To park hop or not? First week of January with a bunch of variables…

[laura428]

Help me decide, WDW aficionados….

We’ll be traveling to WDW 1/2-1/9, staying onsite at POR. Players will be…

- Me (Disney geek with 16 trips under her belt but none in the last 3 years, have always been the organizer/rally the troops person, and just kicked breast cancer’s butt but still experiencing joint pain from my new meds)

- Partner (hasn’t been to Disney since he was 17 and still kinda sees WDW as a “kiddie park” - but he’s got a great attitude and is looking forward to it all, especially the bigger rides. Also suffers from joint pain but is of the “rub some diet on it” school of pain management)

- DS (19, super fit and adventurous, loves the bigger rides, pleasantly surprised how happy he is to go again)

- DD (17, loves Disney and turns into a little kid when in the parks )

I bought 6 day single park tickets, with the idea that we would likely be building in some down days or, at least, down times throughout the trip. This, combined with how expensive everything seems to have become, made me think we probably won’t need park hoppers because I will probably be too tired to take advantage of them, as will my partner. But I’ve never done a trip without them. And now that I think about it…. maybe I should get them?

- Maybe the kids will want to go back to a different park while we rest?
- Maybe we’ll all want to go because now it seems you don’t need a reservation for the second park?
- Given the kids’ ages, and my health, this could be our last hurrah - should I just go for it and make the most of our time?

It’s an extra $300 and change total to upgrade. What would you do?

 

[CarolynFH]

The cost will be the same whether you add PH to your tickets now or during your visit (and the same no matter whether you add it at the start of your visit or on the last day). So I think I’d wait and see whether you need/want PH. For example, maybe only the two kids would use it, so you’d add it to only their tickets.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I agree you can wait to add it later but, the one thing to keep in mind is that if park reservations start to fill up for some parks you may wish to add the PH if you think you’ll want it. If a date fills so that all parks are full, you will no longer have the option to add PH to your trip.

The week you are going many schools are still on their holiday break so the parks have great potential to be busy.

 

[laura428]

I agree you can wait to add it later but, the one thing to keep in mind is that if park reservations start to fill up for some parks you may wish to add the PH if you think you’ll want it. If a date fills so that all parks are full, you will no longer have the option to add PH to your trip.

The week you are going many schools are still on their holiday break so the parks have great potential to be busy.

Yep - wish we could go during a different time, but this was the only option for a number of reasons.

Question - my understanding is that, as long as one of the other parks has availability, we’ll be able to hop. Do you think all parks could be full during that week? If so, it’s probably be better to wait, anyway, so that we’re not wasting a PH if we can’t actually use it, anyway.

 

[Disney mac]

I agree you can wait to add it later but, the one thing to keep in mind is that if park reservations start to fill up for some parks you may wish to add the PH if you think you’ll want it. If a date fills so that all parks are full, you will no longer have the option to add PH to your trip.

The week you are going many schools are still on their holiday break so the parks have great potential to be busy.

Yeah, I always tell Disney they hate teachers. They charge them more than anyone else on average.

I agree, wait and see if you will even have a desire to hop, especially with the 2pm earliest hop time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yep - wish we could go during a different time, but this was the only option for a number of reasons.

Question - my understanding is that, as long as one of the other parks has availability, we’ll be able to hop. Do you think all parks could be full during that week? If so, it’s probably be better to wait, anyway, so that we’re not wasting a PH if we can’t actually use it, anyway.

A bit of clarification. The ability to purchase PH is very different from the ability to use the PH option.

Disney will not sell a PH option if any day on your ticket is full at all 4 parks re: park reservations.

Actually being able to park hop when your ticket already has the PH option added has only been stopped once and that was to the MK for a couple of hours on MKs 50th Anniversary and, it reopened to PH later that day.

Historically, if you have the PH option you will be able to hop to other parks.

The Everything Park Hopping thread (Post 1) will offer more help too.

 

[laura428]

A bit of clarification. The ability to purchase PH is very different from the ability to use the PH option.

Disney will not sell a PH option if any day on your ticket is full at all 4 parks re: park reservations.

Actually being able to park hop when your ticket already has the PH option added has only been stopped once and that was to the MK for a couple of hours on MKs 50th Anniversary and, it reopened to PH later that day.

Historically, if you have the PH option you will be able to hop to other parks.

The Everything Park Hopping thread (Post 1) will offer more help too.

Thanks for this. I do understand that Disney won't sell the PH option if all parks are full. To be honest, if we'd already purchased PH and were actually still able to hop even though a park was crazy busy, I don't think I'd want to go anyway! The kids may want to brave it, I guess, but not sure that's worth the extra $300 gamble. At this point, I'm pretty sure we'll hold off and just enjoy this trip as originally planned.

 

[han22735]

We were in your same boat on our last trip in August. We always bought PH tickets. This year we didn't and never missed them. I feel.it really depends on where your staying. If I were staying BC/BW then I'd be more inclined to buy them being able to just quickly walk in HS or EP after our original park. But outside that I don't think we will ever get them again.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We were there in Jan and did not have PH after many trips having them. We missed them a little bit but not enough to justify adding them with all of the other increases.

 

[Genie+]

Help me decide, WDW aficionados….

We’ll be traveling to WDW 1/2-1/9, staying onsite at POR. Players will be…

- Me (Disney geek with 16 trips under her belt but none in the last 3 years, have always been the organizer/rally the troops person, and just kicked breast cancer’s butt but still experiencing joint pain from my new meds)

- Partner (hasn’t been to Disney since he was 17 and still kinda sees WDW as a “kiddie park” - but he’s got a great attitude and is looking forward to it all, especially the bigger rides. Also suffers from joint pain but is of the “rub some diet on it” school of pain management)

- DS (19, super fit and adventurous, loves the bigger rides, pleasantly surprised how happy he is to go again)

- DD (17, loves Disney and turns into a little kid when in the parks )

I bought 6 day single park tickets, with the idea that we would likely be building in some down days or, at least, down times throughout the trip. This, combined with how expensive everything seems to have become, made me think we probably won’t need park hoppers because I will probably be too tired to take advantage of them, as will my partner. But I’ve never done a trip without them. And now that I think about it…. maybe I should get them?

- Maybe the kids will want to go back to a different park while we rest?
- Maybe we’ll all want to go because now it seems you don’t need a reservation for the second park?
- Given the kids’ ages, and my health, this could be our last hurrah - should I just go for it and make the most of our time?

It’s an extra $300 and change total to upgrade. What would you do?

What are your plans for break day(s) using 6 day ticket over 8 days?

A middle approach could be no hoppers but upgrading to 8 day tickets with the intention of doing some shorter days. For example something like:

Mon Jan 2 - MK Noon-9pm, See Enchantment
Tues Jan 3 - AK 11am-closing 7pm
Wed Jan 4 - EP GotG VQ, Early Entry-2pm, pool/nap time, dinner and Yeeha Bob
Thur Jan 5 - HS 2pm-closing and Fantasmic
Fri Jan 6 - EP GotG VQ, 10am-9pm Harmonious
Sat Jan 7 - AK Early Entry -2pm
Sun Jan 8 - MK Early Entry - 7pm
Mon Jan 9 - HS Early Entry - departure

$545 6 day ticket
$560 7 day (adds $15)
$580 8 day (adds another $20)

$35 gets 2 more park days (pricing from Boardwalk Ticketing for your dates). So even if you decide to cut some days short to only 4 hours or so, it’s not like a waste of money at that cost. It would be a nice pace with plenty of rest time and ability to hit some Early Entries without being exhausted, plus more opportunity for nightshows and VQs.

 

[Her Dotness]

How many ADRs you'll want can affect how useful parkhopping will be for you, too.

We eat almost entirely TS because DH uses a powerchair. He finds it awkward juggling a tray or plate while driving his chair and prefers to roll up to a table and stay put.

The PH is consequently important to us for the ability to book a dinner ADR in a park other than our reserved one. That may not sound like a big deal to anyone who eats wherever and mostly QS. Being able to book only resort TS for dinner can feel very restrictive when you don't care for the TS in your reserved park.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Another thought. If you wait to add PH once you arrive, you can add it only to your kids’ tickets if you think they’ll use the option when you’re taking time away from the parks.

 

[laura428]

What are your plans for break day(s) using 6 day ticket over 8 days?

A middle approach could be no hoppers but upgrading to 8 day tickets with the intention of doing some shorter days. For example something like:

Mon Jan 2 - MK Noon-9pm, See Enchantment
Tues Jan 3 - AK 11am-closing 7pm
Wed Jan 4 - EP GotG VQ, Early Entry-2pm, pool/nap time, dinner and Yeeha Bob
Thur Jan 5 - HS 2pm-closing and Fantasmic
Fri Jan 6 - EP GotG VQ, 10am-9pm Harmonious
Sat Jan 7 - AK Early Entry -2pm
Sun Jan 8 - MK Early Entry - 7pm
Mon Jan 9 - HS Early Entry - departure

$545 6 day ticket
$560 7 day (adds $15)
$580 8 day (adds another $20)

$35 gets 2 more park days (pricing from Boardwalk Ticketing for your dates). So even if you decide to cut some days short to only 4 hours or so, it’s not like a waste of money at that cost. It would be a nice pace with plenty of rest time and ability to hit some Early Entries without being exhausted, plus more opportunity for nightshows and VQs.

This sounds like an awesome plan. Our down days were going to be Disney Springs on 1/2 (maybe mini golf?), half days on a few days, and a leisurely morning on 1/9. I may have to rethink, though - I really like the sound of this.

 

[laura428]

How many ADRs you'll want can affect how useful parkhopping will be for you, too.

We eat almost entirely TS because DH uses a powerchair. He finds it awkward juggling a tray or plate while driving his chair and prefers to roll up to a table and stay put.

The PH is consequently important to us for the ability to book a dinner ADR in a park other than our reserved one. That may not sound like a big deal to anyone who eats wherever and mostly QS. Being able to book only resort TS for dinner can feel very restrictive when you don't care for the TS in your reserved park.

We’re going to try to do mostly QS, tbh, mostly to save money. I don’t think I’ll need a scooter, but we’ll see after the first day or two. I used to book at least one or two ADRs per day just for the break, but it’s just not feasible this trip with how expensive everything has gotten.