Advice needed!

drelinski24

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Surprising my family with a trip to Disney starting 05/29.

I’m Planning on staying at All-Star movie resort. I have two options for the trip and want some advice about which one would be a better option.
We have been to Disney World three times in the past year, so we are not too worried about grinding out as much as possible.

The prices of the two options are practically the same as well!

Option 1: Arrive on 05/29 and depart 06/02. Three park days with park hopper with a relaxation day built in. Price approx. $2,000

OR

Option 2: Arrive on 05/29 and depart 06/03. Four park days with no park hopper with a relaxation day. Price approx. $2,200

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice?
 
So, 3 park days with hoppers vs 4 park days without hoppers.

Not really sure anyone will be able to answer that one for you as it’s pretty personal to your touring style. I guess I tend to prefer more park days than less, so I’d probably lean that way. With 3 days, you might run out of time to truly use the hoppers.
 


You've been to WDW three times already this year, and you're coming back... It seems like buying into the Disney Vacation Club and getting Annual Passes would suit you and save some money if you're willing to plan ahead.

Otherwise, Option 2 because $200 for an extra day is worth it.
 
You will find many different thoughts here........and probably still can't decide...lol

For me, I normally do hopper but, my last trip we didn't...... we did 4 days/4 parks...…..and I actually liked it. No wasting time changing parks.
But, for short trips, I don't have a relaxation day. A couple of the parks are not full days for us so, we will head over to Disney Springs, or go back & swim. That is our relaxation.
 
I would do 4 park days and no hopper. We're more inclined these days to relax or go to Disney Springs instead of hopping to another park. We would consider hopping to Epcot just for dinner since we like the restaurants there better than the ones in the other parks.
 


I personally would go with more park days. We have done trips where it was close to the same price to add several park and hotel days vs getting hoppers. In our case I preferred a slower paced 8 park day trip than trying to cram everything in a few days (especially when the kids were young). We did not even plan a resort day because if we got tired it was not a big deal to leave the parks a bit early with the extra days we had.

If you are planning one day at each park I would really look at the 4 Park Magic Ticket because it would save you about $75 per ticket over standard base tickets.
 
I would choose the 4 day, no hoppers. I think that gives you a little more time to relax and enjoy each park instead of trying to squeeze things in in 3 days. For $200 extra, I think it's worth it.
 
Is the extra $200 from the ticket price difference or from the hotel cost of an extra day? If it's the hotel cost, I might be inclined to do 4 day hoppers and no relaxation day built in. That way, you can easily target what you want to do at each park, and return to the resort for down time. Since you've been before and aren't concerned with doing "everything," there might easily be parks that you only want to really spend a few hours in. If you have the hoppers for 4 days, you don't have to feel like you need to stay in the parks all day to wring every ounce of value out of them. Go back to the resort for some relaxation, and then maybe head to a different park for the nighttime show or because you pulled a great same-day FP.

But I also agree with @Carol_ that if you're going to Disney 4 times in a year, an AP makes more sense than buying new tickets every time. The first few days of a trip are the most expensive. Assuming you bought park tickets for each of your previous three stays, you've probably already paid more than if you'd purchased an AP at the start.
 
I would do 4 day without park hopper. 200$ more for another day is minimal considering the amount of people in your party. There is always something else to do in the parks, whether it be watching a new show or riding the same ride again. The 4 days will make you feel more relaxed and less pressure to do a lot, even though you will end up doing more. My family and I went in October, we left MK on our first day at like 5PM which is one thing that I regret. At the time we said we did everything, but we did not do Tiki Room, Country Bear, Splash Mountain, COP, and more. Do the 4 days and with the extra time do some things you would not normally do. (I suggest if you have kids to do Sorcerers of the MK just for the cards, do not play the game unless you want to but they are fun souviners!)
 
Getting a hopper might be worth it depending on how much you are going to try to get on ROTR, if they are still doing boarding groups. If you don't manage to get a boarding pass on your Studio day, on one (or all) of the other days, you can swipe in at HS, try to get a boarding group again, and hop to the park you were planning on going to and hop back when your group is called...otherwise you get one chance to ride, or you give up two days for HS. My family are Star Wars fans so that would factor into our decision.
 
More park days. Hopping isn’t worth it during a short trip.
Funny how different people can perceive the same scenario. I feel like hoppers are more valuable on a short trip so you can skip from one favorite to another. There are things I want to do in every park, but not every park has an equal number of things I want to do.

On a long trip, it’s not as important to prioritize my attractions. If I have a long trip, I can find secondary things to amuse myself or go back for a swim when I feel I’m done with a particular park. There’s no regret that I am missing out on the chance to do something else at another park because I know I’ll be going to that park the next day. Without hoppers, I might have to skip a park entirely on a short trip.
 

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