Should we buy the hopper add on

[Terry's Angels]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what other people's ideas -- We're going to WDW May 2007 family (dh, dd - age 5 and me). We're getting the water park option because we will be using it to go to TL or BB, DQ and DH and I will have a night out at PI. The question is should we get hopper's too. I'm planning our days -so early because have to make ADR As I'm planning I realize that it might be useful to have hoppers but in the times that we have gone in the past we have never park hopped. So what do people think - do families with younger kids park hop or should I just try to plan better.

TIA

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

What is nice, is you don't have to decide until you are there! While your tickets are active, you can add hopper if you find you need it. It is $40 per ticket (regardless of days on your ticket it is a flat rate). I wouldn't add it now.

 

[HayGan]

I have 2 boys (4 & 6) and we don't hop. One park a day is plenty for us but that is just our personal preference.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

I dont hop with my young daughter one park is enough for us. I just research EMH and if I am planning on going to them I make my ADR's at that park or near that park. Like others said you can add it if you need it but we dont use it.

 

[Kick Save]

We've got boys 7 and 3 and hop almost every day we're there. Very rarely do we eat dinner in the same park we started in that morning.

We're also firm believers in the mid-day break.

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

You can re-enter the same park as many times in a day as you'd like. You can go to your resort another resort for a meal or break or whatever, and go back to the same park. That is a lot of money to spend if you don't use it. I think you can add hopper several places, including guest services at park or at your on-site resort. (if that is not correct, someone here will surely correct me!)
mary

 

[Terry's Angels]

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that I could add it once we arrived. I'll keep thinking about it. We are planning to take a mid day break since we're staying on-site.

 

[qman]

We use our hoppers in two ways:

1) It gives us to flexibility to spend the day in one park but catch the fireworks or parade in another park that evening.
2) After spending a day in each park we spend the last few days of the trip going back to the things we enjoyed the most.

Given we spend over $5,000 for a trip, $40/each for the park hopper is a small price to pay for something that gives us so many options.

 

[momshark]

DS and I always get hoppin'. It is especially useful if you are staying on property, which I see you will be. When we stayed at POFQ it was great to go to MK in the morning, take the monorail over to Epcot for our big meal and then take a boat over to MGM for Fantasmic. There are so many options open. I think it's worth it. JMO

 

[Dan Murphy]

Welcome to the DIS, Terry's Angels.

I would be lost without a hopper (I have an AP). That works for me.

PS: OT, make sure to check the DIS meet board periodically, Terry's Angels, for CHicago DIS meets; we have about 4 a year. Hope to meet you at one someday.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

We don't get hoppers. We use the water park option as our hopper. If you want to catch an extra dinner at Epcot no need to use a hopper to do that. just go on the water park day and use another day's ticket. That's 2 bux instead of 40. If you want to catch fantasmic, you can do that on a water park day as well and spend $2 for the extra days worth of ticket rather than 40.

And other days when say AK closes early, we just head over to Boma for dinner and take in the AKL instead of hopping. It works out very stress free for us. We in general do pick a good park rotation that works.

 

[BYC]

We don't get hoppers. We use the water park option as our hopper. If you want to catch an extra dinner at Epcot no need to use a hopper to do that. just go on the water park day and use another day's ticket. That's 2 bux instead of 40. If you want to catch fantasmic, you can do that on a water park day as well and spend $2 for the extra days worth of ticket rather than 40.

And other days when say AK closes early, we just head over to Boma for dinner and take in the AKL instead of hopping. It works out very stress free for us. We in general do pick a good park rotation that works.

Huh?? I don't understand this...can you explain a little better? Thanks!

 

[scootch]

My girls LOVE MK over any other park, we visit there mostly every day at some point. The like MGM and AK, but nothing is like MK to them!

 

[winterman]

How many days will you be at WDW? I feel that if you have 4 days or less to do the parks, you should consider hopping. But if you have more than that you should have plenty of time to see everything and go back to do your favorites again.

 

[Terry's Angels]

Welcome to the DIS, Terry's Angels.

I would be lost without a hopper (I have an AP). That works for me.

PS: OT, make sure to check the DIS meet board periodically, Terry's Angels, for CHicago DIS meets; we have about 4 a year. Hope to meet you at one someday.

hi Dan, thanks for the welcome. I would totally be interested in learning about Chicago meets. Let me know more info or where to find info on the boards about them.

 

[Terry's Angels]

How many days will you be at WDW? I feel that if you have 4 days or less to do the parks, you should consider hopping. But if you have more than that you should have plenty of time to see everything and go back to do your favorites again.

We'll be at WDW 6.5 days (1/2 day is arrival day) and seven nights. What do you think about hoppers in that time frame?

 

[Terry's Angels]

Huh?? I don't understand this...can you explain a little better? Thanks!

I need help with this too. Could you explain more of what you mean by this post.

TIA

 

[WillCAD]

Huh?? I don't understand this...can you explain a little better? Thanks!

I think I understand Cannot_Wait_4Disney's strategy.

Although you cannot use two non-hopper park days on the same day, you can use a non-hopper park day on the same day that you use a Water Parks option. So basically, you add a few extra days to your ticket (going from a 5-day to a 6-day base is about $2 or $3), and on the days that you go to water parks, you can also spend the evening in one of the theme parks. This is sort of like hopping, because you spend most of the day in the water park and the rest of the day in a theme park.

I hop every day on every trip. I use hopping to shop, dine, and escape crowds (if a park is mobbed when I get there in the morning, I simply hop to another park). I also hop to fill in my days, since I usually finish with everything I like to do at AK by about 2pm, and I'm often done with everything I like to do in MK by dinner time - I just hop to another park to finish the day.

I always advise everybody to get the hopper option BEFORE you go, because if you have the option from the beginning, you will be more likely to use it, as opposed to going without it and not buying it until you absolutely can't get along without it. You might not hit that wall until the last day or two of your trip, and then you'll have to pay the full $40 per ticket to upgrade and only have the hopper option for one or two days.

But if you had it all along, you might have used it on other days when you "toughed it out" in a crowded park, or missed out on dinner in one of your favorites because you couldn't get an ADR on the one day you were in that particular park, or just decided on a whim that you'd like to see Illuminations tonight instead of Wishes, or vice versa.

Park hopping is not just about squeezing the absolute maximum number of attractions you can do into one day, it's about flexibility, it's about options, it's about being able to change your plans in mid-day to adapt to the changing conditions around you. Park more crowded than you planned? Hop somewhere else. Get a craving for Kaki-Gori on your MGM day? Hop over to Epcot. Raining on your AK day? Hop to another park with more indoor attractions. Find out about a cool event (concert, show, parade, celebrity appearance) that you didn't know about before the trip? Hop over to another park for the event. Evening EMH at MK on your MGM day? Hop on over after you finish at MGM.

$40 seems like a lot, until you consider all stuff you might miss by not having the hopper option; then it doesn't seem like so much.

 

[Terry's Angels]

thanks for the explanaition WillCad.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

do families with younger kids park hop or should I just try to plan better.

This is an interesting way of putting it....

If you are content with not hopping, then perhaps that is the best choice for your family. What others do is not really relevant. Hopping is a matter of choice for your family, and your personal style - not something that's required based on the make up of your touring group.

Your question also implies that planning better would resolve the issue one way or the other. I disagree with this premise. Hopping is helpful when the unplanned happens. It is also helpful when one park is open a lot longer, and/or you want to take advantage of EMH hours, without spending the entire period in one park. Those concerns are far more relevant than your level of planning or party make up.

If you are satisfied with one park and either you aren't experienced enough to know when a park is more crowded than it should be - and/or you won't be taking advantage of long park hours and/or you are going to be there during a generally less crowded time of year when long park hours aren't offered and/or you are the kind of family that has no interest in staying at MK late at night - then stay with what you like.

The nice thing about the new ticket system is hat you only have to pay for what you want. If you think you'll want to hop, then consider adding it when you are ready to hop.