To Park Hop or Not to Park Hop

[ktrask]

My husband and I are starting to save up for our trip to take our daughter to Disney World when she turns 5. I've started looking online at prices just to set a savings goal and have an idea of what we are in for.

One thing that stuck out was how much we could save on tickets if we took off the Park Hopper option. It seems like a smart way for us to save considering we are going with our 5 year old and I am not sure we really "need" that option on the tickets.

Thoughts?? To Park Hop or not to Park Hop?

 

[DisneyEater]

We don't park hop but even if you think you might want to, you can wait and have the hopper added the day you want to hop. That way you don't have to worry about paying for something you won't use.

To me, it is so easy to plan what you want to do that you never NEED the hopper. It is more of an upgrade option.

 

[angierae]

My husband and I are starting to save up for our trip to take our daughter to Disney World when she turns 5. I've started looking online at prices just to set a savings goal and have an idea of what we are in for.

One thing that stuck out was how much we could save on tickets if we took off the Park Hopper option. It seems like a smart way for us to save considering we are going with our 5 year old and I am not sure we really "need" that option on the tickets.

Thoughts?? To Park Hop or not to Park Hop?

Personally, we found that on our first trip to WDW, we were disappointed to not have park hoppers towards the end of our trip, when we had a day or two "free" and it would have been nice to be able to pop over to Epcot and do some World Showcase shopping, but spend the bulk of the day somewhere else. Or on the day everyone was miserable at Animal Kindgom and left before lunch, but then we couldn't go anywhere else, either.

However, since they can be added on at any time for the same price you'd pay ahead of time, my advice would be to wait and see if you end up wanting/needing them, and add them then. If you decide you don't, then you have another $175 or whatever to spend on souvineers or to take home and spend elsewhere.

We are getting hoppers for our next trip, but that's because I know we'll want them.

 

[NLD]

Park hopping is certainly not necessary.

Some people like it and feel it's worth the price.

I'm not one of them. I actually PREFER not park hopping, so the fact that it's also cheaper is fabulous, from my point of view.

Is this your first trip? Your daughter's first trip?

How many days will you have in the parks?

 

[juliemouse]

Now that our kids are older we park hop. But when they were that age, one park a day was enough for us. Traveling between parks takes extra time and we preferred to use the extra time to rest or relax by the pool. If it's your first trip you will find plenty at each park to fill up a day. Even without the park hopper, you can leave and return to the same park on the same day if you want to go to your hotel or DTD.

 

[ktrask]

This will be the first time for our daughter but not for my husband and I. We will be taking her to celebrate her 5th birthday!

I've been a few times, and my husband and I went once just after we got married. We had a blast doing an adult Disney trip, but this is our first Disney trip with our daughter.

I'm so much more excited for the trip than he is...and of course she won't know until we are pretty much there.

We are planning a full week (probably Sunday to Sunday since we are going the week after Thanksgiving 2013). Right now I am thinking 5 days for parks, but it's all in the who knows phase right now.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

If it's your first trip to WDW, and since it's your daughter's first trip to WDW, I think it's likely that you won't need park-hoppers. There is certainly plenty to do in each park and you shouldn't have trouble filling the days. The only exception might be Animal Kingdom, which closes earlier than the other parks, but WDW is full of things to do that don't require park admission. Off the top of my head, you could:

-Spend that evening at DownTown Disney doing your souvenir shopping
-Have dinner at one of the monorail resorts and then explore the others
-Go over to the Boardwalk and enjoy the atmosphere, including jugglers, magicians, etc.
-Go to Fort Wilderness for the nightly movie/campfire with Chip & Dale
-Play a round of mini-golf at Winter Summerland
-With the money you save by not adding park-hopping, you could do the Polynesian Luau or the Mickey's Barbeque or La Nouba

When I have had friends going to WDW and unsure about park-hopping, I tell them to leave it off, but put enough money in an envelope to pay for it. Then, if they get there and find they really want it, they feel like they've budgeted for it. But, if they find they don't need to park-hop, they have the money to spend on something they might not normally buy or do.

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

i took my 4 and 6 year old to disney back in september and i couldn't image park hopping with kids that little. there is so much to do and if you need to switch it up during the day you could always hit DTD or go pack to the hotel and hit the pool. For out next trip we will for sure have a DTD/pool day without doing any parks because my kids love to swim, and dtd is a full day in its self

 

[North of Mouse]

My husband and I are starting to save up for our trip to take our daughter to Disney World when she turns 5. I've started looking online at prices just to set a savings goal and have an idea of what we are in for.

One thing that stuck out was how much we could save on tickets if we took off the Park Hopper option. It seems like a smart way for us to save considering we are going with our 5 year old and I am not sure we really "need" that option on the tickets.

Thoughts?? To Park Hop or not to Park Hop?

That's a question that only you can answer, hence the option to do so or not. Some people prefer to go to one park a day - great for them - others, ourselves included, would never go without the park hopper. Whatever you decide, the price will include your complete #days of tickets, not just the remainder you have if you decide to add. It does add a significant amount to your tickets, but we usually get the AP's and it's included. If you haven't gone much, you could probably easily get by without the hopping and be fine. Have a great trip, your DD will love it at that age especially

 

[Chelley00]

We've NEVER hopped. We pick a park and stay there, and if we see everything we want to we leave and go swimming or shopping or something like that. The extra money for hoppers just doesn't seem like it would be worth it to us.

 

[disny_luvr]

I think it is a matter of personal preference. We like to park hop. We don't use it everyday, but use it more days than we don't use it. Like a PP already mentioned, we really like it more towards the end of our trip when we want to do a few things in one park and a few things in another park in the same day. For our trip this summer our plan is to go to one park in the morning, head back to the resort to swim and rest and then go to a park in the evening. With the park hopper option we can go to a different park in the evening if we'd like. We like the flexibility that the park hoppers give. If money is an issue I wouldn't get park hoppers, but if not, I'd definitely get them. For us, we always budget for the additional cost of the park hoppers.

 

[Marionnette]

This will be the first time for our daughter but not for my husband and I. We will be taking her to celebrate her 5th birthday!

I've been a few times, and my husband and I went once just after we got married. We had a blast doing an adult Disney trip, but this is our first Disney trip with our daughter.

I'm so much more excited for the trip than he is...and of course she won't know until we are pretty much there.

We are planning a full week (probably Sunday to Sunday since we are going the week after Thanksgiving 2013). Right now I am thinking 5 days for parks, but it's all in the who knows phase right now.

You could probably get by without the hoppers but think about the dates that you are going.

AK will close early and without a hopper, you will not be able to go to another park.

MK will close early on the nights when there is a MVMCP. If you went to the MK on one of the party days, you'll be asked to leave the park when the party begins at 7. You will not be able to hop to another park without a hopper.

The week following Thanksgiving break can still be kind of crowded. Some families extend their stay past Thanksgiving weekend. And the following weekend, the Pop Warner football players and cheerleaders invade. Disney films the Christmas parade that Friday and Saturday in the MK, which shuts down Main Street for the day, both days.

If I were making my plans, I would buy the non-hoppers. But I would try to budget the extra money to cover the cost of hopping just in case I got there and found that being restricted to one park wasn't working out for me.

 

[sweetmonkey]

Depending on how many days yu are going, there is a SLIM chance you might want the park hoppers if you have several more days than parks. That said, we NEVER park hop. We have gone 4 times since 2008. We are going back in Jan next year. We would rather visit one park each day and spend afternoons at the resort pool (or napping) than trying to transfer between parks. At best (with perhaps the exception of MK to Epcot), it would take us about an hour to stop touring in one park and get to the second and by the time we got there, the lines would be so bad in the second park that we would be very upset. Also, most of the fast passes are often gone by 2. We prefer the siesta schedule and often shorter transfer time to the resort. We have also opted to "break" at the respective park. Take in an afternoon show and let the kids rest, hop on the boat at Epcot or the Studios and let them rest/snack/sleep on the boat and then renter the park for dinner and evening shows. Animal Kingdom is the only park to which we rarely return. We start at opening and go until 3 (they often close 5-6pm in the off season when we are there). If the kids are holding up, we might venture back to the train and see the Conservation Station area, or if they are done, we head out to the resort.

I second the free/cheap suggestion form the above posters. There is also the campfire sing along at Ft Wilderness. I am not sure if it is open to any resort or just the Ft Wilderness patrons, but it might be worth asking. We love riding the monorail, walking around the Legos and World of Disney store at DTD, taking the boat to Port Orleans (even if we are not staying there).

On our last trip, we rented one of the family bicycle buggy things at Port Orleans Riverside. It was perfect and we had a blast. Both of our kids loved it and we rode down to get beignets from French Quarter before heading back. A lovely way to spend a little non park down time.

 

[HS3kids]

We have always purchased Park Hopper with Water Park Fun and More tickets and don't ever remember actually park hopping. Next time we will not get the hopper option..just our personal style of vacationing

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We did not hop when we visited WDW - we took a mid day break most days and just went back to the same park in the evening that we visited earlier that day. On our AK day we explored the resorts in the evening after our late rest, had dinner at Capt Cook's *Poly*

You can always add it while you're there if you feel you need to.

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

We always get the park hopper.

1st reason is that we always go the beginning of November and everything closes early except Epcot so we always end are days there.

2nd reason is that for my 5 kids they really enjoy World Showcase when we do it in small pieces. If I try and do more than 2 or 3 countries at a time, they start to get bored.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

With a 5-year-old, I think you'll probably find you're better off not park-hopping. It uses up a lot of time, and for her first visit I think you'll enjoy it more if you can relax and spend a whole day at each park. She'll probably get tired fairly early in the evening anyway.

Teresa

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I always get park hoppers for the reasons already listed...but...we have never traveled with children and I can see how they would not be that important. The pools are heated so if swimming is good for you that would be a nice break...however in Nov, the weather varies and can be hot to very cool. I would hold off getting them and see how the first day goes. If your Princess gets tired easily and wants to end the day when the park closes then you have lost nothing. There is so much to do in the evening that you can plan for "non park hopping". I would plan a character dinner or something in the evening to entertain her. There will be nights when AK closes at 5, DHS at 7 or 8, MK at 7 for a party. Epcot always closes at 9:30, except during EMH when it is open till MN. That was on Fridays last year. So I planned for us to eat and remain in EPCOT that night because we were not attending a MVMCP on Friday. So look at your hours and plan around that a bit.

Have a wonderful time with your 5 year old !!

 

[ssawka]

I think it depends on where you stay. If you are close to a park, you'll probably feel like you want to hop, but if you need to take a bus everywhere, it probably won't be worth it.

 

[ilovemk76]

My husband and I are starting to save up for our trip to take our daughter to Disney World when she turns 5. I've started looking online at prices just to set a savings goal and have an idea of what we are in for.

One thing that stuck out was how much we could save on tickets if we took off the Park Hopper option. It seems like a smart way for us to save considering we are going with our 5 year old and I am not sure we really "need" that option on the tickets.

Thoughts?? To Park Hop or not to Park Hop?

I find that most first timers do not need to park hop.