When are park hoppers not worth it vs. worth buying?

[cakebaker]

With the boarding pass system at HS, hoppers are a must for us. We plan on getting boarding passes several days of our trip, but have no interest in staying there for hours waiting to ride. That said, we've always gotten hoppers. We have AP's now, so it's included but before that, always hoppers regardless of the length of stay. We like to ride things like SDD and SDMT multiple times and hate doing stand by. By hopping, we visit each park multiple times and it allows us more opportunity for fast passes on the headliners.

 

[ClapYourHands]

First few trips were with base tickets. These were also in the days before FP existed, paper FP, and pre-MDE-refresh FP. When you are a newbie, there’s so much to see at each park.

Once you’re more experienced, hoppers start to make more sense because you know what you want to see and what you are okay skipping. They’re better for targeted touring.

The first time we went to AK, we were there rope-drop to closing. We rode the rides, saw the shows, meandered along the trails, looking at animals and talking with international CMs about their home countries. Last trip, I was with just my two older kids, and by being early to EMH rope drop at AK we rode every ride (except triceratops) at least once in the first two hours, and were walking to the parking lot by 10 am. We went to three parks that day (and logged over 15 miles on foot according to my watch). Totally different touring styles.

 

[DisLiss]

Last trip, I was with just my two older kids, and by being early to EMH rope drop at AK we rode every ride (except triceratops) at least once in the first two hours, and were walking to the parking lot by 10 am.

This reminds me---AK is another of our favorite ways to use Hoppers. We like to experience AK early in the morning and late at night, so hopping makes that easily possible. Hit AK at rope drop, just as you said, and we get to see the animals that are out bright & early in the day, plus get in a several rides before the crowds really hit. Then another day we show up around dinner time or just after and get to see the animals out in the evening, see Pandora at night, etc.

 

[ClapYourHands]

This reminds me---AK is another of our favorite ways to use Hoppers. We like to experience AK early in the morning and late at night, so hopping makes that easily possible. Hit AK at rope drop, just as you said, and we get to see the animals that are out bright & early in the day, plus get in a several rides before the crowds really hit. Then another day we show up around dinner time or just after and get to see the animals out in the evening, see Pandora at night, etc.

The partial day use is what has me questioning hoppers for my next trip. In this case, I’m taking DD age 4 for her first real trip. She’s too short for some of the height restrictions, and doesn’t like scary/jerky rides anyway.

AK is easily a one-day park, but I think Epcot and HS are better for partial days more than once.

For Epcot, I know she’ll want to do lots of character meets, but with no FP in Epcot, I don’t think she will have the stamina to do all those standby lines one after another. I’d like to do a few pavilions one day, and a few more on another. Similarly, there isn’t much for her to ride in HS other than the TSL rides, but with two night shows, I’d like to be able to do F! one night and fireworks another.

 

[Koogs]

I'll add,
if you have young kids, as a negative to park hop.
dragging the kids (3,8, 9 months), the stroller, backpack etc. on the bus, along with teh travel time, make park hopping not something I want to do. It would be different if they were older, or it was just me and my wife.

 

[Christiney]

We were not going to do hoppers but I am SOOO looking forward to our first time at FLOWER and GARDEN in May...Must hop

 

[Delirium]

Party season at MK makes park hoppers a must for us.

Festival season at Epcot as well, as we like to hop over at night and check out some of the bands.

Staying at one of the resorts between Epcot and Hollywood Studios allows for you to make great use of the hoppers as well.

Just from our personal experience, we do not like to do Epcot early in the morning. In fact, we avoid it at all costs. We tour Epcot in the afternoon and at night. We would love to tour World Showcase in the morning, but it is not open. Things are too far away in Future World for us to effectively make use of rope drop. It will be interesting to see if our philosophy changes after all the new stuff is complete.

Another example is that we can use a hopper to jump over to HS Fantasmic! and Star Wars fireworks after an AK or MK day (do this twice, one for each spectacular). As a result, at nighttime on our actual HS day, we can hit rides with limited waits. We've not been since Star Wars opened, so that could change.

We don't hop every day. We usually like to do an open to close day early in our trip at MK to see how much we get done. If we complete most of what we want to do at MK, that allows us a lot of flexibility later in our trip. MK remains the easiest park to tour because there are not FP tiers and just the way the park is laid out. We've found getting most of it done early in the trip is a huge advantage.

 

[sghokie]

One thing that frustrates me is you can't book fast passes in 2 parks for the same day ahead of time. That aspect is a huge disappointment about the hoppers.

 

[siren0119]

I didn't know you could do that. Good to know.

Just a caveat when adding the park hopping option while you are at the parks for those who may not know....you cannot just add hopping for a single day/individual days over the course of a multi-day ticket. It's all or nothing (So if you buy a 4 day base ticket, and on day 3 decide you REALLY want to hop, you will be charged the park hopper upgrade for a 4 day ticket). That said, the PP gave good advice if you're unsure you really NEED hoppers, buy the base ticket and then if you really can't get away without the hopping option once you're there, it's an easy upgrade.

We have gone the last 3 years (twice with preteen kids, once adults only) and only once had the hoppers - and used them on ONE day of a 5 day ticket. We realized that the way we like to tour and plan, having one park per day works perfectly for us. And it's money we can spend on other things like dining or experiences. Everyone tours differently, but for us hoppers are not a necessity at all.

 

[ClapYourHands]

One thing that frustrates me is you can't book fast passes in 2 parks for the same day ahead of time. That aspect is a huge disappointment about the hoppers.

Unless you do CL FP. Obviously an expensive option, but it’s possible.

 

[Unvoiced_Apollo]

I didn't know you could do that. Good to know.

.i don't know if this was mentioned but in upgrading the tickets, the cost in the upgrade includes the beginning date on when the initial ticket is eligible. So you would still pay for the hopper upgrade for the entirety of the trip even if you hopped on your last day.

 

[cakebaker]

One thing that frustrates me is you can't book fast passes in 2 parks for the same day ahead of time. That aspect is a huge disappointment about the hoppers.

At least they have added the ability to book the 4th FP at a different park- don't have to be in that park. It's a huge improvement. Most times we book our FP's for the afternoon/evening park, but when we do book mornings, it's nice to be able to add a 4th for our evening park without having to be there.

 

[sghokie]

Unless you do CL FP. Obviously an expensive option, but it’s possible.

What's CL?

 

[siren0119]

What's CL?

Club level. it's basically a room reservation upgrade (that you pay for, like an add on to your room) and then you have the ability to purchase the CL fastpass option which gives you more FP, better flexibility in booking and 90 day booking window.

 

[ClapYourHands]

At least they have added the ability to book the 4th FP at a different park- don't have to be in that park. It's a huge improvement. Most times we book our FP's for the afternoon/evening park, but when we do book mornings, it's nice to be able to add a 4th for our evening park without having to be there.

You can book the second and third FP for a different park, too. You can’t do it in advance, but as soon as you tap into the first FP at the first park, you can make the next ones at whatever park you wish. Also, using a tier 1 at the first park won’t keep you from booking a tier 1 at the second park, even if you haven’t used 3 FP.

Just an option if you don’t have 3 attractions you want to FP in the first park, and want to start refreshing early for the second park.

 

[DrunkJam]

I love hoppers. Full disclosure, they are the basic ticket package coming from UK via TA.
But they mean we can take a sensory break and change the scenery whenever we want, book whatever dining we want without thinking about park entry etc, change our minds when we have had enough somewhere... I wouldn't be without it.

 

[DrunkJam]

You can book the second and third FP for a different park, too. You can’t do it in advance, but as soon as you tap into the first FP at the first park, you can make the next ones at whatever park you wish. Also, using a tier 1 at the first park won’t keep you from booking a tier 1 at the second park, even if you haven’t used 3 FP.

Just an option if you don’t have 3 attractions you want to FP in the first park, and want to start refreshing early for the second park.

Ooh I did not know this. I will definitely keep this in mind for my trip. I am definitely planning to hop DHS to Epcot and get rides in both parks.

 

[cakebaker]

You can book the second and third FP for a different park, too. You can’t do it in advance, but as soon as you tap into the first FP at the first park, you can make the next ones at whatever park you wish. Also, using a tier 1 at the first park won’t keep you from booking a tier 1 at the second park, even if you haven’t used 3 FP.

Just an option if you don’t have 3 attractions you want to FP in the first park, and want to start refreshing early for the second park.

This option comes in really handy when HS is your first park- especially when you just want to hop in, get your boarding pass, ride a t1 and get out.

 

[sghokie]

Club level. it's basically a room reservation upgrade (that you pay for, like an add on to your room) and then you have the ability to purchase the CL fastpass option which gives you more FP, better flexibility in booking and 90 day booking window.

So you have to upgrade to the Club Level room and then pay even more for fast passes. If there is a $ to be made the imagineers will find a way.

 

[siren0119]

So you have to upgrade to the Club Level room and then pay even more for fast passes. If there is a $ to be made the imagineers will find a way.

Yup it's crazy, but the Disney marketing department knows how to squeeze every last dollar out of guests.