to head to Epcot or another park where rain isn't as much of a problem. Also, crowds. You never know if one park is more crowded one day, and you'd rather hop to a less crowded park. The hopper just gives you that extra flexiblity.