To add Parkhopper or not add parkhopper...

sking5844 · May 22, 2018

That is the question. Little background on our situation. We are going for the week of 12/9-12/15 and have a 5 day base ticket right now. We have kids aged 1.5 and 4 and will be staying at the Contemporary resort. We are torn on doing the park hopper for the fact we keep hearing that with kids our age, basically HS and AK are basically half day parks. If that holds true we figure we could go back for an afternoon break and walk over to MK after everyone takes a rest. The only problem with that is that the MVMCP is going on 3 nights of the week. We are attending one of those parties, so really it only impacts Thursday and Friday of our stay. Here is our park schedule right now and all with planned midday breaks for the kids for around 2 hrs (with maybe the exception of the short MK day):

Mon - AK
Tue - MK with long mid day break and heading back for party night
Wed - Epcot
Thu - MK (closes at 6, but we hear be out by 4 due to arriving Christmas partiers)
Fri - HS

The other factor is my inlaws are going with us and they have hinted around about going to dinner in Epcot one night by asking if we could still do dinner there one night even if we went to another park that day. The answer per my research is that it we cannot do that and I want them to be able to go out one night on their own if they want because they are letting my wife and I do that.

Bottom line, what are people's thoughts on adding it in my family's situation?

Thanks everyone ahead of time for your feedback. We are going to be first time visitors to the parks and it has been a lot to think about from a planning perspective.

JerseyJanice · May 22, 2018

You totally do not need park hopping. Plus it’s much easier to plan your trip without them.

I am here now with a group of AP holders. I purchased hoppers so I could be with them wherever they wanted to go. However, in five days of parks so far, and I hopped one time.

If the weather had been better, I probably would have gotten more use from the hopping. But at this point, the $75 more for my ticket to hop was not worth it.

Delirium · May 22, 2018

I think a lot of it has to do with how late you are willing to keep your kids out at night. If your plan is to be back to the resort by 8 o'clock, then no. If you envision being able to stay out to 10 o'clock at night for those days when you want to hop to Epcot or MK, then you might want to take the plunge.

We hop, always have,even when the kids were young. Can't imagine not having them. But, we are shut the park down kind of people. If you're not, then they do lose some value.

EdmondD · May 22, 2018

Well firstly, I'd disagree that AK is a half-day park for you. Between the safari, two shows, the new (kind of) bird show, taking the train to Conservation Station and doing the many things there, walks on the multiple trails AND significant time in my son's single favorite play area in the world, I think you could easily spend an entire day here.

Looking at your schedule it doesn't seem that park hopping is worth it. You may be aware that you can add park hopping at any time, even on the last day of your trip (now, you'll be charged for whatever the full cost of adding hopping would be to your five-day ticket), so you can make it a game-time decision.

KenHutch · May 22, 2018

We have 4 trips under our belts already and a fifth in 10 days and we have never used park hoppers. And Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are not half day parks. In Hollywood Studios case you can easily eat up most of a day just doing the various shows and with the ages of your little ones they will probably love the shows. With Animal Kingdom just talking them on the various animal walk area will eat up several hours. In my families case we dedicate at least 2 day per park (and usually a 3rd at MK) and many times we find that we did not get everything done which of course necessitates another trip.

ENJDisneyFan · May 22, 2018

sking5844 said:
The other factor is my inlaws are going with us and they have hinted around about going to dinner in Epcot one night by asking if we could still do dinner there one night even if we went to another park that day. The answer per my research is that it we cannot do that and I want them to be able to go out one night on their own if they want because they are letting my wife and I do that.

For a first time visit I would not add park hoppers. You can easily spend a full day at each of the parks. To answer your question above, you would need the PH in order to visit Epcot for dinner, if you had already visited another park that day. However, IMO it would not be worth adding PH solely for that purpose. They could either eat at Epcot on the day you visit there, or eat at one of the many great resort restaurants instead.

SanderMC · May 22, 2018

Well I totally disagree that for your children HS and AK are 1/2 day parks. I have a 5 year old and we took her for her first time at 2.5 years old. We always spend 2 days at AK and a full day at HS (well technically we do 2 days at HS but we repeat a lot on the 2nd day.

We've done 4 trips to Disney of the course of this past year for a total of somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8 weeks at Disney (all those park days being rope drop to park close). In all that time we have only park hopped once and that was to meet some family at a park (we have park hoppers as park of our annual passes). Keep in mind that it takes quite a bit of time to park hop. For a first time visitor I honestly don't think it's needed. If I was in your situation what I would do is start with the base tickets. If while you are there you decide you want to add the park hopper then add it. If while you're there your in-laws decide they want to go to Epcot for dinner you can add the hopper to their tickets only (although it doesn't seem worth it to me to add the hopper just to go to dinner; especially with all the good restaurants located in the hotels).

Stephy811 · May 22, 2018

I am a big fan of park hoppers for the very reason you are asking - we love doing dinner at Epcot regardless of which park we spend the first part of the day. However in your situation it may not be worth it. Two thoughts: one can you make your Epcot day the night you give the grandparents the night out? Two, maybe you could suggest a restaurant in the Epcot resort area...Yachtsman, il mulino, etc. they could still walk around the boardwalk area and possibly see fireworks from Epcot without needing the park ticket.

EdmondD · May 22, 2018

It seems like not having hoppers results in one fewer meal with the in-laws. Soooooo......

sking5844 · May 22, 2018

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Right now my wife and I have a date night in Epcot so, that kills my in-laws chance for one without Park Hopper. The feedback on the AK and HS parks is great because I have had some folks at work that have gone recently tell us they were a half day or little more parks for them with their kids. We aren't sure how our kids are going to handle being up super late either, so this could at least give the option for one set of adults to go out if the kids do indeed need to crash early in the evenings. The only nights we are going to try our best to force them to stay up is at the MVMCP. I think the 4 yr old can handle it most of the time, but the toddler might not. The other reason we were torn on this is for the short MK day we have, we could go into one of the other parks in the evening and then if for some reason we don't do a full day at another park there is the ability to just walk over to MK from the Contemporary for some night time fun. This actually has been our family's hardest disney planning decision since it would be a $600 expense and getting our money's worth could go either way when we are there.

motherof5 · May 22, 2018

sking5844 said:
That is the question. Little background on our situation. We are going for the week of 12/9-12/15 and have a 5 day base ticket right now. We have kids aged 1.5 and 4 and will be staying at the Contemporary resort. We are torn on doing the park hopper for the fact we keep hearing that with kids our age, basically HS and AK are basically half day parks. If that holds true we figure we could go back for an afternoon break and walk over to MK after everyone takes a rest. The only problem with that is that the MVMCP is going on 3 nights of the week. We are attending one of those parties, so really it only impacts Thursday and Friday of our stay. Here is our park schedule right now and all with planned midday breaks for the kids for around 2 hrs (with maybe the exception of the short MK day):

Mon - AK
Tue - MK with long mid day break and heading back for party night
Wed - Epcot
Thu - MK (closes at 6, but we hear be out by 4 due to arriving Christmas partiers)
Fri - HS

The other factor is my inlaws are going with us and they have hinted around about going to dinner in Epcot one night by asking if we could still do dinner there one night even if we went to another park that day. The answer per my research is that it we cannot do that and I want them to be able to go out one night on their own if they want because they are letting my wife and I do that.

Bottom line, what are people's thoughts on adding it in my family's situation?

Thanks everyone ahead of time for your feedback. We are going to be first time visitors to the parks and it has been a lot to think about from a planning perspective.

I never believed in park hopper and thought one park a day was enough. With that being said I got the AP this year and it was nice to change parks in the same day if one is crowded or you want to do a dinner at Epcot but don't want to be there all day. Depends on how your personal plans and cost factor.

sking5844 · May 22, 2018

EdmondD said:
It seems like not having hoppers results in one fewer meal with the in-laws. Soooooo......

LOL. I think it would result in one more because with park hopper we would have a night out and then they could have a night out. Having Park Hoppers would result in two meals without them versus one I think.

kshattuck · May 22, 2018

We have been during that same week with kids the same ages. We stopped doing park hoppers when our kids were these ages, just because we were going when it wasn't overly crowded, and we found we had an enjoyable trip when we'd make Rope Drop at whatever park, do that same park until we were tired and then head back to the hotel for a swim, to a different resort sometimes for dinner (we liked getting ADRs for Poly or Contemporary so we could watch the fireworks from there), sometimes we resort hopped to check out the action elsewhere, or went to Disney Springs. There was plenty to keep us busy and interested once we left the park.

As others have said, we have never found DHS or AK to be half-day parks -- such fun shows and "side" events to enjoy.

Hope you have a great trip!

NH-to-FL · May 22, 2018

sking5844 said:
This actually has been our family's hardest disney planning decision since it would be a $600 expense and getting our money's worth could go either way when we are there.

First I should be transparent and say I am a fan of park hoppers for guests staying at 'park walkable' resort. DW and I made many visits to the Boardwalk and found ourselves walking over to Epcot almost every day. Someday I would like to stay at the Contemporary for a few days for the same reason. If it were me I think I would be a bit crazy if I could see the MK and not be able to just go there whenever I wanted. But that's just me.

And I do feel you will find that at least the AK will be an all day park. Taking in the shows will use up almost a half day.

Also, I am curious, the $600 number you quote seems a bit high to me. From what I see, it is ~$80 per ticket for the 5 day hopper upgrade. Still a healthy expense for a family so I understand your quandary.

MickeyWaffles · May 22, 2018

I have a 1.5yo and 3yo. We always get hoppers but I debated not doing them this trip. As I was purchasing the tickets, changed my mind. Boy, am I glad I did. I did not think we would hop and we did 3 out of our 5
1/2 park days.

For us, the flexibility was so worth it. We were there last week and the we experienced the frequent rains people are talking about. We spent less time than planned at some parks and more at others due to weather. We will continue to do hoppers for the flexibility they offer to
change plans on the fly.

We usually rope drop because my kids are early risers then play anything after lunch by ear based on how they are doing.

GillianP1301 · May 22, 2018

i almost always suggest park hoppers, but in your specific situation I think you could totally get away without them. You have already narrowed it down to only 2 possible nights that you think you would use them. I personally don't feel DHS is a 1/2 day park, especially not after Toy Story Land opens, plus they have 2 great options for a nighttime show. That leaves Thursday, which would be a perfect hopping opportunity to EP for a dinner but only you can tell if the added cost is worth it for that one hop. That being said, hoppers in general give you a ton of flexibility and if you wanted to throw in another hop or two at the last minute, you would have that ability.

On the flip side of the argument, park hopping is one of those things you don't know you're missing until you try it the first time. In other words, you can go with your base tickets, have no plans to hop and have an amazing time.

StacyStrong · May 22, 2018

I personally WOULD add park hoppers.

With kids that young you might not be able to experience Epcot or other parks the way you want to. It might be nice for an adult to head out one night after bedtime while the other stays back with the kids.

You or your significant other can get into the showcase at night and experience some of the different things you missed. Especially with your resort being so close.

Beer Me · May 22, 2018

Hopper for life!

It makes planning meals and nighttime activities so much easier when you aren't locked down in one park per day.

sking5844 · May 22, 2018

NH-to-FL said:
First I should be transparent and say I am a fan of park hoppers for guests staying at 'park walkable' resort. DW and I made many visits to the Boardwalk and found ourselves walking over to Epcot almost every day. Someday I would like to stay at the Contemporary for a few days for the same reason. If it were me I think I would be a bit crazy if I could see the MK and not be able to just go there whenever I wanted. But that's just me.

And I do feel you will find that at least the AK will be an all day park. Taking in the shows will use up almost a half day.

Also, I am curious, the $600 number you quote seems a bit high to me. From what I see, it is ~$80 per ticket for the 5 day hopper upgrade. Still a healthy expense for a family so I understand your quandary.

I thought it was $25 dollars per day per ticket for a 5 day ticket. So $125x5=$625, is that not the right cost? I saw that on the allears.net table for 2018. If someone has another place that has more accurate pricing that would be awesome.

StacyStrong · May 22, 2018

sking5844 said:
I thought it was $25 dollars per day per ticket for a 5 day ticket. So $125x5=$625, is that not the right cost? I saw that on the allears.net table for 2018. If someone has another place that has more accurate pricing that would be awesome.

Nope. It's not per day if you have 5 day tickets. It's $80 total and includes all 5 days.

Per person.

To add Parkhopper or not add parkhopper...

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