Originally, it was free... included with a multi-day ticket... until somebody figured out people would pay for the privilege.
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park hopping.......very misunderstood
- Thread starter Damon7777
- Start date
For longer stays, I like the flexibility. We hit the big things at each park in the first few days, and then we saunter and nibble our way around the parks thereafter. A perfect day for me is to hit Studios or Animal Kingdom in the morning, doing everything I want there until early to mid afternoon. Then head back to the resort for a rest, and hit Epcot for dinner. Of course, there's nothing better than late hours at Magic Kingdom, so monorailing there to go on Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Big Thunder Bucket, Splash, and Buzz without long lines is a fabulous way to end the night. None of that is possible without park hoppers.
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
While I agree that most people don't need it and pay for it needlessly, there are times where it works well. Multi day trip, and after spending a full day in the park you may want to just hit up favorites. Lets you hop through and crank out just the coaster one day for instance. My DW doesn't like doing coasters and instead of having her sit around for hours, she will take a pool day and I will do a 4 park blitz hitting the thrill rides and moving on.
mickaroonie
Member
At least at Disneyland/California Adventure you can walk across the courtyard to get to the other park so you don't lose time instead of waiting for buses at Disney World.
Minnesota disney fan
Well-Known Member
I think it is a lot of "generalizing" peoples vacations. Everyone does Disney differently. My husband and I have mobility issues (only with walking a lot, no scooters), and we find we must go back to the resort to rest after our morning park. We use our fast passes in the AM park. Then we decide in the afternoon where we want to go. It is not decided until then. We might think we want to go to Epcot in the PM, but actually decide to go to DS for the evening. We love the spontaneity of PH's. That's the way we prefer to do Disney. It's not for everyone, but gives us a choice in where we want to be.
I just find it peculiar that Disney(and Universal of course too) encourages hopper features and pass it off as a "desirable" when they just admitted in classic indirect fashion that their parks are individually insufficient.
If the service and product were sound in each park in the first place then guests would not feel the urge to bounce around to another park or 2.......these parks should be self contained, fleshed out experiences.
If the service and product were sound in each park in the first place then guests would not feel the urge to bounce around to another park or 2.......these parks should be self contained, fleshed out experiences.
JIMINYCR
Well-Known Member
We always get it and use it throughout our time on property. We use it to the fullest, so it has a great deal of value to us. It isnt the fact that a park doesnt have enough going on to keep us there, but its the flexibility to have the option to change the day up, dont get locked into a park for dining, avoiding crowded times, and having more freedom. I'm sure if our total vacation days were limited we might not hop, but going for 14 days its a great feature.
danyoung56
Well-Known Member
That's not at all what they're saying by offering this benefit. I could ride a handful of rides in the MK, leave to take a nap, and go back to Epcot for the evening. Does that mean that the MK is "insufficient"? Of course not.
People have been outlining many different reasons why they use the hopper. If you can't see this, then by all means don't buy the hopper option.
True enough......but I feel DCA now is very close to a fleshed out event ----worthy of a separate ticket. It's on the brink
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
We've visited with and without parkhoppers, but here are the three things we appreciate most when we have them:
1 - Avoid lines: we can make use of morning EMH at one park, go back to the hotel for a midday nap, and then go to evening EMH at another park (or simply hop to a less-crowded park of our choice if we don't like the line lengths where we are).
2 - Tour efficiently: the fact is, HS is a less-than-1/2-day park for my family. AK is a 2/3-day park. Epcot is a 1.5-day park and MK is a 2.5-day park. With park-hopping, we avoid having to pay for full-day tickets for all of those partial days. We can park-hop for 5 days instead of having to buy single-day tickets and hotel accommodations for 7 days. (That being said, there are people for whom each park is a full-day park. It all depends on what they want to do and what pace they prefer to adopt.)
3 - Be spontaneous! Anytime we find an unexpected pocket of time, stumble on an attractive ADR somewhere else on property, have friends/family in the parks that we'd like to join for a meal or a park visit, or want to return to a favorite attraction "one last time," we can just do it, without fear of "wasting" a full-day ticket.
Granted, we only tend to find parkhoppers "worth it" if we know we're likely to use them to hop at least three times, and/or if they're going to get us an added benefit (e.g., upgrading to hoppers to be eligible for a discount or promotion that will save us more than the cost of the hopper upgrade itself, or upgrading to Parkhopper Plus if we're going to make use of at least two of the more expensive "entitlements").
Overall, I do think the benefits of hopping are, as the title indicates, "misunderstood..." but perhaps only by the thread's author!
1 - Avoid lines: we can make use of morning EMH at one park, go back to the hotel for a midday nap, and then go to evening EMH at another park (or simply hop to a less-crowded park of our choice if we don't like the line lengths where we are).
2 - Tour efficiently: the fact is, HS is a less-than-1/2-day park for my family. AK is a 2/3-day park. Epcot is a 1.5-day park and MK is a 2.5-day park. With park-hopping, we avoid having to pay for full-day tickets for all of those partial days. We can park-hop for 5 days instead of having to buy single-day tickets and hotel accommodations for 7 days. (That being said, there are people for whom each park is a full-day park. It all depends on what they want to do and what pace they prefer to adopt.)
3 - Be spontaneous! Anytime we find an unexpected pocket of time, stumble on an attractive ADR somewhere else on property, have friends/family in the parks that we'd like to join for a meal or a park visit, or want to return to a favorite attraction "one last time," we can just do it, without fear of "wasting" a full-day ticket.
Granted, we only tend to find parkhoppers "worth it" if we know we're likely to use them to hop at least three times, and/or if they're going to get us an added benefit (e.g., upgrading to hoppers to be eligible for a discount or promotion that will save us more than the cost of the hopper upgrade itself, or upgrading to Parkhopper Plus if we're going to make use of at least two of the more expensive "entitlements").
Overall, I do think the benefits of hopping are, as the title indicates, "misunderstood..." but perhaps only by the thread's author!
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Well yes.......otherwise why go to Epcot after? Why go there if MK is fully sufficient? The answer is because each park has strengths and weaknesses. No one park is sound especially at WDW
Each park is different and contains variety - and people like variety - especially those who visit often - you could make the point that if they just made one large park then they wouldn't need a park hopper either.
danyoung56
Well-Known Member
It has nothing to do with wanting to get the most out of the MK. It has to do with wanting to be in the MK for the morning and Epcot for the evening. And wanting to be in Epcot for the evening is no judgement on how "fully sufficient" the MK is. If I didn't have a park hopper, I'd be more than happy to stay in the MK for the entire day. But with a park hopper I have the option to go to whatever park I want. So day 1 I might do the MK and then Epcot, then on day 2 I'd do DAK and then the MK. See? Over time I'll probably spend an entire day in the MK - just not all in one day. It's the way I like to park storm.
nickys
Premium Member
Not at all. We have never done a whole day in a park from RD to close. We see no point at all in wearing ourselves down like that. We take longer stays, have plenty of time and after 4 or 5 hours we would usually take a break.
If we decide to go back to a park, it's nice to have a choice as to where to go. It's also a good way to see the night time shows. Because we don't go all day, we might plan our evenings separately. I have never seen Illuminations after a whole day in Epcot. I usually go see it one evening during the trip, and have a few nights where that is possible; can't be bothered going out again after spending a couple hours in the pool - no problem, there's another couple of nights I can go.
They are IMO self-contained at WDW, each park is a separate entity. That does not mean you have to stick to one a day. Some people feel they have done more by visiting two parks a day, so they RD AK one day and finish at Epcot, then RD Epcot and finish at AK.
And at DHS the timing of Star Wars and Fantasmic often means you cannot see both. With a hopper, no problem. See one of them on your DHS day, and see the other another night, after a second day at MK for example.
Just because you don't feel the need to park hop does not mean it is pointless to do so. There is no right or wrong way to "do" Disney.
Notes from Neverland
Well-Known Member
We love park hopping. Few things beat catching a show or fireworks at Hollywood Studios and then walking to catch the show at Epcot. It's also great to visit one park in the morning and another at night. We did that several times so we could watch Happily Ever After multiple times.
I will say that on a given weekend just to see if it was possible, we arrived Friday around 230 and left Sunday at 5, could we on property with EMH and FP hit every major ride in each park, see 3of the nighttime shows, and still have time for a decent meal each day. The answer was without a doubt yes. Hoppers and some planning made it possible, but, it was fun to do it once. I wouldnt do it again because I prefer relaxed trips. We have done adult bar trips where its one park a day to ride but maybe hop to hit lounges and we concentrate on Springs, Geyser, Sams, WS Bars, Abracadabar, Nomad Lounge, HBD Lounge, and just ride what we can but take it slow. In that aspect park hopping is even a great thing.
Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
It's desirable IF (and ONLY IF) a) your family can handle all the walking and b) if you know how to use it correctly...WE LOVE IT!!!
Is ok to disagree but you are the second on this thread to manufacture something and then apply it to me as if that is my position. Please read more carefully next time----if you and the other non reader on here are capable.
(((And yes I hop--- I did it 3 days ago, actually. I never said it was pointless. I said guests hop for good reason))