What do you think about hopper tickets?

[DisneyBliss7]

We always buy the 5 day MYW tickets, no hoppers no water parks...I was looking at the prices and noticed it would only cost $393 more to get 5 day MYW with the hopper. I have a few friends that LOVE the hoppers!! Is it worth it? So each day I can hop back and forth to any parks we want or is it only two parks a day? Could you explain exactly how they work? TIA

 

[disney queen]

love the ability to hop parks--yes, it is all the theme parks. go to the parks as you like. breakfast in one, rides in another, dinner in yet another. Go for it! i think you will be glad you did!

 

[MrInfinity]

I've not encountered a need for them yet... i.e. I don't think I've ever been in a park and felt like we needed to go somewhere else. But we are there w kids, so we kind of pick a park and are happy to stay there not be getting on and off busses mid-day. The $400 could be better spent elsewhere for us.

 

[Lizzybean]

For us, hoppers are crucial. On a January trip we did not add them seeing as how parks had limited hours compared to the summer. We really missed them! We love going to one park in the morning and heading to another one later.

 

[Hootch]

PHs. I don't know if we have ever stayed in the same park all day. Our kids are old enough to pick what they want to do and on the last day we usually hit three different parks.

I need to qualify this with the new FP+ system. My initial thought was to rope drop in one park and do the FP+ reservations at a second park. As the system evolves and information from users comes in, that might change. I suspect we will still have PHs.

 

[GlennN]

We always do PH. A few years ago we tried a trip without PH and we'll never do it again. There are various reasons we use PH - maybe dinner at a park other than where we start (usually Epcot), maybe we finish with a park earlier than we expected, or maybe we took a break to go to our resort pool at midday and just want a different park for the night. For us, PH is a must.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Used them exactly one time, during our first trip.

We plan our trip and discuss the need for park hoppers. If we need them, we would buy. Haven't needed them.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

Love park hoppers! We don't park hop everyday but love having the option. We tend to take breaks in the afternoon and will usually head to a different park in the evening. It also allows us to hit our favorites on the last day which usually involves multiple parks. Hollywood studios and Animal are usually half day parks for us so we will hit Magic or Epcot in the evening. We tried to do without 2 trips ago to save the money but we ended it up adding them as we like the evening magic hours.

 

[dixiegirl]

DH and I wouldn't go without them. We really enjoy the flexibility. 1/2 day at one park, 1/2 day at another park or spend majority of day at one and then hop to Epcot to catch Illuminations, etc. MNSSHP is also going on when are there which limits MK hours several nights during our trip.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

I consider them a very nice luxury and always get them.

And we do always use them naturally, not really forcing it...it just happens.

If we are down in the BW area, we go to Epcot every day at some point regardless of where else we go.

If we are in the MK area, we go to MK every day at some point regardless of where else we go.

 

[agavegirl1]

We enjoy the flexibility of PHs. We can hit early EMH at one park and as the crowds build, head out to a second park that is less crowded, or do lunch at Epcot to try a new restaurant. We can check out evening fireworks at any park we choose. We've used hoppers just to walk through Epcot to go to the Boardwalk area.

 

[handicap18]

We've used them many times in the past. Our next trip we won't be using them. In the past DW liked to get up early and hit which ever park had EMH's while I slept in with the kids, then we would head out after she got back. Our last trip in '09 it was just myself and DW and we had the park hopper and used it only 1 of our 4 days, where as in '07 we went with our 3 kids, my sister & brother-in-law and DW's father. We used the park hopper almost every day.

In the end it depends on how you want to play your stay. Our next trip in 4 weeks we are not using the park hopper. We'll be there 4 days. We've planned it out so that our meals are in the park that we'll be at or we will leave the park a little early to go to dinner at another hotel or go to another hotel for breakfast then hit a park. We aren't as commando as we used to be, plus because of neuropathy in my feet caused by chemotherapy I'll be renting a scooter so we certainly won't be moving around as fast as we used to.

 

[robndani]

We have APs but if we didn't I would def. get park hoppers! It's nice to stop at another park for breakfast or dinner. Personally Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are never full day parks for us, and we do hop around!

ENJOY!

 

[SuperRob]

We always buy the 5 day MYW tickets, no hoppers no water parks...I was looking at the prices and noticed it would only cost $393 more to get 5 day MYW with the hopper. I have a few friends that LOVE the hoppers!! Is it worth it? So each day I can hop back and forth to any parks we want or is it only two parks a day? Could you explain exactly how they work? TIA

Yes, you can hop to all four parks if you wanted to, as many times as you want. Without it, you're locked to the first park you enter that day.

Hoppers are a no brainer at Disneyland Resort, since they're so close. At Walt Disney World, it's a tougher sell. Largely, what you're getting is flexibility, if you get to a park and find out it's super busy or that some of your favorite rides are down, you didn't waste your admission, you can just hop to another park where you might have better luck.

It also gives you the ability to go into a different park for a meal if you want to. It's not uncommon for some folks to hop to Epcot for a dinner reservation in the evening.

As a touring strategy, you lose a fair bit of time commuting between the parks, so I don't recommend getting it for people who want to do the "most". FastPass+ eroded some (but not all) of the value there. But for the other reasons, that's where I recommend it. The value is in the flexibility to change your plans at the last minute.

 

[dayvewc]

I'm the odd-ball out, I guess. I have park hopping with my annual pass, and almost never use it. I think a total of 3 days out of 20 that I've been in multiple parks on the same day.

Until this year with the annual pass, I've always gotten a 10 day MYW base ticket (no hopping, no water parks). I do add the no expiration option though.

What I did was to go to a park in the morning, when the crowds got bad or it got too hot in the mid-afternoon, I'd go back to the resort for a while for a late lunch and quick nap (yeah, I'm getting old. ;-) ). After, if I wanted to return to a park, it was back to the one I'd been at that morning. If I didn't want to go back, I'd head to DownTown Disney and do my souvenir shopping.

It worked well for me. The only thing is that I found after my first trip that I really needed to research crowd calendars so I wouldn't wind up in the most crowded park of the day.

 

[kmv]

We've done trips with them and without them.
I agree with everyone else, the flexibility is wonderful, but I also totally agree with saving money somewhere.
When we brought my 1 yr old DD last time we did not get a park hopper. We did morning at a park, afternoon at resort (she slept, 7 yr old DD swam), then went back to the same park at night (with one DTD night in there). We did not miss having a PH at all.
This time, the deal we got we paid a total of $45 extra for 5 day PHs than we would have for MYW so we paid it and do plan on using it at least 2 of the days based on ADRs.

 

[SillyFamily]

If this is your first or even second trip, i dont recommend park hopping. You'll have plenty to do in each park. Even with animal kingdom being so short it makes a good day to hit the pools or dtd afterwards. PH can be very stressful and time consuming if your new to WDW.
On the other hand, if you have been there a few times, park hopping is the way to go.
We pick up a few of our favorite rides in one park during morning EMH. We have brunch at one of our favorite restaurants. Then we head back to the room for some painting, reading, pool time, or even a nap. In the afternoon/early evening we head to another park for a favorite ride or 3. Then we might have dinner in that park, another park, or even at a resort depending on our mood. Park Hopping rocks!!!!!!

 

[Tigger's ally]

We always get them. First and foremost, I am a late nighter and always end up at Epcot to have a libation and enjoy Illuminations. Would spend every night till eternity there if I could as there is just something about when those big tiki torches get lit and the music is in the background. So, I tend to hit rope drop at another park, relax in the afternoon at a pool bar of choice, then eat a late dinner while enjoying Epcot.

One other reason is I still haven't found anything at Studios that trips my trigger for lunch and will take a launch over to Epcot just to eat.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We have always gotten park hoppers in the past, but we didn't for our trip next month. This will be our first trip with FP+, and at the time I bought our tickets, Disney had not begun allowing a 4th FP+. We will add them if we need them, though.

 

[mullysisters]

Coming up on my 9th trip. Love hoppers, wouldn't go without one.
That being said, I think it's terrible that Disney charges for them.
I only have one butt, can only take up one seat, eat in one restaurant at a time, watch one parade. What difference does it make which park I am in?
Anyway, thats my take, I have to have a park hopper!
I always plan two parks per day, go to EMH. I have been to all four parks in one day, as a challenge! Fun but tiring. Always nice to have EPCOT for the evening.