Who "hops" and who doesn't and why??

[hannah03]

I know why you might WANT to hop, but for those who don't do it, why??

TIA

 

[jordanyosh]

We almost always hop. We go during off peak times when park hours are reduced, leaving World Showcase as the only park open past 7pm. We often end up there to end the evening with strolling around the WS Promenade or dinner.

We almost always stay at a deluxe Epcot resort which seems to be made for park-hopping between MGM and Epcot.

 

[mill4023]

We bought hoppers and didn't end up hopping. We were going to do a morning EMH at MK, then hop to another park, but we had some illnesses and didn't make it. I liked the idea of being able to hop if we wanted, but for us, with 4 kids (10, 7, 4, 1), it usually seemed like too much work to switch parks in the middle of the day. I still might buy hoppers in the future because I get a good discount on premium tickets from my employer and I would like to take advantage of some morning EMH's, then move to a less crowded park.

 

[PatsGirl]

Until this upcoming trip, we've always been rushed.

I considered buying the hopper on MYW tickets but we are going in Nov/Dec so everything closes early anyways. The only upside I see to the hopper this time of year (unless of course you're going for more than a week) is being able to eat/drink in Epcot each night or alot of them. I'd love to work my way around the world for dinner one trip. Will probably do that if I take a trip without the kids. But for now, we do plan to leave the park each night and have dinner at a resort restaurant on the dining plan, with the exception of MGM because we want to see Fantasmic so currently we're planning to eat at MM.

While I enjoy eating out dinners, I try to vary the restaurants between character or fun meals with less commotion some nights but I don't think I could convince my kids to give up fun for exotic/different, lol

I'm interested to read other replies because like I said I've tried to think of other positive reasons for having a hopper and would love the input of others.

Brenda

 

[Ilovestitch]

We have always hopped. I feel burned out if I stay at the same park all day long. We do one park in the morning. Go back to the resort for a rest and then do a different park in the evening.

 

[Disney_Queen34]

We've hopped until our upcoming trip in August when we will not be. For us it is cheaper to buy a 3 day regular pass then a Park hopper pass that we will most likely not use. We've decided that since we dont' usually spend much time at MGM that we'll skip it this trip since I'll be 5 months pregnant. For us, it's just not worth the extra money at this time.

 

[bopper]

I guess I like to maximize my time in a particular park. Leaving the park wastes time. If I went back to the room, I wouldn't want to go back out.
I am like that at home too. Once I get home, I would prefer to stay.

 

[BrerRabbit28]

we used to never hop but when we started going with some friends they hopped and now its become a routine thing. We will go to a park in the morning. Chill by the pool when its too hot out and then go back at night.

 

[Jackie H.]

We always hop. Why? I have no idea!

We just like it, I guess. Like jordanyash, we always go during off-peak times and end up at EPCOT after the other park closes. We NEVER seem to eat anything in AK, so we leave there and have a late lunch somewhere else (like Tony's in MK ). But mainly we just seem to like doing a different park in the morning than in the afternoon!

Come mid afternoon, my family just starts itching to go somewhere else! I don't know if it is because we've always done it or if wanting to do it is why we've always done it! The chicken or egg thing!

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We never park hop--never felt it was necessary for our schedule. We use to buy park hoppers, but never used them. Now we don't buy them anymore. Maybe when the kids are older, we will park hop, but for now, we are non hoppers.

 

[Merriwind]

Love hopping! I enjoy the change of scenery. Plus, we take an afternoon break, so it seems like a fresh start to me. Like others, we often travel off season and spend most evenings at Epcot. (closest i could find to hopping!)

I'm sure however you do it will be enjoyable!

 

[hannah03]

Thanks all!! I was planning on doing 1 park each day w/o hopping and the only reason I would "hop" would be for dinners in other parks, but I think I'll just work around it.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Since we have AP's and little ones that need to take a midday break at the resort-- we always hop. It keeps things interesting!

 

[Keebles]

I was originally gonna post that we rarely hop but always buy hoppers, but now that I think about it, we do hop quite a bit! I guess I didn't realize that we do it!

 

[jjarman]

We hop every day. We usually will start out the morning at one park, say MGM, ride everything there we can without waiting and then head back to the hotel for a break. Then around 4:00 or so we will go to say Epcot and do a few things in Future World which is less busy then, eat supper at San Angel Inn maybe and watch a little of Illuminations as we make our way out. Then we take the monorail over to MK if it is open late or has EMH. Or, do TL until 1:00 or so, head back to the hotel to clean up and then go out to another park. I can’t imagine not park hopping.

 

[dturner]

I was thinking about "to hop" or "not to hop" this weekend.

In the past, I've always hopped. Last time I went in mid-September when the parks closed early, I found that we were going to one park in the morning, taking an afternoon pool break then going to the park that closed the latest which was usually Epcot. In fact, I think the only time we ever hit Epcot was in the late afternoon.

Now, I'm planning another trip in late September - wanted to do it for as little as possible so I'm thinking about "to hop" or "not to hop" - I'd really hate to NOT buy park hoppers and wish I had once I get there or worse yet, buy park hoppers then don't hop.

 

[mbrittb00]

We always hop. With the new EMH some of the reasoning may change a bit. What we have always done in the past is start at the park that had early entry, then after ~3 hours we went to another park.

1)The theory is that most of the on site stayers will go the the early entry park and stay there all day, i.e they aren't in the other parks. Thus the other parks are a little "deader".
2) Neither MGM or AK take a full day. On the other hand MK and Epcot typically take a little more than a full day. MGM about 3/4 of a day and a little over 1/2 for AK. On the days we start those parks we stay until we are finished then hop to another park (like Epcot or MK) to finish out the day.
3) On our final day we do a "hodge podge" day. Where we basically hop around all day and do our "favorites" from each of the 4 parks.

 

[jimmalru80]

We have always hopped. It breaks up the day. We always return to our resort for the afternoons and head to a different park for dinner and the evening hours.

 

[irishone1979]

We park hop- mainly on the day that we go to AK since we normally do that till it closes and then go to Epcot in the evening. It's just nice to be able to change parks if you finish earlier in one or if you want to eat dinner at a different park than the one you are in.

 

[ely3857]

I have hopper passes but more because I like the idea of been able to move if I really want to.

I have no plans to hop on my next trip but you never know...



Jodie