To Park Hop or Not to Park Hop

[NLD]

Okay, with five park days, no need for hopping.

2 days MK
1 day for each of the other parks

With a five year old, I really don't think you have to worry about "what to do" after being at parks that close early. AK closes early--good, it's your opportunity to have a relaxing night and do some swimming at the resort. MK closes early--well, either don't go to MK on a party night--or if you do (could be lower crowds if you do), then again, use that night for something more relaxing.

I don't know about everyone else, but I need some downtime in a trip anyway. Why not just make the downtime for the same evenings you'll be at parks that close early?

OP, when we took my dd for the first time, she was also five. We got the hoppers and it was a mistake. The temptation to go, go, go was too great. We DID jump to MK for evening EMH after being at AK during the day. In fact we ended up in MK almost every day of the trip.

It was too much, and frankly, it meant we missed things she would have enjoyed in other parks.

She ended up missing DHS completely because we had to rearrange our schedule once there, due to the parkhopping... and then when DHS night came, she was asleep and couldn't be roused.

I just think, as a parent, it's so much more relaxing NOT to hop. And having some built-in, forced "down" nights is a good thing with a kid that age--it really is.

 

[bellebud]

we never hopped when my kids were that age. 1 park a day was enough for them (and us).

now that they're older (10 and 12), my dd and I hop, but for my dh and ds, 1 park a day is still enough.

I wouldn't spend the money on the hoppers if I were you.

there are also other fun disney things to do, if you end up leaving a park early and are looking for something else. Downtown Disney has tons to do. I think there's still a petting zoo at Ft. Wilderness. Swimming at your resort. Mini golf. The arcade (if your dd likes that) at any resort (Contemporary has a great arcade). Riding the monorail. Renting a pontoon boat for your family.

 

[michelle06]

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

Another suggestion would be that if you leave a park and can't/don't want to go back in the evening, get to bed at bedtime. Be well rested for rope drop the following day! With a 5 year old, they will probably be exhausted anyway. Having one day where you aren't at the park all day and night can be nice.

 

[SandrA9810]

With a 5 yr old, I'd leave the hopper option off. Kids get so out of routine while on vacation, and run ragged, that they need something to slow them down. Some kids can handle it really well, while other kids just have a big melt down.

Since you'll be going during the holidays, there's going to be PLENTY to see and do at each park. I'd also suggest if you want to go to the Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom, that you stay out of parks in the morning and then go in at 4pm on the party ticket. This would be a great option instead of park hoppers, if the money really is burning a hole in your pocket.

Don't forget the Holidays around the World at Epcot where they tell stories of their Christmas traditions, and the Candlelight Processional.

Animal Kingdom will probably be closing early, and Kilimanjaro is usually shut down around 4pm in the winter time since it gets dark earlier. So expect that to be a short day, and probably only need to do it once.

 

[eliza61]

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?

So generally we go to the world during late August. We have gone other times bu this seems to fit our schedule the most, here are the reasons why we always go with hoppers.

1) Long park hours: During the summer/early fall, parks are often open until 10 pm some times longer. We generally have enough time ot go to one park in the morning and then a full 5-6 hours to do a 2nd park.

2) Flexibilty 1 We can leave and go from a packed park. For example, now that fantasmic is only a few times a week those days HS is always packed. with hoppers we go to a less crowded park during the day and then we can hop over to HS to do fantasmic with no worries.

3) Flexibility 2. unexpected crowds. No matter how many tour guides or park plans you do before, disney does have crazy things happen and the park you pick is for some reason more of an "8" day when it should have been a "5". Park hoppers allow us to go some where else.

4) Restaurants. When we eat in the parks (a bit rare for us) we love the Epcot restaurants. Park hoppers allow us to eat where we want without having to worry about what day we are in Epcot.


We took afternoon naps when my kids were little so no way were they going to bed at 7 and I didn't want to spend the entire evening in DTD or in the room.

 

[StarNova]

We went with our kids (preschooler included). We hit the parks hard in the mornings, swam and had lunch in the afternoons. Some evenings we returned, some we didn't.

For 58 a person, your 5 year old, and a shorter visit, I'm not sure a park hopper is worth it. On your first visit I would stick with one park a day. If your child was older or had been to the park before, I would consider the hopper.

Take the nearly 180 dollars and use it for a nice meal (think character with the 5 year old) and some goodies.

Next visit consider getting the hopper

 

[crisi]

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.

I have two kids, but this is generally us as well. Even when our kids were little, Epcot was our evening park. And I've been in the MK once past 1pm in the past twelve years. And I hopped my first trip, we hopped my husbands first trip, and we hopped the kids first trip.

For us, the most efficient way to do Disney is to be at MK at rope drop. Spend two mornings in the MK. Have lunch, use our last fastpass, and maybe ride one more thing before heading back to the hotel for rest. Generally we use hoppers to get from the MK through Epcot, riding Test Track or Soarin or Mission Space on our way to the Boardwalk. Head out for the evening to Epcot, where we generally have dinner. The next day, same program with AK or DS and the evenings in Epcot. Sometimes the afternoon is spent at a waterpark or DisneyQuest instead.

We don't like to eat in the MK, which is a big driver for us. Like Eliza, we like being able to say "its crowded at the Studios today, lets go somewhere else." We like having a last day where we can hit a few parks to catch "one more time" on some favorites.

Do you NEED hoppers? No. But they are on the short list of "things that I would second guess taking a Disney trip at all if I felt it was a budget strain." (Another thing on the short list, not being able to do a character meal.)

 

[Gumbo4x4]

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.

^^^Great advice right there. We're also trying to see how we can swing this thing on the cheap, and skipping not only the park hopping but also some other things we'd like to see down there. My oldest will be almost 12 and the young one almost 7. For this trip, we're focusing on the things smaller kids like and skipping some of the things we think they'd still enjoy if we get to come back in a few years.

 

[squirrel]

If it's your first visit to WDW, then you probably won't need to hop.

I find it helpful when we went as we go during the MK party nights. We would go to MK until about 7pm and then hop over to Epcot or DHS for a few more hours. We did find the lines were a bit lower at MK on the party nights. We also go for 14 nights and have a 10 day park pass so we can hop a lot if we want. Not worth it IMO if you only hop once on your tickets. You would be better off saying an extra night and adding an extra park day.

I would wait until you actually want to hop and then add it to your tickets. If you purchase tickets with the hopper and don't hop you have wasted your $.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

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.

I agree. My epxerience with that age child is we didn't have the energy to park hop. On this last trip (January with a 3YO and a 6YO), we budgeted for it but didn't buy it at the outset. We said we'd add it when we actually hopped. Turned out we never want to hop.

 

[ksloane]

We've hopped since our first visit when my daughter was 4, and we hop about 80% of our days I bet. We will usually open one park and stay until lunch and then go back in the evenings to another park.

We usually have a sit down dinner at night, and I like the ability to eat ANYWHERE, not where I went that morning.

We also really like the fireworks at MK and Fantasmic at HS so we will watch those twice each during a typical week trip, and I like not having to plan the mornings around that. We can spend the afternoon/evening laying around the hotel, swimming, etc and then head back just in time for a ride or two and the night time shows.

 

[denvergirl]

You can save a lot of $$$ if you do not park hop, but we try to eat in a different country every night at Epcot. My DD just turned 6 and she loves Epcot. Are you on the DDP, if so, DEF go with a hopper. Epcot has so many wonderful meal experiences that would otherwise be unaffordable! Either way, you'll have a blast!

 

[ICF]

Over the last 8 years or so we've made 4 trips (3 with kids & 1 w/o) and we've always had the hopper.

At times when we've been there AK has closed @ 5pm or other parks have closed @ 7pm. On those days, we would have been unable to go someplace in the evening for fireworks or just to see them parks @ night. It's also an option if MK is very crowded we can hop on the monorail and check out the crowds at Epoct -- or vice versa.

We like to bounce around and I think most everyday we've been during those 4 trips we've ended up at one or more additional parks each day.

It is a decent amount of extra cash, but for how we like to do things it works for us. If you're trying to save $$'s, not having it is is definitly a quick way to save a few $'s on the cost of your trip.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We have always bought and always used the hopper, even when our kids were toddlers. We don't stay in a park all day. We generally go from rope drop until early afternoon, then go back to a resort for a swim and rest. In the evening, we go to a park - sometimes the same park we were at in the morning, sometimes a different park. We have been known to hop over to DHS just to see Fantasmic! or to go to MK just to see Spectromagic and Wishes. We usually only have 4 or 5 park days, so we like the flexibility to use evening EMH if we want or to return to a park for one ride or show.

If you plan to spend all day in the parks, you probably won't need hoppers - you will be too worn out to go anywhere else once a park closes. But if you plan afternoon breaks, the hopper is nice to have. It is no more time-consuming to go to a different park at night than back to the same one.

You can certainly plan around not having hoppers. It is worth the flexibility for us.

As several PPs have said, you can wait to add it until you need it.

 

[crisi]

I think it's the flexility in dining that sends most people over the top. If you are willing to schedule your dining around your touring plan, and aren't heading back to the room or pool mid day, hopping doesn't add too much value. If you are a "most of the restaurants we want to try are in epcot, but most of the attractions are in the mk" person-and dining is a big deal, hoppers maximize the ability to take the one opening at le cellier during your trip, even though it's a fantasmic night. Or spend two and a half days in the mk, and give the studios only half a day.

We seldom spend moe than half a day in the studios and many people believe animal kingdom to be a half day park....if you discover you have seen most of your must do list with hours left in the day, hopping is nice.

But as someone said, you can add it later. I wouldn't wait until too long into your trip though, because it costs the same no matter when it's added. If I managed to get through everything but the last day without hoppers, it would be really hard for me to part with the money no matter how that day was shaping up.

 

[Mikey'swife]

We have AP and DH was so excited because I am normally too frugal to for PH but on our last (1st with ap) we never ended up hopping. Transportation takes a lot of time. Honestly most days my kids are exhausted in the evenings.

 

[MomToOne]

I used to always get park hoppers for us, until I actually paid attention one trip to the number of times we hopped. In a week, we ended up hopping only once or twice. And we could have easily done without it. So I stopped buying them. We really don't miss hopping at all!