Would you buy a DVC Annual Pass without park hopping?

[WilsonFlyer]

I think this would be more applicable to the FL Residents' AP (our Gold). If I lived down there, I'm probably going to only one park and go home anyway most of the time. I can't see how that would bother me anymore than the blackout dates if I was a resident or if I was a DVC member traveling and knowing that restriction. Maybe that would even be a good reason to remove the blackout dates on that pass.

If they were going to do anything even resembling this, I think this would be the only viable option they could spin as a win for everybody. Leave the other two tiers alone and as they are.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I think this would be more applicable to the FL Residents' AP (our Gold). If I lived down there, I'm probably going to only one park and go home anyway most of the time. I can't see how that would bother me anymore than the blackout dates if I was a resident or if I was a DVC member traveling and knowing that restriction. Maybe that would even be a good reason to remove the blackout dates on that pass.

If they were going to do anything even resembling this, I think this would be the only viable option they could spin as a win for everybody. Leave the other two tiers alone and as they are.

There are actually several different resident APs, with various blackout options.

 

[jarestel]

All tickets were park hoppers up until a few years ago but Disney changed the system to allow us more flexibility and options. So ticket benefits, once free, were from that point on offered at a cost. Is it beyond the realm of possibility to see the same "flexibility and options of choice" offered for APs? I wouldn't be shocked.

To answer the original question, I would definitely buy an AP without hopping privileges. We're very rarely in the parks for more than a few hours a day and almost never dine inside the parks. So hopping, even at the present time, has very little value to me anyway.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

Yes, I would, if that was my only choice. We were at WDW for a week in July. I was hoping to upgrade my 7 day PP to an AP, which, of course, wasn't an option at the time. Now we have an 8 night trip coming up in October, and another 7 night trip in January. Looks like I'm going to have to buy a new PP for each trip, which will cost us way more than an AP would. I'm actually considering making the January trip a resort only trip, or possibly cancelling, because of not being able to purchase an AP.

 

[Chuck S]

I'm actually considering making the January trip a resort only trip, or possibly cancelling, because of not being able to purchase an AP.

That is where I'm at right now. A 6 night January trip using banked points with no AP and then an 8 night Thanksgiving week 2021 trip (assuming I can book it). An AP with or without hopping covering both trips would work. It would be way more to have to buy regular tickets, so I'd cancel the January trip and either try to rent the points or let them expire.

 

[Drfate102]

My Wife and I have been AP holders for the past 10 years, and we very rarely hop. I would look into it.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

Not a chance for us. Like several other posters, we own at BWV and usually end up at EPCOT many nights after spending the morning/afternoon at a different park. We enjoy being able to eat at one of the EPCOT restaurants then do a few laps of world showcase. Park hopping is something we love and would rather pay the current prices to have it than buy a discounted, non hopper AP.

 

[wdwlver]

No way. We park hop every day, usually walking into Epcot at night for dinner.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

No way. We park hop every day, usually walking into Epcot at night for dinner.

This seems to be a recurring theme here. I neglected to mention in my prior post that this is essentially exactly us. Aside from a night of Happily Ever After, we end up at Epcot almost every night also. I just wanted to be in the record on that as we are obviously not alone in this touring pattern. Worthy of a mention is that this wasn't as predictable for us when Wishes! was still running. Then, it was maybe 40% MK for a close, and 60% Epcot.

 

[keishashadow]

Absolutely. I can’t remember the last time we hopped. We have been there enough so rope drops and park hopping is a thing of the past. Plus it wastes a bunch of time. We usually just go into the parks for a few hours anyway.

Having a hopper AP and a non-hopper AP would be a good option—- something for everyone.

Exactly! Why not offer a single park per day option too?

Aside from a night of Happily Ever After, we end up at Epcot almost every night also. I just wanted to be in the record on that as we are obviously not alone in this touring pattern.

We own at BWV but After decades of visiting multiple times per year, enjoy many nice restaurants outside the bubble

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I don't want to get off on too much of a tangent here, but the entire premise that park hopping wastes too much time has always kind of confused me. I guess I really don't understand. Maybe it's because we drive. We commonly go off-site to eat and we drive everywhere. I can get to to any entry gate on property inside 10-20 minutes from almost anywhere on-property. We've commonly found ourselves at MK and gone, "It's really just too crowded here. Let's go to Epcot." And we do. Whether it be the Epcot monorail (virtually the only transportation option we ever use on-property aside from an occasional boat for fun.) or the express monorail to the TTC and drive over, we're inside Epcot in < 30 minutes almost every time. Sorry. I don't see that as a waste of time. Certainly, if we went to AK for 3 hours in the morning, back to a resort for a break and supper, and back to another park for the evening, how can that possibly be wasting time? The whole concept just alludes me. I don't get it. Maybe it's because I haven't been on a bus in 20 years. By choice. (That may be a slight exaggeration but not by much.)

{Edit to add: We do use the SkyLiner occasionally now, but it's mostly for fun and not so much for transportation if that makes sense. It's still just relatively new and I forgot to mention it.}

 

[mac_tlc]

Since I mentioned the “wasting time” issue, I’ll add a bit.
We always drive too, mostly because we now have a house in Orlando, but even if we are onsite we will drive most times. If I drive to MK, and then want to go to Epcot, I can take the monorail or drive over. To leave MK, take monorail or boat to TTC, tram to car, drive to Epcot, park, tram to entrance Is not worth the time for us. And it rarely takes less than 45 minutes. If I take the monorail, I them have to get back to MK later to get the car. Monorail from MK to TTC, switch to Epcot monorail, then monorail back to MK later, tram at TTC to car.

The only hop that might be worth it to is is HS to Epcot, with three ways of getting there—- boat, Skyliner, car.


That’s just our opinion. We will plan the day to be at the one park we want to see/eat at that day.

It’s actually easier to hop if you are onsite and use the busses.

 

[shonnons]

I would, it the only way we plan 2 trips in a year

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I also think park hopping eats up a lot of time. As I've gotten older, I like Disney's transportation less and less. It's just so tiring to get from Point A to Point B there. The only way I like to park hop is if we go to one park in the morning, take a break, and then go to another park in the evening. We always take an afternoon break, even though I dread the travel time. But we like to relax on vacation, so it is what it is. When I try to park hop straight from one park to another, I always regret it (except maybe DHS and Epcot since they are so close). I always thought when I retired and we started taking longer trips, I wouldn't be interested in park hopping at all. We just bought our first AP in January, planning to use it in November, but we cancelled our November trip due to Covid. When I started tentatively planning out the trip before we cancelled, I realized I had us park hopping three days out of eight. I wish I could have an AP that allowed you to add park hopping on for certain days. Now, that would be what would interest me!

 

[TTA Rider Matt]

We are from CT, went to WDW late July and are going next year mid-July. Even without park hopping ability this past trip, we had already bought our Gold Passes and debated just buying regular tickets and saving the Gold Passes for future years. We decided against that, because even without park hopping, doing multiple trips on one Gold Pass is still cheaper than buying multiple 7+ day single park tickets. We did not regret "cracking" our AP at all, just went into the trip knowing it would be different, as we are normally park hopping every day we are in WDW.

 

[karen4546]

I mean, that's basically what my brand new Gold AP is since it's not activated yet. I wouldn't buy a new one like that though.

mine too- trips were canceled due to CV-19 and have not used my Gold AP - EVER. We had Platinum Aps but changed to Gold AP when we bought DVC IN May 2019

 

[wdwlver]

As far as the park hopping/time wasting goes, for us as we almost always stay at our home resort BCV, walking into Epcot at night is the farthest thing from time wasting. We go to whichever park in morning, spend afternoons in SAB then head into Epcot at night for dinner.

 

[DougEMG]

If APs were crippled with no way to park hop, we would seriously re-evaluate our entire vacationing habits at WDW and Disney in general. 9 days of it during our trip a couple of weeks ago almost drove us crazy regardless the park hours. We don't LIKE going to one park a day. If you are on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I could see how this wouldn't bother you, but for us, we habitually do 2 and sometimes 3 parks each and every day of our trips. It is part and parcel of why we even enjoy going so much.

I would seriously probably cash out completely and invest in another timeshare with other travel options.

We like to go for 3-4 weeks in a year and only go in a park for a couple of hours at a time but nearly always park hope as we are either at BWV or BLT so will hope over to Epcot or MK after doing another park. While I would give it a try if park hopping was removed, if the annual passes don't come back I am probably going to not bother going to WDW any more.

 

[DougEMG]

I also think park hopping eats up a lot of time. As I've gotten older, I like Disney's transportation less and less. It's just so tiring to get from Point A to Point B there. The only way I like to park hop is if we go to one park in the morning, take a break, and then go to another park in the evening. We always take an afternoon break, even though I dread the travel time. But we like to relax on vacation, so it is what it is. When I try to park hop straight from one park to another, I always regret it (except maybe DHS and Epcot since they are so close). I always thought when I retired and we started taking longer trips, I wouldn't be interested in park hopping at all. We just bought our first AP in January, planning to use it in November, but we cancelled our November trip due to Covid. When I started tentatively planning out the trip before we cancelled, I realized I had us park hopping three days out of eight. I wish I could have an AP that allowed you to add park hopping on for certain days. Now, that would be what would interest me!

We use to always rent a car and drive to the parks, these days I much prefer to either walk or rely on Disney transportation. I'm never in a hurry to do anything so I don't mind riding around on the bus, ferry or monorail.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We use to always rent a car and drive to the parks, these days I much prefer to either walk or rely on Disney transportation. I'm never in a hurry to do anything so I don't mind riding around on the bus, ferry or monorail.

My DH refuses to get into the car once we get there. He likes "being chauffeured" once we are at Disney. In recent trips, we have flown and haven't bothered renting a car. I'm the one who dislikes Disney transportation. But I love my afternoon breaks more, so Disney transportation it is. Unless I budget in Uber next trip.