Worth it to get park hopper?

[cheapmama]

Hi, I'm new here, my name is Saimah and I have 4 kids ages 4-11 and we are going to disney on april 23rd. I was wondering if it is worth it to get the park hopper or not? Last time we went was 8 years ago and the ticket structure was a bit different. We are driving from NJ and will reach there are april 24th, will go to disney on april 25th (saturday), then we have to leave back to NJ on April 30th b/c dh has to be back for something on May 2nd. So we don't have alot of time actually (5 full days to go to parks). Dh refuses to take an extra day off work. I wanted one day to relax and just hang by the pool. We are staying off-site. So should I get the park hopper to make sure we don't miss out on anything, or can we do it all in 5 days? Thank you and its great to find a place with so much great information!

 

[TiggerD]

Park hoppers are great because you can go to one park in the morning and go to another at night. If you do not have PH it is one park a day and thats it. Because you are not staying on porperty, i think that PH may not be the solution for you. Have a great time.

 

[Technosavant]

It depends on how you schedule things and what it's worth to you. For a family of six, you're talking $300, not an insignificant sum.

My wife and I love to park hop, but it's just us and we usually end up dining at Epcot. For a family like yours, moving between parks is going to be more difficult. Since you're offsite, you likely won't be taking a couple hours off in the afternoon and then heading to a different park for the evening (we do that often). Only you know your family, but I'm not sure you'd get $300 worth of value out of it- you might be better off using that money for the kids' souvenir money.

 

[The Hendies]

With a savings of $300, you may want to consider skipping the hopper passes. Select your days wisely (Park hours, evening show schedules, etc) and just go to one park per day. If it has been a long time since your last visit, I'm sure you won't have a problem filling your day! Also, think about the time involved with switching parks... up to an hour per commute! In either case, you'll have a great trip!

 

[srwarden1928]

We do not park hop. It is not worth it for our family. Based on what I have learned, mostly on Disboards, there are some reasons to park hop.

1. If you want to do EMH, you need to park hop. The EMH park is normally not a recommended park because it gets busy during the middle of the day. You can go to AM EMH then hop to the recommended park. You can spend the day in the recommended park then hop to PM EMH.

2. If you want to eat at more Epcot restaurants than you want to spend days in Epcot, you need to park hop.

3. If you have been to Disney so many times that you have done it all and know for certain what you want to skip, you may have much less than a days worth of attractions in a park. Hoppers will allow you to use the rest of your day.

Anything else CAN be planned around. Some people choose not to plan around other issues, but these are the only ones I know of that cannot be planned around without using the hoppers. If these three issues do not apply to your family, as they do not apply to ours, you can have a successful trip, do what you want to, experience what you want to without hoppers with a little planning.

Have a magical trip.

 

[Dipstick]

We do not park hop. It is not worth it for our family. Based on what I have learned, mostly on Disboards, there are some reasons to park hop.

1. If you want to do EMH, you need to park hop. The EMH park is normally not a recommended park because it gets busy during the middle of the day. You can go to AM EMH then hop to the recommended park. You can spend the day in the recommended park then hop to PM EMH.

2. If you want to eat at more Epcot restaurants than you want to spend days in Epcot, you need to park hop.

3. If you have been to Disney so many times that you have done it all and know for certain what you want to skip, you may have much less than a days worth of attractions in a park. Hoppers will allow you to use the rest of your day.

Anything else CAN be planned around. Some people choose not to plan around other issues, but these are the only ones I know of that cannot be planned around without using the hoppers. If these three issues do not apply to your family, as they do not apply to ours, you can have a successful trip, do what you want to, experience what you want to without hoppers with a little planning.

Have a magical trip.

For those first two reasons alone is why I got the park hoppers.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

Since you are staying off-site, EMH is not an option for you and that is one reason many people park hop. Another reason, as mentioned, is the dining options. But you do not need to decide before you go. You can add the park hopper to your tickets at any time during your stay. It is the same price whether you add it the first day or the last day. So if you need it, add it. If you find that you didn't need it then you haven't wasted the money. That being said, we always get PH's because we use them most every day. But if I wasn't sure I wouldn't purchase them until I knew that I was going to use them.

 

[growinupdisney]

I have been debating the hopper too! When we went last year it was the first time we didn't do it and it worked out fine because we only had 4 days at the parks and we just stayed all day plus it was the slower season but with us going the week after Easter I wasn't sure if we would need it maybe our last couple of days to go back to the parks and do what we didn't get to do because of the crowds.

 

[bantha09]

I am going with group of 18 people the WDW this august with 10 day passes , they range in age from 68 ( my grandpa) to 8 months( my twin cousin) with the others ranging from 5 to 42. they will not be getting park hoppers but me, being an independent 18 year old, plan to buy a park hopper for myself so I can take advantage of longer hours and also get some time away from my group ( they can grate after a while).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is one more vote for do what's best for you. Also, If I was to go into a park the first day, then go out and upgrade to PH, could I hop that day or would in kick in the next day?

 

[LorilieMarie]

We are having a Grand Gathering this year, it's my Brother's and his family's first trip. I talked him into getting the park hopper, he didn't want to . . . I hope he appreciates it.

You do need more than 1 day for Epcot, and we like more than 1 day in Magic Kingdom. If you are in a park and a ride shuts down, you can always catch it by going back to do what you missed. I think it is fun to take the monorail from Magic Kingdom to Epcot, but it does take time to travel. I guess we didn't hop a lot when we where there, either way you will have fun.

You can always add them on later if you change your mind, but once you are there it will probably be hard to take them off.

Sorry I am so wishy-washy with no direct opinion

 

[Whitaker24]

We had a 3 year old in 2008 on our family trip. We felt like no go for the park hopper. He was tired an worn out Im glad we didnt. We are going this Sept also, and wont do the hopper pass because he likely will be worn out again. Also not much for him at epcot, so we are focusing on MK, AK, and Hollywood for our 09 trip.

 

[mikera329]

I will always get hopper passes.. I have never done any other way.. So why change now lol... But i like it cause it keeps your options open.. We just came back last night... And we used the park hopper alot.. We tend to split up our day by going to a park in the morning then going back to the resort for a couple of hours to relax and get pool time.. Then back again for the evening stuff.. So park hopper comes in real handy!!!!

 

[kevgraub]

But you do not need to decide before you go. You can add the park hopper to your tickets at any time during your stay. It is the same price whether you add it the first day or the last day. So if you need it, add it. If you find that you didn't need it then you haven't wasted the money.

I remembered reading this somewhere else and was going to repost it - but you beat me to it.

To me, this is hands down the best possible advice for someone on the fence about whether to buy the park hopper or not.

If you buy it ahead of time and don't use it, you have wasted your money. If you don't buy it ahead of time, you can always quickly and easily add it to your ticket for the exact same price that you would pay ahead of time.

We are not going to buy it ahead of time. Depending on how our ADR's go, how our time in the parks go, and how we feel on our 8 day trip, we may add it when we are there.