Tell me WHY you park hop!

[DisLiss]

This is all under normal operating conditions.

*We use hoppers to move away from a park that has become too crowded for our personal enjoyment.
*We use hoppers to allow us to not feel forced to eat dinner at the park where we spent most of the day.
*We use hoppers to spend more evenings at parks whose nighttime entertainment is our favorite.
*We use hoppers to increase our chances of getting on certain rides or getting into certain experiences. (Say early morning is our best bet for something, but it doesn't work out on day one, we're not forced to spend an entire day at that park day after day trying to make it work out. Think Rise of the Resistance. Or, on the flip side, if we think our best bet for a shorter line on Flight of Passage is just before closing, we can hop over to AK late in the day a few times during our trip instead of devoting multiple full days to AK.)
*We use hoppers to for making transportation loops that we find fun----say starting off at Caribbean Beach, and taking the Skyliner to Epcot, then the monorail to the TTC, then the ferry boat to the MK, and a bus back to the resort. That's something we like to do on a weekend when it's busy in the parks anyway, or on our arrival day when we want to see all of the parks "first".
*We use hoppers to be able to hit an Epcot festival every day, while also visiting other parks.
*We use hoppers to break up parks into smaller chunks so that no one in our party feels overwhelmed or "stuck" in a park that may be their least favorite or a harder one on them physically for an entire day.
*We use hoppers to break our "extra" days into extra chances to see each park. If we have 6 park days, if we wish, we can devote one full day, (or most of a day) to each park, then on the 2 remaining days, instead of getting to only do two parks a second time, we can do all 4 a second time.
*We use hoppers as back-up if we ever feel that we need a break midday, but fear that the park we started in might hit capacity before we return. Chances are decent that one of the other parks would be available.
*We use hoppers if a few of us decide we're just done for the day and we want to just relax at the hotel; then the others can go anywhere, not just where we came from before the break. That's particularly nice if we all wanted to do something at the first park together. Say we wanted to see a parade, but left before it happened. That way the people who want to go back out aren't going to either see it without the rest of the group, or try to avoid seeing it, kwim?
*We use hoppers in case something unforeseen happens at one park that makes our hopes/plans/expectations for our day at that park no longer possible. We can just leave, and try again another day.
*We use hoppers because now that our kids are older, sometimes they want to go do their own thing---including heading off to a different park and meeting up with us later.
*And lastly (I think!), we use hoppers just to know that we do have that flexibility & spontaneity if we want it. We pay a lot for a trip to Disney, and if we decide we'd love to switch parks, we like just knowing we can do what we want in terms of moving around the world as a whole.

 

[WonderWoman28]

This is all under normal operating conditions.

*We use hoppers to move away from a park that has become too crowded for our personal enjoyment.
*We use hoppers to allow us to not feel forced to eat dinner at the park where we spent most of the day.
*We use hoppers to spend more evenings at parks whose nighttime entertainment is our favorite.
*We use hoppers to increase our chances of getting on certain rides or getting into certain experiences. (Say early morning is our best bet for something, but it doesn't work out on day one, we're not forced to spend an entire day at that park day after day trying to make it work out. Think Rise of the Resistance. Or, on the flip side, if we think our best bet for a shorter line on Flight of Passage is just before closing, we can hop over to AK late in the day a few times during our trip instead of devoting multiple full days to AK.)
*We use hoppers to for making transportation loops that we find fun----say starting off at Caribbean Beach, and taking the Skyliner to Epcot, then the monorail to the TTC, then the ferry boat to the MK, and a bus back to the resort. That's something we like to do on a weekend when it's busy in the parks anyway, or on our arrival day when we want to see all of the parks "first".
*We use hoppers to be able to hit an Epcot festival every day, while also visiting other parks.
*We use hoppers to break up parks into smaller chunks so that no one in our party feels overwhelmed or "stuck" in a park that may be their least favorite or a harder one on them physically for an entire day.
*Similarly, we use hoppers to break our "extra" days into extra chances to see each park. If we have 6 park days, if we wish, we can devote one full day, (or most of a day) to each park, then on the 2 remaining days, instead of getting to only do two parks a second time, we can do all 4 a second time.
*We use hoppers as back-up if we ever feel that we need a break midday, but fear that the park we started in might hit capacity before we return. Chances are decent that one of the other parks would be available.
*Similarly, if a few of us decide we're just done for the day and we want to just relax at the hotel, the others can go anywhere, not just where we came from. That's particularly nice if we all wanted to do something at the first park together. Say we wanted to see a parade, but left before it happened. That way the people who want to go back out aren't going to either see it without the rest of the group, or try to avoid seeing it, kwim?
*We use hoppers in case something unforeseen happens at one park that makes our hopes/plans/expectations for our day at that park no longer possible. We can just leave, and try again another day.
*We use hoppers because now that our kids are older, sometimes they want to go do their own thing---including heading off to a different park and meeting up with us later.
*And lastly (I think!), we use hoppers just to know that we do have that flexibility & spontaneity if we want it. We pay a lot for a trip to Disney, and if we decide we'd love to switch parks, we like just knowing we can do what we want in terms of moving around the world as a whole.

This was such an informative response! Thank you for taking the time to write it out. This makes perfect sense and definitely has me leaning towards the PH.

 

[JFDIS]

We love the spontaneity! Just last night, on a whim, we went to MK an hour and a half before close. We had so much fun! We ran around doing every ride we could walk on and had a light night sandwich at Cosmic Rays. We walked out of a mostly empty park with the castle lit up the most beautiful violet. It was the highlight of our trip.

 

[Upatnoon]

We will often break our day in two.....rope drop a park, leave around 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., go back to the resort for a nap, pool time and relax.....Then go to another park in the evening.

We once stayed at the Beach Club and went to Epcot nearly every evening, sometimes just to buy a snack in Paris or grab a beer in Germany.

While having a hopper offers ultimate flexibility, it comes at a price that has be weighed against your budget and park plans. I would think the generally the longer the trip, the better the idea of getting a hopper is.

 

[Flamingeaux]

I only park hop when I have an AP and then it is rare that I do. It takes up too much time. Under current conditions I do see more benefits to hopping to Epcot a couple times eliminating the need to commit an entire day to Epcot. You can knock out AK before 2 and head to Epcot and get a lot done there in the afternoon.

 

[MudQueen22]

We have never gotten park hoppers, but if dh and I ever bought APs for ourselves, we would use them to go to Epcot just to eat dinner after a day at one of the other parks.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would wait to add park hoppers until you see the park hours for your trip. When we went in 2020, park hoppers would have been a complete waste because the parks were closing between 5-7pm each night. When you factor in that you are not able to switch parks until 2pm these days, and it takes an hour to transfer parks (including security etc.), that doesn't leave much time to enjoy the second park. On the other hand, if they extend park hours to later in the evening at some parks it'd be a lot more appealing.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I am starting to believe Epcot will have normal late night hours for the hopper to get their moneys worth and to give even more to Disney with food and alcohol, etc. . The new nighttime HarmoniUs will need to be enjoyed in the evenings after dark so definitely one location to always hop. Thank you Disney and it will be crowded!
What do you think?

 

[SG131]

Most of the reasons we used to hop do not apply anymore except for hopping to eat dinner at Epcot when in HS. But, with the reduced hours it could be effective to stick to Epcot as an evening park. If your kids are all day park type of people then you can do AK or HS in the morning and Epcot at night to make the most of your day. If you like to take it easy at a slower pace then it may not be worth it.

 

[scrappinginontario]

For us it's 50/50. It's not something we normally purchase unless we have to to qualify for a discount. That being said, when we have it we use it and love it! Great to have the opportunity to move to another park that's possibly less busy. Also, opens up a lot more dining options right now.

So, for us it's not a 'must have' but a really, 'nice to have' and we're always thankful when we have it.

 

[vivianmarie244]

Under current conditions I do see more benefits to hopping to Epcot a couple times eliminating the need to commit an entire day to Epcot. You can knock out AK before 2 and head to Epcot and get a lot done there in the afternoon.

This is exactly why we decided to buy hoppers this time. We can just hop to Epcot after we finish up one of the other parks since, at this time, it's opened the latest. We'll get more time out of our tickets this way instead of going back to the hotel so early.

 

[Jonfw2]

Simple: for dinner reservations. I rarely make ADRs based on what park I'll be in that day, but rather by when I can get them with the best times. So, if the day is reserved for AK, but I get a good rez that night at Be Our Guest, no worries- stop at the hotel for a break and a swim, then head over to MK!

 

[Delirium]

Well, I just spent 15 minutes typing a detailed response and lost it before I could post it. So, to summarize:

• HS and AK have historically kept us busy for 1.5 days, but not 2 full days. We don't like to repeat stuff on the same trip, so everything remains fresh until the next trip.
• It helps immensely with Epcot touring. World Showcase can be too tiring to tackle in a single day.
• Epcot is a great place to relax at night after a busy day at another park.
• Our favorite reason, which does not really work any longer with shorter hours, was to take advantage of every late night possible at Magic Kingdom. Our normal trip would usually include one full day at MK where we would cram in everything we could, a different morning only visit to enjoy Main Street (before hopping to HS), and then a couple of other MK nights we would enjoy after the other parks had closed. This worked great when MK was open a couple of times a week until midnight or after.

 

[Heather07438]

Hi all. We’re planning our 4th family trip (my 8th) for December 2021. I’ve only ever had the park hopper once when I went in 2019 with work colleagues for a conference. We went park open to park close for 2 days and hit all 4 parks, it was a blast!

When we’ve gone in the past we’ve never gotten the park hopper. We mainly didn’t knowing our kids were small and we were good staying at one park, going back to rest, then returning to the same park. This time our kids are going to be 12, 7 and a few weeks shy of 6. We’re also staying off site at Bonnet Creek.

Additionally, my husband hit a huge sales goal at work where they’re normally rewarded with a trip. Because of COVID they’ve done a list of prize packages, one including a $3,000 Disney voucher (which he picked, my dream guy). So I’m considering park hopping this year since we’ll have our tickets covered, but I’m having a difficult time coming up with ways to park hop? Or reasons? Plans? All of the above.

I’d love to hear how and why people park hop to utilize it best and really make it worth the money. Thank you!

We like hopping and usually get them but not always. The 2 things that make them most cost effective for us:

A) Being able to avoid non-party days at MK. Because hours are short on party days, non-party days get packed. With hoppers we could go on the short low crowd days, then hop elsewhere at night. We'd also pick a non-party night to hop in to MK and catch the fireworks without suffering the crowd all day. Bonus- it makes planning night shows at other parks easier (often those schedules aren't the same day-to-day).

B) They add value to 'park' resorts. Staying on the monorail or between EP/HS is expensive. Hoppers help take the full advantage of proximity. Quick and easy to pop in and out of nearby parks either to start/end your day gives more park time to enjoy at the other. It's harder to work in this flexibility from resorts further away with large chunks of the day spent traveling to different parks. Hopping eats up less park time & sleep time when done from park resorts, for us at least.

Hoppers are nice to have but we weigh them like this... Take the cost of the hoppers for my party and think about what alternate experiences we could get instead for that money. If nothing else seems as worth it as hopping, we buy them It changes depending on where we're staying, when and how long our trip is.

 

[Blondie58]

Hi all. We’re planning our 4th family trip (my 8th) for December 2021. I’ve only ever had the park hopper once when I went in 2019 with work colleagues for a conference. We went park open to park close for 2 days and hit all 4 parks, it was a blast!

When we’ve gone in the past we’ve never gotten the park hopper. We mainly didn’t knowing our kids were small and we were good staying at one park, going back to rest, then returning to the same park. This time our kids are going to be 12, 7 and a few weeks shy of 6. We’re also staying off site at Bonnet Creek.

Additionally, my husband hit a huge sales goal at work where they’re normally rewarded with a trip. Because of COVID they’ve done a list of prize packages, one including a $3,000 Disney voucher (which he picked, my dream guy). So I’m considering park hopping this year since we’ll have our tickets covered, but I’m having a difficult time coming up with ways to park hop? Or reasons? Plans? All of the above.

I’d love to hear how and why people park hop to utilize it best and really make it worth the money. Thank you!

First, Congrats to you and your hubby on hitting a huge sales goal. I love hearing when hard work pays off!! And for you to call him "my dream guy" = perfect!! We park hop because we are in our 60s and I like being at the parks more hours per day than DH. He is not so big on the parades and fireworks which I love. He loves the rides though!! Many times in the evening after dinner when he is having some ra nd r time I will head to a park for a bit of shopping, to see all the park's lighting, or to see a fireworks show. With park hopper I do not have to coordinate the park I choose to go to in the evening as where we went earlier that day. We also have been known to leave a park to go to another for a favorite place to eat. Having said the latter: Our situation is different than yours with the littles. We did those trips and are enjoying WDW alsone at this time. We are waiting on the grands to come along.

 

[Moliphino]

I get a bit bored if I have a whole day in one park. I'm totally fine with spending 4-5 half days in any given park over the course of a 9 day trip, but somehow one whole day in one park is too much.

Hopping also gives more flexibility for eating. There aren't a whole lot of places I want to eat at MK, but SO MANY in Epcot, for example. I can spend the morning in MK and have a snack to tide me over until lunch at Epcot.

Nighttime shows were also a big reason to hop. We usually wound up in MK or Epcot on most nights. Sometimes I'd hit 2 or 3 different shows if the times worked out (like ROL at 7, Illuminations at 9, SWAGS at 10).

 

[Goofy-Runner]

Our reasons now are different than in the past. Previously had more to do with the mix of fast passes and dining preferences. Now we simply choose to reserve at the more crowded parks for the mornings and then hop to AK or EPCOT for the afternoon where there are fewer people and it is easier to stay socially distant.

 

[Devil13]

I won't go unless I can hop. We did one day in December without the option to hop and it made us crazy.

I keep hearing about how you "waste time" going from park to park, which is ridiculous to me. Nothing more wasteful than going on rides you aren't interested in, eating at places that you'd rather not, or waiting in long lines for rides because it's your "fill in the park" day.

That one day in December at MK we felt like hostages there. "Line for Space Mountain is 90 minutes but we can't go anywhere else and we already did the Swiss Family Treehouse so we might as well"

Never again!

We typically do AT LEAST 2 parks every day and it's not uncommon to hit 4 and Disney Springs in the same day. Especially in the days (2019) when parks could be open until 11PM.

Example:
Start at MK, go on Splash and Thunder. Lines for everything else get long and decide to head over to Epcot for lunch. Grab lunch and maybe get on Test Track or Soarin' depending on the lines, snag a reservation at Oga's, jump on the Skyliner and go to HS for drinks there, maybe ride something depending on how the lines are and see what's going on. Dinner at AK and then go to whichever park is open latest and enjoy lower crowds as the night progresses.

Then again, we're not a laminated schedule type of family and have been enough to know what we like to do and feel zero pressure when we're there. If I want a drink from LaCava and I'm in Magic Kingdom, I want to be able to get it.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Our last trip was in Oct. 2019. Most of our park hopping was from MK (when it would close early for the Halloween Party) to another park. Our other main reason to park hop was to catch evening shows at one park after doing a day at another.

 

[auntlynne]

Most parks don’t have enough rides I want to do ( or are willing to stand in the Queue that long).

Festival Food booths at EPCOT - sometimes too many choices and not enough tummy room to accommodate in one day

The chance to see MK fireworks while enjoying Dolewhip to finish the day.