I need advice. I am thinking about dropping the park hopper and adding the water park option instead. Our trip is in Sept - hot and last year we only park hopped once during our 5 night stay. This year we are staying 8 nights so we will not be as rushed. I will say we will be at POR again and my 3 children loved the pool and don't even know about the water parks. In addition, we have season passes to a water park where we live so I just can't decide what to do.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Park Hopper vs. Water Park Option
- Thread starter DanceDiva
- Start date
flynnibus
Premium Member
the water parks are awesome - but there really is almost no discount to buying it as part of MYW vs just going to the park for a day. How likely are you to spend more then 1 day of your trip at the waterparks?
You'll spend every other day at the parks.. invest in the park hopper which lets you goto the MK to end the night at the least... or visit DHS and EPCOT in the same day, etc.
The water parks are awesome and well worth it - but not in lieu of parkhopping IMO. Do both
edit: there is no discount to doing it on MYW.. it's cheaper to do it as a stand-alone (by a few dollars) but by doing it on MYW you can also do Disneyquest and more visits, etc.
I can't imagine the parks without parkhopping... I like to do things after 8 or 9pm
You'll spend every other day at the parks.. invest in the park hopper which lets you goto the MK to end the night at the least... or visit DHS and EPCOT in the same day, etc.
The water parks are awesome and well worth it - but not in lieu of parkhopping IMO. Do both
edit: there is no discount to doing it on MYW.. it's cheaper to do it as a stand-alone (by a few dollars) but by doing it on MYW you can also do Disneyquest and more visits, etc.
I can't imagine the parks without parkhopping... I like to do things after 8 or 9pm
Upvote
0
disneylemons
Active Member
Even though the water parks are awesome - we enjoy park hopping much more! We love to go to the parks late - for fireworks, dodging the heat, etc.. and swim at the resort during down time in the afternoons. We've done both and I feel got more out of the Park Hopper option than the waterparks.
Upvote
0
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
I agree with flynnibus. Unless you plan on going to both of the water parks (or the same one twice) its just not worth it. We love the water parks but have never gone twice on 1 trip. The park hopper is what I would keep as well and just pay out of pocket for the water park.
Upvote
0
Magical Dreamer
Well-Known Member
If staying at POR with 3 children I'd get neither and pay out of pocket for the water park visit.
On our last stay we also got park hoppers which we could have easily went without.
Park Hoppers get the best use when your at a Monorail or Epcot resort.
On our last stay we also got park hoppers which we could have easily went without.
Park Hoppers get the best use when your at a Monorail or Epcot resort.
Upvote
0
flynnibus
Premium Member
MSEP, Wishes, and BTMRR at night are reason enough for me to buy park hoppers
I couldn't cope with being shut out of the parks at 8 or 9pm if I went to DHS or DAK for the day. But that's just me
I visited 3 parks (4 because I hit the MK twice) in one afternoon last month. Hopping between parks is quick and easy.
Park hopping is great for the tail end of the trip when you say 'ok, what do we want to go and do again?' and you don't have to make it some big heavy decision.. because you can do it all vs picking one park, etc.
Maybe it's more value for people that have gone so often, while newer guests will need so much time in each park they may not have the energy to move onto second. If you do that, plus 'out of park' things like evening dinner shows, shopping, the water parks, etc.. you can get away without park hopping.
I couldn't cope with being shut out of the parks at 8 or 9pm if I went to DHS or DAK for the day. But that's just me
I visited 3 parks (4 because I hit the MK twice) in one afternoon last month. Hopping between parks is quick and easy.
Park hopping is great for the tail end of the trip when you say 'ok, what do we want to go and do again?' and you don't have to make it some big heavy decision.. because you can do it all vs picking one park, etc.
Maybe it's more value for people that have gone so often, while newer guests will need so much time in each park they may not have the energy to move onto second. If you do that, plus 'out of park' things like evening dinner shows, shopping, the water parks, etc.. you can get away without park hopping.
Upvote
0
Disneydreamer23
Well-Known Member
i agree to stay with the park hopper as well i have never been to the water parks its not my kind of thing.. but the water parks will prob havwe construction since they are starting to refurb the whole park oct 1 or nov 1
Upvote
0
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Bear in mind that this September, DHS and EPCOT will both be open until 9pm. There is not much incentive to go to MK after that. So Park Hopping is not a necessity.
Park hopping is great if you go to DAK twice and need something to do after 5PM. If you go to DAK once, you could spend that evening at Downtown.
I've got both a park hopper and water parks option. I plan to hop over to the water parks several times, and I also do not have any kids with me. Three kids is a mess to have to corral around from one park to the next.
I think you could easily do without both options. If you must see a water park, it is cheaper to pay just for the day.
Park hopping is great if you go to DAK twice and need something to do after 5PM. If you go to DAK once, you could spend that evening at Downtown.
I've got both a park hopper and water parks option. I plan to hop over to the water parks several times, and I also do not have any kids with me. Three kids is a mess to have to corral around from one park to the next.
I think you could easily do without both options. If you must see a water park, it is cheaper to pay just for the day.
Upvote
0
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
I dont think that animal kingdom is the only reason. We use park hopping a lot to break up the day, especially if you are there for 6 or more days. We like to head back to the room and swim or get lunch then head back out. With the park hopper, if one of the kids, or us, wants to go see something else we have that freedom. I think a lot has to do with how much you have been there. I know people who went their first time and spent from open to close each day in every park to soak everything in. If you go semi often then you know what you like and dont like, so the park hopper is a huge plus.
Upvote
0
ob1thx1138
Member
I could not justify either option on our first trip last summer. We also stayed 8 days and planned 2 days at each park, so I could not see a need to park hop. As for Animal Kingdom closing early, that was not an issue at all. We actually welcomed a nice early bed time because we were almost always at the parks for rope drop. If you are the kind of person that would rather fight the crowds and sleep in like we did on a couple occasions (not going to do that again) then I might see you using the hopper option to get out of a park that was too crowded or split your day between two parks, but with travel eating up so much time, I would not see any value in hitting more than two parks a day.
What we did every day except animal kingdom days, was get there for rope drop and then head back to the resort around noon for a nap and come back to the park around 5. Using that strategy and having 8 days of park time (and using trips plans) meant that we saw everything we wanted to in each park. The only thing we did not get to see were the stunt shows in hollywood studio, but I blame that to not using a trip plan for that park due to everyone saying it was a half day park. Next time I will use a trip plan and probably get to see everything I want.
What we did every day except animal kingdom days, was get there for rope drop and then head back to the resort around noon for a nap and come back to the park around 5. Using that strategy and having 8 days of park time (and using trips plans) meant that we saw everything we wanted to in each park. The only thing we did not get to see were the stunt shows in hollywood studio, but I blame that to not using a trip plan for that park due to everyone saying it was a half day park. Next time I will use a trip plan and probably get to see everything I want.
Upvote
0
Doombuggy13
Active Member
I think it also depends on how familiar you are with the 4 major parks too. For families unfamiliar with the parks, it may be the best option to see as much as they can. We are seasoned veterans of WDW so we have done the Park Hopper thing for our first couple of trips and it was great, tiring, but great. Now, I was never a waterpark kind of guy. Then three years ago we opted for Waterpark Fun and More so the kids could do the waterparks and experience Disney Quest. Well, we ALL loved the waterparks and DQ so now our tickets always include Waterpark Fun and More. It has added a whole different dimesion to our vacations. Now we look forward to Crushin Gusher and Plummit Summit just as much as we look forward to Soarin or Space Mountain. We look at it this way, insted of just 4 parks to enjoy, we have 6 and DQ. Our trip this year is in August and it will be BRUTALLY HOT! So we will be at the waterparks from opening till 2 pm, head back to the hotel, change, and hit the major parks at night when it is cooler. We've managed to work it out so most nights we have EMH at the parks our ADR's are near. The only full day we will spend at any park will be at Studio's because my 5 year old son is a major CARS fan and my older sons are Star Wars fans, so that will be the only day we will suffer all day in the heat.
Upvote
0