Park Hoppers vs one day one park

[homeschool mom]

We have always purchased the park hopper option for our past trips. We are considering not doing it for our trip in Dec. Can you give me any input on your feelings of going from a park hopper family to not being able to park hop. I think the limited hours in the parks during Dec. make it a pricey option that may not be necessary.
Thoughts?

[faline]

Although we often visit only one park on one day, we are just as likely to visit 2 or 3 parks in a single day. If we find one park is too crowded or if we want to dine in a different park than we've spent the day in, we have that option.

One option you have is to try it out without the park hopping option - you can always add the option a day or two into your trip but keep in mind that the cost will be the same whether you add it beforehand or in the midst of your trip.

[idreamofdisney]

it is much easier with the park hopper. I really had to plan when we just did the base tickets. We had to make sure we were in the park in the morning if we planned on eating there in the evening or whenever. We love the restaurants in Epcot but couldn't go to all we wanted because we were at another park on that particular day. In addition we watched the Extra Magic Hours to get the most out of the day. If you need to save the money just plan your days carefully. We did it one year but have just found it is worth the extra money for the convenience.

[disneymom15]

I agree with Faline. There are days that we don't hop, but more often than not, we hop. Given the fact that the Magic Kingdom closes early for the Xmas party, we would for sure hop to other parks.

[ledudes]

We had actually planned to try the non-hopper for the first time on our upcoming September trip, but we changed our mind. I think it is possible if you plan ahead where you will eat and whn the shows/parades are that you want to see. I actually had our schedule worked out where the hopper wouldn't be needed. The only thing that made us change our mind is that we are staying at teh Beach Club. It is so close to Epcot and HS that is makes it convenient to pop back and forth to the pool or to anotehr park. Sometimes you may get tired of one park if it gets too crowded or if you want to go back to the hotel in between etc. so the hopper would be helpful. I do think it could be done though if you just plan well in advance. Ages of kids could also make a difference becasue hauling strollers from park to park can be time consuming also so this all comes into play.

[Tri Minnie]

On our trip this past December we did not park hop. Outside of one other trip, we had always had this option. I know we are likely in the minority, but we didn't really miss it.

I think we did not miss it for a few reasons. First, we were traveling with young children and had a rather laid back strategy. We were also fortunate to have been to WDW nine months prior and didn't feel we had to cram a lot into a day. I am also a planner, so scheduling the few reservations we had to fit into the park we were at for that day didn't feel stressful. On a related note, we only had four or so dining reservations and these were not all in the parks. Finally, we are early morning park people and often are too tired to head back to a different park at night.

So, I think whether you will miss the park hopper or not might really depend on some of these factors and probably some others I haven't thought about.

We would not hesitate to go without the hopper again. Have a fun trip.

[Imalismom]

We am going for 2 days in August and everyone has annuals passes EXCEPT DH. I was going to do the non park hopper also for him, but chickened out at the last second and ordered the park hopper tickets. I am just afraid that for the two days, everyone is going to want to get all four parks in, or at least 3 out of the four. Since you can always add it, you can try it out and see, and if worse came to worse, add it to the tickets.

[PETE FROM NYC]

We have been doing WDW since the good old days, when all tickets were non-expiring hoppers. The days before WDW thought of a new way to gouge guests.
Well, we always bought those old tickets well ahead of time to beat some of the price increases. In fact, our last trip in 2010 was the first time we had to purchase tickets in over ten years. We just bought base tickets. Looking back, I think we only park hopped once in all those years.
You know what? We did not miss not hopping.
IMHO, park hopping takes too much time. Time that can be used for the vaarious attractions.

[AgentC]

When you have gone with park hoppers, how much do you hop? If on most days, you stay the majority of the day in one park you may not mind.

For us we often either go back to the resort at some point during the day and may go back out to a different resort or may do EMH in the am and then switch to another park once it gets busy.

I also like the flexibility to go somewhere else if it feels too crowded, if we change our minds about what to do or if we want to eat at a different park.

[Aurora]

It's $57 (plus tax) per ticket to add the PH option, no matter how many days you use it. Don't buy it, and see if it makes sense for you once you're there. If you find you need it, as Faline said, you can always add it onto your ticket at any time. If you don't, you've saved the money.

[wickedgin]

I wouldn't buy it until you were sure you wanted it. We didn't buy hoppers for our winter break trip--with the idea that we'd buy 'em if we needed 'em, and we found that we didn't need nor miss them.

[homeschool mom]

Thank you all for the input. You have given me a lot to think about. Considering we may be able to save $400 we may opt out of the hoppers and add them if we need them. So much to think about!

[barnaby]

We have always purchased the park hopper option for our past trips. We are considering not doing it for our trip in Dec. Can you give me any input on your feelings of going from a park hopper family to not being able to park hop. I think the limited hours in the parks during Dec. make it a pricey option that may not be necessary.
Thoughts?

We are weighing the park hopper vs base for our upcoming trip in August as well. We normally get the PH and go to 2 parks a day. We typically get to the parks around 10AM, stay until around 4PM, short break and eat dinner at our resort then head to our 2nd park for evening EMHs. That is how we plan it out. It works good because we take our time in the morning and arrive later and we have gone when the the park are open late with EMHs.

We are going the last week in August and the park hours aren't as late as we normally see and there are only evening EMHs for 3 of the 6 nights, and they are until 12AM. For our past trips, we took advantage of some late evening EMHS until 3AM.
With the shorter park hours and lack of evening EMHs, I thought it would be a good idea to just go with the base tickets and not park hop. However, we'd have to change our touring strategy and be up earlier and open the parks. Since the parks close around 9PM for most nights, we'd be back in our hotel at a decent time to get a good night's rest. For our AK day, we'd be back before 6PM and could eat dinner then hit the pool or maybe head over to DTD.

I am leaning towards saving the $225 (4 ppl) and getting the base tickets. We'd hit one park a day. Get up early and eat breakfast in our room (driving down and bringing food). Head to the parks from basically open to close and eat lunch and dinner in the parks or nearby resort. I realize its still a long day with no breaks, but thankfully my wife and kids (11 and 17) are troopers. If it becomes an issue, we'd work a resort break in, then return to the parks.

[mdricks]

For me it’s always been an issue of how I plan on spending my days and who I will be with.

If you are travelling with small kids don’t hop. Hit a park, wear em out, go home (maybe go back after a rest for fireworks, fantasmic etc...)

The minute you hop on the bus with a 3-8 year old you end up at your next destination with a sleeping kid who is soon to be not sleeping and somewhat cranky.

Going all adult or with older kids? Look at a hopper. Nothing is better than a park shift when lines get tight or, if you’re like me, the mandatory evening at EPCOT for cocktails and a snack/dinner..... every night.

When I am on a family trip it is rare that we hop. When I’m on the boys golf outing three parks a day is normal.

[joonyer]

We like to park hop, but we usually go during a time of year when at least one park is open really late (at least midnight). If we didn't have that option of staying in a park really late, I would probably not spend the extra $$ for the park hopper. It might take a little more planning, less flexibility, but I don't think it would be that hard to get used to.

[TIGGER17179]

With the park hopper you could, if staying on grounds take advantage of the Extra Magic hours at another park.

[Wolf]

We've never not park hopped but I think we always would because if nothing else we could eat in Epcot and spend the whole day in MK, I've never really looked into how much it would save but for us the freedom is worth it.