park hopper vs 1 park per day

[homeschool mom]

In the past we have always gotten park hoppers. We are thinking about going to WDW in a couple months and to save $$ may consider going with the one park per day pass instead of the PH this trip.

I'm looking for pros and cons on each. Please help.

Thanks ahead of time.

[DizneyRox]

I have never considered NOT getting a park hopper.

MGM and AK are considered by many to be 1/2 day parks these days. For me then, it would be a waste to only be able to do parks for 1/2 a day, especially when vacation time can be so expensive. If this is the case, I would add it as soon as possible so that you CAN use it and spread the cost over many days. Adding it on the last day of a multi day ticket makes that one expensive day.

There have been many times where my initial park of the day is just too darn crowded and I want to go elsewhere.

I've told friends who ask for Disney advice that you can upgrade your tickets if/when you decide you want to park hop, that way you're not paying for it if you really don't need to, however every person to a T has come back saying they added it the first day, they couldn't imagine not being able to park hop.

The next question then is why did Disney make park hopping a pay option and not include it in the price of a ticket (like they used to). That's another thread.

[Ms. Mode]

We have thought about this too, but after you get used to hopping it's kinda hard to concentrate on just being in one park at a time.
It CAN be done though! :mickey:

[ANG]

We always get park hopper because we usually want to see a night show at one park but don't want to just be there all day.

But this year, we're spending more time planning so we can save the extra money and not hop.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

IMO much of the pros and cons depend on a couple of things.

1) How many days are you staying?
2) How many ADRs do you plan on making?

I bought PH both times in my two trips as an adult, and never used them at all. I think for a trip of 5 or less days, you waste too much time hopping around that could be spend inside a park instead. HS is not a half-day park for me, but AK can be, so we just do Downtown Disney on our AK day. For my upcoming 7 day trip, I am getting the PH because I have more time to just "do whatever hits me" than I would with a 4-5 day trip.

If you plan on eating at a restaurant that's inside a park, and you are not prepared to lock yourself into playing at the same park that you are eating at, you have no choice but to get the PH.

It all depends on the particulars of your trip.

[g8rgirl29]

My pros for the park hopper are: Limited showings of Fantasmic, so often times need to just spend part of an evening at DHS just for this even though EMH was at a different park that AM. Dining reservations being harder to get sometimes we have to hop a bit. Plus I enjoy hitting both am and pm EMH's so we tend to do half days in parks, am in one, pm in another. Also we do the waterparks and consider them 1/2 day parks.
I think if you are vacationing for less than 7 days you really need park hopper if you want to catch all the fireworks/parades/shows. But, for 8 or more days you can make it work without it. For me I just can't imagine not having the freedom to go where I want to go when I want to go.
Pros for not getting it: A definite savings in money. It would add an element of challenge to my vacation planning which could be fun. Maybe it would 'force' you to take things at a slower pace since you will be in that park all day. Time savings in not hoping around from park to park.
Good Luck in your decision!! Have a great trip!!

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

We have always purchased park hoppers. With that said, now that we have 2 young children, we probably didn't need the hopper last time we were there. With a 4 and 2 year old, we weren't hopping as my DH and I used to when by ourselves. We didn't hop last trip even though we had great intentions of hopping! With 2 young children, we were lucky to get 3-4 things in before going back for a swim and nap, and then going right back to the same park to finish what we could.

So depending on your party and how you plan on tourning (the do or die way or the let's take it slow way) I would be able to support you either way!

One last thing, if it were just DH and I, we definitely would get the hopper. We actually did our top 2 attractions in each of the 4 parks in one day before - ending with a margarita in my hand watching Illuminations. That was fun!

[DakandZakMom]

Just a thought..It may be cheaper to add extra days to your park ticket than to park hop. That way if you really felt the need to go to another park on a particluar day then you could use another day admission...;)

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Just a thought..It may be cheaper to add extra days to your park ticket than to park hop. That way if you really felt the need to go to another park on a particular day then you could use another day admission...;)

Disney will not allow you to do this. Once you use a ticket to enter any given park, that ticket is married to that park until the next morning. The computer will deny you entry to a second park, even IF you have extra "days" to burn, unless you have the PH option.

[SBETigg]

I just don't see the value in skipping the park hopper. Yes, I know it is less expensive, and I know there are people who do one park a day and they're perfectly happy. The big thing for them seems to be that they don't like to lose time in transporting between parks. It works for some.

But for me, I like to have the whole world open to me at any given time. It's a big bummer to think that if I went to MK in the morning, that's it. I'm stuck with just that park. I get so much more out of the parks by breaking them down, hitting two parks per day. Some parks are more active. Some are more walking. By mixing it up, I get the best of each without the drag of too much walking, or too many rides.

Being confined to one when I could have access to all would take away from my trip to the point at which I feel I would be losing out-- which means, saving money by skipping the hopper is no actual value for me. I would find other ways to save. Though of course, it can be done and there are people who have the complete opposite outlook (why waste money on hoppers when you can do so much in any one park that you don't need to hop). It really depends on you. Do you think you could be happy with just one park a day? Are you at WDW enough that it's worth giving it a try this once?

[BigThunderFan]

We liked using it and the flexibility in scheduling it allowed. We wanted to see all the shows (Fantasmic! & Spectro, etc...) but didn't want to deal with a super crowded park all day like there are now because of the limited showings. So we would hit a non-busy park in the morning, take a break, and then visit the busier one in time for the show. It worked out great for us, and if you plan on taking a break in your day anyway (which I definitely recommend :thumbsup:) then you don't lose any time to park transfers.

Of course there is the extra cost, but that is the only downfall to park hopping I can think of. This is your vacation, do you want to come home and say I wish we could have done this, but you weren't able to because you didn't want to spend the extra money? In my opinion, if you want to save money cut it from another part, such as food or souvenir budget, and keep the park hoppers.

[KylesMom]

I agree that the only notable "con" is that the hopper costs more.

As many others have said, I can't imagine going to a park and not having the option of changing locations, whether it be due to crowds, ambiance or early park closing. We often will go to MK or AK early in the day, and then in the evening have a nice ADR at Epcot or DHS with the opportunity to watch Illuminations or Fantasmic. Although we've been passholders for many years now, I can't imagine going to Disney World without the ability to visit more than one park on any given day.

[wdwnutz]

We have gone to WDW with park hoppers, with the water park option and without hoppers. Personally we seem to enjoy our WDW vacation without the hoppers. When we begin to plan our trip we make a chart of the days we will be there (usually 7 days), the park hours for each day, extra magic hours in each park, the days and times of parades and shows and ADR's we plan on making. From there we plan our days. We go to one park per day and plan our days around the info we have. The days are much more relaxing not feeling like we have to "use the park hopper to get our money's worth". We have plenty of time to go back to the resort in the afternoons and freshen up for dinner. After we swim and freshen up we go to our ADR and take the Disney shuttle bus back to the park to finish out our day! Generally we go to MK and Epcot for 2 days each, one day in HS and AK. We never have a problem getting to all our ADR's, never feel like we are missing out on anything and we get to see everything at a much more relaxed pace.

[caryrae]

We have never used the PH option even back when PH was included on every or most ticket. It works for us mainly I suppose because we go in slower times and have never needed it. We like to take our time going through the Parks and take little breaks from walking every so often so we can easily find plenty to do at 1 Park in a day.

[Giggy]

We always use the park hopper at some point while we're there. That said the ticket we're buying this time are for unlimited entry during the 14 days we are there, park hopping included.

We don't hop every day, for example our first day is normally Magic Kingdom the whole day. However there are things we like to do such as parking at MK, taking the monorail to Epcot and then finishing off at MK for the parade. We do normally spend two days at AK but normally they are part days where we switch to somewhere else when it gets too hot. Another one is for Fantasmic, we see it each trip but not necessarily on the same day we were at MGM, so it pays to be able to arrive after a day at another park. Sometimes with the MGM and AK plans they hare a day with one of the water parks, not sure if doing that actually requires a park hopper though.

Basically we like the flexibility it offers.

[crazygoalie39]

We always use park hopper because we can make ADR's for a different park than the one we're going to for the day. We never do it, but another good reason for it is because you can go to a show at night in a different park. It's also just nice knowing you have it and can do whatever you want.

[1DisneyNut]

We are like wdwnutz. We used to get hoppers but realized we never used them. Of course I think some of those trips were back when the tickets pretty much all came with hopper so we had the option to park hop if we wished. We just never did. I am a planner and I have an itinerary set a few months before each trip. I go through the park hours, extra magic hours show schedules, etc. and plan what park we will visit each day. On the days when we have open time after a park such as the day we do Animal Kingdom, I schedule our trip to downtown disney for the evening and we eat while there. We just simply never park hopped even when we had the ability to do so. I have considered it so we could revisit parks to ride favorite rides before we leave but after doing the math we found it was comparable in price to add extra days since we have three kids we would also have to buy the hopper option for. Another thing I often see people mention when this topic is brought up is their dining reservations being in different parks. If we have somewhere we definitely want to eat, I work it into the schedule. We go to the parks for the entertainment, not to eat. There are nice restaurants close to where we live that have just as good if not better food and value than most places at wdw.

[princessgirls]

We lived without the park hopper on the last trip.
DH gave me a tight budget to work with as it was an extra trip at the end of the year.

Here are my thoughts...

Actually had more time to ENJOY the parks we were in. It was not bad. Thought being in HS for an entire day would be terrible and it wasn't.
We were on time for all of our ADR's and not rushed getting to them.
I tend to make most of our ADR's in Epcot and we are always rushing to get there.
We tried some new places on this trip.

HOWEVER, we were only in WDW for 5 days, the fifth day we left at 3pm.
If you are there for a week, it is worth the money for the hopper.
I would get the hopper in the future, espessially for our usual week long trip.
But, for this shorter trip the one park one day ticket was a pleasant surprise.
Hope that helps.
Julie:mickey:

[Scar]

I think the ability to go to early EMH and then go to another park when it starts getting crowded is worth the price right there. Plus for me, I usually spend 4 or 5 nights in World Showcase and never spend a night in DAK or DHS, so I need one.

[CaptSmee]

I was never a big fan of park hopping until recently. now I'm a big fan of it

[g8rgirl29]

I just Love Intercot!!! It is always amazing to me to see the great responses everyone leaves!! It really gives you so many views/pros/cons into planning!! You guys are great!!!

[JPL]

For me park hopping is a must! I have been there many times when a parade or fireworks was cancelled due to weather and I had the ability to to keep my basic plannned schedule and just hop over to see the parade or fireworks when the weather is more favorable. I also like to hit morning EMHs and then go to a different at night or later in the day. The extra money for the Park Hopping option is worth it IMHO. I usually have an AP but if I don't it's Park Hopping all the way for me:thumbsup:

[lindique]

I have found that park-hopping gives me more energy and enthusiasm to stay in the parks longer. When you transfer to the second park, you take a bit of a break. Then seeing the new park makes it almost feel like I'm starting a new day - which gives me an instant boost in energy.

[AndrewJackson]

It really comes down to the number of days you are purchasing on your ticket - the more days, the better the park hopper add-on.

For example, if you were going to choose between a 3 day park hopper, or a 4 day one park ticket, the 4 day is $46 cheaper. For a family of 4, that is nearly $200.

If you plan on staying all day at Epcot, and all day at MK, then only spending about a 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, you could still do all of this with a 4 day one park pass. You would just have to pick two different days to go to HS and AK, you could not do AM at AK, then PM at HS.

The 4 day would also allow you to spend more than a 1/2 day at HS and AK, allowing you to take a break during the day - or spend a bit more leisure time in those parks.

[LVT]

Hoppers. We are there 7-10 days and end most evenings with fireworks somewhere. I think I do get the feeling of starting over with a new day when I change parks after our mid day break. I get a similar positive feeling when my weekends include several short activities instead of 1 or 2 very long ones. Short attention span.

[forever a child]

I have always had Hopper tickets before. I am debating it this time. So this has been an interesting thread to see what others think. Too late for me to decide tonight the pros and cons...so I'll just keep reading your until our trip date when I have to decide:thumbsup:

[1DisneyNut]

The nice thing is you don't actually have to decide ahead of time. You can get regular base tickets and go to the parks. If you decide you would like to hop to another park you can go to guest services and add hopping to your tickets.

[Goofy Pluto]

Wow. The responses in this thread are truly amazing to me. And I don't mean to denigrate anyone's feelings about this topic. If you love park hopping and that's what you want to do, by all means, go for it! Knock yourself out. Enjoy yourself. But this absolute NEED to park hop is incredible to me. I don't get it. I mean... Wow.

Anyway, I will say in the past my family always park hopped, too (back in the 80s and 90s with my parents and siblings). Like other said, it allowed us to see one park part of the day and another later. Maybe have a meal somewhere else or see a different show. Whatever.

But our last trip we decided to just do 1 park a day and it was GREAT! No need to feel like we have to get to another park. We were able to enjoy ourselves in one park a day and do everything we wanted to do.

People are mentioning that you couldn't see all the show, parades and fireworks if you didn't park hop. Why not? We did. Just see those things in the park you are in that day. No need to go park hop to do that. You just have to plan to do those things the day you are in that park, if that's what you want to do. Plus, by NOT park hopping, you're spending more time in the parks because you aren't moving between them. And finally, you do save a LOT of money by not buying the hopper option.

Now, all that being said, if you are there for a short period and want to make sure you at least get to all the parks, then, yeah, you might want to splurge for the hopper option. But if you have enough time to do a full day at each park, save your money.

In any case, whatever you decide is up to you. Do you want the freedom to go to whatever park you want at any time? Do you want to save money? Up to you. All I can tell you is we didn't miss anything by not park hopping and had more money to spend on souveniers. :D

[1DisneyNut]

You did a great job of explaining it Goofy Pluto. We do the exact same thing. You made me realize that I forgot to mention that we ride every ride in each one of the parks with the exception of the small kids rides in toon town of course and we also see every show each time. That is the plan and our goal each visit. The kids and my wife grumble every time I make them go in a few like the Hall of Presidents for instance but I keep telling them you never know when they will decide to remove an attraction and replace it with something else so you want to do them all every chance you get for the memories. We even go back to some of our favorite rides multiple times and we usually have our "wild card" day at the end of the trip where I let the kids decide which park they want to go back to...I bet no one would have to use more than one guess to get which one they pick every time. lol You guessed it Magic Kingdom! (Which happens to be my favorite too):mickey:

[Septbride2002]

I think the ability to go to early EMH and then go to another park when it starts getting crowded is worth the price right there. Plus for me, I usually spend 4 or 5 nights in World Showcase and never spend a night in DAK or DHS, so I need one.

:exactly:

[caryrae]

So for those that may hop if a Park gets to busy, what do you do if the Park you hop to is just as busy? Do you stay or hop a 3rd Park?

[CleveRocks]

So for those that may hop if a Park gets to busy, what do you do if the Park you hop to is just as busy? Do you stay or hop a 3rd Park?I like the freedom to park hop, but I agree with you in that I always read people say "If the park gets crowded you can hop to another ..." but then how do you know the NEXT park isn't even MORE crowded!!!

In all my times park hopping, I never once said to my wife, "It's getting crowded here, let's take the time to go to another park and hope it's not just as crowded there."

When I park hop, it's simply to get variety in the day, like we went to a park in the morning, went back to our resort in mid- or late-afternoon to rest, and now we can choose what park we want to go to that evening ... in this way, we're not restricted to going back to the same park at nioght as we were at earlier in the day.

This was especially helpful when we stayed at Polynesian, since it's a short monorail or boat ride to Magic Kingdom. We absolutely love "Wishes," MK's fireworks show. So we could go to whatever park in the morning, go back tot he resort in the afternoon, eat dinner there, and then get to MK just for Wishes. And then there was the night we went to MK around 90 minutes before WIshes started, with the strategy that we would MISS Wishes and instead take advantage of the really short ride lines (since people were staking out space to watch Wishes from).

I just like having choices. I just like knowing that I can go wherever I want whenever I want. It's worth the $208 ($52 x 4 people) + tax for me.

Another common park hopping time for us is the last few days of our trip. By that time, we've been to each park at least once. And then we kinda want to do our "greatest hits" again. Park hopping allows us to catch Expedition Everest and Dinoaur (in Animal Kingdom) first thing in the morning, then take a direct bus over to Disney's Hollywood Studios to ride Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and maybe Tower of Terror, then go back to our resort for a rest or a swim, and then maybe catch Wishes (MK) or IllumiNations (Epcot) one last time before going home.

[Scar]

So for those that may hop if a Park gets to busy, what do you do if the Park you hop to is just as busy? Do you stay or hop a 3rd Park?Stay. However, with the exception of Epcot on a Friday or Saturday night, it is rare that happens. Now I only go to Disney when school is in session, so maybe that has something to do with it, but I think a majority of people who hop would agree.

[plutosnana]

It depends on if your family is a rushing, running around family or a relax, calm family.

[joonyer]

For us, the extra cost of the park hopper option is nominal compared to the total coast of a multi-day WDW vacation, and that extra cost is worth the convenience of being able to change parks at our whim, whether it be for dinner, fireworks or a show.

[mom2morgan]

Time of year makes a difference, too. We had Park Hoppers in December and didn't need or use them since the park hours are so short, anyway. However, we're going in the summer, and I can definitely see wanting the flexibility to do one park in the morning, leave for a few hours to swim/nap/eat and then do a completely different park in the evening. In fact, I think I'd probably better add water parks, too.

[TheVBs]

When we did the DP and ADRs, park hoppers were a must for us. Many nights we finished up in Epcot with a meal and Illuminations. They were also great when the kids were littler and going back to the hotel for mid-day break was a must. It usually put us in the mood for a different park when we were ready to head out again.

We bought PHs on our last trip and didn't use them once. Felt like it was a big waste of money. And we had a wonderful time doing one park a day! Staying a half day in the parks guaranteed that we left feeing as if there was so much we didn't do. Staying a full day was more relaxed and we got so much more in. I don't think we'll opt for PHs in the future. We don't like being locked into ADRs anymore and the girls have reached an age where they'd rather keep going than take a break mid-day.

If we hit a park that closes early, or that we feel done with sooner than another park, we just plan ahead for that night to be our dinner show, character meal or DTD night. :mickey: