To hop or not to hop? That is the question

[dwsandy]

We made a semi last minute decision to head to our happy place for 6 nights mid August. We have 5 day base tickets for all of us but 1 child. We are trying to decide if we want to add park hopping to all the tickets. Do you think it's worth the extra $300.00+ it will cost to do this? We are driving, so we will have a car

 

[sethschroeder]

Looks like your staying at BLT?

Might as well for the following reason:
You can hop down to Epcot for lunch/dinner from MK
Your able to move from a park if its too busy mid-day
You can look to book FP+ in a 2nd park that you want to hit multiple times, for instance do a morning at Epcot but have your FP+ all at MK

 

[dwsandy]

Looks like your staying at BLT?

Might as well for the following reason:
You can hop down to Epcot for lunch/dinner from MK
Your able to move from a park if its too busy mid-day
You can look to book FP+ in a 2nd park that you want to hit multiple times, for instance do a morning at Epcot but have your FP+ all at MK

Actually, we are staying off site. We don't have any points left to use this year and couldn't stay away. We are staying in a townhouse at Windsor hills.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[hpfan100]

I wouldn't buy them ahead of time. Plan for no hop and then add that to your tickets when you get there if you think you need it. I went without on the last trip and didn't miss it at all. I'd never had no hops before so I was skeptical but it worked out fine.

 

[SplashMo]

I think I would add an extra day or two to the tickets. Then you could hit AK for three hours in the morning one day and leave at noon. Or go somewhere and hit the parks at night....

 

[disney meema]

For the first time I purchased non hopper tickets but we are staying for 14 days so I have 12 days of tickets and MVMCP tickets so I figured I'd non hop this trip ... I honestly am looking forward to 1 park a day : ) I think if you plan your rides, experiences you want to have and dining around 1 park a day it could work for sure and probably discover new things at each park.

 

[hsmamainva]

We like park hoppers!

My youngest LOVES the fireworks and wants to watch them every night -- on our Animal Kingdom days, there are no fireworks, and if we go "off-season", that park can close as early as 5:00 in the evening.

It's nice to have the flexibility to go to another park and watch the fireworks.

And it also helps in case of rainy days!!

Our last trip, it rained on BOTH of our Magic Kingdom days and the Electric Parade was cancelled BOTH days. Would have missed it altogether without the ability to hop over there on our last day there to see it.

 

[Aliceacc]

I don't know whether it's worth it to you, but we love having Parkhoppers and consider them money well spent.

I agree with the rainy day scenario. One day in 2008, we arrived at AK in bright sunshine. We did the Safari, then Kali, where we of course got soaked. Ten minutes later, a storm blew in. Not a typical "20 minute August Florida storm" but a precursor to Tropical Storm Faye: it was cold and windy and miserable, and it stayed that way. We were cold and wet and miserable, and we were at AK.

We went back and changed, and went to Epcot, where we had a lovely day. A day or two later, we went back to AK, saw what we had missed, and hopped somewhere else.

I love the flexibility that parkhoppers give us. It means we can have our ADRs where we want them... we tend to have a lot of Epcot ADRs-- and still see what we want to see in the other parks.

 

[Aliceacc]

I think I would add an extra day or two to the tickets. Then you could hit AK for three hours in the morning one day and leave at noon. Or go somewhere and hit the parks at night....

Perhaps I misunderstand.

You cannot use 2 different day's worth of tickets on one day. Without parkhoppers, once you've used a ticket for, say, the Magic Kingdom, you cannot go to another park that day, regardless of how many day's worth of tickets you possess.

 

[nan214]

I had always had the hopper up until about 6 years ago. Once we had children we had to cut some corners and cutting the hopper out was what we did. I was nervous about it, but honestly it worked out great. We have been 4 times since and have neverr missed it. I dont think I will ever go back to a hopper pass (unless of course I get an AP )

 

[nan214]

Also, that extra $300 is another night at WDW!!!

 

[North of Mouse]

Yes, we 'always' either do hoppers or have an AP. Can't stand knowing I'm tied to just one park each day - love the freedom.

 

[Clare Voince]

I like the hopper because I always take a mid-day break. When I go back at night, I often want to go to a different park than the one I was at earlier in the day.

The best advice was to wait and upgrade your passes if you need it. No need to decide now.

 

[Wendydagny]

We hop if we are staying on the monorail loop, because it is fairly easy. If we are staying value or somewhere you have to take a bus to the MK, then we don't.

 

[Mrs Green]

Perhaps I misunderstand. You cannot use 2 different day's worth of tickets on one day. Without parkhoppers, once you've used a ticket for, say, the Magic Kingdom, you cannot go to another park that day, regardless of how many day's worth of tickets you possess.

I took the advice to be extend the vacation by a few days to fit everything in.

 

[FINFAN]

We like park hoppers!

My youngest LOVES the fireworks and wants to watch them every night -- on our Animal Kingdom days, there are no fireworks, and if we go "off-season", that park can close as early as 5:00 in the evening.

It's nice to have the flexibility to go to another park and watch the fireworks.

And it also helps in case of rainy days!!

Our last trip, it rained on BOTH of our Magic Kingdom days and the Electric Parade was cancelled BOTH days. Would have missed it altogether without the ability to hop over there on our last day there to see it.

this^.Do you have fans of Frozen? If so they may want to see that a LOT, or at least parts of it. Say the day you hit AK, stop back at WH to eat ('cause it is super close and will be cheaper helping to pay for those hoppers )which closes earlier, then over to DHS for the Frozen show and fireworks~probably worth doing. I guess you need to know who is hoping to see what.
Our park days are over Labor Day Weekend so only (Fri night -Mon). I did the hopper debate as well, planned to buy no-hoppers and then add if needed once we got there, but then I remembered weather, crowds, we have not been since this new FP system so would prefer some flexibility for the time during our non-FP schedule, like hopping to Epcot if we have a late FP time at DHS and want to switch it up for a while. The only park we usually don't hop from is MK but we have MNSSHP this year for the first time so that will give us a little buffer to get on rides so we feel like we can bop on out during the most crowded peaks now. I also had told my DD (who lives there and has an AP)our non-hopper plan and she immediately said, then I'm paying for you guys to get them, gotta figure out a way to hop. She is hooked now that she can bop anywhere she likes at anytime. SO, like I said , I caved. We are also staying at WH for the middle of our trip, starting on-site then on to Daytona Beach for the next weekend. Luckily DD will be with us so we have her AP parking pass , so that kinda helped to pay for the hoppers. We eat CS and love Epcot for that so again, like having it. We were going to try for spending time a DTD but DD says it is still pretty crazy over there with the refurb..parking the worst part tho.Hopefully better by late summer but not yet.
Either way have an awesome trip!

 

[BabiesDaddy]

No way. We paid for the park hopper last year on 5 day tickets, never used it. It's too much trouble going from park to park in the same day for us. This year, no park hopper.

 

[JimmyV]

Perhaps I misunderstand.

You cannot use 2 different day's worth of tickets on one day. Without parkhoppers, once you've used a ticket for, say, the Magic Kingdom, you cannot go to another park that day, regardless of how many day's worth of tickets you possess.

You did misunderstand. The suggestion was to add an extra day to the base ticket for modest cost and then use that extra day to go to a park for a few hours on a different day. In other words, instead of buying a hopper for $300 which would allow you to go to one park for 8 hours and a second park for three hours, buy an extra day and go to one park for 8 hours on one day and go to the second park for three hours on the following day.

This is what we prefer. Most days we fill our time in a single park. We find ourselves wanting to hop maybe twice in a week. The cost isn't worth it. Instead we buy an extra day for just a couple of bucks. Of course, if you are staying at the GF, adding the extra day to the vacation eats up your savings. But staying offsite, it can still be cheaper to do 6 days with a basic than 5 days with hoppers.

 

[Missymouse18]

We never hop. I have tried it, though, and it just wasn't worth the $ to me. But it can be beneficial for those who do want to use it. We have a set way of doing things at WDW so it just hasn't been necessary for us to purchase hoppers, but I would consider using them if they were free

 

[lustergirl]

We have always bought the park hopper option. I love going to a park in the morning, staying to mid-day, going back to the room for a rest, and then head out to a park at night, usually to catch the fireworks.

But seeing the OP is staying offsite, I might considering not buying them because it would be a hassle to leave mid-day, drive to my condo or whatever, and leave back out. Plus Florida has so much to offer.