When you do EMH - do you always park hop?

[tjknitz]

We would love to do EMH on our visit, but not 100% sure if we want to park hop yet. Travelling with 3 kids and a stroller and not sure I want to waste time going between parks. Would you recommend staying away from parks with EMH then?

We are going in Sept so I'm sure the crowd levels are going to be minimal, but with the free dining going on, we might be pleasantly surprised with huge crowds.

 

[RMulieri]

We do ( Me, Dh and our 5yr old).But we always hop anyway.We like doing one park in the AM and one in the afternoon. BUT you can always go down and play it by ear and add the hoppers on if you need to. But realize that it is a flat $50 per ticket regardless of when you add it on.

 

[OB1]

That is what we do. We hop when a park starts to get too busy. We also find by utilizing morning EMH, that by 1-2:00 we have easily done what we wanted in the park and spent plenty of time just chillin' and watching. We will come back to that park during the trip for a late afternoon/early evening visit.

With kids, you will probably need a mid day break anyway, so the park hop will not matter if you are coming from your hotel.

 

[thepwa]

Yes, absolutely. Essential strategy for me.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

We have decided for our last two trips to forgo park hopping. It saves our family $300.00 on our tickets. We now avoid early EMH parks. If we happen to hit an evening EMH, no big deal. We don't park hop at all and I can't say I miss it.

 

[CarolAnnB]

We don't park hop on EMH. If it's early EMH, we get there before opening and stay thru til close. We get the major rides done during EMH and then shows/slower rides when it's busier. I think a few longer lines equals out to the time it takes to go from one park to another, go thru security again, get strollers again, etc. But I know here I am the minority. We get the hoppers if we are on a shorter trip. This time we are doing the 4/3 package so with 7 days of tickets, I am not going to spend the extra $200 for hopping.

 

[LMO429]

I think if you are on one of your first couple of trips to walt disney world and you are looking to save money you can forego the park hopper. I think there is so much to see and do the first time you visit a park that you may be less likely to park hop.

that being said we do however always get the park hopper and it does come in handy for EMH especially if you go to the MEMH you can hit the bigger attractions and then once the park gets more crowded you can leave and go to another park.

Park Hoppers are also great for the nighttime spectaculars..For example Animal Kingdom usually closes early and then you could go to MK for Wishes and PM EMH

 

[ReneeA]

We've gone on 4 8-9 day trips in the past 4 years. We've never purchased the hopper option...it's something you can easily add to your tickets once you get there, so I figured if we needed it once we got there, I could add them then.

I can only think of a couple days in all those trips that I wished we'd had one. In those cases, normally we stay in the parks until just after lunch and then head back to the resort for a swim and relaxation time...then head back after a leisurely dinner. It was nice to be "forced" into building some relaxing into our vacation.

Our next trip is going to be a bit different because we are splitting between onsite and off, so I may add hoppers if we are planning fewer days in the parks.

 

[MHSweb79]

When we get up for morning EMH, we stay until about noon or so, then back to the resort for a break, then out to a different park for the late afternoon/ evening. We never go without hoppers.
The amount of people who come into a morning EMH park at 11 a.m. is INSANE. What are they thinking? I remember leaving AK after a very successful morning EMH and there were hoards of people pouring in. I wanted to tell them, "Look, Expedition Everest is already posting 90 minute waits! What's the matter with you people?" but I didn't.
The advice to skip an EMH park if you are not going to use the EMH hours is good. If you are willing to get there early, you will be amazed at how many attractions you can ride in the first 2-3 hours of the day.

 

[Golf4food]

I don't think it will be an issue in September and we have never felt like either an AM or PM EMH was "just too crowded" to enjoy it on any trip we've been on. We have passes and we can hop if we like, but we've never hopped just because of an EMH. We tend to GO to EMH parks to enjoy the extra time. Never regretted it. We don't go during the packed times of year, but you will be there in September and there is a reason they offer free dining - lower crowds so they are desperate for bodies. I doubt you will have any problems at all.

 

[SuperTink]

The amount of people who come into a morning EMH park at 11 a.m. is INSANE. What are they thinking? I remember leaving AK after a very successful morning EMH and there were hoards of people pouring in.
The advice to skip an EMH park if you are not going to use the EMH hours is good. If you are willing to get there early, you will be amazed at how many attractions you can ride in the first 2-3 hours of the day.

We had the same experience last year. After my kids got their fill of EE (6 rides with a break for Safari in-between) we were on our way to our next park. We passed waves of people arriving at 11-12. I felt really good about making the effort to get up early.