To park hop or not to park hop...

[DisneyMom93]

We don't park hop. I guess it depends on your park plans. If you go back to your hotel for a mid-day break then I guess park hopping wouldn't be bad. We don't take breaks. We go from park open to park close at each park. We find it more relaxing. We always feel like we aren't ready to leave the park.

If that park closes a little earlier that day than another park we just call it a day. Maybe plan dinner for after park close. You can stay at the restaurants after the rides stop running. Or hop on a ride you want to do again just before park close and have no wait. We also use that time for shopping since it doesn't take away from park time.

There are four of us and I don't see the extra money spent as worth it. I'd rather spend that on MVMCP for a night.

However, we go to the parks for 8 days minimum (usually 10) so we have at least 2 days at each park. If you go for less days (like 6) then park hopping allows you to go to each park for 1 1/2 days each. So the last two days you can park hop and go back and just do all the rides or attractions you want to do again at each park.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I would not go without park hoppers. I LOVE them. We always hit the park opening the earliest, take a nap break mid day and head to a diff park at night. Many times we go to MK as a third park since its open later. I find we need some rest time so it works for us.

Also a few times we've gone to a park and found it so crowded it was ridiculous. The ability to change course and try a different park is awesome.

On our last day it is tradition to ride everyone's favorite ride one last time and usually that means hitting multiple parks

 

[WaterLinds]

We’re midday break people, so the lost time isn’t really a factor—we’re losing that time whether we hop or not. So then it kind of depends on what you want to get done, and possibly things like special events, whether you’re doing EMH, etc.

Our first trip we stayed at Poly and hoppers were great, because it was so easy to go to MK or Epcot in the evening, no matter where we had been during the day. If I were at an Epcot resort I would also definitely want them, I’d probably end up heading to World Showcase several evenings for snacks or dinner.

Last year we had plans to hop and didn’t use them (staying at POFQ, so no super easily accessible park, and several times we ended up not going back to the parks after our afternoon break), so I was going to skip them this trip. But we ended up with plans for EMM on days we also wanted to do other things, FPs planned a certain way, etc., so I think we will hop 2-3 times over the course of the week. I do kind of wonder if we’re going to end up not going back in the evening sometimes despite our plans, but right now it feels like nice flexibility.

 

[DisLiss]

On our next trip, we'll be in the Orlando area for 7.5 days and my kids are trying to cram in more than we'll actually be able to do. (I keep telling them that, too, but man alive, they seem to forget we'll need to sleep.) They want to go to Universal so we're going there the first 2 days, leaving only 5.5 days for WDW, so we're definitely getting the hoppers so that we won't feel like if, for instance, we show up at EPCOT on day 1 that we don't get to see it again for the rest of the trip. Plus some parks we prefer to visit in the morning or the evening, so we can do two days with park 1 in the am and park 2 in the pm.

 

[Samantha Morgan]

Since it’s most of your family’s first trip, let them fully explore a park all day. Save the money on PH and maybe do a special dinner or something.

 

[IndyToThere]

I think Park Hopper is more worthwhile the longer the trip. Once you get to around a full week or more, having the ability to hit a park half a day and another park the 2nd half becomes more of a reality as you check off the items you want to do. But for shorter trips (4 days or less), I'd lean towards not park hopping as there's enough to see and do in a given park that park hopping takes too much out of your day to make it worthwhile.

Also, for those longer trips you'll likely end up with dining reservations at a given park that you might not want to be tied to the same park the entire day. So again, it depends on how long the trip is.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We hop, but only because we have APs and its included. I don't know if I would hop otherwise. It does take a lot of time for transit. But it is nice for HS day, since there isn't much there for us to make it a full day park.

 

[goofyintoronto]

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

Same here. With kids, midday breaks for nap/swim is important. After the resort break I could not imagine going back to the same park. My DS always asked to hit a different park too. I love hoppers. You see much more that way.

 

[crazylady]

I have a kid that is a thrill seeker. We didn't get park hoppers last trip and he was disappointed that he couldn't finish his day reriding his favorites at the parks we didn't go to that day.

 

[Nancyg56]

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?

I think there is a value to hoppers, but at a cost. On a short trip that cost is subjective because while hopping takes time some folks have the stamina to go all day into the night, so those people can get a lot in even with the travel time. Others would find that the time spent hopping on shorter trips is a pill. I am one of those folks, and unless I stay at an Epcot resort I would never add hoppers on a trip less than 7 days. My family never spends all day in any park, but I just cannot find the value in hopping on short stays.

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.

You have 4 days. I would not add hopping. I would plan well, using your travel days as part of your touring if you think the kids are up to it. When my DGD was young we toured with a mix of RD and park close days. If we did RD one day, we ended our day earlier, dinner, maybe a swim and bed. We would then start a little later on the next day and close that park. I knew we would never get everything done and we did not try.

I would look at the highlights the kids want to do and focus on them.

We really started hopping when we began staying at the EPCOT resorts, they're ideal for it if one always takes a midday break. We always include EPCOT or DHS in the day, so if we're visiting MK or AK there's very little time lost in transportation as compared with just staying at MK or AK all day- just one round trip ride on the bus whether you hop or not.

Yes, EPcot resorts are perfect for hopping. WE like to dine in the WS, or stroll around a few hours, go back to the resort for a rest and then close another park.

Since it’s most of your family’s first trip, let them fully explore a park all day. Save the money on PH and maybe do a special dinner or something.

Yes.

 

[ToyStory3]

We can go for a week and easily not have park hoppers. But, I will say that on our last trip we somewhat wished we had them. There were a couple times when it would have been nice. We don't go full steam ahead every day. We like to spend a lot of time at the resorts and swimming. This year we are staying at the Beach Club and are definitely getting hoppers. We will be close enough to Epcot that we could go in for just a snack or one attraction easily....so we will want them. But, you can definitely plan a great trip without them.

 

[pixiedaisy]

We haven’t the past few years, but now my kids are older and love going back to the parks in the evening. However, it is a fairly significant expense. We ended up getting APs so we’ll be able to hop, but if I were there for more than 3 days, I probably wouldn’t add PH and just stick to a park a day.

 

[sullyfam]

We bought park hoppers on our first trip with the kids because like others, we thought it would be nice to have the option and flexibility to go from park to park. We quickly found out we didn't really need them or use them. We are a mid day break family so for us, we'll hit the ground running in the morning, do a ton of rides then do lunch and head back to the resort for pool time and rest. Then back to the park that night to hit up things we didn't do in the morning/eat dinner and do night time entertainment. The only thing the park hopper changes for us is that we can go to a different park at night, but is that really necessary? Chances are, there is plenty you haven't done in the first half of the day, and it's nice to see the nighttime entertainment offered at each park.

The one advantage park hoppers have is if you are going during a busy time of year or there are parties going on at one park, you can leave and hop to another less crowded park. I guess this could work in your favor in some cases but with young kids, I'm not sure things happen that easily or quickly. And you have to account for travel time between each park. By the time you exit and hop to another park, you've spent quite a bit of time in transit. It's also hard nowadays at Disney to switch your plans on a dime. Your FPs and ADRs have been made months in advance. Are you really going to want to switch things all around just to get to another park that you think is "less crowded" but won't really know until you get there? Not sure.

Now, we are going for an adults only 40 birthday trip with friends and we are buying park hoppers. This is because, we are only there for 3-4 days and want to see and do as much as we can and we won't have the kids with us. As others have said, it really depends on the type of trip you are taking, how long you are there for, who is in your travel party etc. But for a typical week long family trip with kids where you will have lots of opportunity to spend time at each park, I don't think park hoppers are "worth it" in general.

 

[dakotix]

There's also the fact that Epcot has some really great dining options in World Showcase. If you're on the dining plan, the park hoppers are great if you want to eat around the world at Epcot during your trip instead of being tied to whatever is available at the park you chose for that day.

 

[Erzengel]

If you want to do all the shows, look at all the shops, go on every ride, then you could pretty much open and close each park.

If you want to do something like, go to HS, just do SD, Toy Story, Star Tours, Aerosmith & Tower of Terror, have lunch and MK is open until 1 am then yes park hop.

 

[billyjobobb]

Our last trip we went on our anniversary. We were each able to ride our favorite rides. we walked world showcase, had dinner at Le Cellier and ended the night at Magic Kingdom for the fireworks.

 

[b5sgqueen]

I'm going to WDW for the first time in 25 years in 2 weeks and I got a hopper because I will be staying in an Epcot resort and thought it would be good to have the flexibility to move between the parks. I only have 5 days there(DH is at a conference), but I'm hoping the extra money was worth it just for flexibility. I read where someone said they like being able to go to World Showcase to grab something to eat and that was my thought.

However, I will also say that I am 34 and will be by myself so moving from park to park should(I hope) be easier than if I had small children to get around.

 

[bdiddy]

I don't love park hopping either. Our kids are the same age as yours too. I just find that it is a big interruption to the day and sometime the travel times make it not worth it. I know you said you didn't care about that. But $400 is a decent chunk of change. Personally I would rather use it towards something else. We just make the best of the park we are in. Disneyland on the other hand - we LOVED park hopping. But they are so close and it's so easy to bounce back and forth. DW not so much and I've never felt it was worth it. Especially when the kids were really small. The only time I've park hopped and didn't mind so much is when my BFF and I went down for a few days for our 40th and it was just the two of us. We did 3 parks in one day on 2 on the other but we were only there for a weekend so we wanted to make the most of it.