Park hopping, stumped.

[Stellajack]

Just don't wear yourself out simply because you have the option to park hop. It gives you flexibility that you might not otherwise have. Most folks have already planned out their days whether they have a park hopper or not. We enjoy the hopper because of the EMH in the evening. Love the ToT late in the evening! Since we also do a break in the middle of the day we might visit a different park in the afternoon.

 

[NelleBelle]

Just make sure you don't do what I did. We always buy our tickets through my husbands employer (we get a good discount). I wasn't paying as close enough attention to the tickets and I thought I was buying Magic Your Way tickets with Park Hopping & Water Parks...what I actually bought was Magic Your Way tickets with Water Parks (no hopping). So we made our way from MK to Epcot for really difficult to score Le Cellier ADRs only to find out when we tried to get through the gate, NOPE, not gonna happen . I had to hustle over and quickly add the hopper to all our tickets after talking to guest services to figure out what happened (I swore it wasn't my fault, but alas, I was wrong and ended up paying for it). Long story short, make sure you're buying the tickets you're supposed too

 

[Chef Mickey]

People who say they don't hope or it's a waste of time are not wrong, but they are certainly missing out on some serious benefits.

Nothing beats hitting MK in the morning and leaving around lunch to go to EPCOT on the monorail. It's fun, convenient, and you are more efficient than fighting through MK crowds in the afternoon.

We've also walked between DHS and EPCOT in ~20min, a very easy way to see Fantasmic or Illuminations after a some time at DHS or EPCOT.

I've done all 4 parks in a day and with EMH, you really lose value if you don't park hop.

 

[epcotisbest]

People who say they don't hope or it's a waste of time are not wrong, but they are certainly missing out on some serious benefits.

Nothing beats hitting MK in the morning and leaving around lunch to go to EPCOT on the monorail. It's fun, convenient, and you are more efficient than fighting through MK crowds in the afternoon.

We've also walked between DHS and EPCOT in ~20min, a very easy way to see Fantasmic or Illuminations after a some time at DHS or EPCOT.

I've done all 4 parks in a day and with EMH, you really lose value if you don't park hop.

How can anyone lose value if they choose not to park hop? There is great value to resort time, pool time and relaxation time. The thing we value most on vacation is personal, quality, relaxing, together time. We have spent an entire trip without ever setting foot in any of the parks.
If you go to a buffet dinner and only eat what you want instead of eating everything there, but you left full, happy and satisfied, did you lose value because you did not try everything on the dessert bar?

 

[wdwgreek]

I find starting at MK and then heading to AK around 2 or 3 and then heading back to Mk around 8 to be ideal

 

[Chef Mickey]

How can anyone lose value if they choose not to park hop? There is great value to resort time, pool time and relaxation time. The thing we value most on vacation is personal, quality, relaxing, together time. We have spent an entire trip without ever setting foot in any of the parks.
If you go to a buffet dinner and only eat what you want instead of eating everything there, but you left full, happy and satisfied, did you lose value because you did not try everything on the dessert bar?

I'm saying you lose a lot of value from a parks perspective. If it's your prerogative to enjoy resorts or other amenities, I view that as separate. To get the most value out of the parks, you should have a Park Hopper.

I understand some might be content with going to Animal Kingdom until 6pm and chilling at the hotel later, but you aren't getting the most out of the parks if you do that. At minimum, you miss out on a ton of park time and a lot of nighttime activities.

 

[epcotisbest]

I'm saying you lose a lot of value from a parks perspective. If it's your prerogative to enjoy resorts or other amenities, I view that as separate. To get the most value out of the parks, you should have a Park Hopper.

I understand some might be content with going to Animal Kingdom until 6pm and chilling at the hotel later, but you aren't getting the most out of the parks if you do that. At minimum, you miss out on a ton of park time and a lot of nighttime activities.

Yeah, I guess it just depends on the individual and what he or she places value on. Hopping option for you obviously you place a value on. Hopping for us would mean giving up time we consider much more valuable. And we used to hop. Used to go from open to close. No more. Best thing we ever did is slow down, enjoy the overall experience, ambience, atmosphere, architecture, landscaping, shows, street entertainment, behind the scenes tours, resort tours, bike riding at FW, cookie making at BOMA, boat ride from DS to POR, and so many little things we would have never enjoyed if we were too busy spending all our time rushing from park to park.
Anyway, thanks for your perspective. Something for everyone makes the place great.

 

[Goofyernmost]

How can anyone lose value if they choose not to park hop? There is great value to resort time, pool time and relaxation time. The thing we value most on vacation is personal, quality, relaxing, together time. We have spent an entire trip without ever setting foot in any of the parks.
If you go to a buffet dinner and only eat what you want instead of eating everything there, but you left full, happy and satisfied, did you lose value because you did not try everything on the dessert bar?

Buffets and theme parks are not really comparable, but, you know that. However, to expand upon that thought, you don't try everything on a buffet because at some point filling your face stops being enjoyable and becomes quite uncomfortable. For me, the parks are the same thing. When we are there we are basically walking from place to place, standing in line, riding a short ride... rinse and repeat. Over and over and over. I don't call that quality time under any circumstance. When I leave one park, for whatever reason, that down time gives me a chance to recharge. From the moment you enter the parks your are bombarded with massive physical, visual, sound and stimuli overload. It all becomes a tiring blur to me.

Even the time going from one place to another works as a sponge to absorb all the overload and make room for more and different. Of course, it's all up to individuals as to how they enjoy their experience. All I know is that even if I have no particular plans to hop, I get the park hopper. There hasn't been a visit when I haven't used it. To each his own, however!

 

[DfromATX]

We only park hopped on our first trip and that was because we didn't know any better. To me the extra cost and time it takes isn't worth it. I would say the only "con" to not park hopping is that you can't be at one park and go eat in another. That's not really a problem for me, but it might be for others. I like to do one park a day. If we finish early, such as with AK, we just head back to the hotel for some swimming and relaxation.

 

[KeithVH]

It's all about where you are going to eat AND when you are going. You have to watch the hours for each park's schedule. If you decide to spend the whole day at Epcot and do MK in the evening and then find MK closes at 7 (hard ticket event, press, etc), then you're wasting your own time and money. Let alone the fact that, in some cases (like a hot, humid summer day), your plans to visit a second park may fall apart by 2pm when the kids, sweating buckets, decided they have had it for the day.

 

[danyoung56]

Hopping for us would mean giving up time we consider much more valuable. And we used to hop. Used to go from open to close. No more. Best thing we ever did is slow down....

Long gone are the days when I could go from park open to park close. I like to hit the parks at rope drop, do all I can while staying ahead of the crowds, and then head back to my hotel shortly after lunch. But after a quick old guy nap I'm ready to hit a park again till closing, enjoying a nice dinner and the evening entertainment (parades, fireworks, etc.). This could be tough without a hopper, such as those days when DAK or DHS closes early. With the hopper it's easy to spend the morning in DAK and then head to the MK or Epcot and go till closing time (or 10 or 11pm, whichever comes first!).

 

[jrogue]

My family and I love park hopping and definitely do not mind if we end one day and begin the next with the same resort. That's the beauty of the hopping -- as long as it works with your schedule it should be great! If you are worried about going to the same park, then maybe plan different sections for the park for each day.