To hop or not to hop?

[jessieroo]

We always hop. It makes for a more relaxed trip & we always seem to accomplish all the things we set out to. We do a minimum of two parks per day. Good luck with your planning & enjoy your trip!!!!!!!

 

[lizanne]

Our family always hops. We have friends who went to WDW for the first time this month. They asked us for advise and suggestions before leaving. We strongly advised park hoppers but they felt that since they were going to be there for 7 days it was not necessary.

Well, they're home now. First thing they told us was they wish they had parkhoppers.

Since this isn't you first trip, you know the routine and can decide if it's worth the money. If it's just the principle and not a budget problem, I would spend the extra up front. If you wait until you're there, you probably won't hop the first several days and then it becomes - do you want to spend the extra money for only 5 days (or whatever) .

 

[Cruz Family]

I am with DisneyJen, I will always hop no matter what the cost. There is nothing better then spending the morning at MK, going back to the hotel after lunch (even if it is to just take off my shoes and socks for a few minutes) freshen up then head over to Epcot for a yummy dinner. I feel the parks are much more enjoyable in smaller increments. But to each their own.

Melissa

 

[vettechick99]

Personally, I place a very high value on park hopping. I've been so often that I don't feel like I have to stomp the same park all day and night...just go in and do what rides and want and the move along to the next one.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We always had the park hopping option, but really never hopped that much. This time, we are going for 10 nights so I just went with the 10 day pass with the water parks. My children are still young, but maybe when they get older we will change our plans. Also, we do not have that many late nights because we are always at a park at opening and my children require a good nights sleep.

 

[2d_star_to_the_right]

The only day we don't hop is generally the last day of our vacation which we do in the MK,

I find the park hopper option to be a necessity- although I don't like paying for something that was "free". We thought long and hard on it but ultimately decided based on the following:

1) Crowds- if a park is crowded and you aren't getting much done but becoming frustrated and stressed- getting out is better option than losing your temper. So we park hop.

2) Changes in Plans- sometimes we find that one park is more "enjoyyable" than another on our vacation. For years we liked MGM over Epcot, but now we prefer Epcot and AK over MGM- so when we can hop it allows us more flexibility if a new park preference emerges.

3) The last few times we visited MGM seemed to run shows more sporadically- Beauty and the Beast wasn't even held on certain days- since it is hard to know the show times before going- it makes it hard to know for certain if you are going to hit the show or not-granted less of a problem for those travelling "on season". We also found that MGM seemed to have less to do or close attractions earlier as people were sitting for Fantasmic. So that made it hard to stay all day as well.

4) Overstimulation- sometimes it just is too much sight, sound and smell of one park. I like the tranquility of EPCOT in the evening- rarely is it "crowded" in the packed way that the MK is. So varying the parks during the day keeps the experience fresh and new.

5) Rain- no one wants it- but some parks are better to explore in the rain than others. So if it starts raining you can easily jump to another park that has more weather friendly events rather than wasting time waiting for Indiana Jones Stunt show which is NOT going to happen.

Paying the extra money was definately maddening- but when we weighed out the pros and cons we ultimately felt that the comparitively small amount that we had to pay/ticket vs. the overall cost of the trip and the conveinance said it was the wise thing to do. If they continue to increase the park hopping price- then I would give serious consideration to ending my Disney experiences. Staying all day in one park for every day of my vacation makes me feel bound in a way that I don't like on vacation!

just thoughts

 

[umbluegray]

That's a good point about upgrading your ticket at WDW if you decide you want it.

You can upgrade your tickets on-site. You can also add days. We did that.

We added 2 days and it only cost $3 / day / ticket -- or $18 for the 3 of us to get 2 extra days. That was really cool.

 

[YourMajesty]

We are faced with this question also. We are looking at 5 tickets so the math comes to $175. We are getting a 7 day ticket so per day per ticket it doesn't seem like much until you think about the total. I think one of the biggest questions would be the early entry. No one wants to stay at that park all day because it gets crowded. We are going to try the non hopper(avoid early entry) knowing that we can upgrade if we have bad weather etc. We have used the hopper option in the past; however, we didn't have a 7 day ticket. With that ticket there is still one or two days that would be nice to hop. We are trying to include character meals, fanstamic dinner package, MNSSHP, maybe Cirque etc.... It's hard to have everything unless you don't need to worry about the $$$. If we were going spring break I would spring for the hoppers and cut out a meal or two. Who knows I might change my mind before we go in Oct.

 

[Lizzybee]

I'm trying the non hopping route this time. It's just me and my two kids going and we will only be there 3 nights and 4 days. I have planned Epcot our day there, we arrive at MCO at 11am and Epcot has late EMH. The next day, early EMH at MK (we probably won't stay THAT late at Epcot and 6am IS sleeping in for my kids at WDW). The following day I plan to avoid EMH crowds at AK and we're going to MGM. Our final day our flight is at 7:30pm so we will be going to AK since there are no fireworks shows there anyway it won't matter if we have to leave before dark.
I've wrestled with the idea of hopping but I can't imagine with our dining plans and the things I know are "must do's" for my kids that hopping would even work for us this time. I hope I'm right.

 

[bigOlkid]

I don't think anyone has touched on this, sorry if they have. If you have ADR's for park dining and dont have the hop option, you are forced to go only
to that park that day. No breakfast at the castle in the morning and Fantasmic that night, etc. Seems pretty restrictive to me.

 

[Aalore]

I plan to add hoppers to my tickets as well. I like knowing that if I want to leave and go to another park that I can leave if I choose.