6 day base ticket or 5 day park hopper

[Scragtail]

Hoping for some help here - staying 7 nights at Disney. Can't decide whether to get a 6 day base ticket or 5 day park hopper. We always got the park hopper in the past, but the base ticket is almost $100 cheaper and you do get an extra day. Trying to cut costs where I can, but don't know if it is worth not being able to go to a different park in the same day.

 

[Tigerlulu]

How many people and ages? Probably makes a difference. When my kids were little we were one park a day peeps. Now we are all over the place and hoppers are the best.

 

[Scragtail]

Two seniors - that probably does make a difference.

 

[mousehouse23]

I agree with Tigerlulu. I also think it depends on your routine. If you're someone who's there when the park opens, I think you'd appreciate having Park Hoppers. It's difficult to stay at one park an entire day without getting exhausted.

We typically open one park, go back to our resort for a midday break, then head to another park around suppertime. Sure, you could go back to the same park you visited earlier, but most people appreciate the flexibility and variety.

You could also stick a relaxing resort day in the middle of your vacation. Going six days in a row is actually quite wearing. You might want to visit Disney Springs, too, which has wonderful restaurants, bars and entertainment.

I hope you have a wonderful trip, whatever you decide!

 

[glocon]

I think a hopper so there is more flexibility in your days, and a resort day or two. The resorts are all so great, may as well enjoy those too! Try the dining options, sit by the pool with a snack and an adult beverage...

 

[subtchr]

What time of year?

If it's between mid-August and third week in December, stick with the park hoppers. This is because there are holiday parties at MK several nights per week. This affects the crowd levels at MK significantly. To be able to stay after 6:00, without a park hopper, you would have to go on a non-party day, which are significantly more crowded. With a hopper ticket, you could enjoy MK on a party day, with lower crowds, and hopper over one night to see fireworks.

 

[mckennarose]

We have done trips with base tickets and hoppers. For us, it depends on what we are looking to do and how much flexibility we would need to do it.

For example, on our trip last May we got hoppers because FOP was a priority for us, we had two dessert parties at two different parks during that week and we had a newbie with us who wanted to see as much as they could including night time shows. We needed more flexibility to fit everything in.

Last September just DH and I, we got base tickets and MNSSHP tickets. We didn't need the extra flexibility and saved some money. We also go frequently enough that we don't feel the need to cram everything in. Getting the MNSSHP replaced adding another day ticket since the parties are good for 6-8 park hours. I would never waste a park ticket day on a party day if I was attending the party.

Which ever type of ticket we get, we always take an afternoon break.

 

[chelseabun76]

I agree about park hoppers during Christmas/Halloween party times. We absolutely used ours for that reason... there were only 2 non-party days our whole 9 day trip in November, so we were park hopping quite a bit actually.

 

[wdw&sonny]

You say "We always got the park hopper in the past,". How often do you go? if you go each year, the Annual Pass is likely the best buy.

 

[garris3404]

We like the flexibility of the hoppers.

 

[sharonabe]

We always got the park hopper in the past, but the base ticket is almost $100 cheaper and you do get an extra day. Trying to cut costs where I can

It sounds like you go fairly often. I'd switch it up and do just the base ticket just to see if I like touring that way. You never know. You may find you like it better this way, but you'll never know if you don't try.

 

[Disneypro1]

6 day base. Anytime. Park hopper is a waste. You’ll get more done and see more doing 1 park per day.

 

[dakotix]

Personally we never go without hoppers. We need the freedom to go where we want.

 

[Darcy03231]

For that length of stay I would get the base tickets. We only get the hoppers when we do a short trip (2-3 days). There's plenty to see/do in one park per day.

If you think you really need the hoppers when you're there you can always add them on.

 

[Erzengel]

We have several no expiration park hopper passes on our accounts. The last time we were there, the first day we stayed at MK from 10ish to close. Next day Epcot 10ish to close. Day after that Hollywood Studios until 5 then to Animal Kingdom for an after hours event at Animal Kingdom. It didn't make sense to use our expiration day passes so we just bought 3 base passes as we didn't see ourselves park hopping. Personally, I think park hopping really benefited when we could finish HS or AK by afternoon, and then finish it off in Epcot & MK that was open until 11PM or later. Now that there more attractions, shows at and coming to both those parks, I'm wondering when we do finish our passes, if we ever will get a park hopper again.

 

[goofyintoronto]

If you take a midday break, I would find it difficult to return to the same park you were at earlier in the day. I personally would want to hit a different park after my resort break. You see more things/get more done that way, or so it seems. Just my two cents.

 

[a742246]

I would do the park hopper and do a relaxing day in the middle.

 

[toasterstrudel]

We never use the hopper tickets. We are not middle of the day break people and hopping for us seems to be too much hassle. We stick with one park per day and use lunch reservations and indoor attractions to get a bit of a break from the heat. We DO schedule a full break day into our week, as well as usually 1 day at a waterpark to make sure we get to sleep a bit some too

 

[StormyCA]

We're seniors, too. We opted for the 6 day base vs the 5 day hop. It was significantly cheaper and we're staying 9 days anyway so have some 'down time' built in. Our plan (same as last time) is 2 days at MK and one day each at the other 3 parks, but this year with an 'extra day' just in case. We had 5 day hops last trip and hopped ONCE, to go to Epcot at night to see Illuminations. This time we chose to save the money and figure we'll use the extra day to revisit a park on one of our down days if we feel we missed something. If we end up not using the 6th day, it only costs us $22.00. Not hopping will cost us $160.00.

 

[Robo]

We like to hop.
But, we COULD stay in one park, if we chose to do so.