What ticket options to buy?

[mshanson3121]

I'm second guessing our ticket purchase. We have 2 park days and I bought 2 day basic passes, planning on MK and HS. (traveling with my MIL, my two kids ages 11 and 8 and a 69 year old first timer in late Nov).

But I'm wondering if I should get hoppers? I like the idea of being able to see all parks, but will hopping (relying on busses) eat up too much of our time? And would we be able to do all we want at HS/MK (our priorities)? Or, should we add a 3rd day and just plan a partial day (need to be able to have a day where we sleep in) at a 3rd park?

HS - we'll definitely want to do all the new TSW attractions, plus everything Star Wars including the Launch Bay and character M&Gs, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Minnies Seasonal Dine and JBJB.

MK - the must dos are 7D, HM, PP, Pirates, Barnstormer, Buzz, FoF, Main Street Philharmonic, meet Merida, Friendship Faire, Happily Ever After

At EP, the only "must" would be Soaring and FEA, though we would enjoy Land, the Seas/Nemo, Gran Fiesta, Mission:Space. My MIL is not a fan of Epcot however and doubt she would necessarily want to go.

AK - my son's favorite park and he could spend the whole day and then some, lol. But must dos would be Pandora, Kali, Safari, Lion King, trails, the (revised) Flights of Wonder and Rivers of Light.

 

[Thing 1]

Hopping would give you more flexibility in your time but not really any more time.it would be impossible to get all those things done in two days. I would for sure add that third day at least and add hoppers to maximize your limited time.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm confused. I thought you were hoping for free dining? If you already bought tickets, that leaves out free dining.

I know lots of people here will chime in telling you how great hoppers will be for you. But with limited time, I'd pick the parks I want to visit and do them well, rather than just sample parts of certain parks before hopping.

The one advantage hopping would give you though would be the ability to spend a party day in the park, then hop over on a non party night for HEA. But I personally would not want to pay the price of hoppers for your group just for that. Nor would I want to feel like I had to hop around at other times just to feel I got value from it.

Honestly though, if I only had 2 park days, I would choose 2 parks and do them well.

 

[mdsouth]

I think the non park hoppers will work great for you. You can then add a third day to your tickets for a lot less than the hoppers will cost you. I have had hoppers once and found that the time to travel between parks did not merit the cost of the hoppers. We just chose one park and it has worked great for us. We usually go in the morning and then usually break for a swim, dinner and then go back to the same park. For dinner I find we like to either eat at our resort or go to another resort for dinner. Then we just leave from dinner to go back to the parks.

 

[mshanson3121]

I'm confused. I thought you were hoping for free dining? If you already bought tickets, that leaves out free dining.

I know lots of people here will chime in telling you how great hoppers will be for you. But with limited time, I'd pick the parks I want to visit and do them well, rather than just sample parts of certain parks before hopping.

The one advantage hopping would give you though would be the ability to spend a party day in the park, then hop over on a non party night for HEA. But I personally would not want to pay the price of hoppers for your group just for that. Nor would I want to feel like I had to hop around at other times just to feel I got value from it.

Honestly though, if I only had 2 park days, I would choose 2 parks and do them well.

I was, but from what I've read, chances are it's not going to happen based on a) the 2018 Bounceback (not looking like there'll be any November FD) and b) apparently POR is frequently excluded anyways. So... whatever. If it comes up and we are somehow able to swing it, then we'll upgrade the tickets and do it. But if we can't get it, whatever. We were more interested in being able to book now before a price increase, as well as allowing us to start making payments, especially with the Canadian dollar being somewhat variable.

That's good advice about doing a park well, rather than just sampling each.

 

[mom2rtk]

I was, but from what I've read, chances are it's not going to happen based on a) the 2018 Bounceback (not looking like there'll be any November FD) and b) apparently POR is frequently excluded anyways. So... whatever. If it comes up and we are somehow able to swing it, then we'll upgrade the tickets and do it. But if we can't get it, whatever. We were more interested in being able to book now before a price increase, as well as allowing us to start making payments, especially with the Canadian dollar being somewhat variable.

That's good advice about doing a park well, rather than just sampling each.

Ah, ok, I got it. You bought the tickets as part of a package with your stay as opposed to just outright buying them elsewhere. So yeah, it wouldn't be a problem if free dining works out and you decide to upgrade. You might, however, have to upgrade to a higher price if there's a ticket price increase between now and then.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I would not get hoppers in your situation.

 

[Disneylover99]

If AK is your son's favourite park, I would buy 3 day tickets now. Hopefully you could get a FOP fp on day 3.
I'd avoid the hoppers at this point.

 

[KenHutch]

Add a 3rd day. I know you said something about sleeping in but as I tell my mob you can sleep in after WDW. I always schedule 2 extra days for sleeping in at home after the trip.

 

[mshanson3121]

Ah, ok, I got it. You bought the tickets as part of a package with your stay as opposed to just outright buying them elsewhere. So yeah, it wouldn't be a problem if free dining works out and you decide to upgrade. You might, however, have to upgrade to a higher price if there's a ticket price increase between now and then.

Yes, sorry! We bought the package direct through Disney. I was going to try one of the discounted retailers, but stuck with Disney just in case of the possibility of FD, but also for the ability to make payments, and I dunno... it just seemed simpler/easier to do it all through them.

 

[mshanson3121]

Add a 3rd day. I know you said something about sleeping in but as I tell my mob you can sleep in after WDW. I always schedule 2 extra days for sleeping in at home after the trip.

I know. I just like to err on the side of caution as my youngest has ASD and my oldest has SPD. They've both come a long way, and are high functioning, but doing late nights every night definitely messes with their coping. That said, the park hours will be shorter in the winter (our last trip was summer, and HS was open till 10 and MK till 12), so may not be such a big deal. Could just play it by ear I guess.

 

[mom2rtk]

I know. I just like to err on the side of caution as my youngest has ASD and my oldest has SPD. They've both come a long way, and are high functioning, but doing late nights every night definitely messes with their coping. That said, the park hours will be shorter in the winter (our last trip was summer, and HS was open till 10 and MK till 12), so may not be such a big deal. Could just play it by ear I guess.

Honestly, that's even more of an argument against hopping.

 

[kwdw]

Third day!

I'd start with MK - and put in the LONG day. You'll need to pick a non-party day - so it will probably be crowded - but with a plan and patience - its doable. Second day - HS. That's not going to be a super late night. Third day - AK. If you manage to get a FoP FP's - you won't have to make rope drop. And then you can sleep a bit later for this day.

 

[mshanson3121]

Third day!

I'd start with MK - and put in the LONG day. You'll need to pick a non-party day - so it will probably be crowded - but with a plan and patience - its doable. Second day - HS. That's not going to be a super late night. Third day - AK. If you manage to get a FoP FP's - you won't have to make rope drop. And then you can sleep a bit later for this day.

We'll also likely have the DAS, so that should help.

 

[KenHutch]

I know. I just like to err on the side of caution as my youngest has ASD and my oldest has SPD. They've both come a long way, and are high functioning, but doing late nights every night definitely messes with their coping. That said, the park hours will be shorter in the winter (our last trip was summer, and HS was open till 10 and MK till 12), so may not be such a big deal. Could just play it by ear I guess.

Ahh I am mildly OCD as are my daughter and god daughter (half sisters) but in our case OCD works for us on our overplanning.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm second guessing our ticket purchase. We have 2 park days and I bought 2 day basic passes, planning on MK and HS. (traveling with my MIL, my two kids ages 11 and 8 and a 69 year old first timer in late Nov).

But I'm wondering if I should get hoppers? I like the idea of being able to see all parks, but will hopping (relying on busses) eat up too much of our time? And would we be able to do all we want at HS/MK (our priorities)? Or, should we add a 3rd day and just plan a partial day (need to be able to have a day where we sleep in) at a 3rd park?

HS - we'll definitely want to do all the new TSW attractions, plus everything Star Wars including the Launch Bay and character M&Gs, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Minnies Seasonal Dine and JBJB.

MK - the must dos are 7D, HM, PP, Pirates, Barnstormer, Buzz, FoF, Main Street Philharmonic, meet Merida, Friendship Faire, Happily Ever After

At EP, the only "must" would be Soaring and FEA, though we would enjoy Land, the Seas/Nemo, Gran Fiesta, Mission:Space. My MIL is not a fan of Epcot however and doubt she would necessarily want to go.

AK - my son's favorite park and he could spend the whole day and then some, lol. But must dos would be Pandora, Kali, Safari, Lion King, trails, the (revised) Flights of Wonder and Rivers of Light.

Since you want to do evening shows in 3 out of the 4 parks, I would add the 3rd park day and I would add it to the package sooner rather than later as you are going to need that 60 day FP+ advantage to get FP+ for 7DMT, FoP and a TSW ride. I would skip EP. I think you could definitely make AK or DHS a late start day if you need a sleep-in day. In fact, you could probably make both DHS and AK later start days if need be. We just went a few weeks ago (when crowds were quite high) and just did an afternoon in DHS and did AK with a 10:30 am start and got everything in that we wanted to do.

 

[mshanson3121]

In fact, you could probably make both DHS and AK later start days if need be. We just went a few weeks ago (when crowds were quite high) and just did an afternoon in DHS and did AK with a 10:30 am start and got everything in that we wanted to do.

Good to know, thanks! That would be nice.