Is Park hopping exhausting?

[JChoma]

I'm planning a trip 11/27-12/3. This is our first trip with park hopper tickets (which we bought to get FD). On our first day, Monday 11/27, crowds are looking high (although it's early to know for sure). I'm thinking of going to MK in the a.m. and Epcot around 4, for dinner/ Illuminations/ whatever rides to fit in.

Tuesday is MK all day, Wednesday is AK all day, and Thursday is Epcot first then either MK or AK afternoon/evening. Friday is a.m. rest day, HS in afternoon, and Saturday (last day) is MK all day.

I can't decide if 2 days of park hopping (Day 1 Monday and Day 4 Thursday) will exhaust my family and is worth the transit time from park to park. Kids are 6 & 10.

Pros of 2 parks on day 1- if MK is crowded, we can escape plus check out Illuminations
Cons: Transit time, we're limited to day-of FP availability at Epcot
Pros of 2 parks on Day 4: We can FP Frozen that morning, and since we'll already have seen Illuminations on Day 1, go to MK or AK that evening for something different.
Cons: Transit, does it make FP kind of a nightmare

Only reason I'm trying to figure this out now is because it impacts ADRs which I can make in May. Any input?

 

[DoleWhipperSnapper]

When I was really young my parents would get Park Hoppers mostly because I would poop out early and we would leave and usually go back to another resort in the evening for Dinner and the evening show and maybe a ride or two before heading back to the resort again. As I became a teen they stopped paying the extra as there was always so much to do the entire day in one park and I didn't get tired out. The ones that were tiring were my parents. This last trip my boyfriend in 2016 we also opted out of the Park hoppers and had so much to do for a complete day in each park. As for it being exhausting though if you are sticking to hopping to just 2 parks I think you would be perfectly fine. Even parks with further distance between them such as Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, if you stick to just transferring once you should be fine.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Its no more exhausting than a non park hopping day. I guessit depends on your definition of exhausting is.

 

[Worldlover71]

Going from one park to another is simple and usually takes under an hour no matter what your mode of transport (car, bus, monorail, boat). You won't loose that much park time and since your kids are not of stroller age, getting on and off buses, etc won't be hard. You will have to go through bag check at each park so try to pack light.

 

[drizgirl]

We never hop at WDW. Even giving up an hour of park time is more than I care to give up. I especially hate to give up the park time on a short trip. Everyone has different opinions on it though. Some hop every day and swear by it.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Look into the express transportation option if you're willing to splurge. Travel by shuttle bus from within the parks, bypassing security and entry gates.

I park hopped a decent amount on my last trip. I didn't find it exhausting. It can be a break from the hustle and bustle of being in a theme park.

It can decrease stress because you can choose to go to a park where the wait times are more reasonable, or a park where Fastpasses are still available. Back in Jan/Feb I had no problem adding Fastpasses for my second park of the day, with the exception of big things like Frozen and Seven Dwarves.

 

[correcaminos]

We often hop, but we also take a mid afternoon break at the resort to hang out by the pool or community hall. So when we go back out we are more refreshed. I think finding down time is important. Hopping isn't that much more exhausting to me. Also if you want to save time you can do the express bus or Uber/Lyft (car seat law cuts off at 6 in FL).

 

[networkpro]

We always hop and are doing it today. We're here at MK for EMH, Epson for lunch, hoopty do for supper and are now waiting at MK for the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert party to begin seating.

 

[Rsj88]

We like the freedom the park hopper gives you. It's nice when a park is unexpectedly crowded and we can hop to a less crowded park for a while. We have two kids 8 and 2 and have no problem hopping. It eats up a little time but less than going back to the hotel room for a rest and it's still a bit of a break to ride the monorail or a bus. We like to go hop to whichever park has EMH at night and spend the day at a less crowded park.

 

[nickys]

I don't plan park hopping days as such. We have done 2 parks before, on a whim but before fastpass+ came.

However where we use it is two-fold.

When we stayed at the Beach Club, we would wander into WS in the evenings sometimes, get fish &chips from the Rose and Crown. Stroll around a bit. Watch Illuminations.

And often, wherever we're staying, after a day at the parks, we head back to the resort in the early evening, and some of us will go off for the night time shows, especially if there's evening emh. We often head to MK in the evenings when staying at Bay Lake.

For us though it's easie, because UK tickets include park hoppers as standard. So we don't have to make the decision whether we will use them enough.

 

[chrisbarry]

Been park hopping with kids on every single trip we've taken, 14 years in a row starting with the kids at 4-years-old. Never regretted it. The whole trip is pretty exhausting regardless of park hopping. You can't beat the flexibility it gives you. That midday break is essential and then on to another park for the latter part of the day - we love that.

 

[Jeff A]

We have tried doing the parks both as regular tickets and hoppers and I would say to consider hoppers for every day if possible. You have a lot more flexibility with planning and especially with kids, you just never know how things will go. I have a 12 year old and an 8 year old and sometimes they are just ready to go back to the hotel or we are (haha!) Sometimes we will go to a park like AK and think we will be there all day and only end up being there for a few hours and having the hopper gives us the option to go to another park at night and not feel like we just wasted a day. The main reason we do the hoppers is the weather......it usually rains almost every day and rides might get closed or things shut down so we can replan rides and whatnot because of it with the hopper. Hope this helps!!

 

[iluvMainStMagic]

Look into the express transportation option if you're willing to splurge. Travel by shuttle bus from within the parks, bypassing security and entry gates.

I park hopped a decent amount on my last trip. I didn't find it exhausting. It can be a break from the hustle and bustle of being in a theme park.

It can decrease stress because you can choose to go to a park where the wait times are more reasonable, or a park where Fastpasses are still available. Back in Jan/Feb I had no problem adding Fastpasses for my second park of the day, with the exception of big things like Frozen and Seven Dwarves.

We usually get a park hopper since we take a mid day break. But if you don't and would be going from park to park, the express transportation suggested above could be an option worth considering, especially since (I believe) you purchase it by the day, so you could just get it for the days you want to park hop. Hopefully that would be less expensive than the PHopper option add-on. Sorry, I didn't do a price comparison before posting It also sounds like a less crowded ride, and you don't have to go through bag check at the second park.

 

[Plowboy]

IMHO it's no more exhausting than staying in one park all day long. We hop every day we're there.

 

[jaklgreen]

We always park hop. It is usually for meals. We like the food at Epcot much better then other parks. I think it makes it feel like you are able to see and do more going to another park. I would hate the feeling of being "stuck" at a certain park just because we don't have a hopper ticket. But we have been many many times and know what we like. So our touring plans are different then those who are going the first or second time. We do not feel like we have to do every single ride at one park.

 

[Demeter Tess]

I actually find park-hopping refreshing! After a morning in an increasingly crowded park, it's wonderful to get out of the crowds. Our typical "plan of attack" is to make rope drop and hang around in Park #1 until 11am or noon, then take the entire afternoon to either refresh at our resort or take a nice walk around the other resorts (we particularly love the path between Epcot and HS). We'll have an early dinner and hit Park #2 until park close. We plan our FPs for the evening, since rope drop guarantees that we'll be able to walk on a large number of attractions in the first hour or two. (One time we rode every major attraction in MK before 9am, thanks to EMH!)

 

[nickys]

We usually get a park hopper since we take a mid day break. But if you don't and would be going from park to park, the express transportation suggested above could be an option worth considering, especially since (I believe) you purchase it by the day, so you could just get it for the days you want to park hop. Hopefully that would be less expensive than the PHopper option add-on. Sorry, I didn't do a price comparison before posting It also sounds like a less crowded ride, and you don't have to go through bag check at the second park.

If you use the express transport option, you still need to have park hoppers.

 

[PaulaT]

We did 4 parks in one day a few years ago, and we had a blast, just rode at least one ride in each park..... we go in june and will be there on hubby's birthday and we will be doing 6 parks in one day!!!! Can't wait

 

[Worldlover71]

We did 4 parks in one day a few years ago, and we had a blast, just rode at least one ride in each park..... we go in june and will be there on hubby's birthday and we will be doing 6 parks in one day!!!! Can't wait

I did this on Oct.1 to celebrate the 45th anniversary. Actually my day was: Pop/MK/EP/HS/MK/AK/EP/HS/Pop/MK! Don't try this unless you are a professional

 

[mouse_luv]

We hop pretty much every day of our trip there, splitting between 2 parks daily, it's no more exhausting than all day in one park. We also take a midday break back at our resort.