Will I regret NOT getting the hopper?

[kstgelais4]

Hi,
We are leaving for our first disney family vacation 2 weeks from today, and We are so excited! But I keep reading that everyone thinks hopper passes are a must. We hae 4 kids, and we thought that hopping would just put too much stress on our vacation. Will I regret not doing it? I know that you can upgrade, but for us it will be over $200. Will our experience bee enjoyable even if we aren't hopping? Let me know exactly what you think.
Kelly
me dh ds (7 in disney!) ds (4) dd (2) ds (9 mo.)

 

[rileyroosmom]

I am leaning towards getting the hopper. Here's my thinking. What if you are at MGM planning on seeing Fanstasmic that night, it rains right before the show and Fantasmic is cancelled. With a hopper you can be at MK for the day and that night go back to MGM to see Fantasmic. Without a hopper you couldn't do that. Another scenario. You are in MK and it is very crowded, no one is happy, you can hop over to Epcot and save your day.
This is just my opinion and why we will probably get the hopper. (The Fantasmic story happended on my last trip!)

 

[prestonsmomma]

We never get hoppers (got them one time and never used them). I just haven't seen a need for them for our family.

 

[ciera321]

We always park hop, but for an extra $200, I think you'll do just fine without it. It's a convenience thing for us. Being able to go to Wishes, Illuminations or Fantasmic if the mood stikes us when we hadn't planned on it. If you plan accordingly then you'll be fine, and you'll have an extra $200 for a couple of extra t-shirts...

 

[disnut8]

For me, hopping is a must for flexibility. It relieves my stress of a Disney vacation. If I'm at Magic Kingdom and it's too crowded, I can hop on over to Epcot without any problems. Otherwise, I'm stuck with Magic Kingdom or no Disney park for the day. Here's another example. I'm going tomorrow to Animal Kingdom for the Expedition:Everest previews (yes, I have an Annual Passholder but I'm giving reasons for park hopping). Animal Kingdom closes at 5:00. I'm a nighttime person so I can easily go over to Epcot and stroll along World Showcase tomorrow night and finish with Illuminations. Or go to MGM for Fantasmic. Or whatever. It's what Mel Gibson says in Braveheart "FREEEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[ratfam]

You know your kids and if you think hopping won't work for your family, don't feel like you are missing out if you don't get it. We have really never used the park hopping option in the past as we felt it would be too much wasted transportation time when we spent full days in parks, and when we leave for a midday break it is just as easy to return to the same park as to go somewhere else. Even if a park is crowded, I think our kids would be even grouchier if we took the time (and leg work!) to switch to a different park rather than just trying to find less crowded attractions or calling it a day early. Now that it would have cost us an extra $130 or $140 to add the hopper option, which is more than a day of dining plan, we decided to forego it and just plan things out so that we wouldn't need to hop. However, we are staying 8 nights and have 8 day passes, so we do have enough time to shift plans and to an extra unexpected day at, say, MGM if Fantasmic gets cancelled like the prior poster's scenario. So I may feel differently if we were only going for 3 or 4 days. But it just doesn't seem like we are a family that will ever really take advantage of hopping, so we will pass.

 

[eab]

It kind of depends on your schedule also. WE had them in December when we went but I am thinking about if I would want to get them again (I probably will). We are older and we like to sleep in. It was around 11:00 before we got to the park. With the earlier closing hours it almost was not worth the time it took to leave the park, wait in line for the bus, walk in, have our purse searched. We did better concentrating on one park at a time, we slept in but we closed the park up. That much money, I would hae to think.

 

[AU Tigger]

I tend to lean toward the hopping choice because of, as others have mentioned, the flexibility. In addition, a day spent at the Animal Kingdom ends about 5:00--plenty of time to head to another park for fireworks, etc.

 

[stampinshauna]

I think since it is your first Disney family vacation, you will be fine without the hopper because there will be so much to do & see. After you've been there once or twice, a hopper is nice so you can hit the highlights when you want to. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[TMJR]

We love to hop! I love having the flexibilty of going where we want, when we want. To us, it is well worth the $200.

Whatever you choose, have a blast!

 

[teacher31]

We, too, always choose to get the hopper. I can't imagine touring any other way. We go to 2 different parks a day. Also with EMH you wouldn't be able to take advantage of morning AND evening like hoppers can. It's worth it for us.

 

[indigoxtreme]

It really also depends on the # of days you are going. We have always had the hoppers even when the children were little. If you were going for a short time say 3 to 4 days then no, 1 park per day. But if you are staying longer you will probably want to hop on the other days. For AK days that end early go back to your hotel and enjoy the pool, playground etc or go to DTD for shopping etc. Very nice area.

 

[ntengwall]

This will be our first trip with our 3 boys and we did get the hopper option. I have been using Tour Guide Mike (www.tourguidemike.com ) and I wanted the option of changing around from the morning to the evening depending on the park crowd levels (which Mike will tell you about for your specific dates). Sometimes a park will be great for the morning, but not great in the evening due to parades and other happenings.

 

[dwcrazee]

Someone more knowledgeable may want to speak up but, I believe the "hopper option" can be added to your ticket at anytime during your stay. You could just play it by ear and if you decide you need it and upgrade when you get there if you find you want to. We do use the hopper option, mainly becasue we like to eat at several of the Epcot TS and this allows us to play somewhere that day and have dinner anywhere we want. I really don't think it is something we would have to do to fill we are getting the whold Disney experience.

Angie

 

[keishashadow]

We too are enjoying our AP's but, have used PH & MYW's.

Rarely, have we ever used the PH feature that we purchased. With EE/EMH and touring a park until 1 - 3:00 p.m; we're usually done for the day. LOL When we do return it's usually to the same park to use a FP we got on the way out & for dinner.

Try them w/o the feature, you can always add it on to the tix the 1st day @ guest relations/park tix office (@ the full price) if you think you'll want it.

IMO, the no expir. feature is a better bang for your buck.

Have fun planning...it's half the fun!

 

[44sun]

For us it's the Park Hopper BUT my DDs are 10 & 12 years old. If your signature is an indication of the ages of your children, one park per day sounds reasonable - they're still munchkins. Are you staying onsite where they can nap and take a break during the day? If so, maybe go for the PHs. My opinion for what it's worth...

 

[susieq76]

We always get the hopper- but we don't use it every day. It depends on our mood & the day. You'll be fine w/o it your first trip!

 

[snowbunny]

We used to get the park hopper but no longer; we simply plan a park a day plus dining either in that park or at one of the many resort choices that evening. It's much less stressful (for us) than going from park to park.

 

[annie1995]

I personally wouldn't do Disney without a park hopper pass. For instance, my kids really weren't impressed with MGM, so we just changed parks. If we didn't have the hopper option added, we would have been stuck or wasted a ticket with a park they didn't like. I was told you can always add things to your tickets when you get there if you change your mind. Enjoy your trip!

 

[kstgelais4]

We used to get the park hopper but no longer; we simply plan a park a day plus dining either in that park or at one of the many resort choices that evening. It's much less stressful (for us) than going from park to park.

This is what I thought too... Less stress, especially when we are with 4 kids under 7! lol.
To answer a couple of questions, We are not staying onsite (Sheraton vistana), and we are going to be there for 11 days. We did get the plus on the tickets, becuase we did want to go to quest and the water parks (same price as admission to 1 to get the 6 "pluses). We did go when our first child was 4 months old, and we got the hoppers then. While I did enjoy them I felt exhausted by the end of the day. I think I was figuring that going at a "kids speed" rather then last time at our own speed, we could just enjoy the day without feeling exhausted. But I do know what it is like to have them, so I don't know if I will miss the flexibility. KWIM? Ok, well thatnks for your input so far!
Kelly