Park Hopper vs. Max Pass

[Plip]

The upgrade from 1-Park to Park Hopper is roughly the same cost, give or take a few dollars, as Max Pass, depending on how may days your ticket is for. If you had to choose one or the other, which would it be?

I read some advice a while ago that seemed to say that getting Park Hopper was definitely something you wanted to do, but Max Pass, while nice, was more of a luxury. That, of course, was just that person's point of view, but I see it just the opposite -- at least for the way we approach the parks. Max Pass is a tool I can use to get more out of the vacation than I can by trekking back and forth to the Fast Pass kiosks (or by limiting our use of Fast Passes). Park Hoppers, at least for us, are nice, but we tend to stay in one park for most of the day anyway, and some days never hop parks. So without Park Hopper, we might need to be a little more careful about how we organize our days, but over the course of a week, we're going to do pretty much going to do and see all the same stuff anyway.

Obviously, there's no right answer (and I think most of us are just going to get both anyway), and it's going to depend on things like your style (driven vs laid back), how long you're there, what kinds of rides you prefer, and maybe even the time of year you're there.

 

[Mac2008]

"For the way that we approach the parks" is key. For me and my family, we want to optimize the riding and minimize the standing in line. We're not foodies or big shoppers. It's about the rides. So for our money, this is how we do it:

1. Always stay on property. This is so we can get an extra hour every morning.
2. Always get a park hopper. This is so we can get GG, RSR, and Incredicoaster first thing on early DCA days, then hop over to DL to do those rides
3. Always get Max Pass, so we can schedule rides at either park throughout the day.

I realize there is a premium price attached to this, but for what we value most, this gives us the ability to get the most out of our time.

In my opinion, if I wasn't staying on property, I'd skip park hopper and do Max Pass, again because I think it would allow us to get the most riding done.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I think it also depends on how many days you are visiting, how familiar you are with the parks, and like you said, your own personal touring strategy.

I’d say, while Maxpass isn’t essential, not having it is a huge disadvantage. I was with friends who decided not to add it to their APs and I know they ended up waiting in long standby lines, as they weren’t able to easily grab FPs from across the park.

Park hoppers would be better for a very short trip where you need to make sure to experience as much as possible, so you can hop back and forth to visit the things you missed or want to revisit.

 

[avalon451]

Agree with you, there. We just came back last Sunday from 5 days. If I'd needed to, I could have easily planned to just stay in one park every day. But I couldn't have done without Maxpass. Also, even though we didn't do a ton of photopass stuff, that alone was an awesome side benefit. I'm pretty sure we got our family Christmas card picture.

 

[DLgal]

Maxpass > Park Hopping

 

[nutshell]

If you can only choose one, choose MaxPass.

 

[PaladinButters]

Booked our upcoming trip with max pass assuming that it’s mostly AP holders at the parks (It is the locals park after all) and that they would all have the max pass because of it (pretty cheap to add to a pass compared to one or a few days).

Now, I have no idea if that’s true and Disney will never say how popular it really is but the idea of being at that much of a disadvantage for fp selection made the cost a lot easier to deal with. If we could go more often it wouldn’t be a big deal but for infrequent trips the disadvantage is not a risk I’m willing to take.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Both for us.
Being in CA and not being able to walk into Walts park wold be torture LOL!
And MP saves us about 2 miles of walking a day.

 

[bardays]

Our last trip we skipped the hopper and bought max pass. Didn't really miss hopping
I will never not buy max pass again. Saves my feet!

 

[Princess351]

I had this same dilemma the last trip I took. It was a 'budget' trip, so it was an "either/or" decision for Hopping or Max Pass. I chose Max Pass. (It worked out well for me, I didn't miss hopping and I had the nice bonus of having the free Photopass pictures included w/ the Max Pass.)

 

[hyperminimalism]

It also depends on where you're getting your tickets from. If you're not seeking out the lowest price through a legitimate seller (GetAwayToday, Undercover Tourist, LMTC--though they're not selling tickets ATM) then you're selling yourself short. If you are getting your tickets through Disney, I would highly, highly consider searching elsewhere. You could be saving a lot more money than you think, which could grant you the option to do both MP and Park Hopper tickets.

But here's my advice depending on how many days you're doing:

1) If you will be visiting multiple days, I'd say opt for the park hoppers and just use the FastPass paper ticket option. You don't get the exact same benefits as MP, but it is still free and you do not have to wait in standby lines. You're still going through the same line as the people paying for MP, but you do get to pick up some dropped FastPasses a lot easier than you would if you had only gone with the free paper FastPass. Because you'll be staying multiple days, it sounds like, I would honestly just go for the park hopper tickets. You'll have absolutely plenty of time to do everything you want and then some with the FastPass ticket system, you'll just have to go and get your own tickets instead of doing it on the mobile app, and you won't be paying a cent more.

2) If you were staying a shorter time, I'd say go for the MaxPass option and only visit one park. Usually I'd say this only if you were staying 1-2 days. Staying 3+ days grants you more than enough time to get everything you want done, so the logic for me would be why the heck would you shell out $15 extra dollars a day per person just to get you on more of the same rides multiple times? Wouldn't it be more logical to open up your vacation to another entirely different park with great e-ticket rides?

3) Perhaps another consideration is to use free FP paper tickets the first 2 or so days and use MaxPass the rest of the time. This will also save money, and grant you the ability to utilize the tool during your visit.

That's just me, though. We tend to go 4-5 days at a time only using about 2-3 days worth of MaxPass so we're not using it every day we're there. We can always still get paper FPs, which is not as much of a struggle as some people make it out to be, especially if you're able-bodied. The kiosks are easy to use and grant relatively reasonable return times. There's only a couple of rides you need to get paper FPs for before they run out for the day, but that is easy, especially if you do those rides earlier in the day.

 

[tarheelalum]

Park hoppers. Max pass makes your stay much more efficient but hoppers make your day.

 

[TinkerTay]

Personally, I would probably choose hoppers if I could only have one. The regular FASTPASS system is still there, and that worked just fine for many years. We’re just ones that like to go back and forth, usually several times a day. There are usually things in both parks that we like to do every day, but we also stay at GCH where the DCA entrance/exit is one of the main reasons we do so. MaxPass is something that you can always add if you think you need/want it, or even just a day or 2 of your trip. We’re going in November and plan to use both, but the first afternoon it’ll be more leisurely, (without MaxPass) as we won’t get to the parks until around 2 or 3 pm. MaxPass is 100% worth the cost, even though it’s gone up in price since we last used it. I guess it all just depends on what someone likes to prioritize, and how long they have to spend in the parks to decide what it’s all worth to them...

 

[StarlitNight05]

I LOVE having both. That being said, if I had to choose I'd pick hoppers over maxpass. I was the FP runner before maxpass so I'm used to running around like a mad woman, and know where all the FP machines are. Our style of touring would be less commando than it is with maxpass, but I'd much rather have the flexibility of hopping. You never know when one park will be much busier than the other.

 

[disneycat321]

Ideally I'd want both, but if I had to choose, I'd choose MP. I will say that we've never actually had MP - our last trip was spring 2017 and it didn't exist yet. We've used the paper FPs extensively for years, though, and MP just seems like a glorious improvement to me. We'll find out for sure on our first MP trip (with park hoppers, incidentally) in 2 weeks! We've had a couple 1 park per day trips that were excellent, so I know we don't need to park hop to be happy. Of course, this probably varies depending on the preferences of your group. We're an adult couple with no kids, so the commando rides style MP offers really works for us.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

MaxPass. It’s not a huge deal to stay in one park and MaxPass is a lifesaver

 

[Chickinvic]

I would never go to DL without park hoppers. I go to both parks every day I go to the parks. So convenient being right across from each other (I never park hop at WDW). I would definitely get park hoppers. I think Max Pass could be a decision to make on a day by day basis whether you feel you need it.

 

[Chickinvic]

Booked our upcoming trip with max pass assuming that it’s mostly AP holders at the parks (It is the locals park after all) and that they would all have the max pass because of it (pretty cheap to add to a pass compared to one or a few days).

Now, I have no idea if that’s true and Disney will never say how popular it really is but the idea of being at that much of a disadvantage for fp selection made the cost a lot easier to deal with. If we could go more often it wouldn’t be a big deal but for infrequent trips the disadvantage is not a risk I’m willing to take.

I would imagine the fastpass disadvantage is nowhere near as bad as at WDW if you aren't staying at one of their resorts. All the good fast passes are booked before your 30 day window opens up. I'm looking forward to the DL system of actually having to be there to make the fastpass selections. I love DL for this (and other reasons). I hope they never move to the horrible fastpass system that WDW uses.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Booked our upcoming trip with max pass assuming that it’s mostly AP holders at the parks (It is the locals park after all) and that they would all have the max pass because of it (pretty cheap to add to a pass compared to one or a few days).

Now, I have no idea if that’s true and Disney will never say how popular it really is but the idea of being at that much of a disadvantage for fp selection made the cost a lot easier to deal with. If we could go more often it wouldn’t be a big deal but for infrequent trips the disadvantage is not a risk I’m willing to take.

I am confused. What disadvantage are you worried about? If you arrive at rope drop you can usually hit all FP rides with MaxPass, as long as you give some forethought to pulling them in a good order. I suppose this is less likely on a very busy day. Arriving late in the day also makes it less likely that you will be able to ride all you want.

 

[Chickinvic]

I am confused. What disadvantage are you worried about? If you arrive at rope drop you can usually hit all FP rides with MaxPass, as long as you give some forethought to pulling them in a good order. I suppose this is less likely on a very busy day. Arriving late in the day also makes it less likely that you will be able to ride all you want.

I don't see any disadvantage to worry about at DL. Honestly if you go in the morning you are fine. The whole "locals park" crowds usually don't arrive until later (after work). It ismuch crazier/crowded then I'll admit. I also don't think all the AP holders are madly using up fastpasses any more than other people.