I'm trying to decide wether or not to pay the extra money for the Park Hopper option on the park tickets. I don't imagine we'll go to more than one park in one day. It will be dh, and our 2 daughters, 6 & 2. We are staying at Disney hotel.
Thanks
I'm trying to decide wether or not to pay the extra money for the Park Hopper option on the park tickets. I don't imagine we'll go to more than one park in one day. It will be dh, and our 2 daughters, 6 & 2. We are staying at Disney hotel.
Thanks
For us theyre a must as we go to non EMH park during the day and then hit the night time EMH park in the evening. (you dont need hoppers for EMH if youre staying on property) Not too mention that AKL & DHS are 1/2 -3/4 day parks but then those days would give you some good pool time too. If you dont plan on park hopping then yes, it would be a waste.
*UPDATE - to clarify - if you go to the EMH park that day you dont need a park hopper to attend EMH in that park that night. You can leave and return and still have quite a long day in a park. Sorry if there was any confusion . Now that Im reading it it DOES sound misleading :blush: If you want to go to a different parks on the same day you do need hoppers regardless of EMH.
You can certainly manage without a park hopper but I prefer to have that option for the following reasons:
I spend the day at Animal Kingdom which closes early. With a park hopper, I can now hop to another park that closes late this evening.
I spend the day at the Magic Kingdom but want to dine at Epcot. Again, I can hop over to the other park for my dining.
I get to Disney Studios and find the crowds to be heavier than I expected. I can hop over to Epcot and spend time there if I find it's less crowded,
We have always used the hopper because we like the option and 3/4 of the time we do hop...If you are thinking of one park a day then it would be a waste of $$$ but I think that it is worth it...:thumbsup:
Absolutley necessary? No, not really.... however, I ALWAYS purchase the hopper, because I like to be prepared for the what ifs. :)
For example, the year my daughters were standing in line (forever) to see Lilo and Stitch and they pulled them for the day when my girls were the next ones to see them. We were at MGM and my girls (who were 3 1/2 at the time) were so :( :( about the whole thing. I found out that they (Lilo and Stitch) were going to be at AK later in the day, so we jumped on over there for the girls. Necessary, NO, but it is nice to have the option.
Also, sometimes it is nice to have the option if you missed a ride or two and just want to go to the park to do those rides and then go to another park.
We get the park hopper options on our tickets because we view AK, The Studios, as partial day parks. Epcot and MK are full day + parks.
Since you have 2 little ones you have to ask yourself can they make it thru a 10-11 hr. day, day after day? If you're planning on going back to your hotel during the day you may not need park hopper. However, you are staying at a Disney hotel so you will have access to EMH in both morning and evening. With park hopper passes your flexibility increases 4 times. Also, it does take about 30-45 min. to leave one park get on bus and re-enter another.
We feel they are a necessity. But then again, we are known as park kamikaze and we will be at the parks until the very last one closes for the night. That means if the park we are in closes at 7 tonight and there is another open until 9 we will hop over to that one to finish the day. However, we generally try not to hop during the day unless we absolutely have to because of a meal reservation. The only reason we don't hop during the day is the length of time it takes to get from one park to another.
I really enjoy having the park hopper as an option. I usually go to WDW in December, and I usually travel solo. As soon as the sun sets, it can get pretty chilly. I consider the AK to be only a half day park for me. I usually stay in the Epcot resorts area because Epcot is my favorite park. I may visit AK in the morning and early afternoon. I may leave AK about 2:30
then go to my room. I will get rid of my sun visor, and sunglasses, pick up my sweatshirt, then go out to Epcot for the rest of the evening. The park hopper is handy.
I have also had the experience of being only a few hours in a park, and finding that it got WAY too crowded for my liking. I will then park hop to another less crowded park.
We used to get them all the time and after a few years we realized we just didn't utilize them that much. We just started staying a couple of extra days and the days we leave a park early we go to DTD or enjoy the pool. This also kind of forces us to have a couple of shorter days for R and R. It is a nice option but we always save the money and stay an extra day or two.
Judging by that sentence, it doesn't seem that it would be necessary for you. It really depends on the individual.
We really like the hopper, for many reasons, most of which have been already stated. Crowd levels, closing times, eating reservations, wanting a different park after our midday break, all these factor into our decision to add on the hopper.
How much is the hopper? $40 I think? That's $120 for the three of you (2 year old not needing a ticket). Look at your situation and what you plan to do. Will that $120 be better spent elsewhere, or not spent at all if that's an issue? Then you can see if it's worth it to you.
We started out buying them but never hopped. We wasted so much money. Then one vacation we hopped and didn't like all the time it wasted. We got so many less attractions done each day plus it was tiring. We feel there is enough for us to do at each park for us that it was a waste of money. We haven't bought them in years and probably never will again.
With the way you have to make ADR so far in advance now we just make our ADR's and go to that park for the day.
You don't need park hoppers to leave the parks and go back to the pool to swim. You just have to get your hand stamped and go back to the same park you were in.
We have always gotten the park hopper. It is nice to be able to go over to the MK for Wishes regardless of what park we are at during the day. Also, like others have said, you may find that you're kids like one park better and that way you could spend a 1/2 day at a park and hop over to their favorite in the evening or vice versa. Also having the hopper allows more flexibility with dining choices. We like to eat at many of the different countries in EPCOT and having the hopper lets us do that.
Really? Where did I miss that?
Anyway, we could certainly not have PHs on every trip, but we like to be flexible. We will have our days set out, but if we get to a park where its overly crowded or we finish early, we prefer not to be locked into that park or just going back to the resort. Also, we LOVE the parks, but an entire day in one might make us a little "tired" of it, so we go to others.
That said, I am paying for our free dining trip w/ my parents. We discussed it, and we decided that instead of staying at a Mod or nicer, we'd get PH's and stay at a value, since park time is more important to us during this trip than resort time.
It is easy to have a trip without park hopping. It isn't a way to spend more money, like your title states. Its more of a personal opinion on how you'd want to spend your vacation. Some people eat at TSs for every meal, is that necessary? No. Is it a way to spend more money? Sure, but you're paying for the type of vacation you want. I see nothing wrong with that.
If you don't think you need PH, I wouldn't pay the extra for it. If you get there, and realize that you might need it, you can always add it on to your tickets (its a flat rate for any length, so the earlier you add on the better). If you purchase PH and never use it, then its a waste.
I hope you enjoy your trip! Any trip to Disney is a great one!
We've gone on a couple of trips where we didn't use the hopper option enough to justify having it but we still always get it. We never really "plan" to hop but it's nice to know that the option is there. However, if you are on a tight budget or just know for sure that you aren't going to use it, it's not necessary.
Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong here but I think you can add the hopper option to base tickets even after you have started to use those tickets.
To me, it's all about how much you enjoy the Disney bus transportation. I am one who does not enjoy waiting, and standing on buses. Therefore, to me, it's get to one park, stay there all day, and catch one bus back. We never seem to have a problem spending an entire day at a park. With the early closing of AK, we use that evening to do dinner at one of the resort restaurants. Also, as others have mentioned, the pool is an option for the rest of the day, as is DTD. It's pretty much all about the individual. Just depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it.
If you don't have a Park Hopper pass, can't you still leave a park and return to that same park later at no extra cost?
For example, if you stay in POR, you go to the MK for the day, and you go back to the POR for a midafternoon nap and dip in the pool.
Can't you then go BACK to the MK after your nap/pool break, and use that same ticket?
Yes, you can definitely return to the same park on the same day even if you leave the park mid-day. You just can't enter a different park the same day unless you have the park hopper.
I think Hoppers are essential and worth the extra money. Of course being a Passholder it's already included but it still doesn't change my views on hopping.
Here is a perfect example from a recent trip to WDW. I wanted to see SpectroMagic but it was only showing 2 night I was there since it was the off season. The night I planned to be in the MK it rain right before the parade and they cancelled it. Without a hopper I would have been out of luck but I was able to come back to the MK the next night and catch the later showing of the parade using the Hopper option. I have also spent the day at AK went to dinner and then headed to MK or Epcot for EMHs. So overall the flexibility and extra time in the parks make a hopper well worth the extra money.
We like the flexibility that it gives us. We may not park hop every day, but we do it enough to justify the extra expense. During our last trip to WDW, we first went to MGM, which we also consider to be a 1/2 day park. We were finished with the park by 2pm, so we went to MK for the afternoon. Well, MK closed at 8pm that night, but EPCOT was having evening EMH, so we went to EPCOT and arrived just in time for Illuminations and then spent the next couple of hours enjoying the park. So that was 3 parks in one day.
For this trip, we're getting 10 day no-expiration park-hoppers. We'll use 5 days this trip and 5 on another trip, so that splits up the park-hopper expense over two vacations. It's a larger iniital outlay, but we don't have to buy tickets for our next trip and the average cost per day is less than buying non-expiring tickets. It's not for everyone, but it works for us.