Would you rather... have 10 base park days (no hoppers) or 9 park days *with* hoppers... or just 9 base days?

[PDXmouse]

We will be at the Swan for 14 days. Day 1 is Kennedy Space Station, Day 14 is a travel day. So 12 days for parks and relaxing. There are four people in our group.

We were going to do 8 park days, then I decided to do 9 (two days at each park, plus a flex day to use for the park we most want to hit again... probably DHS.)

But here are the prices:

9 day base ticket per person: $700.64
10 day base ticket per person: $718.27
9 day Park Hopper per person: $775.06

We figured our three off days (assuming a 9 day ticket) would be spent in the area of the Swan & Dolphin... where we can eat at our hotel or head over to the BC/YC area or the Boardwalk area to find a restaurant. We could also catch an Uber to Disney Springs if we feel like going a little further.

We also want to eat at Boma for dinner one night, and would likely do it on a "no park" day.

DH will KILL me if I over schedule us. I promised there would be ample time to chill out. Last time we bought park hoppers and NEVER used them. Not even once. We were at the YC that trip and could have easily headed into Epcot in the evening but were always too tired and opted to stay and eat at the hotel. So I'm not convinced we would use park hoppers even if we paid the $300 extra to get them.

But now I'm thinking adding an extra (10th) park day is "only" $77. So on one of our "no park" days we would still have the option to book a restaurant in a park if we wanted. Or just wander through a park with no heavy agenda.

WWYD?

 

[brockash]

We will be at the Swan for 14 days. Day 1 is Kennedy Space Station, Day 14 is a travel day. So 12 days for parks and relaxing. There are four people in our group.

We were going to do 8 park days, then I decided to do 9 (two days at each park, plus a flex day to use for the park we most want to hit again... probably DHS.)

But here are the prices:

9 day base ticket per person: $700.64
10 day base ticket per person: $718.27
9 day Park Hopper per person: $775.06

We figured our three off days (assuming a 9 day ticket) would be spent in the area of the Swan & Dolphin... where we can eat at our hotel or head over to the BC/YC area or the Boardwalk area to find a restaurant. We could also catch an Uber to Disney Springs if we feel like going a little further.

We also want to eat at Boma for dinner one night, and would likely do it on a "no park" day.

DH will KILL me if I over schedule us. I promised there would be ample time to chill out. Last time we bought park hoppers and NEVER used them. Not even once. We were at the YC that trip and could have easily headed into Epcot in the evening but were always too tired and opted to stay and eat at the hotel. So I'm not convinced we would use park hoppers even if we paid the $300 extra to get them.

But now I'm thinking adding an extra (10th) park day is "only" $77. So on one of our "no park" days we would still have the option to book a restaurant in a park if we wanted. Or just wander through a park with no heavy agenda.

WWYD?

I'd just do 9 base tix...honestly I don't even think you need that. - 6-8 would be totally fine for us. Have you thought about doing 6 with waterparks included? We find the water park days more relaxing and then you'd technically have 6 reg park days and 6 waterpark, but I think 2 waterpark days would be plenty.

 

[LoveDaisy]

What is the makeup of your party? We always stay in the area, usually boardwalk, and park hop to Epcot most days for dinner, snacks at the food booths, drinks, etc. it is just so close and there are lots of food and drink options. I can’t imagine staying there without them. But if you have littles it may not be with it with early bed times and all.

 

[goofyernmost]

9 days is a long time in the WDW internment camp. Based on that alone my feeling is that you multiply the stress level when trying to find a place for meals without the park hopper. Planning ahead for dining becomes a nightmare when without it you eliminate a lot of easy choices and it is well worth the additional cost as you have listed it. In my opinion, with park hopping you also would find 9 days entirely sufficient to do whatever you desire. So my vote is obviously for the 9 day with park hopper.

I've always had the park hopper option and found it fun to visit one park for a while and then take the Monorail, boat or gondola to another one later in the day to evening. It was just more relaxing and enjoyable for me to do that. That's after 48 visits over 40 years to WDW.

 

[loves to dive]

We are very much pro hopper, I can't image going for any length of time without them. Since you say you don't want to over schedule, they are ideal for that. I find since I have them I can just take it easy. Go to one park in the morning, back to the resort for a couple of hours in the afternoon then off to another park late afternoon evening. I stay at the Epcot resorts all the time, Dolphin more often than not. Epcot and HS are favorites and I can just walk over to either park for a hour or two every day. I just wander around the parks sometimes and look at the details and don't ride any rides. I also sometime decide in the afternoon that I really want a drink at Nomad Lounge that afternoon so off to AK I hop.

 

[Miffy]

I'm voting for the hopper. There are many benefits there, including the ability to go to another park when the park you reserved gets too crowded, which is something that's happened to me multiple times. And just strolling into Epcot for dinner, which will be so easy for you since you're at the Swan.

Or you go back to the hotel to rest and at 7 everyone gets the urge to see the MK fireworks even though you all thought you were exhausted. Easy if you have a hopper.

 

[CynBeth]

I also vote for the hoppers.

 

[Robber Baron]

We are all Hopper all the time.

I wouldn't go without a Hopper.

 

[thinkerbell]

We never go without hoppers. This trip, we will be there for 14 days. We bought 10 day tickets with hoppers. We go to a park in the morning, come back to the room for a nap or swim or just to rest and then back to a different park at night. Occasionally, we will just go in the morning or the afternoon. Since we have 10 day hoppers it gives us lots of freedom to do what we want. We don’t like to be tied down to one particular park. We love the night shows at Epcot and MK so on days that we go to HS or AK we can hop on over to see a night time show. We figure that a 10 day ticket is our best value since we go a bit slower now than we did when we had little people with us.

 

[reddog21]

I would never do Disney (or universal) without the hopper option.

 

[kylenne]

Another one for hoppers, but I think it really depends on your touring style. We are not rope drop to fireworks people, we take midday breaks at the resort, and so we never do Disney without hoppers regardless of how long the trip. We love having the flexibility to go to another park in the afternoon/evenings if we want, and it's extra useful when staying at Crescent Lake. We almost always end up popping into Epcot for dinner when we stay over there, regardless of where we went in the morning. On a solo trip at BC once I decided against returning to Epcot following my afternoon break because crowds were crazy (it was a holiday weekend during Food & Wine) and I ended up going to HS to walk around and look at the Xmas decorations. I can't put a price tag on that sort of thing personally.

 

[DiscoDen]

We will be at the Swan for 14 days. Day 1 is Kennedy Space Station, Day 14 is a travel day. So 12 days for parks and relaxing. There are four people in our group.

We were going to do 8 park days, then I decided to do 9 (two days at each park, plus a flex day to use for the park we most want to hit again... probably DHS.)

But here are the prices:

9 day base ticket per person: $700.64
10 day base ticket per person: $718.27
9 day Park Hopper per person: $775.06

We figured our three off days (assuming a 9 day ticket) would be spent in the area of the Swan & Dolphin... where we can eat at our hotel or head over to the BC/YC area or the Boardwalk area to find a restaurant. We could also catch an Uber to Disney Springs if we feel like going a little further.

We also want to eat at Boma for dinner one night, and would likely do it on a "no park" day.

DH will KILL me if I over schedule us. I promised there would be ample time to chill out. Last time we bought park hoppers and NEVER used them. Not even once. We were at the YC that trip and could have easily headed into Epcot in the evening but were always too tired and opted to stay and eat at the hotel. So I'm not convinced we would use park hoppers even if we paid the $300 extra to get them.

But now I'm thinking adding an extra (10th) park day is "only" $77. So on one of our "no park" days we would still have the option to book a restaurant in a park if we wanted. Or just wander through a park with no heavy agenda.

WWYD?

Park Hoppers are a must for me. I usually hit my scheduled park for rope drop then head back to the resort before afternoon crowds. Then back to my park of choice for whatever the reason might be.

 

[loves to dive]

Another one for hoppers, but I think it really depends on your touring style. We are not rope drop to fireworks people, we take midday breaks at the resort, and so we never do Disney without hoppers regardless of how long the trip. We love having the flexibility to go to another park in the afternoon/evenings if we want, and it's extra useful when staying at Crescent Lake. We almost always end up popping into Epcot for dinner when we stay over there, regardless of where we went in the morning. On a solo trip at BC once I decided against returning to Epcot following my afternoon break because crowds were crazy (it was a holiday weekend during Food & Wine) and I ended up going to HS to walk around and look at the Xmas decorations. I can't put a price tag on that sort of thing personally.

100% yes. I've been sitting in my room at one of the Crescent Lake resorts many times and just walked over to either Epcot or HS because I could. Not to ride any rides but just because I could.

 

[lanejudy]

If you aren't sure about your plans, and have previously bought hoppers but didn't use them, maybe just wait and see. You can add the hopper at any point during your visit, and likewise you can add the 10th day as long as it's done ON or before you use the 9th day.

 

[snikki]

For us and how we travel I would do hoppers. We have done 9 or 10 day hoppers our last few trips and it works out great. I would especially do hoppers if staying that close to Epic.

We find 9-10 day park tickets gives us more than enough time to see and do everything we'd like to do with more than enough rest and relaxation time.

We also like to have a ticket for each day we are there. We like to rest but by 4-5 pm we are itching to hit a park, even if it's just Epcot to walk around WS and not ride any rides. (We aren't the biggest fans of DS so we don't want to spend a whole day their either)

 

[kylenne]

For us and how we travel I would do hoppers. We have done 9 or 10 day hoppers our last few trips and it works out great. I would especially do hoppers if staying that close to Epic.

We find 9-10 day park tickets gives us more than enough time to see and do everything we'd like to do with more than enough rest and relaxation time.

We also like to have a ticket for each day we are there. We like to rest but by 4-5 pm we are itching to hit a park, even if it's just Epcot to walk around WS and not ride any rides. (We aren't the biggest fans of DS so we don't want to spend a whole day their either)

This is totally us too. In May/June we are going for 11 days and have 10 day hoppers. It'll be our first trip of this length, our trips together are usually 8 days, but we always have tickets for every day for the same reason. That "off" day we plan to do Typhoon Lagoon in the morning since neither of us have been, and we'll do DS in the evening for dinner. Don't get me wrong, we get plenty of rest time at the resort and enjoy it a lot but tend to get antsy and want to head into a park even for a little bit. One reason we always try to stay in proximity to MK and/or EP/HS.