Would you Park Hop if no EMH?

[DisneyNewbie83]

With having APs for our trip in April, we'll have the ability to Park Hop but since we're staying off-site we won't qualify for EMH.

Is there a reason to plan to park hop? I have 4 kids ages 5-7 who don't need naps and are pretty good with going with the flow, but they are kids at the end of the day!

We won't be going back to the room to rest because getting the van in & out of the parking lot will be a chore in itself! However, we do plan to take longer lunch breaks.

Would appreciate any feedback!

 

[BrianL]

Aside from EMH, I like Hoppers because of Animal Kingdom, which usually closes early. I like to be able to hop to another park in the evening.
Aside from that, it's not crucial. Once AK starts staying open later, it will be even less of an issue.

 

[Newsies]

Aside from EMH, I like Hoppers because of Animal Kingdom, which usually closes early. I like to be able to hop to another park in the evening.
Aside from that, it's not crucial. Once AK starts staying open later, it will be even less of an issue.

^^ That's a fantastic idea. A great idea my family had was to take a slower paced park like animal kingdom in the morning, then have a late lunch/early dinner at a monorail resort (we were staying at the GF so we did 1900 Park Fare and it was amazing!!!) then go to magic kingdom in the evening where it's cooler and less crowded it's a busy day, but it was tons of fun!!!

 

[Hootch]

We just finished our park plans for our May trip. We are not going to EMH parks but we will hop every day - sometimes hitting three parks. In some cases it's just moving around. We have one evening when we are going to the World Showcase. We'll tour the pavilions and have dinner. We'll hit Future World on a different morning. (We will be in Animal Kingdom that morning.)

We will hit Star Wars Weekend one day. We did this nine years ago, but the kids were young and don't remember. I don't want to be there the whole day. It's also our last day so we'll head to the MK as we always do the last night.

The Magic Kingdom is open until midnight (current schedule) every night when we are there. We will head over there a couple of times after the evening park closes. DHS will close at 8:30. We can hop a bus and head over to the MK.

 

[cakebaker]

We quite often avoid EHM parks because they are so crowded and we park hop every day. We do morning parks with no fp+'s and schedule our fp+'s for the afternoons. On this next trip, some in our family will want to do SWW- I may be the only person on earth who could care less about it, so I'll take the little one and head to another park, but hop over to HS for lunch or dinner with them. The ability to park hop adds a lot of flexibility to our days. Wouldn't go without it.

 

[hsmamato2]

IDK.... I really like hoppers b/c sometimes you get to a park, and it's just busier than you like, so it's easy to go elsewhere..... I also like the idea of parking your car in one place, and a long lunch,and avoiding emh parks..... in fact we hopped to non emh parks a couple of times last week based on hours,etc.

 

[Laketravis]

In terms of cost, we've always felt that park hoppers are one of the best values at WDW. There's nothing worse than feeling like you've picked the wrong park once you've gotten in and not being able to switch to another that day.

I think much of the talk about "wasting" time traveling between parks is exaggerated; in many cases it takes less time than standing in line for one attraction. Even during busy holiday periods we've been able to efficiently move from one park to another and have hit all 4 parks in one day.

 

[HopperFan]

With having APs for our trip in April, we'll have the ability to Park Hop but since we're staying off-site we won't qualify for EMH.

Is there a reason to plan to park hop? I have 4 kids ages 5-7 who don't need naps and are pretty good with going with the flow, but they are kids at the end of the day!

We won't be going back to the room to rest because getting the van in & out of the parking lot will be a chore in itself! However, we do plan to take longer lunch breaks.

Would appreciate any feedback!

OP has APs, so already ability to Hop. Not asking about buying Hop option but asking if necessary given no EMH.

We have APs and often offsite. I base my days on the hours for us and try to avoid the EMH days because they can really clog my day in the morning or evening. BUT having the ability to switch if I find the park un-enjoyable is great and something I keep in the back of my mind. We have planned an all day at a park but left when suddenly crowds swelled. We do plan days like a PP where we do AK early then head to a park that is open later or maybe even just to EPCOT for dinner and Illuminations.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We hop to the MK almost every day just to play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and get our daily card packs. Not sure if you doguys play, but if you do, that's a reason to hop. Your kids seem to be the right age for it, and it really does help kill time when lines are long.

 

[DisneyNewbie83]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like park hopping can really be a positive thing. I'm playing around with my plans right now and have added Epcot after AK. My DH loves Illuminations so I know he would be glad with that!

This is why I love the disboards, I never even know about the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Sounds like a lot of fun and I do think the kids would enjoy it. Thanks for mentioning it!