To Park Hop or not??

[Get me to Disney!]

Do you park hop? If so, why and if not, why not?

Trying to weigh this out. Last trip I bought the Park Hopper and didn't use it - oh, what to do??

 

[KristiMc]

We always park hop. We like to get up and get to rope drop, go back to the room for a bit in the afternoon to swim/take a break and then go back to a different park in the evening for dinner.

 

[Perditamarie]

We love to park hop....here are some of our reasons:

* if it is busy, we can hop to a (hopefully) less busy park

* if parades or shows are shown at limited times (think Spectromagic, Fantasmic, etc)

* So we can go to Epcot everyday

* for flexibility in dining plans

* we also like to go to a park in the am, take a swim break then finish up at a different park

* maximize park time...we don't do a full day at AK, love to do many evenings at Epcot, do MK a lot in the am when less busy, etc

 

[Minniemama350]

We love to park hop....here are some of our reasons:

* if it is busy, we can hop to a (hopefully) less busy park

* if parades or shows are shown at limited times (think Spectromagic, Fantasmic, etc)

* So we can go to Epcot everyday

* for flexibility in dining plans

* we also like to go to a park in the am, take a swim break then finish up at a different park

* maximize park time...we don't do a full day at AK, love to do many evenings at Epcot, do MK a lot in the am when less busy, etc

This is why we do it as well, but you could always wait until you're there and want it to add it. If you didn't use it last time...maybe you don't need it?

 

[GoofyFairie]

If you didn't use it last time you probably don't need it. We always park hop. The kids LOVE MK so we usually do a park in the morning, head back to our room for the afternoon, then end the day at MK. This way we are all happy.

 

[Drewsmommybear]

We always Park hop. It gives us the opportunity to change our mind at any given moment. We've been known to start at one park and end in another. It also gives us the freedom to eat breakfast in one park and dinner in another. For us, it's a must but I can see how someone could get along without it. It's still possible to go back to your room and take a nap without the park hopper. You just have to return to the same park.

 

[JUJU814]

We always get it. I like to keep my options open. The biggest reason for us to have it is for dining flexibility. We usually will go to a park in the morning and then come back to the hotel for a while. If we go to another park in the evening, it is because we have a dining reservation there, and maybe to hit a couple of attractions.

 

[tiggspring]

WE didnt use it last time and we are not this time either. Before we had kids we did park hop but we have three younger kids it was just one more thing to coordinate. I didnt want to waste the extra 20 minutes or so to travel between parks and I have fibromyalgia so its best for me to travel in smaller areas. That being said, by staying in one park you stick to the same "theme". I think you can mentally emerse yourself in the experience more because you are not interupted by thoughts/planning of the other park you will be visiting.

 

[frtchr]

We always park hop. We do one park in the morning, go back to the room to rest/nap after lunch, and then hit the MK every night. Our kids are little (2 and 13 months) so we like to end the day at the MK. Once they're older, we'll probably still hop but end up in different parks.

 

[Kimmumum]

We ALWAYS park hop and wouldn't do it any other way. We have friends that go regularly that NEVER hop. If you didn't do it last time I would save your money because you probably won't hop. It is all a matter of opinion

 

[Ln42]

We like hopping for the dining options and also to avoid crowds. If we feel lines are too long, we hop on the monorail or in a bus and check out another park. I like the freedom to move.

 

[joybeth]

We used to buy hoppers but found that we didn't take advantage often enough to make it worth spending the extra money. Now we always buy base tickets knowing that if we want to make them hoppers we can do it at any time. What we do is hit the park at rope drop. We ride the rides we want to do and collect fast passes for use later in the day. We always go back to resort for swiming and relaxing then return to the same park in the evening with a pocket full of fast passes. If you're not sure get the base and upgrade to hopper if you get the urge.

jb

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

We don't park hop... we used to, pre-kids, but moving everyone from one park to the next just isn't worth it to us (although I do like the idea of a mid-day break and then a different park, so maybe we'll try that one day). We feel like we maximize our time best by being in the one park all day. You can always add it while you're there, though (same price), so if you get down and really WANT to hop, you could just add it then and save your money if you realize you wouldn't use it.

 

[PearlySwan]

We always park hop. We like to get up and get to rope drop, go back to the room for a bit in the afternoon to swim/take a break and then go back to a different park in the evening for dinner.

^^^ That's exactly what we did during our first family trip this past summer. Without the park hopper option we would not have been able to do as much as we did during that trip. We enjoyed visiting different parks each day. The park hopper also gave us the freedom to plan our meals at different parks.

 

[DVC Sadie]

We don't park hop anymore because we only spend 5 hours in a park on any given day.

If we were on the DDP (which we never choose) then we would have to get hoppers so we wouldn't have to plan so far ahead.

 

[polineedyan]

It really is a matter of personal preference. But moreso, financial position. If you can afford it, do it. However, last two trips we did not hop and found it to be about the same. We do leave the parks, so if we wanted to go back, we'd have to go to the same park or find something else to do..which was okay with us. The first time we hopped, it worked well. I dont know if I would pay to hop again. But, like I said, once is okay. Especially if the days are limited..

 

[Hoopfamily]

Every time we go we park hop. We park hop like crazy. Before we go though we always talk about not park hopping. The cost is so low over our length of stay though (8 days usually). Hopping opens up so many more possibilities.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We used to hop but this time we dropped them from our tickets. Last time we used them 1 time - that's roughly $200 (youngest dd was only 2) to go from DHS to MK because DHS was a bit crowded (I didn't know it was Super Soap Weekend). Trip before that, we didn't use them at all.

After we got our schedule worked out this time and our ADR's made, we took a serious look to see if there was even an opportunity to hop. We are travelling with 5 adults and 6 children (ages 2,4,5,5,8,9). Honestly, we know we are not going to be spending long hours in the parks - we will go to the park of choice at rope drop or shortly after, tour until 4-5, most of our dinners ADR's are between 5-6, and then back to the hotel. We have scheduled 1 night each for Wishes/Spectromagic and Illuminations - we won't arrive at the parks until later those days.

 

[kpgriswold]

We used to, and LOVED having the flexibility to be in one place for EMH and then move to a less crowded park at noon.

Now that there are more of us, we find that it is not worth the huge extra cost. Instead, we plan a little more carefully to avoid that day's EMH park and be at whatever end-of-day show we want to see.

It can work well either way.

 

[Chelley00]

We've never hopped, but we go in Oct/Nov and have never really needed to. I leave money in the budget to add hopping to our tickets if we need, and we've never done it. We plan around touringplans or tourguidemike slowest days, plan our meals in that park, and stay put. If we leave for a break, we come back to the same park to finish up our plans.