To hop or not to hop?

[fantpan]

We're going to be a family of 6 and will probably spend a lot of time at theme parks. If I thought my younger ones would take an afternoon nap, I would leave the parks and return later but experience tells me to plan on early mornings and not stay all night. This being the case I'm not sure whether to worry about a park hopper. We're planning about 8 days out of 12 at the parks but I thought for the extra it costs for a 10 day ticket compared to a park hopper, this would allow for a couple of extra parks, if we want to do 2 in 1 day. Am I going about this the right way? Also, if we do want to leave, can we return to the same park that day?

 

[DanceRC28]

I think it's a matter of personal choice, but with that many children I agree that it probably would be difficult to spend long hours at the parks. You will be fine if you just buy the regular tickets and yes you can go back into the parks if you leave. You can in and out of the park that you choose for that day as many times as you want which makes it nice in case you guys decide to take a midday trip back to the hotel. Either way, it's Disney, you will have an amazing time!

 

[M 'n C]

We're planning about 8 days out of 12 at the parks but I thought for the extra it costs for a 10 day ticket compared to a park hopper, this would allow for a couple of extra parks, if we want to do 2 in 1 day. Am I going about this the right way? Also, if we do want to leave, can we return to the same park that day?

Sorry you can't buy a 10 day pass and use 2 passes in the same day to "hop". Once you leave a park you may reenter that park though later in the day. You just can't go to a new park.

 

[hniki234]

I agree. It's a personal choice. Personally, I always choose the park hopper option. I like the ability to go to more than one park in a day.

 

[inmyis]

You can go back into the same park without hopers. We have always been a hopping family. We are up early to get as much done as possible. We usually head back to our resort right after lunch and rest and swim. Then we usually head to another park in the evening. Sometimes we stay late, sometimes not. Here is an example of what we have planned for one day in Feb: Arrive at Animal Kingdom at open, ride Everest and see the park. Leave around lunchtime and swim and relax. Dinner at Tony's in Magic Kingdom and then stay for Spectromagic and Wishes. Yes a very busy day but from past experiences it should be a great day!!

Do what makes sense for your family!!

 

[Chester's Mum]

Yes, you can leave the park and re-enter on the same day without the park hopper option, and without using another entry.

I've found the park hopper option to be a good one for my family. There have been times when I've been at a park and its become unbearably busy, and it's nice to have the choice of going somewhere else. Of course it depends on which season you go in, and whether the park you are in has EMH that day. If you are careful about the schedules, you probably won't have a problem with that.

We also like to have dinner at EPCOT, the best choice of dining is there, so we often end the day there.

If hopping is not for you, then the extra 2 days at the parks are a bargain, and it would give you the chance to see the parks in stages with your little ones.

Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[AJKMOM]

Without the park hopping option, if you leave, you can only re-enter the park you left. We get it because we love to go to see the fireworks at EPCOT and MGM numerous times. However, if money were an issue, or I was taking my first trip, I wouldn't bother with the hoppers.

 

[mom2aredhead]

we are a much smaller family and my DS is younger. Check the park operating hours for the time you are going, and try to figure out if you will realistically be able to do more than 1 park in a day, also taking into account the extra magic hours if you will be staying at a on site resort.

Also, you had said " but I thought for the extra it costs for a 10 day ticket compared to a park hopper, this would allow for a couple of extra parks, if we want to do 2 in 1 day"

Unfortunately they won't let you do that. Without a hopper option, your tickets are for 1 park per day. So once it is used at Magic Kingdom in the morning, you can't use another "day" to go to MGM at night. You would need to have the hoppers. You could, however, go back to Magic Kingdom that night.

For us, the no hopper thing worked. We stayed on site and are not morning people, so we planned our days around the park that was having the night time extra magic hours to get in extra park time. Also, except for a few pre-planned character meals, we grabbed most food on the fly and didn't need to worry about getting into a different park for a dinner reservation.

Like the previous poster said, it's personal preference, but I second the vote for no hopping. I'm sure you will also hear from some avid hoppers to help you decide.

 

[CleveRocks]

I think having park hoppers is tailor-made for your situation. You plan on having a mid-day break each day. If you have hoppers, you can decide which park to go to for the evening -- it just gives you options.

I ESPECIALLY like hoppers for near the end of the trip. If you want to go back and do some of your "greatest hits," you can do a couple of rides in one park, then a couple of rides at another park, etc.

They're certainly NOT a necessity, but to me, with my budget, it's worth the money to have the extra options. We're also not uber-planners, so having options helps us because we don't have a binder or a bunch of laminated index cards blueprinting our plan of attack.

 

[kellyg403]

I also think the hopper is a great choice. I, too, was having a hard time deciding which to buy and ended up with the hoppers because of our dining choices. The other thing that proved to me that the hoppers were a good choice were the crowds. If we went to a park that we had planned for the day and it just was too crowded for us we would head to someplace else and come back another day. We were able to do so much more because we could leave and reschedule that park day since most of our dining options were at resorts. Both times that we have gone, parks with the EMH seemed to be the hardest to maneuver, and sometimes we would accidently hit these parks. We left and went to Epcot and TT had a 10 minuted wait at noon. Kept the kids happy and dh not so grumpy. He doesn't care so much for crowds, waiting doesn't bother him, but people practically running him over does.

I hope that you have a wonderful time!

Kelly

 

[canwegosoon]

IMO going in April(esp. the first 2 weeks) requires hopping. What are you going to do if you arive at a park and it is crowded? You already accessed that park, so now the best you can do is go back to your room and hope that it will thin out later. Also with little kids you might find their intrest wains in a park...again it would be nice to have the option to go to a different park in the evening.

But I notice you are staying in a DVC unit...are you new members? Will you be going to WDW every other year...then I guess you could do without the hopping, since you can always catch things on your next trip. I am a DVC member, and I always hop...I like the dining in other parks, and find it breaks up the day AM in one park and PM in another park. You know your family...is their limit 4-5 hours and then you are good at the hotel (you can always resort hop for a variety of restaurants).
Good Luck.

 

[themudd4]

We hop...ALOT!

There are sometimes that we may go do the EMH, then eat breakfast and leave that park and go to one less crowded.
Or when we go to AK...we never stay all day and end up hopping then.

Either way, you will have a good time. I just know for us it works out best...especially with the kids.

 

[Mickiethepooh]

I can't believe that no one has suggested you get annual passes. they give you park hopping along with a lot of other perks like free parking, and if you are going to be there that long they are likely much cheaper than your 8 or 10 day tickets would be. usually the break even is 7 days.

 

[fantpan]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'm overwhelmed by the no. of replies.

But I notice you are staying in a DVC unit...are you new members? Will you be going to WDW every other year...then I guess you could do without the hopping, since you can always catch things on your next trip.

No, we're renting points but coming from Australia, it's not very often so I'm trying to squeeze everything into the one trip.

I think having park hoppers is tailor-made for your situation. You plan on having a mid-day break each day. If you have hoppers, you can decide which park to go to for the evening -- it just gives you options.

I'm not sure the midday thing will work for us because the 2DS's won't take a nap. I was thinking about utilizing the EMH because they are early risers but they wouldn't get past 8pm at night so the EEH would be wasted. Are these the parks that get crowded?