To hop or not?

[lukenick1]

Been to Disney many times with park hoppers and know that it takes time away from getting to one park from another. This trip we only plan on 2 days in August and mostly interested in seeing Animal Kingdom. Hubby has 2 park hopper ticket left over from past trip which do not expire. There are a few rides that have changed since our last visit like Soarin, Haunted Mansion, and some new ones too like Mine train, and Frozen. Is it really worth going through the trouble to park hop just to see a few attractions at one park then moving to another? I am so torn as to what to do. My boys are teens now. I'd like to also go on Tower of Terror and see toy story too. I thought about getting a 2 day ticket for Animal Kingdom and Studios but not sure we would be happy spending a whole day at Studios. Might get bored there. What would you do?

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

I guess I'd take a family survey of everyone's must-do attractions for your two days at WDW. If everyone's choices are centered on two parks, do a non-hopper ticket and save the hoppers for later. I would also consider whether HS is a full-day park for your family. Are you going before or after the FP tier changes there? If it's before, it might be worth using the hoppers so you could FP a Toy Story attraction, ToT, and RnRC or Star Tours then move on to another park. That said, If you are going in August and still trying to decide what to do, I'm guessing you haven't gotten FPs yet which may cause you a bit of difficulty at this point. The other thing to consider is when you might go again. If it's in a year or two, maybe trying to hit everything in two days isn't a huge priority. If you won't be back for five or ten years, maybe use the hoppers and try to see and do as much as possible. Check the park hours and maximize your time in the parks. Use the bus rides between parks as a rest and cool off time and get back after it! I guess I didn't answer your "hop or don't" question...maybe gave you a few things to consider though?

 

[lukenick1]

When are the fast pass tier changes at DHS?

 

[trishadono]

When are the fast pass tier changes at DHS?

I think end of August. I didn't even bother booking at hs for my Labor Day weekend trip due to that. My dates 8/29-9/2. Lots of EMH from then until early November.

 

[Darcy03231]

DH and I did this a couple of years ago and got the hoppers. We spent the morning in one park, had lunch, hopped to another park. We ended up visiting all four parks in the two days and were able to ride multiple things in each park.

 

[JimmyBean42]

It sounds like the group wants to see a lot of different things so hoppers sound about right for this trip.

 

[disneygirlsng]

DH and I did this a couple of years ago and got the hoppers. We spent the morning in one park, had lunch, hopped to another park. We ended up visiting all four parks in the two days and were able to ride multiple things in each park.

Yep, my mom and I just did this a few weeks ago. We got pretty much all the headliners done in 2 days. I think the only big ride we didn't get in was BTMR, because it kept going down when we tried to ride it. But we had about 10-12 FPs each day which helped!

The first day we did HS and Epcot, we did TSM, Saucers, Slinky Dog, TOT, RnR, Little Mermaid show, Beauty and the Beast show. Then in Epcot Frozen, Gran Fiesta, Spaceship Earth, Soarin, Test Track, Nemo.

Second day was AK and MK. We rope dropped FOP, then did Navi, Safari, Everest, Gorilla Falls and Maharajah trails, and Dinosaur. Then in MK did Buzz, Peoplemover, Little Mermaid, Riverboat, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Splash x2, Space, Small World, Peter Pan, then hit Seven Dwarfs after the fireworks.

It seems jam packed typing it all out, but we never really felt rushed or criss-crossed the park too much. We FP'd almost everything and had our next FP lined up before we got through the line of the current ride. It's definitely doable to get a lot done in 2 days with a hopper. In all the times I've hopped (which really isn't too many to be honest), I've never felt like it took a big chunk out of the day to travel between parks. In fact, it was more of a nice little break to refresh for the next park.

 

[lynzi2004]

I would do the hoppers. It seems as if crowds, etc can get rather crazy right in the middle of the day so spending an hour transferring parks is no different to me than spending an hour waiting in line some where. By the time we get to the next park, we have typically had some kind of a snack and sitting in the air conditioning mixed with the excitement of a different park, kind of gets us going again for the afternoon. Especially with teens, park hopping would be a breeze!

 

[FastPasser.]

To hop or not?

Not

 

[Gehrig1B]

We find hopping is a nice 20 minute rest in a bus with AC. Never understood why people will get in a 45+ minute standby line but think the 30-45 minutes it takes to hop is somehow a waste of their time. We too have easily done 4-park days and loved it.

Last month we had breakfast in Epcot, took the boat to Hollywood Studios for our fast passes, then used Lyft to get to AK for FP4,5,6,7 and finished with dinner and fireworks at MK.

 

[KenHutch]

Normally I recommend to people that they don't hop but hey you already have them so you will not be increasing your expenses and unless we do all of the walking trails in Animal Kingdom we usually are done with time left over.

 

[Disneypro1]

We never. Always get more done doing one park per day. We stay from about 0930 to closing. Just never wanted to hop. Always go Sat. to Sat. All parks one day each with MK two or three.
In any case....no to hopping.

 

[sponica]

I did 2 day park hoppers on my honeymoon, it was a whirlwind two days, but it was fun. But I'd honestly be inclined to hold on to those non expiring tickets.

 

[katilac]

Will you be back while the teens are still home? What are the crowd levels when you're going? What is your family's patience level, lol?

We never hopped when our kids were little, but we were able to go at non-peak times (which were less crowded ten years ago!). When they were older teens, we had to go at a much busier time, and we loved hopping. With teens, you can move quickly and they have the stamina for a long day. I think it would be tough to spend a long day at HS (and we like HS).

We had one crazy day last trip where we went back and forth, back and forth, between HS and Epcot, lol. It was crazy but fun. We'd been wanting to try the walk, so when HS got mega crowded we walked to Epcot. The walk itself was fun, it's pretty and you also go past the Boardwalk and so on. We talked to several people (easier to do than when in the parks) and traded some pins at the store. We spent some time at Epcot and returned for our Fastpasses, and it was a much better use of time than waiting in line or doing stuff we weren't that interested in. Then we did it again, both ways, lol. I think the kids were taking it as a challenge at that point, plus they decided we should try the boat. It's one of the things they talk about most.

It's about a 20-minute walk, so likely faster than bus or car if you don't mind even more walking. A very pleasant walk and something new for us.

If I had two long days, I'd likely want to hop to all four parks.

We find hopping is a nice 20 minute rest in a bus with AC. Never understood why people will get in a 45+ minute standby line but think the 30-45 minutes it takes to hop is somehow a waste of their time. We too have easily done 4-park days and loved it.

Agreed. It also gives you time to book FPs, check ride times, and decide what food you want next, lol. With no little kids and rarely a full week at Disney, I'd rather spend the time hopping to another park rather than waiting in long lines. And I'd never go and not visit MK, it's not a Disney trip without it!

 

[jollygreen]

I've done both. For my upcoming trip and my last 2, I didn't hop. I usually do it for cost saving reasons, we always have plenty to do in 1 park anyway. I wouldn't ruled hopping out for any future trips though. I like being able to go to Epcot at night and have a drink and stroll around WS.

 

[disneygirlsng]

We never. Always get more done doing one park per day. We stay from about 0930 to closing. Just never wanted to hop. Always go Sat. to Sat. All parks one day each with MK two or three.
In any case....no to hopping.

If OP was going for a week I would agree with you. But they're not, which makes quite a big difference IMO. If I'm there 3 days or less, I hop, that way I can get all the parks in. 4 days or longer, no way.

 

[SamanthaH]

Been to Disney many times with park hoppers and know that it takes time away from getting to one park from another. This trip we only plan on 2 days in August and mostly interested in seeing Animal Kingdom. Hubby has 2 park hopper ticket left over from past trip which do not expire. There are a few rides that have changed since our last visit like Soarin, Haunted Mansion, and some new ones too like Mine train, and Frozen. Is it really worth going through the trouble to park hop just to see a few attractions at one park then moving to another? I am so torn as to what to do. My boys are teens now. I'd like to also go on Tower of Terror and see toy story too. I thought about getting a 2 day ticket for Animal Kingdom and Studios but not sure we would be happy spending a whole day at Studios. Might get bored there. What would you do?

Double check the park hours for your 2 days in August. If you are going this August, the hours are shorter at MK and DHS compared to other years. This may give you less time to park hop. Make sure you are ok with times for your family. Another consideration would be to get non park hoppers and do the after hours events if they fall on your dates. That option would be pricier, but you could pack in more rides. I am kicking myself for buying park hoppers on our August trip. I wasn’t expecting the 9pm close at MK and HS.