To Hop? Or Not?

[Bunch0rz5]

In the past we have always bought the park hopper. We are staying 6 nights 7 days with kids who are 15,12 and 2. With out hopping I have a harder time planning meals. Do you buy park hopper and if so why?? If not then why not? So confused. Lol

 

[jrt1176]

We do. I might not park hop the first days at MK and EP, but later in the week I may want to on our AK or HS days. Plus, there are many places to eat at WS, so I may start at MK and end up at EP. I always like to end the trip at MK, so this past trip we started the day at EP and I had all my FP's for MK and ate at BOG for my niece's birthday!

I guess I could go without it, but I like having the option to change things up on the fly.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

We always buy hoppers if for no other reason it gives us the option if we want to hop. And normally we will hop on days we visit AK at least. Out of 7 days we may hop 3 days.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

We usually get hoppers even if we don't hop every day.

For example, our most recent trip was just 4 days. We wanted 2 full days at MK, did DAK/EPCOT on another day and EPCOT/DHS on the 4th day. We didn't want to do a full day at DAK or DHS.

On longer trips, sometimes we skip the hopper, but depends on the time of year. When park hours are long during busier times we ALWAYS hop.

We also travel with 9 people who have different likes and dislikes so it gives flexibility for some of our party to come to one park in the morning, leave and do other stuff elsewhere and meet up later.

 

[Lothlórien]

In the past we have always bought the park hopper. We are staying 6 nights 7 days with kids who are 15,12 and 2. With out hopping I have a harder time planning meals. Do you buy park hopper and if so why?? If not then why not? So confused. Lol

There are two sides to consider, in my opinion.

1 - With the limitation on booking your Fastpass for only one park it could be a waste of money.
2 - When you finish using your fastpasses, you could go to another park. This is always a good option as well if you want to start you day in one park and have lunch there and move to another park for dinner. You would simply need to make sure that you schedule your Fastpasses earlier in the day so you can use them, or book them all for later where you will be having dinner.

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm fairly certain we have always bought hoppers and we are planing to this time, but our plans include NO hopping. So...I'm trying to decide what to do. I like the flexibility but then I think, I could add it once there, if we decided to, right? We could live without it for sure.

 

[mkla2015]

We always get hoppers. We like having the option to hop if we decide to. We always take midday breaks so it's nice to go to one park in the morning and have dinner in another if we feel like it.

 

[epcotty]

We don't get hoppers because we always concentrate on one park a day but do what you want, get them if you feel you'll use them

 

[MataHari22]

I stopped getting them for a few reasons, and when I went in 2013, I ended up not even using them. First, I have slowed down on my touring style. I am not out to ride everything I possibly can from open to close everyday of my vacation anymore. Second, I feel like hopping eats up a lot of time and energy for me. I am also not a person that does the afternoon break back at the resort thing. I feel that takes up a lot of time, too, and I am not a nap taker or one that likes to swim in the pool or sit in the sun anyway. Third, since I go for a longer trip and have seven park days (without my travel days) I have enough time to see pretty much everything I want without hopping around. Fourth, instead of getting the hoppers, I put that money towards MNSSHP in 2013 and MVMCP in 2014, since I had never gone to them before.

Why do you have problems planning meals without a hopper? Is it because there is a favorite park you like to eat at, or a certain park that you don't like any places to eat there? I feel it's so much easier to plan my day when everything is in one park. It always gave me ageda to worry about an ADR somewhere else and timing the travel to get there in enough time, etc.

 

[Farps]

We always get park hoppers, we like to take advantage of early morning EMH and then hop over to a less crowded park with FP's set up.

 

[dizzy daisy]

We have never hopped and it's always suited us. We don't eat at a lot of TS meals (maybe 2 or 3 over a week), and our touring style is pretty laid back. We are happy to spend the whole day in one park and eat where our day takes us. We are lucky enough to eat together every night at home so if a few days on vacation have us splitting up for meals, or noshing as we tour then that's okay for our family.

However we are planning our first ever summer trip and I think we may hop. The days are so long and our kids are old enough now to stay out very late. We might have more TS meals planned to get out of the heat but it wouldn't be more than one per day.

I do think if one's vacation includes one or more TS per day then hopping makes all the sense in the world

 

[Rivergirl2005]

I think it's fun to visit a park in the morning and something different at night. It make it easier for planning around crowds depending on when you are going. Also you could hop for meals at different places if need be. Many people like to hop so they can eat more at Epcot. Personally I like a change of scenery and taking break in the middle of the day. So hopping works out wonderfully for us!

 

[CAS239]

We're AP's and hop everyday at Disney

 

[hamilkm]

We usually get them (or like right now have an annual pass) but usually end up not hopping too much. The only time we really seemed to hop was during F&W festival because we liked to end our evenings in Epcot. I am taking my 2 teenaged cousins this May for their first trip and not doing hoppers. One to save money and two because we are doing strictly quick service meals, so I'm not worried about ADR's. We will just eat whatever looks good when we are hungry. I'm also pretty sure they are not going to be mid-day break kind of people, so might as well explore the park we are in! Plus with 5 park days, plus 1 water park day I think we will be good!

 

[tndisneyfan]

We get the park hopper. We like to go to one park in the morning, take an afternoon break, and then hit a different park at night. For us it makes meal planning easier too.

 

[icesk8abc]

We are hoppers. We like to spend 2 mornings at Animal Kingdom and at least 2 evenings at Epcot. We also find that we do better to do DHS for the rides and a show or two during a morning. Then we go back a different evening for another show and Fantasmic. It is just our style.

For our upcoming trip (9 more days). We planned our FP+ for our afternoon park on most of the days we plan to hop. The lines are short enough in the morning that we can run around and get done what we want. Then we can use our FP+ in the evenings and take things at a more leisurely pace.

Now that we have a toddler who naps, we will head back to the hotel midday anyway which negates any time we would lose hopping since we will be going back and forth anyway.

 

[Bunch0rz5]

Thank you all for your thoughts.

With the 2 year old things will be different for sure. The two older kiddos and hubby have certain places they want to eat. I am finding while making out ADRs that hopping may be the best idea.

We always did a very short day at AK in the past. With the new added night time show I am wondering if we need to spend the full day there. We are going in Sept.

Also did a short day at HS and now with the Star Wars fireworks I wonder the same. Will I need to stay longer at this park.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE the fireworks at MK. In the past we always seemed to end up there every night. Just not sure we will do it every night with the above things mentioned.

Sigh. Loll to save or not to save. I just have no clue how the trip will be with the little one in tow.

 

[JWigs]

We always get hoppers at both parks (DL and WDW). You just have more flexibility and also the cost is minimal when you break it out over the week.

We took my sister and niece to DL for their first time and ended up paying the upgrade to hop as she was tired of DL after a day. I think it allows you more chances to see more and do more without making you stay all day at one park.

 

[SplashMo]

We always hop. FP+ makes this even more important to get enough rides in in a day. You will have parent swap passes. I like to make ADRs inside the park whenever possible. Epcot is always a sure bet for food. For MK a quick CS meal gets more rides in. Eating TS at DHS for one or two meals (in particular due to poor CS). AK is a toss up between CS and TS. We usually only eat lunch there...

 

[BalooFan]

I also park hop, hitting one park in the morning, taking a resort break, then going to another park in the evening. I usually schedule the evening activities so members of our party can go their own way after dinner, if they want. This is another reason park hoppers come in handy for us.

On the other hand, I personally wouldn't allow dining considerations to dictate whether to get park hoppers because there are so many restaurants outside of the parks. On my upcoming trip, three of the seven ADRs I scheduled are at Disney Springs or a resort. Overall, I like non-park restaurants better and some resort restaurants are close enough to the parks that there isn't a big time commitment involved. For example, you could leave MK at lunchtime. take the monorail or boat to have lunch at one of the MK resorts, and then return.