Why do you park hop?

[klk77]

I'm looking at buying multiway no expire tickets, with water park. It doesn't seem to cost much more to add park hopper, but I'm not sure if I'd use it.

We generally stay off-site, and my kids are both 5. My sister's family (our usual travel buddies, along with my parents), includes a 4, 6, and 9 year old.

So my question is, why do you park hop? Or how do you make use of that option?

Many thanks!

 

[Drusilla]

We always get park hopper on our tickets - I like the flexibility to leave the park and go back to the resort to swim/nap in the afternoon if that's what we want to do and then come back for the evening; or even hop to a different park for the rest of the day if we feel like it or crowds are crazy in the park we planned.

On the last day of our trip we have hopped to different parks so each of 4 family members could ride their favorite ride one more time - that takes alot of planning, walking and patience but it is fun to hit 4 parks in 1 day Crazy!!!

 

[diskids2]

I like the flexibility of the hopper but sometimes never use it. Last summer we had no hoppers and didn't even feel it, but we were there for 10 days. I think if I were using the tickets in small doses, a few days here or there, I would want the hopper option.

 

[wdwlver]

We always stay at YC/BC/BW so hopping into Epcot at night for dinner/touring is an everyday thing. That's what we hop.

 

[wcurry66]

We stayed offsite with my 5yr old DD, had a park hopper and never used it.

We planned on a mid day break. Once we spent the 30-45 minutes getting back to the hotel, the pool was a bigger draw than getting back in the car for another 30-45 minute trip back in

At 5yrs old, DD wanted to mostly look around, meet some princesses, and ride the carousel. The concept of why she's leave a perfectly good park, spend time waiting for a bus just to go some place else didn't make sense.. and, quite honestly.. the trip was about creating magic for HER

Next month -
We are going back and purchased park hoppers again. Why? Several reasons
1) we are staying onsite and have a car, so the time to park hop is greatly diminished
2) she is now 9 years old.. no longer believes in princesses and understands the concept of taking time to get to something good/new/different
3) we're going in August.. There's no way I can see her (or us) wandering around the midday Florida sun without some down time.
4) since we're staying just outside epcot (the yacht club), park hoppers allows us to have adrs near our hotel, but in a park other than where we tour that day


how we plan to use it.. hit two parks the first two days (with a 4 hour break in the middle). At the end of 2 days, the kids (we'll also have her 13 year old brother.. who has never been to wdw) will have an idea of what the parks have to offer.

at that point, they can help plan, plot out our remaining 5 days. don't get me wrong.. i'll already have a tour plan, FPPs, and adrs.. but based on what they liked, didn't, we can tweak (add another round of the cool ride.. remove the 15th animatronics ride, add more fireworks, etc)

Given the age of your kids....and depending on how close your hotel is to the park, i'd recommend skipping the park hopper this time around (unless you are super close)

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I bought park hopper passes one time. Got 4 day pass with hopper ability, used it once. Since haven't bothered. I usually go for a week and get to each park once, sometimes I will skip AK and double up on MK or Epcot depending on my mood. Also like spending two days at Universal and another to just lie by the pool.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I like having the park hopper option because usually we'll do Rope Drop at one park then come back and rest when the park gets crowded. Then we have the option of going to a different park in the evening. Some nights we like to just hit MK long enough to see the castle show (can't think of what it's called) and the fireworks. Another example is during Food and Wine Festival we like to be at Epcot either for lunch or dinner to hit the kiosks several times thru our trip, but don't want to spend all day in that park.

On the other hand, a man I work with who went for the first time last October is thinking about going again. He said he wouldn't park hop, they would rather save the money and just plan their days accordingly.

 

[lam0037]

Agree with others about the flexibility. There have been many times where I've taken a midday break but decided for whatever reason, dining night entertainment, etc that I want to go to a different park.

We're going in December and we have park hopper to make sure we can do all the Christmas stuff we want to do, castle lights at MK storytellers and CP at Epcot, Osborne lights at HS.

It also helps when parks are crowded or to take advantage of EMH or to get a full park day if AK closes early, like it does in December. If there's morning EMH at one park, and an evening at another and make FP for the afternoon at a third park, you could get a lot done in one day

Honestly, it truly isn't that much more to add it in addition to your other options so if you think you might need it or want it, add it.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We always stay at YC/BC/BW so hopping into Epcot at night for dinner/touring is an everyday thing. That's what we hop.

This is the only reason we ever buy it, if we are staying at the Epcot resort area and want to stroll into Epcot at night to eat, walk around. That walk is just too easy!

 

[Alesia]

I don't know if there's really a set reason for it. Sometimes we plan to do 2 different parks in one day. Sometimes we finish one park earlier than expected and want to go to another one. Sometimes we spend a little bit of time in one park, but realize that we'd rather be somewhere else.

I would just add hopping. You're talking about buying tickets that cost around $800 each - what's another $25? Also, you may not see the value now, but in order to get your money's worth these tickets are going to need to cover 3 complete trips. If you're already planning that far ahead, why not give yourself as much flexibility as possible.

 

[siskaren]

I like the flexibility to leave the park and go back to the resort to swim/nap in the afternoon if that's what we want to do and then come back for the evening

You don't need a park hopper to do that, though. You only need the park hopper if you want to go to a different park in the evening.

 

[Dr Gevil]

This is the only reason we ever buy it, if we are staying at the Epcot resort area and want to stroll into Epcot at night to eat, walk around. That walk is just too easy!

Yep. This.

 

[chalee94]

So my question is, why do you park hop? Or how do you make use of that option?

i generally get a no-expire 10-day ticket and use it over 3-4 years worth of trips. (i'm DVC and not a park commando.) so i'll use a couple of days worth of tickets each year to check out old favorites and new attractions but rarely plan to spend a full day in one park any more.

also, i like eating dinner at epcot (and not so much at HS or MK), so i'll usually hop over there regardless of where i started off in the morning.

 

[JCornell]

One thing to keep in mind, you don't have to buy park hopper right away. If you get to the park and decide you want to hop, you can always add the option later. This is a good strategy for people that are unsure if they'd use it.

 

[BrianL]

I use park hoppers to offset early closing times for certain parks, like AK. I can spend the day at AK, which I' usually done with around 3 PM truthfully, then hop. Now, once AK starts having nighttime entertainment that may change.

 

[Alesia]

One thing to keep in mind, you don't have to buy park hopper right away. If you get to the park and decide you want to hop, you can always add the option later. This is a good strategy for people that are unsure if they'd use it.

Yes, but keep in mind that all upgrades must be done within 14 days of the first use. Since the OP's tickets will last over multiple trips, she will not be able to hop on any subsequent trips if she doesn't upgrade either now or during the fist trip.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I think the only way I would park hop is if I had already been to each of the parks and had that extra day where I wanted to do things say at MK and Epcot, I would do half day at each, other than that, there is enough in one park for me to keep me busy all day.

 

[Winnowill]

We got hoppers for a couple of reasons:

1) To take advantage of morning EMH, then hop to a recommended park in the afternoon for lower crowds.

2) So that I could book a hard-to-find ADR any day of our trip and know that we weren't locked into that park for the entire day because of it.

When my DD6 is older and can manage longer hours, I'll add another reason:

3) To hop to a park that's open a few hours later than the one we're currently in.

 

[Fratthouse]

When we go in September, the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasmic are often only on certain nights of the week. On those days, the parks are A LOT more crowded all day long. So we like to spend the day in a different park, then head over to MK just for the nighttime entertainment.

Also, crowds are usually the lightest on 'party days' at MK (MNSSHP and MVMCP). We love going to the parks on those days, but the park closes at 7 pm. It's nice to be able to hop over to another park after closing if we're feeling up to it

 

[IamJBo]

Typically only park-hop on our HS / AK / Epcot days. We only recently ever added the Water Park options on our last trip which was extremely helpful for those days we wanted to cool off but have a bit more fun than what our resort pools offered.