Touring Strategy with Hoppers & FP+

[lmmantini]

We've always been RD people. In the past, we've done morning EMH and tried to get as much in as possible before hopping to another park in the afternoon or evening. We occasionally did evening EMHs.

I'm wondering if we should change our strategy since we can only get 3 FP+ in one park.

Should we avoid morning EMH hours now and go to a recommended park?

Would it be better to get FP+ for the park we plan to hop to? I worry that if I schedule our FP+ for the park we're hopping to that it will be difficult or impossible to switch FP+ (as was the case in December) if we're tired or decide to do something else. Yet, if we don't get FP+ for the park we're hopping to then we probably won't be able to ride any of the headliners there, which somewhat defeats the purpose of hopping in my opinion.

I'm interested in hearing if the new system has changed your touring plans and how the change has worked for you.

 

[JimmyV]

I think that you have correctly identified the problem. Disney is trying to sell us on a system that allows us to "lock it in", but then promises "flexibility". The two are mutually exclusive on crowded days. If you are a devoted hopper, you would want to use EMH or Rope Drop at Park #1 and get the most out of it that you can, and then hop to Park #2 using FP+ reservations that you have made previously, but don't count on being able to make changes if your FPs are for popular rides. You are "locked in". If flexibility is more important to you than hopping, then stay in one park all day.

Another consideration in deciding whether or not to hop is the tiering of the attractions at DHS and Epcot. You are much better off going to those parks during EMH or Rope Drop as your first park of the day. Should you hop over to Epcot, for example, and have a FP+ for Soarin', you pretty much are eliminating Test Track unless you want to wait 70+ minutes to ride it. Sort of defeats the purpose of hopping if all you are going to do is one or two things. Same with DHS. If that is your second park of the day and you have a FP for TSM, you are stuck when it comes to riding RnR. But if you do those during EMH or Rope Drop, you can get in both rides without too much effort. And if you want a more relaxed hopping strategy, you could always hop over to Epcot as Park #2, do either Soarin' or Test Track, a few Tier 2 rides, and then hang out in World Showcase.

 

[eleventhletter]

I'm in the same boat, trying to make a decision, we've always done rope drop and EMH. In October we still stuck with this and used our FP+ at the park we hopped to in the afternoon and it worked okay, we weren't able to make changes but it worked.

This is our first year going at spring break. So with the predicted crowd levels I'm wondering if we should follow tour plans and go with recommended parks instead of utilizing EMR. My DH is hardcore use EMR but I'm wavering.

I still have 9 days and still haven't made a decision, I won't be able to make FP+ selections until our first night due to picking up my son's AP and not able to activate until we are on property and that might be what decides our plans.

 

[karenklo]

We are still RD people with FP+. During New years week we did RD, then hopped over to where our FP+ ressies were. WE had a great time!! It did take some planning to make sure our FP+ were on the same side of the park at MK so no running all over.

 

[LSUfan4444]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3248074

This thread from a day or two ago discusses this very topic and has alot of responses.

 

[eleventhletter]

Thank you for the link, I'll go check it out.