Should we get park hoppers?

[minniem]

Hello! This is my first post for a new thread so I hope I do it right. I am wondering if we should get park hoppers for our trip next April. It will be my DH and myself and our 4 kids (ages 7,5,2 and infant).

Is it really worth it? I just don't know how much park hopping my kids handle. Especially with the 2 little ones. The advantage being we could go to different parks during the day if we had dinner reservations for character dinners at a different park.

We are planning on spending most days at MK, and maybe 1 at the other parks. Maybe 2 at Epcot.

Just didn't know if it made the most sense economically. We're planning on staying for a week if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

Also, does anyone know how to add pictures, etc to your profile?

 

[cmusschoot]

I have 2 kids (2 and 4) and we always get the park hopper option. I find that it helps with our vacation flexibility, and worth the money. We often go back to the room and nap in the afternoon. So we break up our day anyways. Also with the way Disney is scheduling night time shows fireworks/fantasmic etc. you might want more flexibility for that...

It really makes dining and fireworks much easier....

Another thought is for EMH, I usually avoid EMH parks in the AM but find EMH to be great in the evening....

As a side note, rumor has it that ticket prices are going up in early August...so buy soon!!!

 

[laceemouse]

We never hop. We plan which park/which day and plan our meals there. You can also leave a park and return later the same day to the same park.
Even though we love the Disney transportation system it takes a lot of time to exit one park and get to another. I guess I could see the advantage with leaving the EMH park once it gets crowded, but it depends on how crowded it will be when you go.
It will cost you an extra $200 to hop, it really just depends on if it is worth it to you. When dh and I go alone we might get it, but our kids never want to leave a park once they get there. Plus, 300$ for the 6 of us is a lot of money.

 

[princess jackie]

We always always always bought park hoppers but our last trip we decided to save a little money and skip the park hopper. We found that we didn't really miss it. We planned out our day a little more than we would have but we had no problems with not park hopping. Having said that we aren't sure what type of tickets we are going to purchase for our next trip.

 

[My2Angels]

We bought base tickets for our trip in June to save the $$, and we did just fine. We just planned out our days and meals accordingly, and really didn't miss the park hopping.

 

[daleswife]

We never hop. We just plan meals and activities around what park we are going to be at that particular day. For us, it takes a whole day to go through the parks and we just spend that day in one particular park. We usually do two days at MK and two days at Epcot. But still, we dont do the hoppers cause we dont want to spend that amount of money just to go to a different park to eat a meal......and that would be the only reason we would hop.

 

[MariDisney]

We hop almost every day. In the grand scheme of the price of the trip, we feel it is well worth having the option. We often will have a meal in a park in the evening that isn't the park we went to in the morning. We like the flexibility. We do rent a car, which saves a lot of time when touring in this fashion.

 

[tam626]

We get the hoppers. Some parks are'nt as popular with our almost 4 yr old as others so we would never spend a whole day at some parks, plus I love to go see wishes as many times as I can.

 

[*Seanaci*]

We took our 15 month old last Dec and had park hoppers. Worked for us, because if he got cranky at one park, rather than go back to the resort room and twiddle our thumbs while he played, we moved onto another park. Often times this change in scenery settled him down.

I say get park hoppers.

 

[RMulieri]

I have 2 kids (2 and 4) and we always get the park hopper option. I find that it helps with our vacation flexibility, and worth the money. We often go back to the room and nap in the afternoon. So we break up our day anyways. Also with the way Disney is scheduling night time shows fireworks/fantasmic etc. you might want more flexibility for that...

It really makes dining and fireworks much easier....

Another thought is for EMH, I usually avoid EMH parks in the AM but find EMH to be great in the evening....

As a side note, rumor has it that ticket prices are going up in early August...so buy soon!!!

We do the same.We also stay in the Epcot resort area, so frequently we start the day at one park and end it in Epcot and walk back thru the IG.To us the hopper is worth every penny

 

[LoveKermit]

Normally I'd say get parkhoppers. DHS tends to be a "morning park," so does AK. Then, you're back to the hotel for naps. We usually end up at Epcot for dinner.

But as we were batting around a trip in Sept, that add-on is expensive. If it makes your trip more affordable, I'd do what others do and do one park, all day--even if you leave and return.

We always rent a car. DH hates riding the busses. Don't know where you're staying, but we even had one at the Poly to get to AK and DHS (and some offsite baby supply shopping).

We love it. I can't imagine not having them, but if money is part of it.....

 

[katyjeka]

We go every year and have stopped getting hoppers. We are early risers, so we are at the parks early, before the crowds. We ride all morning, collect fastpasses, break in the afternoon and return in the evening to use our fastpasses. We have never had a problem using them past the return time. We have 8 people with us this year, and skipper hoppers is paying for a Wishes cruise for the group.(With money left) Have a great trip.

 

[chabs]

We didn't buy the hoppers this year either. My kids are older (10 & 12) and we just can't be bothered. It takes too much time and energy out of our day to go from one park to another. By the time you walk out to the front of the park and catch the Disney transportation, you've wasted at least an hour. It's so much harder with the little ones too and all of their gear. You're better off just planning your activities around 1 park for the day.

 

[mitsybella]

I was really glad we got the PH on our last trip because we went to Epcot and the kids wanted to go back to MK, plus we had reservation at different parks to eat, it may be different when they are older and appreciate all the parks but while they are little they like MK the best and wanted to go on the rides there everyday, but as adults we enjoyed Epcot and the resturants there. I am planning better for our next trip with certain days in certain parks and planning the meals either in those parks or close by, if it goes well I may not get the PH on our next trip.

 

[keywestbride]

We got them last year for our 8 day trip, and I think we used them twice. They are nice to have, but definitely not a must. One option is to wait until you get there and see if you want them. If so, you can upgrade your tix then and thre. If you don't need them, use the $ to do something else fun with.

 

[jen2207]

You'll probably get a lot of comments both pro- and against hoppers. And it depends on how you are going to do the parks.

I get the hopper because we tend go hit an early breakfast character meal, tour the park, have lunch then head back tot he resort to swim or nap. Then go out again for dinner.

You could coordinate all of your evening plans at resorts - ie dinner at Chef Mickey, Boardwalk, DTD etc. places that don't require a ticket and avoid the hopper though too.

 

[mmcphee]

We save the money by not getting a park hopper. It is too hard to leave with three kids in tow. By the time we start walking toward the exit of one park we likely wouldn't be into another for almost an hour.

But, we also keep our kids on their regular schedule for the most so we don't do many late nights, usually only one night for Wishes. I think it depends on what your plans are. If you are going to be in to the parks early and stay late then I would get a PH.

 

[Kims09]

I don't think they are a necessity. Our last trip was in 2007 when our daughter was three. We didn't use the hoppers and honestly didn't miss them one bit. In advance, we would plan out which park we would go to (looking at the park hours in advance is a must to optimize the hours) and plan our dining reservations and other activities according. Travelling between the parks takes a while if using the Disney transportion can be time consuming.
Towards the middle to end of our trip, I plan in a day for Downtown Disney in the morning for a little bit more relaxing time and the opportunity to by a couple of souvenirs. Then we usually plan for a meal at one of the other resorts that we want to try.

Good luck!

 

[minniem]

Thanks to everyone for the replies...now I am beginning to see why everyone likes this board so much.

I think we will skip them for now and add them on later at the time of the trip should we feel the need. I am thinking we won't use them as much just b/c we'll be traveling with 4 small kids and it would take a lot of effort to go to a different park.

We're planning to stay at the Poly so we'll probably spend most time in MK with the kids.

Thanks again!

 

[J3nn78]

Not having hoppers is NOT an option for us. I cannot imagine being tied down to one park- especially with our little ones. We are AM EMH people who tour till noonish and go back to the hotel for naps or swim. Sometimes we go back to the same park, sometimes we do not. Also, AK is never a full day for us. I like the freedom of making ADRs without restricting ourselves to one particular park for the day. I like being able to change if the weather/crowds/parades/fireworks does or does not suit us.

Bottom line we like the freedom.