Would you buy a one park each day or a hopper ticket?

[pooh2001]

We have been to WDW 6 times.
We love MK & EPCOT
DHS is OK and in AK we like 3 rides
We normally stay at WDW for 8 to 10 days.

What would be the good reasons to pay for the Park Hopper option?

Could we survive with the plain basic park ticket?

 

[amomma23]

We have been to WDW 6 times.
We love MK & EPCOT
DHS is OK and in AK we like 3 rides
We normally stay at WDW for 8 to 10 days.

What would be the good reasons to pay for the Park Hopper option?

Could we survive with the plain basic park ticket?

We have done many 8-day trips and have never hopped. It just doesn't feel necessary and seems like an easy way to save some $$$.

 

[cubuffalo36]

It depends on what you want or what you plan each day. Personally, we don't like to hop either, we usually hit one park, accomplish what we want or had planned then head back to enjoy the resort or grab dinner somewhere, or whatever our plans may be. For us, it's worth spending the time staying in one place rather than taking the time to hop from one park to another, but for some people they love to hop back and forth. Just really depends on what you like or want to do.

 

[Robo]

One advantage of HOPPER is that on your Animal Kingdom day (AK closes pretty early), you could "close" AK and then HOP over to, say, Epcot for dinner and IllumiNations that evening.

If, say, Fantasmic! got "rained out" on your MGM day, you could HOP to there on the day that you were at another park, and catch the amazing show.

If the "entire population" of Hukalockistan poured into MK on one of the days you were there, and filled all the queues and took all the FP's, you could hop to Epcot and escape the crowd.

If you were at DHS and wanted to eat at, say, Canada in Epcot (like WE love to do) you could ride over on the boat, use your Hopper to get into the International Gateway, dine on CHEESE SOUP, then retrace your path back to MGM for more fun!

We nearly always park-hop... virtually every single day.

Hopping can be a valuable asset, and you don't need to buy it unless or until you NEED it!

How do you know?
What should you do?

Simple:
You don't need to buy the "Hopper Option" UNLESS and UNTIL you need it.

If you are already at one park and decide that you'd like to "hop" to another... right then,
just walk up to a ticket window, add on the Hopper option (costs the same price if you buy it before or DURING your trip) and you're ready to hop (that day, and any others, for the rest of your trip.) You must make this and all other upgrade choices within the first 14 day of when the ticket was first used and no later than on the day that you use the ticket's last asset.

If you go and NEVER need to hop, don't buy the upgrade, and you can then spend all those "extra" bucks on more WDW souvenirs!

The cost of the Hopper option now varies... as of the last price increase (Feb, 2014.)
If you upgrade some tickets by adding "days" you might also have to increase what
you pay for the Hopper option on those tickets.

Adding the Hopper to a one-day ticket costs $40.

Adding the Hopper to a two-day or three-day ticket costs $50.

Adding the Hopper to a four-day thru ten-day ticket costs $60.

SPECIAL NOTE:
If you already have the Water Parks Fun and More option on your tickets,
adding the Hopper is a one-time, one-price fee of just $26 per ticket.

All prices, plus tax.

 

[stephm0188]

We personally always hop. I don't think we've ever spent a day at Disney where we've only gone to one park in a day. That's our preferred touring style, though. Do what works for you and your family!

 

[wahassle]

Also depends on your mode of transportation, doesn't it? I would imagine park-hopping is much easier with a car or if you're on the monorail. Not so much when you are taking a bus everywhere.

 

[pooh2001]

IF we stay at the GF DVC - then I guess we will get the hopper option

IF we stay at the AKL DVC - then I guess we will get the plain no-hop ticket

thanks for the advice

 

[Robo]

Also depends on your mode of transportation, doesn't it? I would imagine park-hopping is much easier with a car or if you're on the monorail. Not so much when you are taking a bus everywhere.

We find the bus transportation quite satisfactory.
In fact, we intentionally no longer rent a car at WDW because we enjoy the perks that
Disney transportation offers.

BTW, if you are at a monorail resort, the monorail only serves MK and Epcot...
that leaves two other parks unlinked by the monorail beam.

 

[hakepb]

Also depends on your mode of transportation, doesn't it? I would imagine park-hopping is much easier with a car or if you're on the monorail. Not so much when you are taking a bus everywhere.

Or, if you go back to your resort for an afternoon swim and/or nap, it's no different going to park B instead of going back to park A. (I rarely go straight from one park to another.