Would you do the park hopper with THIS scenario?

[MissMagnolia]

Family Background:
Me, DH, DS6, DD3, been to WDW 5 previous times, no interest in the water parks, Disney Quest, or Pleasure Island. We will probably take midday breaks back at the resort to swim and rest.

Here's our plan (staying at the BC with free dining) - please tell me why or why not to do the park hopper add-on:

1. Arrive Saturday 8/26 @ 3:00 p.m. - Magical Express to the Beach Club - probably will check out the resort (1st time staying there) and swim! Where to eat - currently no plans...

2. MK day (Park opens at 9:00; EMH-open until 1:00 a.m.)
Breakfast at CRT @ 8:25 a.m.
Lunch?
Dinner at Crystal Palace 6:10 p.m.

3. MGM (Park hours 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.)
Breakfast at Cape May at 8:00 a.m.
Lunch?
Dinner at 50s PTC
MUST SEE FANTASMIC (have missed it every time we have been there)

4. Epcot (Park opens at 8:00 a.m., closes at 9:00 p.m.)
Breakfast?
Lunch - Teppanyaki at noon
Dinner at Le Cellier at 6:20 p.m.

5. AK (park hours 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.)
Breakfast?
Lunch?
Dinner at Boma 6:50 p.m.

6. ???
Chef Mickey dinner @6:20 p.m.

7. Probaby MGM to see the Wiggles
Dinner @ Spoodles at 6:30 p.m.

8. Leave for home!

Thanks!

 

[Bev J]

We always like to add on the hopper option since for us all day/night at the same park is too much of that park- We like to do one park till 1-2 then resort for a break then head off to a different park for the evening.
Plus since we enjoy alot of the Epcot resturants we would have to spend alot of our trip at Epcot.
Then there is AK, too darn hot to spend all day there so we are done by 1 and by the time we cool off with a break the park is closing for the day. Guess we could do DTT on that day, but then we feel like we did not get the most our of our pass only using 4-5 hrs in the day.
We have gone to a park and found it just getting too crowded so we can hop over to a different park that is hopefully not so crowded. On our last day we like to do 2-3 parks and only hit our fav rides/attractions.

The hopping option is not adding that much more on to each day's cost and we feel like we get alot out of that extra cost.

Bev

 

[tjmw2727]

Regardless of your senario I always advise that if your not sure you want to hop don't buy the option. If you find you want the option you can add it later. The downside is that the cost will be based on the length of your ticket the upside is that if you don't need it your not wasting the $$.

I have read many a report where people have bought the hopper and not used it wishing for the $$ back. Vs if you don't buy it and decide on day 2 you need/want it you can add it.

TJ

 

[mommyintn]

We went for the first time in March and my kids were the same age as yours and I had struggled with the park hopper and finally decided not to do it. We had a great time went to the park at opening, took our mid-day break and came back in the evening and it worked well for us. I don't think we'll get park hopper next time either.

 

[LBKMAMA]

This will be our 3rd trip in Sept and our kids are now 7,5 & 2.5 yrs. We hopped the first two years and this year we are trying without it. My kids love MK so we'll do three days there and one at MGM and AK. Although I would love to try these restaurants everyone talks about my kids just don't enjoy those types of meals at this point...and since this is a family vacation I figure why fight with them at dinner every night we'll just go places they enjoy...hence our decsion to skip Epcot and the PH option this year. we are doing CP, Park Fare, Liberty Tree, Mama Melrose, and the new character breakfast at MGM (DD 2.5 loves Einsteins). I figure one day soon my husband and I can try for a nice long weekend by ourselves and Park Hop and eat whereever we want....or in a few years the kids will enjoy it a bit more. It's really does depend on your kids and their habits....Enjoy!

 

[Rafikifan]

Our family is like Bev J's in that we like the option to park hop. I'm sure it depends on what time of year that you are traveling but we are forced to go in the summer and like the option of breaking up our day with different parks depending on the crowds and the weather.

 

[mdhkitten]

You may want to check out the tickets at www.ticketmania.com if you haven't also. Their 6 day tickets are at least $10 off of the gate price at WDW, and I've always had great dealings with them.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

We are huge fans of hopping. We never spend the morning and evening in the same park, so it is definately worth it for us. I couldn't imagine Disney without it.

 

[sammons70]

We just visited the World for the first time. We avoided the Park hopper and were glad we did. It takes 20 to 40 minutes to get from place to place by bus. If you do that more than once, that really takes a chunk out of your day. We spent 1 day at each park, and 2 at Mk and Epcot. You have a day with no park scheduled, so you can use that day to visit the family's favorite park. Some people might want to park hop after visiting Animal Kingdom since it closes early, but remember, you are on the go a lot. It is not a bad idea to call it an early night and rest up for the next day. I personally recommend no park hopper. If you decide that you want to park hop after your vacation starts, you can always visit any sustomer service location and upgrade to a park hopper for the rest of your stay. My wife and I kept that option in mind, but never actually needed to utilize it. Have a great trip.

 

[MissMagnolia]

Thank you for all your responses - this is why I love the Dis! I think we'll pass on buying the hoppers up front and wait and see. I have been struggling with this decision and if I am hesitant, it must be for good reason (and you've all given me some! ).

 

[**eeyore**]

Just a quick thought - since you are staying the the BC (which is just a hop-skip & a jump away from EPCOT), you may find yourself wanting to head over to EPCOT a few of the nights. But, if you are not big fans of EPCOT, or don't see this being something you would do, I would pass on the PH.

 

[MissMagnolia]

**eeyore**: This is one of the reasons I was thinking about the hopper - just to "hop" on over to catch Illuminations again or the like. The reason I posted our itinerary with dining is because I don't think we'd have the time to do it based on our ADRs (which I am very happy with and don't want to switch). I wanted to see what others thought based on our plans. I think I'll keep the option open, but buy when we get there if we think we want it.

 

[jmskinner]

Since you can add the hopper on later, I would wait also. We used ours like crazy. We were at two different parks every day. We used our TS most lunches and would head back to the hotel afterwards. Even went to AK one day, Epcot for lunch, and then went to MGM that night.It did break up the day to go see another park.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[mjmcca]

**eeyore**: This is one of the reasons I was thinking about the hopper - just to "hop" on over to catch Illuminations again or the like. The reason I posted our itinerary with dining is because I don't think we'd have the time to do it based on our ADRs (which I am very happy with and don't want to switch). I wanted to see what others thought based on our plans. I think I'll keep the option open, but buy when we get there if we think we want it.

Just wanted to make sure you are aware that you will have to pay oop for at least 2 maybe 3 if you use TS credits to pay for CRT. You are going to get 28 TS credits for the number of nights you have booked. You have a total of 40 TS credits booked. I dont want you to get to Florida and have an unpleasant surprise.


I am going to be at the BC later in that same week. I also have extra TS meals planned but I know that in adavnce and I am planning to pay for a few OOP. Just not sure which ones yet.

 

[MissMagnolia]

mjmcca:
I am the ultimate in overplanning/been to WDW many times . We are going to pay OOP for CRT and plan on having my DD3 share some meals (Le Cellier, 50s PTC, & Spoodles most likely) since she eats like a bird. Even my DS6 doesn't eat much at times.

If the no sharing issue really does happen across the board, then we will probably leave out Spoodles. I've heard mixed reviews of the restaurant and we may just opt on an OOP at Beaches and Cream .

 

[mjmcca]

mjmcca:
I am the ultimate in overplanning/been to WDW many times . We are going to pay OOP for CRT and plan on having my DD3 share some meals (Le Cellier, 50s PTC, & Spoodles most likely) since she eats like a bird. Even my DS6 doesn't eat much at times.

If the no sharing issue really does happen across the board, then we will probably leave out Spoodles. I've heard mixed reviews of the restaurant and we may just opt on an OOP at Beaches and Cream .

Just wanted to male sure you were aware. I am paying OOP for at least 2 meals while I am there. I have the DDE so That will lessen the bite of having to pay for those meals.

 

[deany]

I have also been on the fence about parkhopping. We have two leftover days from old park hoppers that we can hop with and we will just do one park per day with our other tickets. If we need to hop more, it would probably just be one day and I think we will make do. It makes more sense to park hop when the parks are open late.

A question for everyone: Do you park hop when you are relying on the Disney buses? It seems like it would take a lot of time out of your day. I would be more inclined to park hop and/or go back to resort midday if we had a car.

 

[lexmelinda]

Looks like your dinner ADRs and most lunch ADRs are at the same parks. That combined with the fact that you have a 3 yr old may preclude a lot of spontaneity this trip. Park hoppers may be worth it when your daughter is a little older. I added park hoppers this trip and when I found out they were costing us $175, I canceled the option and paid for our MNSSHP tickets instead.

 

[MissMagnolia]

lexmelinda:
I planned the ADRs purposefully so they were in the same park - it didn't make sense to me to mix up dining in different parks just to use a park hopper. I was originally not even considering the hopper, but after reading so much debate about it on the boards I decided to put our plans out there and get other opinions. I completely agree with your assessment!

 

[winterman]

Thank you for all your responses - this is why I love the Dis! I think we'll pass on buying the hoppers up front and wait and see. I have been struggling with this decision and if I am hesitant, it must be for good reason (and you've all given me some! ).

I wouldn't bother with the hopper either. When it was included in the tickets we rarely used it. With good planning like you have done you won't miss it.
May I suggest The ESPN Club for your first night ? You don't need (can't make ressies) and its nearby. Have fun !!!