park hopper or no park hopper

capedisneygirl

capedisneygirl

Member
what are people's preference for park hopping? I'm torn, my daughter is 8 and we are going in January , we have tickets for 5 days. I'm contemplating getting a hopper bur 1 year ago we went, we had the hopper and never used them, this August we went and didn't get them and was fine without it.
BUT since we are doing a short trip and it's just us 2 this trip I feel we might be able to make the hopper work for us, plus it would give us the 6 day ticket which we could actually use due to a 6am flight in.

i know this is a personal preferency for sure but what's everyone's preference? cons, pros?
 
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capedisneygirl

capedisneygirl

Member
Original Poster
Disneyfreak Jen said:
I like the hopper because I like to change things up. I do one park in the morning, head back to the resort for some pool time in the afternoon, then head back out to another park around 5.
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yea this is what I was thinking we would do, it was hard last august when it was 100 degrees and there was 5 of use, it just took so long to do anything or get back out to another park. but i think in January with the cooler temps and just me and her we might be able actually get to more parks
 
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S

StarshipDisney

Well-Known Member
We bought the park hopper option for several trips early on but we found that we tended to just stay in the same park all day to ride as many rides as we can, catch shows, see parades, fireworks, have dinner, shop, etc..so we never ended up using it. Each of the four parks can easily fill a day if you dine and try to catch all you can.

It may work better for others...but we left it off our last 2 trips and did not notice it at all. Also keep in mind that Disney Springs does not count IRT tickets. So we do usually go to a park after visiting DS.
 
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Rsj88

Rsj88

Well-Known Member
We always get the park hopper. Sometimes we use it more than others but I really like the flexibility it give us. I like to go to a less croweded park in the morning and then hop to the park with EMH at night. With Pandora being open, we will definitely use it. I have FOP fast passes for several mornings. We will go ride and then hop to where ever we want to be that day. We are doing this on our HS day since there is not a lot we want to do there this time.
 
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Herdman

Herdman

Well-Known Member
We've always gotten it before, but we've only used it one time on all of our trips. Even on days we head back to the resort during the day we always seem to go back to the same park in the evening. We are not getting it on our trip in May, and I can't imagine a scenario in which we would miss having it.
 
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ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Going to two or more parks on the same day has a very different feel than just staying put. (We've done all four a few times.)

Think of it this way; with a 5 day hopper, you can visit the Magic Kingdom for 5 consecutive days!

There are disadvantages, mainly the time lost walking back to the entrance of one park, waiting for transportation, actually, traveling, and then going through security again.

For us, one of the happier moments is walking into any park. There's a sense of excitement and anticipation. A park hopper allows you to double that experience. :)

It's a matter of personal taste though. If you truly enjoy staying put at a park, then the hopper is a waste.
 
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dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Unless your plans definitely call for hopping, IE going during F&W and want to nosh around Epcot multiple evenings while doing other parks in the AM, I'd hold off. You can upgrade during your trip if you think it will be worth it. Remember than in Jan the parks will close earlier in the evening (most are currently 9PM or earlier), so that hour or so of travel time has a much bigger impact than if the parks are open until 11 or 12.
 
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Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I'd map out the park hours/EMH for your dates, and plan out your likely itinerary. If you find at least 2 days where you think hopping would be beneficial or desirable, I'd go for the hoppers. If not, stick with standard tickets. You can always upgrade them later, even midway through your trip, if you change your mind.
 
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capedisneygirl

capedisneygirl

Member
Original Poster
StarshipDisney said:
We bought the park hopper option for several trips early on but we found that we tended to just stay in the same park all day to ride as many rides as we can, catch shows, see parades, fireworks, have dinner, shop, etc..so we never ended up using it. Each of the four parks can easily fill a day if you dine and try to catch all you can.

It may work better for others...but we left it off our last 2 trips and did not notice it at all. Also keep in mind that Disney Springs does not count IRT tickets. So we do usually go to a park after visiting DS.
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we don't do dining, just quick service. we did the same with our last two trips, I'm just worried because this is our 3rd trip in a year and a half and I don't want to drag out days at a park, for example HS lol! its such a hard choice considering we never used it on our past trips and I don
ParentsOf4 said:
Going to two or more parks on the same day has a very different feel than just staying put. (We've done all four a few times.)

Think of it this way; with a 5 day hopper, you can visit the Magic Kingdom for 5 consecutive days!

There are disadvantages, mainly the time lost walking back to the entrance of one park, waiting for transportation, actually, traveling, and then going through security again.

For us, one of the happier moments is walking into any park. There's a sense of excitement and anticipation. A park hopper allows you to double that experience. :)

It's a matter of personal taste though. If you truly enjoy staying put at a park, then the hopper is a waste.
Click to expand...


That's a good point! my daughter doesn't do too many rides so we love just walking into the park. nothing beats entering the park and milling around for a bit for us
 
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ppete1975

ppete1975

Well-Known Member
for the price its one of the few "bargains" and to me is totally worth it, I like to hit certain rides early at rope drop then when they get crowded and ive ridden those rides go somewhere else, also for dinner I might go to another park or the fireworks/parades. Also in my opinion 2 of the parks aren't full day parks and if its a night where they close the park early for an event (pretty much every night from august to December lol) then it totally pays for itself.
 
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R

Rumrunner

Well-Known Member
capedisneygirl said:
what are people's preference for park hopping? I'm torn, my daughter is 8 and we are going in January , we have tickets for 5 days. I'm contemplating getting a hopper bur 1 year ago we went, we had the hopper and never used them, this August we went and didn't get them and was fine without it.
BUT since we are doing a short trip and it's just us 2 this trip I feel we might be able to make the hopper work for us, plus it would give us the 6 day ticket which we could actually use due to a 6am flight in.

i know this is a personal preferency for sure but what's everyone's preference? cons, pros?
Click to expand...
The park hopper kicks up the price for us and is just too expensive-12 in our group. Last time we got it free as part of a promotion. Used it only once. With the parks closing so early we will definitely not spend the extra for a park hopper for our June 2018 trip.
 
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W

Whatsthegoodword

Member
The Mouse loves us: we always buy the Hopper, but rarely use it. Because of that, I doubt I'll buy it much in the future. We used to be "Commando" Disney-ers. :) GOGOGO!!! We were running from place to place, CRAMMING as much into a day as possible. (It makes me tired just thinking about it.). I've ridden everything there so many times that frankly it doesn't matter to me if I do a particular thing or not anymore. Now, as long as I get into the Tiki Room & Haunted Mansion at some point, I'm good.

My honest suggestion: IF you have four or five days at WDW, then save the park hopper money. Plan a super busy day (maybe two) at the MK - all of the other parks can easily be done in a day or less. On the Studios day, you can go to Disney Springs that night - or on any other night you find that you're done early.
 
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danheaton

danheaton

Well-Known Member
I'm generally not using it because my kids are young (8 and 4), and I've found that park hopping is just too much for one day. I can see the value with some parks like DHS not being a full-day experience for most, but it doesn't make sense currently for me. I would do it on a really short trip (2-3 days) perhaps to maximize the value.
 
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DisneyDoctor

DisneyDoctor

Well-Known Member
We always get park hopper. We love the boat ride from HS to Epcot. We usually end most of our days in World Showcase, so it's great for us for that reason. Also, we love starting the day at MK early, then taking the monorail around to different resorts as a sort of break, then finishing the night at Epcot. It's been worth it for us.
 
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DisneyDayDreamer

DisneyDayDreamer

Well-Known Member
I always purchase the park hopper option. It is your best bet to kinda enjoy your days fully. You don't feel obligated to stay in the parks all day. Since your daughter is 8, y'all could head to the pool or chill at the resort for a little bit. It would give y'all plenty of options for chill time.
 
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awhit066

awhit066

Well-Known Member
Growing up my parents always opted for the Park Hopper. As an young adult I have often considered leaving out as a cost saving method. I have never followed through.

What it comes down to for me is;
  1. I can visit all 4 parks within the first 2 days of the trip - I have favourite attractions at all 4 and can't wait 4 days to experience them.
  2. I'm not stuck in one park. I can rope drop HS one morning, hit the shows and attractions I want by 1-2pm, and leave fantastic for another day.
  3. #1 in reverse. I want to visit my favourites again at the end of the trip (a farewell, I hope you are still here on my next trip). This means visiting all 4 parks in the last 2 days.
 
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