Do You Think Park Hopper Is Necessary Or Just A Way To Spend More Money?

[gerald72]

It's all in the planning.
It's easy to spend one day at each park without hopping at all. There's plenty to do at the hotel or DTD without going to another park.
But at the same time, you need to hop to take full advantage of EMH.
I suppose it depends on your personal taste.

[droopy d.]

We always get them, since we love to eat in Epcot so much. We think Epcot has the best food so we do another park during the day and hop to Epcot for dinner and to do an attraction or two.

[2Princesses4Us]

I did NOT by hoppers for our trip in September. One park a day is enough for us. We even scheduled our restaurants based on which day we are in which park. I don't want to spend any time in transport!

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Park Hopping is so individual.
2) Park Hopping - Yes
. . . money is no object
. . . you want to be on-the-run all day, every day
. . . you wan to jump between favorite rides and parks
3) Park Hopping - No
. . . you want to save money
. . . you have visited enough that you can plan a park for one day

NOTE: We do not spend extra for Park Hopping. When we do parks like AK, we go for 3-4 hrs then spend the rest of that day swimming or at DTD.

[Catzle]

We always park hop. We do one park in the morning go back to the resort swim for several hours and do another park at night.
We like doing this as it breaks up the day and your starting a whole new park that night.
We always do two different parks in a day and actually the past two years we have done 3 parks in one day. Went to Epcot in the morning, hit soarin and test track took boat over Hollywood Studios did a couple of things than back to resort and at night over to the Magic Kingdom!

[Young@Heart]

We don't like to park hop. It just takes up too much time. Plus, you can leave one park b/c it's too crowded, go to another park and find it's even more crowded there.
We find, with planning, staying in one park works well for us.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Personally I can't imagine NOT park hopping. I've even done all 4 parks in one day. I like the flexibility of jumping around if one park is too busy or closes early.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Before kids we always got Park Hoppers. We bought them the first time we brought our son and never hopped. We haven't purchased them since.
We would have to drag our kids from whatever park we were in. They like spending the entire day in one park.
We are buying Annual Passes for this upcoming trip in June so, we will see what we do now.

But, the extra money we would have spent on Hoppers we gladly spent on other things.

[Ian]

We have AP's, so there's no added cost for us to hop, but even so I can't imagine not spending the extra money.

We almost always will spend the early part of the day in one park and the evening in another park. In fact, like as not we finish up most days watching Reflections of Earth at Epcot. Not to mention eating dinner over there, too.

Just trying to plan your meals and stuff around not having a hopper would be more than enough reason for me to spend the extra money. I mean it's only like $45 or something, right?

[MinnieMommie]

I really like the hopper option but it works for the type of marathon days which I enjoy but that are not necessarily the best way to manage time with 2 small children. The number of days you are planning to be at Disney and where you are staying can make a difference in your decision. For instance, if you are at a monorail hotel (or even WL) you can get the kids up early and be at the MK when it opens. Go first to all the kiddie lines that end up having long waits later in the day, then go back to the resort and unwind - swim, eat, nap - whatever works for your family. Then you can take the monorail to EPCOT when you are ready to go back to a park.

If you are staying a distance from the parks figure in bus travel time to your day. It may be more tiring to travel back and forth to parks in the same day but only you know how well your children travel.

If you want to return to the same park after leaving the park you started in you can. You do not need a hopper to return to the same park nor do you need a hopper to participate in extra magic hours (that is dependent on staying at a Disney property).

If you want to take advantage of EMHs keep this in mind. For example, this June morning EMHs are on the 4th for AK and evening EMHs are for Hollywood Studios on the same day. You would need a hopper to take advantage of both the morning and evening EMHs on the same day in this scenario.

Again, only you know how your children travel - if they will be better engaed in the morning rather than evening - if a nap will allow them to do both. Your family may want to sleep in or do a variety of other travel options so you will know best what to do for your family in the end. Have so much fun and make a wonderful lasting memory for all.

[MinnieMommie]

mean it's only like $45 or something, right?

Doesn't seem like much maybe but for a family on a budget multiply that number times the number of people in the family and it can make a difference. We are talking almost $200 for a family of 4 with young children who may not end up using the hopper option. It is worth the cost if hopping will enhance their visit and I know for some of us the hopper option is a must do but for others it ends up being a wasted cost.

[wdwfansince75]

Virtually all of our trips have been with one or more children under 8. I understand the issue of budgeting, and always leave the decision of which tickets to get to the kids. They always choose PH's or the Stars and Stripes pass. The S&S is a length of stay pass that allows hopping, and use of the Water Parks, Disney Quest, ect. We just include the price of the tickets we choose in our budget planning....and we rarely stick totally to the budget.

Since we have the flexibility to hop, we hop. We have come to consider AK and the studios as part day parks. We do spend entire days at MK and EPCOT, but I believe that we typically only do one or two days per trip without hopping. I know we could do a non-hopping trip, and I know we would still enjoy the trip....but then we would have to plan it that way, and stick to the plan. The first is easy.....the second, ....well, we ain't done it yet!

Please understand; our kids and grandkids have been well behaved, and if we chose to do one park per day, they would do it, and enjoy it. But I have been married to this women for 44 years. She has followed me around the world, and lived most of her life on my schedule....based on my deployment cycle, my military orders, my proposal due dates, my conference schedules.....when we go to WDW, we adjust to her schedule.....Well, some of us do go to the parks first thing in the morning, and meet her for breakfast. ....she does let me make a few ADR's, but hopping allows her to believe that our days aren't planned.

[mdhiggin]

With kids that young and if you don't go much, just see what you like. If you feel you need a PH after a day without, have your tickets upgraded. I think you can do that at your hotel. Your kids may get too tired for a long PH day.

If you don't get the tickets quite right on this trip, try, try again. I believe most of the people on this site go frequently, and if you're like us, you'll be going back. I go a lot and am still learning new tips and tricks that I never knew before about WDW. Just enjoy your visit. It's magical with or without the park hopper.

[Disney Doll]

We never park hop. We used to have park hopper tickets back before it was an extra option and even then we never used it. To me there is enough to see and do in each park to warrant a whole day and I don't like all the back and forth. When we go to parks that close early we take advantage of that down time and plan a nice meal or relax by the pool. I could not spend all day at the parks for more than a day or two. I even schedule MK and EPCOT at least a day apart because we consider those long days. Everyone has their opinion and different plans work for different families. The good part about it is that you can add the park hopper option once you get there if you decide you want to hop.

[disneymom2000]

I couldn't do without my park hoppers. Sometimes I don't use them but when I haven't counted on needing them, I do and they are available. Always be prepared. You are already paying alot for your vacation, a little more for security is not a lot of extra.

[Jeff G]

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

Having a hopper will really depend on how you plan to spend your days, where you plan to dine and the number of days you'll spend at WDW.

We have always purchased the hopper with the past trips but while playing with the numbers I realized I could save $250 on the next trip by not purchasing the hopper and we opted to save the money.

My decision was based that we will be spending eight days at WDW. We don't need to be in a park all day every day so we split our days up. Our plans have us dining at Epcot twice, MGM once, MK once and the rest at resorts. I was able to plan the three park meals into the days we have planned at those particular parks. An example plan for us is on Sunday we are going to Epcot early to explore future world and with an early dinner at LeCellier before heading back to the resort for a swim. On Wednesday we are sleeping in before going back to Epcot in the afternoon/evening for lunch at Biergarten and a tour of World Showcase. This allows us two days to explore Epcot without hopping and allowing the kids ample rest time (our kids are 12, 9, 3 & 1).

There is also a lot to do at WDW outside of the parks. On Tuesday we will be visiting AK for the day. We plan to arrive at opening and we should be finished there around 4:00. We're then heading back to the room to get freshened up before dinner at Hoop De Doo that evening.

Here is an example of our week:
Saturday - Arrive to Orlando around noon. Head over to MK for the evening.
Sunday -Epcot for the morning and afternoon. Swim at the resort in the evening.
Monday - MK for the morning and early afternoon. Back to the resort for a swim and then go to Downtown Disney.
Tuesday - AK in the day and then Hoop Dee Doo for dinner.
Wednesday - Sleep in. Epcot for the afternoon and Illuminations at night.
Thursday - Spend the day at MGM and catch Fantasmic!!.
Friday - Chef Mickey's late morning and MNSSHP in the evening.
Saturday - Back to MGM to finish up a few rides or shows we missed(probably the only day a hopper would be nice). Dinner at 'Ohana catching the fireworks and water parade from the beach.

With this plan we'll be to MK three times(my kids favorite), Epcot twice, MGM twice and AK one full day. THis will allow us to see everything we wat at the parks while also allowing us plenty of time to see the rest of the World.

Having the little ones has changed how we travel. We always make it a priority to be at the parks when they open. The trick is leaving a park for the afternoon and then going to another park in the evening wears them down so tend to avoid that.

The length of our trip allows us to see plenty at the parks without hopping. If our trip was only for 5 days then the hopper would be a necessity.

Bottom line is it will boil down to your preferences and how you would like to spend the days.

[avantgardeinker]

Although we try not to hop too much because of the time it takes out of the park time, we always get hoppers. Since AK closes so early, we still have time to head to another park that's open longer. We also like to eat a lot in EPCOT, so sometimes we need to hop there for dinner.

[johnO]

Of coarse you can go without it but we seem to hop a few times every trip. AK closes early so usually we'll head out to another park on that day. Also we always hop the last couple of days to catch what we may have missed here or there or hit something again.

[joonyer]

We have used hoppers on every trip since our first trip using the old "ultimate" park hoppers passes. For us they are absolutley worth it. Hopping allows us so much flexibility and the ability to adapt our trip plans "on-the-fly". We also like to visit one park in the mornings and another for the evenings after an afternoon swim or water park break. I don't think we'd know how to do Disney World without park hopping. As far as the cost, well, I figure that once we have committed to the expense of a WDW vacation, the extra cost of the hopper option is really insignificant for the benefits and options it gives us.

[Pipalotta]

You dont need them but they are absolutely invaluable. I had been before and had park hoppers on my ticket and rarely used it. This last trip I was in charge of planning and did alot of research. Atleast one night we wanted to watch the Spectro Magic Parade, and since this is only done a few times a week, it often brings lots of crowds to Magic Kingdom during that day. So we went to a park that had almost no crowds and hopped back over to MK a few hours before Spectro and got an awesome seat. On our last full day we hopped from MK, to DHS and finished up with Epcot. It was very helpful for us because there were some nights when we wanted to see the night time shows but we just didnt have the energy, so instead of messing up our day time park we would just hop over to the park that we wanted at night.