To park hop or not to park hop...

[FabFive24]

We are planning our trip for mid June and still undecided on PH. It will me, my SO and our three kids, 12/14/6. Third trip for me and DD 12, first trip for the rest of the family. This gives me the title of decision maker since I have the "experience".

The PH offer flexibility and the ability to use morning EMH then hop to a less congested park. I am concerned about how much park time is lost in transportation though. With this being the first trip for some of our family, I wonder if I should just employ keep it simple strategies and use that $400 towards something else.

Thoughts?

 

[travelmomof3]

In my opinion I've never found PH to be "worth it". I'd much rather save that money towards something else than hustling between parks that day. Each park has so much to offer, definitely a day's worth, if not more.

That said, we did PH for our upcoming trip, first time ever. We just have two days to spend at the parks. We all agreed on MK and then half the family wanted HS and the other half Epcot. We decided to park hop between HS and Epcot on that one day. This is probably the only we will ever buy PH!

 

[SaintsManiac]

We usually leave a park, head back to the hotel, then go to another park.

 

[glocon]

We hopped last July and loved it. It is SO hot in the summer months, and nice to take a rest/pool break around noon then head to another park. I love it!
That being said, my son wants to sleep in this trip and hit the gym in the mornings, so gonna try not hitting parks til lunch-ish time . I’m not thrilled with that but it’s his trip too, so gonna try it this time. I feel like we’ll hit fewer rides, and that’s what we go for, but I guess we’ll just soak up ambiance...
I think you will have fun either way!

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Either way works. I prefer to stay at a park openish to close or take a mid-day break and go back to the same park at night to see the transformation from day to night.

 

[Disneypro1]

NEVER park hop. Waste of cash. You'll get more done doing one park per day. Yes, some folks like to leave and goto another..but it wastes time. There is a reason Disney has this perk. Its to make you pay more and spend less time i the parks. U can always leave one park and return to same park if you really feel the need to do that..but. Hopping just isn't an efficient way to go.

 

[NileNellie]

Another vote here to save your $400.00. You do lose quite a bit of time in transport and with a 6 year old who may get tired with all of the walking, I don't think it's worth it.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

You are going to get mixed responses on this. It really depends on your crowd and how you like to tour.
We do not typically park hop. I understand the reasoning for those who do, but for my crowd it just doesn't work out so great. IF we hop, it is from one park to another, no stops at the resort.

It adds a layer of planning I don't like to deal with (for instance- which park do I go to first because that's where I can make FP, and then what are my odds of getting certain FP at the second park or can I plan in such a way that I don't need them at one park or the other). The travel time eats into my day, and I'd rather be waiting to go on a ride than waiting for a bus to pull up.

 

[Friend of MM]

I guess it depends on how long you are going for. We always buy the Hopper Option with 5 day plus Trips. In hot weather it lets you start Morning at say AK where it gets hot by midday due to outdoor nature, then head to Epcot or MK where there are more indoor AC attractions. Increases restaurant choices, allows a bit more flexibility if Rain hits. Going between Parks does take time, but planning to enjoy parks closer to each other can shorten the travel.

 

[KenHutch]

We have done 5 previous trip and I am planning our 6th right now. We have ever used park hoppers and expect we never will. It is a massive time sink. I have heard of people needing them for eating in other parks. I plan a park with all of our meals there or in a nearby hotel. I plan our fast passes around the meals. Occasionally someone will go back to the hotel for a nap/pool but that's it.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

We have done 5 previous trip and I am planning our 6th right now. We have ever used park hoppers and expect we never will. It is a massive time sink. I have heard of people needing them for eating in other parks. I plan a park with all of our meals there or in a nearby hotel. I plan our fast passes around the meals. Occasionally someone will go back to the hotel for a nap/pool but that's it.

That's our strategy as well. We have AP (so we can hop all we want, no extra charge) and we still don't bother. My upcoming trip is the first time in many many years of visiting that we are going from one park to another and I was very quickly reminded why I usually don't bother.

 

[FabFive24]

I guess it depends on how long you are going for. We always buy the Hopper Option with 5 day plus Trips. In hot weather it lets you start Morning at say AK where it gets hot by midday due to outdoor nature, then head to Epcot or MK where there are more indoor AC attractions. Increases restaurant choices, allows a bit more flexibility if Rain hits. Going between Parks does take time, but planning to enjoy parks closer to each other can shorten the travel.

That would have been important... we will have 4 full park days and two half days (arrival and departure days). We are driving so no plane schedules.

 

[FabFive24]

Another vote here to save your $400.00. You do lose quite a bit of time in transport and with a 6 year old who may get tired with all of the walking, I don't think it's worth it.

He's the biggest wild card in my planning. I'm just not sure how much he can handle.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

We have gone over 20 times and I think we have always used park hoppers. I think it all depends on what hotel you are staying at. Typically, we have always stayed at an an Epcot resort, so usually we would start at one park and come back for mid-day break and then go back to Epcot or DHS for the evening. Personally, if your touring style is to have a mid-day break having PH may not be that bad of an idea because it allows you to be more flexible if your planned park in the morning is crowded. I think most times I have gone, I usually visit at least two parks in one day.

 

[Mome Rath]

It's all subjective, but I will say I don't travel to Disney without the option of hopping unless I'm with someone who doesn't tour that way (I've been so much I defer to my traveling partner's preference, but all my family loves to hop). I don't like to be in the same park all day, I just don't. I like certain rides and certain restaurants in each park and like to hang out for a bit, but them I'm ready to go depending on mood. It's definitely not about Disney making money to me (or from me), I just prefer it and am really glad they have the option. I love the EMH park switch strategy, especially when doing Pandora in the morning.

 

[FabFive24]

We have done 5 previous trip and I am planning our 6th right now. We have ever used park hoppers and expect we never will. It is a massive time sink. I have heard of people needing them for eating in other parks. I plan a park with all of our meals there or in a nearby hotel. I plan our fast passes around the meals. Occasionally someone will go back to the hotel for a nap/pool but that's it.

I would not be using park hoppers for a meal. Yes, there is always the back to the resort option if part or all of us need a break.

 

[jenPSU]

We usually buy them and don’t park hop too much, but when we have it is when we leave the park in the afternoon and have wanted to head to a different one at night for fireworks. Our next trip we’re staying at YC or BC and I’m thinking we’ll park hop more due to the easy proximity to Epcot; we can do most of the day in another park and head to Epcot for dinner pretty easily.

 

[Brett Wyman]

We park hop every day. Would never go without them. As you can see by all the replies it's really all about how your family does the parks and resorts! There's no one correct answer.

 

[mco65]

Everyone has a different opinion on this so YMMV... we used Park Hoppers once.. Also with 3 kiddos. We didn't find it worthwhile.. not for the cost. Since then we haven't used them, we hit one park per day and make the most of it. No doubt you could benefit from rope dropping and then swinging over to a less crowded park but the time lost for us and the hassle involved just wasn't worth it.. Of course this was back when we had strollers and without them, park hoping would no doubt be a tad easier. It might be worth another shot at it in the future...

 

[Dominic Pellittieri]

We have 4 young kids, 10, 6 and twins that are 4 and we have previously bought the park hopper on our last two trips. I won't do it again. The kids are always tired after about 6 hour in the park in the heat. Its best to just go one park a day if you have young kids.