To hop or not - new not hopping plan!

[DisneyWishes14]

I wouldn't hop. You will essentially lose half a day just in travel time. Think of it this way. You have 4 full days in the parks. If you hop, you are looking at about an hour of travel time from park to park on each day. That's 4 hours you could spend enjoying the parks and not traveling on a bus or monorail. I think you will find your trip will be a at a much more leisurely pace if you just stick to one park per day (except on your MVMCP day).

 

[sharona]

Yes, the time lost in hopping is a valid point, as is your comment about the pace. I'll have to see how the rest of the family feels about it. If I can make a non hopping itinerary work, we may go with that. But another thing to consider is that AK is not a full day park and really, neither is HS for us anyway, YMMV. I agree with your comment on the pace of the trip. That is something to discuss with the family. We're having our Disney planning meeting this weekend.

 

[mlnbabies]

We are going from Dec. 7-12. We have 5 day park hoppers. 3 days are MVMCP and we will hop to another park when MK closes. AK closes early so we will hop that day. We have never used them at WDW so this will be a first. We are undecided about going to the party. We went in 2011 and loved it.

 

[sharona]

Not sure why my thread was moved to pre trip report forum. How is hopping vs. not hopping not a theme park strategy discussion.

 

[itchin2go]

Not sure why my thread was moved to pre trip report forum. How is hopping vs. not hopping not a theme park strategy discussion.

Seems like they're getting strict about what a Theme Park Strategy is.

Regarding your comment above about AK and DHS being half day parks, I get where you're coming from. We don't find much to do in those parks to be honest. But there are other things you can do in the morning or evening that don't require park admission. If those are things you don't want to do (and thus would be wasted time to you), I think you're back to the hoppers. It depends on how much value you place on the other things you can do, and how much you want to pack every minute full of park time.

We like dining at AKL or Boardwalk at night and taking in what those resorts have to offer. You can also see the Wishes fireworks from several of the MK resorts. There's DTD too.

 

[sharona]

Seems like they're getting strict about what a Theme Park Strategy is.

Regarding your comment above about AK and DHS being half day parks, I get where you're coming from. We don't find much to do in those parks to be honest. But there are other things you can do in the morning or evening that don't require park admission. If those are things you don't want to do (and thus would be wasted time to you), I think you're back to the hoppers. It depends on how much value you place on the other things you can do, and how much you want to pack every minute full of park time.

We like dining at AKL or Boardwalk at night and taking in what those resorts have to offer. You can also see the Wishes fireworks from several of the MK resorts. There's DTD too.

On a longer visit and during hotter months, we would be more likely to do a half day at a park and then something nonparky. With just 4 full days we will be in the parks most of the time with maybe 1 sleep in and one "early" night if HS or EP close at 9...

 

[Dan Murphy]

Questions about theme park strategies are to be here on trip reports now?

 

[sharona]

New not hopping plan:

Thursday arrive at the Dolphin about 10pm.
Friday 12/11 HS: arrive at RD, use FP+ after lunch, then see F! and Osborne lights.
Saturday 12/12 EP: arrive at RD, tour WS after 11, use FP+ late afternoon, CP?, Illuminations
Sunday 12/13 AK: arrive at RD, ADR at Tusker house for late bfast, use FP+ in afternoon then head to MK for MVMCP about 5pm
Monday 12/14 MK: (it's the least recommended park but it's only a CL of 5 so we should be able to manage): arrive at RD then use our FPs after a late lunch
Sunday - sleep in and head to airport after check out.

This plan would save us some money and allow us to "hop" after AK using the MVMCP tickets. AK being such a short day is our biggest concern. I think at HS we could extend the day either with shows or taking a break back to our hotel for a swim which the kids would love regardless of the cooler temps of December. Then we could head back to HS for F! and Osborne lights. Re EP - I haven't done much research on the CP so not sure if it's every day???

I like this new plan - please point out any flaws or concerns that I have missed! Thanks.