To hop....or not to hop...

[Martini Mom]

Use the earned passes later in trip? Will your DD still be a cm on your last day? The tickets she earns are hoppers. Just make sure her leaders don't take her out of system early though!
We will be there 8/2-8/9 to get our DD from the DCP too-her last day is 8/9.

ETA: I reread- so you are planning on staying after her program. Did she get the tickets for whole family at the cm discount? And ouch on exchange rate!! Personally I'd probably splurge for the hoppers though

Yes, her last day is 8/9 as well and we are staying until the 14th. We have to use her free tickets before while she is still a CM. She said sometimes they don't take you out of the system right away but there are no guarantees. Can she make a request to her leaders to leave her in the system until the 14th?

 

[Martini Mom]

You will get a different answer from every single person. We have always had Park Hoppers even for short 3 day trips and long 7 day trips. It just works for us because we are not planners. We don't book FPs in advance, we book them day of usually while on the bus. Sometimes I will book them the night before if we can decide where we want to go the next day but that is rare. We don't like being tied down to a schedule and don't even book 3 at a time because we might not want to hang around that park for 3 hours. We also don't book ADRs in advance, just day of while walking around. PHs make it easier to go that way, we can eat in any park we want and if a park is too crowded we just move on to another one. We almost always take a break in the afternoon and go back to the resort for a soak in the hot tub and usually go to a different park at night. The extra cost is worth it for us to have the freedom to just do as want.

I love that you do your trip this way...like the the old days!! I have only done one trip, this past May, where I booked our fast passes in advance. I did not like having to plan so far in advance which park I was going to visit on a particular day and at what time!!

 

[Martini Mom]

We love the Poly and if there was a time we wouldn't hop if would be if we are staying there. So many things to do and just to relax. You can always watch the fireworks show on the Poly beach and pretend that you are at MK. I understand about ending at MK - we do that also - but to spend $500 to do it - I don't think I would since we love the Poly so much. We enjoy AK - but not that much to do 2 full days there. If you are going already in the beginning of your trip why not change the last day to MK? If you can't change that then wait until you get there to upgrade.

Another option is maybe your DD has friends that will not be using there free tickets and can take you to MK at night on your last day. When our DD was in the DCP - we had APs so we couldn't use her tickets but at the end she did that for friends. Enjoy!

thanks for the input!! I am super excited to stay at the Poly! That's a good point about spending more time at the Poly, we usually spend most of our Disney vacations at the parks, just going to the hotel to sleep, this time I am thinking I will spend some quality time at the resort! I will get her to check with her friends about their tickets! Good idea!

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’d skip the hoppers and use the money to add days on to the ticket and do an HEA dessert party (so worth the money IMO) or put the money towards some nice meals or souvenirs. You can have a perfect Disney vacay without park hopping. We are also staying at the Poly in late November and are looking forward to resort time!