To hop or not to hop?

[csdavis]

We are heading down on Friday. We have always done hoppers but this year we are trying to cut back wherever we can. Will we be sorry if we do not do the hopper option? Has anyone ever not done hoppers?

[caryrae]

We have never done the hoppers and it works for us. We can find enough to do at one Park for the day but you will probably get mixed answers. Hard to know since everyone is different and does things different ways. We like to just take our time going through the Parks and see what we can since we never know for sure when or depending even if we will make it back. I think we have hopped only once and that was when all tickets you could hop with.

[wdwnutz]

We have done hoppers one time and have never done it again. Just way too much running around. We have no problem finding enough things in one park per day to do. Just arrange your days so that your ADR's, shows, parades and extra magic hours accomodate the time you will be spending in each park every day. This makes your trip so much less stressful than running all over the "world". Our trip in November was very busy, but we found time a few days to actually head back to the resort in the afternoon to use the pool, freshen up, head out to dinner and back to the park.

[olivegirl]

We do not do hoppers. If you plan it out right you can make the most from each park on that day. We make sure we correspond EMH with a certain park.

[JohnnyNovo]

This time of year, the hoppers would help with the crowds. If a park is or gets too crowded for your comfort, you can head to a less crowded one. MK is usually the one that gets the most crowded. If it does, you could just hop on the monorail over to EPCOT and possibly come back for EMH.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Lots of folks like to hop and that's fine.
2) As others above, we find enough at one park.
3) Besides, it costs 1 to 1½ hrs to hop.
4) That is a lot of idle/wasted time.

NOTE: Additionally, for the cost of all of us to add the hopper option, that is a lot of food or souvenirs.

[d_m_n_n]

We added the hopper option (+waterparks etc.) to our tickets thinking we might use them now that the boys are older and can last longer through the day...we didn't. I'm not worried as we bought 10 days with no expiration...we'll use them eventually. This is the first time we had the option since going in 2000. In our trips since then, we haven't missed them at all! If you need to keep the prices in check, skipping the hopper option is an easy way to do it!

[Gator]

My first two trips, my wife and I used hoppers quite a bit. I was a lot of fun going all over the place. But the last two trips we didn't use them. We have kids now, and piling all that stuff into a bus more than necessary seems like a bad idea. And I enjoy it. I just go to a park and stick around all day. It seems a little more relaxing this way, though not as much fun. But that's OK. I'd give it a try.

[mom2morgan]

My experience - we have never actually changed parks during the day. Our trips have always been early December - manageable crowds, but short operating hours. Therefore, not a lot of time or need for hopping. HOWEVER, we've always ended up with the park hoppers anyway - the main reason we got them is that we eat in Epcot 2 or 3 times throughout our stay. So the theory was we may do all of one park, then head to Epcot just for dinner.(However, we ended up not needing them for that because we spent 4 days off site going to Universal, Seaworld, and Discovery Cove and just did Epcot dinners on those days!) And my teenage daughter enjoyed herself spending a whole day hopping to SHOP in different parks (an idea that seems just...crazy!...to mom ;-) All that said, I think I could forego hoppers to save money and just plan my dining differently. But if I went during a season with much longer park hours I might use them more.

[JPL]

For me hopping is essential since I like to get the most out of my time. I will often hit a Morning EMH and then go to another park later in the day. I will also spend my day in one park and then hop to a park with evening EMHs to finish out my day. I plan my hopping around park hours all the time. As stated it does take some time to hop but I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much done on my recent trip without hopping.

The perfect example of this plan is AK. The park usually closes alot early than the other 3 parks so I can stay there until about 4:30-5:00 and then head to another park and get at least 3-4 more hours in a park even with the commute time to the other park

[Genie1953]

We hopped all over the place on our last trip and plan to do the same on our upcoming trip, however it is just my husband and I. If we had our kids (all grown now) with us we might think differently as it would be alot harder to hop from park to park with kids in tow.

[gauvin4]

We have never hopped. As a prevoius poster said, it wastes alot of time to hop. I would rather spend the extra money somewhere else. Just my .

[CleveRocks]

The good news is that you don't need to decide this in advance!

At ANY time during your vacation, you can add the park hopper to your ticket for $52 + tax, the exact same price it costs to add it when you buy/book the original ticket.

In other words, if you feel the itch to hop, just go and hop! Pay for the upgrade at any theme park ticket window. You can also do it at the water parks, the Transportation & Ticket Center ticket windows, the Downtown Disney guest relations centers, and your Disney resort's Lobby Concierge desk.

[bxrluv]

This past Feb is the first time we didn't hop and we did just fine. Good point about busier times though, needing to just duck out to another park.

[#1donaldfan]

.....we have never NOT hopped...it's too much comfort to know if you get bored you can move to another park...I'm sure we can find enough to do at one location, just never thought about it till now....that's $ 52 X 5 = a lot of money ....uhmmmm....now you got me thinking that $ 260ish could feed my brood a few dolewhips n fish n chips....???

[bruin1344]

the main reason we got them is that we eat in Epcot 2 or 3 times throughout our stay. So the theory was we may do all of one park, then head to Epcot just for dinner.

Same here. I need park hopper because I eat most of meals at World Showcase. Also, I like to split the park visits into 2 a day. MK is the only one I could spend a whole day at. I cant picture spending a whole day at DHS, AK, or possibly Epcot.

[Ms. Mode]

We purchased hopper tickets our first trip and never used them, the second trip we didn't purchase them and wished we had, the third trip we purchased hoppers and used them every day. Our upcoming trip we purchased hoppers and plan to use them, but after this trip we will probably rethink the hopper option. Right now our teenage daughter calls the shots

[Mr_Increddieble]

When we book our trips (usually in May) we have a morning park scheduled and an evening park scheduled. We always have afternoon pool time mixed in. It sure is nice (for about $6.40 per day/per person) to have ultimate flexibility.
Truthfully, though, I've never thought of not getting it. I thought my trip was completely complete. Now I've got something else to consider - an ultimate planning challenge.
DOLEWHIPS FOR EVERYBODY!

[wdwfansince75]

Park Hoppers are our friends.....
They let us leave crowded parks or parks that have un-chaperoned youth groups;
and they let us make ADR's before we decide which parks, which days;
and they let us take breaks, without need for reboarding buses;
and they let us be spontaneous (throw away our touring plan);
And they allow us to work around shutdowns of Must Do's (Especially useful for early years of Test Track)

We always get hoppers, but we usually stay at the CR or SoG, convenient to the Monorail and MK. We usually go during the summer, and we invariably use the hoppers to do one park until we decide to take a break. We usually eat in EPCOT or at a monorail, Resort, and head to MK for the evening...most days, but not every day. We just like the flexibility...
Last trip, with TSMM open, I was at DHS for Rope Drop on three different days...While the rest of the family joined me one day, and we stayed at DHS until about supper time, the other two days, I did TSMM, and then, headed to MK (bus to TTC, monorail to park) or to EPCOT, by boat, to meet some of the family at R&C for lunch.
We rarely tour the parks as a single group, but we usually either rendezvous on purpose, or by chance, for meals, and certain attractions, such as POTC, CoP, and TTA....PH's allows each family group to do their own thing....Those who love AK more than EPCOT can spend extra time there, while the EPCOTnutz spend extra time waiting for Soaring or Test Track...or just strolling WS....And if some of the family decided to head back to the resort, other members could make a quick trip to DHS for just one more ride on RnRC, or to EPCOT, to find that shirt that they couldn't find at any of the other stores.....Or to MK, for Splash, during Wishes, or to see if the line was shorter for Space Mtn.....Ah, for the days when you could do Space M back to back to back....
After all, we are on vacation...we relax and enjoy!

[disneyworld55925592]

I think either way works. If you don't hop just plan it around extra magic hours. For example if you do AK during the day try to make it on a day where there are AK extra magic hours at night because normally the park closes at 5 so you would have nothing to do. You can always go to Downtown Disney at night! I'd go for it to save!