To park hop or not?

[JJsmama]

We'll be at WDW 4 nights Spring Break (yikes!) with 2 sons and 2 nephews (ages 4,6,7,10.) All along I have been planning to park hop with MK most mornings and another park in the afternoons/ evenings. However, I am starting to feel worn out just by planning the schedule. Everyone is most interested in MK with each other park having only 3 or 4 things which interest us. Plus, for the 7 of us, it will be $245 more to park hop.

In your expert opinions: Should we try to do all four parks, pay the extra and rush back and forth?

Or, is it not worth it with the ages of our kids ? Should we just concentrate on MK and one other?

Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

Hard choice. I really don't like spending a whole day in just one park. Especially if it's MGM or AK. I like to start in one park and finish in another. My dd, 11, has stuff in all the parks that she likes. Saying this tho, I have to say that we never spend a whole day in AK. It usually amounts to about 4 hours, but we've been mostly during the summer and it gets brutally hot in there!!!

Will you be at a resort that has a pool that the kids will want to spend time at? We like to go back to the resort and have a swim around 2ish and then eat an early dinner and head out to the nighttime park. You will most likely spend more time at MK with the ages of your kids. But, do you want to have to spend the whole day at Epcot and World Showcase? Or at MGM? If you don't get the hopper addition that's what you're looking at. The whole day in one park, even if you only want to spend 5 hrs. there, and then back to the resort because you can't hop. I think I would always go with the hopper ability.

 

[seashoreCM]

Can you make do with just one day at Magic Kingdom, or make do with omitting one park?

To avoid both of the above, you need to park hop.

Don't forget that park hopping in itself consumes time, probably an hour per hop.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[JJsmama]

We'll be at WL. If the weather is good, we'll do the pool. You're right--we may not want all day ay the other parks. However, with the kids needing a rest, we may not want a whole day of hopping around either. Thanks forthe advice. I'll have to keep thinking on it.

 

[Philadisney]

when i was a kid, my parents never tried to do all parks in one trip. of course, this was before there were four parks - i remember when i was six we just went to MK & Epcot (well, that's all there was then) and then two years later we returned and just went to MGM. neither time did I feel like I was missing out at all. I don't think you'd have any problem forgoing the park hoppers.

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

I know its tempting to skip the park hopping option now that Disney has provided that as a way of spending money. Certainly you can go to 1 park, go back to your room, or DownTown Disney (Disney Quest might be of interest to your kids) and then back to the park you started in.

While planning may seem intense now, it will pay off once you are there. www.TourGuideMike.com offers great advice on how and when to cover parks- I think his fee is about $25 and it's well worth it to someone who is overwhelmed by the planning.

If you plan to make use of EMH, than that park will be crowded by 1-2pm, a nap, light swim in the pool and a break will be needed. Fireworks and other nighttime fun might not be at the same park you start out in, so you may find you feel "stuck" with a certain park. Theres more to the parks than whats on paper.

How experienced are your kids with WDW? They may find there are rides, characters or events they really like once they get there, that were not expected when reading off the list of options back at home.

i suggest buying the Hopper option.

But ultimately it's up to you.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

My children are 5 & 6 and we just completed our fourth family trip to WDW this past December. We do not park hop. Our children are just so happy to be at Disney. We do spend time swimming at the hotel. I think it really depends on what you and the children want to accomplish.

 

[cassmat]

We just got back and bought 7 Day park Hopper passes!

I hate Park Hopping!! We did MGM til noon, then AK, then returned to MGM. We spent at least 1.5 hours waiting for buses and being transported!! I would rather have gotten in our own car and driven to the other park, as I always feel more in control....

However, it was nice to be off our feet for a bit...

 

[Philadisney]

as a bit of a foodie, to me the main appeal of having a park hopper is to skip out on MGM, AK & MK around dinnertime so I can eat someplace nice in the world showcase, the only place in any of the parks where i find the both the food & atmosphere to be really special. i have a park hopper for my next trip that a friend gave me, and we're using it just for that - to head on over to le cellier for dinner after MGM closes.

 

[DisneyKeith]

Park hopping is a GREAT option. It gives so much more flexibility for making PS at a particular park. It comes in handy on days that you visit AK because that park closes so early. That way you can hop over to Epcot and enjoy! For us Park Hopping is a MUST!

 

[mom23boyz]

We just returned from our first trip. We had a 7 day MYW tix with hopping and plus pack, but not the no expiration option. We used every day and did the water park twice and Disney Quest once, so that was a good option. We did not hop at all until the last two days and I have been wondering if we could have avoided paying for that option. Knowing what I know now, I might have planned a little better and saved the money.

 

[luvsgrumpy]

mom23boyz,

Tell me more about the age of your kids, etc. We are going for the same length of time in April (POFQ), there will be 7 of us total, 3 kids. I have been trying to decide which tickets to go with or to stick with our Dreammaker that we booked last year. I had in my mind that park hopping was going to be a must. Did you have any problems seeing the parades and shows (Wishes, Illuminations, etc) This is our first and possibly our last trip for a while so we want to make the most of it without killing ourselves.
thanks!!

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

We're going during Spring Break, too (I know, Yikes!!). If you want to spend say from 9-2 at a park, and then return to your hotel or DTD for the late afternoon/evening, then I definitely think you should forego the additional $$ of the hopper option. With 4 kids, particularly the ages of yours, and considering how crowded the parks will likely get, that might be just the right pace.

You could probably see all of AK one day, much of MK over two days, and a little of MGM or Epcot during another.

That being said, we have a 4-day PHP and are planning to spend 2 mornings at MK, 1 morning at AK, and 1 morning + 4 late afternoon/evenings at a mix of Epcot, MK & MGM. Still tweaking our schedule depending upon how others report the affects of EMH on crowds. We'll be at the Poly. so it's not a big time sink to hop over to MK or Epcot and the other 2 are a bus ride away (although I'm not psyched about buses).

Good luck. The magic will be there whatever you decide.

 

[mom23boyz]

Lovsgrumpy,

I have 3 boys ages 10, 8 and 4. The two younger ones were very much into characters and autographs while my oldest is all about thrill rides. In each park we went to, we found we could split up if necessary to keep everyone happy. Also, we sort of "hopped" if you count going to Blizzard Beach because we went there on two different days, and then also to a park on that same day. One of those days at BB, we walked right next door and spent 2 hours playing mini golf at WinterSummerland. Also, one evening I shopped at Downtown Disney while DH took kids to Disney Quest. If some of these options appeal to your family, then adding the "Plus" feature on really helps and at the same time may eliminate the need to hop.

Some of our time was spent not using our tickets at all...the GF Pirate Cruise, the Hoop De Doo Revue, dinner at O'hanas and Chef Mickey character breakfast. We stayed at the Boardwalk and spent time there at the pool and walked over to the Beach Club for ice cream at Beaches and Cream. Hope this helps...the more info you have, the better!

P.S. My name is Lisa too!

 

[bajanswife]

Why don't you buy non-hoppers to begin with and then decide when you're there if you want to add the hopping option? (assuming of course that the extra money would be affordable at that point - if it were me I'd just be sticking it on my credit card and there'd be no problem, but I know others like to budget carefully). From what I understand you can add the hopping option at any time, even after the tickets have ben used, because it is a flat rate - you would just take the tickets to guest services I guess? The advantage of this is that you can plan a non-hopping itinerary, but if it isn't working out for whatever reason, you can decide then whether adding the hopping option is worth it based on what you want to do.

We're definitely not buying the hopping for our next trip - but we will be there for 2 weeks, and the kids will be young and need to take it easy, so no need to hop.

 

[Brian Noble]

I think it depends on what you want to try to accomplish. I had originally planned not to hop, but when some changes to the Spectromagic came through, hopping became more attractive for our particular itinerary.

So, I suppose the answer is "it depends".

 

[littlestix]

I went in Sept. and there were 4 of us. Three adults and 1 toddler. We had purchased the 5 day park hopper tickets. When we were planning our trip we had decided to start out early and break in the afternoon. We thought we caould head back to the same park in the evening or park hop to another one. Well all of that went right out the window on the first day. We started out trip with MK and we were having so much that we didn't want to leave, we stayed until it closed.....no hopping. Day 2- we slept in and headed to MGM around 11:00 because of the late start we stayed until it closed, no hopping. Day 3- we got up early and went to AK. This park was wonderful and we just strolled around all day, no hopping. Day 4- we went back to MK because my son LOVED it so much. We stayed all day no hopping. Day 5- we went to epcot and because we hadn't hopped the whole trip we decided to go back to MK just to say we did it. Anyway I guess my point is that there is so much to see and do at all the parks and we didn't want to rush it so we just took our time at each one for the day that we were there. I'm planning another trip and don't plan on buying the hopper add on. Just my opinion.

 

[PratersloveDW]

That's a hard one. I really enjoy park hoping. We go to one park in the morning, head back to the hotel room for some rest and to get away from the huge crowd, and then head back to a different park in the afternoon or early evening. However, it is a big difference in price! The one thing you have to be sure to consider is that once you go to one park you must be dedicated to that park for the day. If you want to go to any other parks other than the Magic Kingdom and then get bored there, you can't switch. Still, you will be in Disney World, the most magical place on Earth!

 

[LovePug]

Why don't you buy non-hoppers to begin with and then decide when you're there if you want to add the hopping option?

This is my thought also. That way you're not paying for something you might not even need. I'd be more aggravated knowing I spent the money on something I didn't actually need than adding it on later knowing that I might find that I need to when I get there.

 

[jl3614]

I agree with the comment that hildren your age will want to pend more than one day at MK. If you forgo the hopping you will need to decide which park you want to skip.

We are in the same boat as you - kids 4 and 7, plan on attending 4 park days. We have not decided yet, but are leaning towards not hopping. We will probably skip Epcot, it has the least interest for our kids. Our decision is made a little easier since we have taken the kids 3 previous trips, and will probably go once a year for at least the next few years. So missing one park on one visit is no huge deal.

Whatever you decide have a great vacation.