park hopping.......very misunderstood

[Ralphlaw]

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.

I understand your point: If each park justified a full day, then park hopping would be superfluous. But I don't think people see it that way at all. Multiplex movie theaters show a dozen movies because people want variety. It's not an admission that none of their movies is good enough to satisfy everyone who would want to see a movie. It's a bow to choice and individuality.

I've never been to Tokyo (bucket list) so I wouldn't be able to compare. Envious. I am curious to know how many times you have been there. As I understand it, they have only two parks there, so I imagine it's rare for people to spend a week or more there. If I were to go there, I would be less inclined to park hop because each park would have so much of its own newness to me that wouldn't be tempted to go anywhere else for a day.

At WDW, you have lot's of people in the south who come for the weekend or a day, and people like me who stay for at least a week. Many people have also been there many many times. On our first trip, we had no trouble staying interested in each park for a full day. Now, I'd be very grumpy if I was stuck at any one of them for a full day. I like the variety, and I also like getting out of MK when the crowds get too insane. Disney is selling choice, not a grudging admission that their parks won't hold your interest for a full day. Also, I've never been to Universal, but as I understand it, you have to buy the equivalent of a park hopper if you want to do everything Harry Potter in one day. That's a far more obvious money play, assuming it's true.

 

[NormC]

A guest only hops when she can not get what she wants in the first park. If a park were sound enough then one would not leave it to go to another.

Wrong. Both of those statements are wrong. WDW is a resort. It is not a single park. Hopping gives you flexibility to do as you wish and see what you like when you want. Our family has hopped all over the resort for years. We have done four parks in a day just for fun. Usually it is two or maybe three. We don't uber plan our vacations. We just go with the flow and hopping allows us to do so.

 

[Ralphlaw]

The Harry Potter train can only be ridden if you have park hopper. Everything else can be done in two days. (One day in each park)

Of course everything is much cheaper. The annual pass which includes park hopper can be as cheap as $284 a year.

I thought it was something like that. I'd only want to go for one day, probably. Who knows? I do know that we would be very upset if we couldn't do ALL of the Harry Potter stuff in the one day that we were there.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

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.

Wow dude...just...wow

 

[Damon7777]

Wrong. WDW is a resort.

Try again......WDW is a collection of individual parks as well.....both events are true.

 

[Rsj88]

The problem is not that there is not enough to do in each park. I hop because there is to much to do in just one day. If we had two weeks I wouldn’t worry with hopping but we usually only have about five or six days for a trip. That means we have plan extra hard to fit it all in. Hopping allows us to hit parks when they are the least crowded and then hop to which ever park has magic hours. This trip I was lucky enough to land 3 FP for flight of passage. I would love to spend three days in AK but I would also love to spend three whole days in all the other parks as well. So we will spend one whole day in AK and then hop on the other two days we have FOP FP to hit our favorite rides at the othe parks.

 

[NormC]

Try again......WDW is a collection of individual parks as well.....both events are true.

Semantics. WDW is a resort. The sentences I quoted above in my previous post are still wrong.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

 

[Stitch_Fan_NJ]

Try again......WDW is a collection of individual parks as well.....both events are true.

This is a losing battle folks... to be honest I don’t know what the original point of this thread was.

 

[Damon7777]

.. to be honest I don’t know what the original point of this thread was

Thanks for proving my point about not reading or not having the basic intellect to understand. Congrats!

 

[Stitch_Fan_NJ]

Thanks for proving my point about not reading or not having the basic intellect to understand. Congrats!

Ah yes you got me I lack intellect and basic comprehension .

Here’s a tip maybe have a better argument then this is my opinion and anyone that disagrees is wrong

Your basic argument is park hopper exists because of short comings and lack of “entertainment” in the parks and Disney knows this so they offer Park hoppers. Is this not your original argument?

 

[KBLovedDisney]

Ah yes you got me I lack intellect and basic comprehension .

Here’s a tip maybe have a better argument then this is my opinion and anyone that disagrees is wrong

^^^^ This. 1,000x this. You come to a blog site dude to express an opinion. However, others have an opinion too. Just because you stated something, doesn't make it right over all.

And then you go and get all KatieBug about it...sheesh

 

[Phonedave]

Back to "discussion" of the topic at hand, I think one thing that has not been brought up is, sometimes families want to do different things. Now that my kids are older, sometimes they want o go off and do something that other members of the family do not - such as wait on the Avatar FoP line *again*. A Park Hopper means that person can go off to AK in the moning and do so, and then meet up with the rest of the family in the afternoon at EPCOT.

On other reason that we use the hopper at times is if we are staying in an EPCOT area resort. Sometimes we eat breakfast in RPCOT (Les Halles or Sunshine Seasons) before heading over the MK on the Monorail. It's nice to entere via the IG, eat, and then walk out the main gate and take the monorail to MK.

-dave

 

[Ralphlaw]

Why does every thread have to get so nasty? Can't people be courteous, or at least agree to disagree?

I respectfully disagree with the original poster, but Damon makes a valid point that is very much worth contemplating. Is each person's park hopping opinion so important to the core of their being that they can't live in a world with someone who disagrees? With terrorism, global-warming, political circuses, North Korea, the TTA narration, and dozens of other real issues of importance in the world, why does park hopping engender such venom? Get a life, and be courteous.

Acting angrily, like over-eating, is easy. Showing restraint, like taking a pass on your third trip through the buffet line, is hard--but it shows maturity, discipline and a bunch of other admirable qualities that are so often lacking by some on Boards like these.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

With terrorism, global-warming, political circuses, North Korea, the TTA narration, and dozens of other real issues of importance in the world, why does park hopping engender such venom? Get a life, and be courteous.

Acting angrily, like over-eating, is easy. Showing restraint, like taking a pass on your third trip through the buffet line, is hard--but it shows maturity, discipline and a bunch of other admirable qualities that are so often lacking by some on Boards like these.

And I seriously started to think of Boma with the buffet.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Crystal Palace and the German Pavilion struck me.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

Normally on trips, we actually don't get park hoppers and just go to one park per day. The reason behind this is that we usually spread out Disney over an entire week with a one day break in-between. However, if we (or just myself) go on a very short trip, that's when we get park hoppers. It just depends on what we choose and how we want to work the trip. Hey, but works for me might not work for someone else and that is a.o.k.

 

[NormC]

Crystal Palace and the German Pavilion struck me.

I love the German buffet but my kids were shocked they had to sit with strangers. Crystal Palace is great as well.

 

[thomas998]

No doubt that millions use the feature(for good reasons, too)......but what I'm getting at is the obvious but often overlooked:

A guest only hops when she can not get what she wants in the first park. If a park were sound enough then one would not leave it to go to another.

When I'm in Tokyo I do not park hop because each of the two parks are self contained experiences, offerings everything I could ever want/need for the day from attractions to eats to shopping

And when I'm in Anaheim I hop on a very limited basis because once again, for the most part, each park is sufficient.

But what you are missing is the reason some people hop. We go and have no idea how crowded a park is going to be when we go. Reality is sometimes a park for whatever reason gets very crowded and when it does you can waste an extra 45 minutes in every ride line for the rest of the day or go to another park and often avoid that crowd.

I'm also baffled why you don't use the hopping at DL to the max... To me that is the biggest advantage to DL over MK that I don't have to waste any time on a bus, car, boat, or whatever getting from one park to another... As the evening approaches and the huge fantasmik crowd starts to build up in DL I can just walk 50 yards and go to CA for a bit then swap back before the god awful World of Color starts.

We don't hop because we think no park has enough for a full day, we hop to avoid the unknown crowding that often happens.

 

[nickys]

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))

Ouch, looks like I hit a nerve somewhere.

You did however claim people "mindlessly eat it up", referring to the need for park hoppers.

To me, if people do this mindlessly, they are doing so without thinking, rendering it kinda pointless - no? We could argue semantics here, but there seems no reason to. My reasons for choosing to park hop are no less valid because I misquoted you. However YMMV.

In truth it's a much deliberated decision anyway, and plenty of people ask "should I park hop or not?". Therefore people are not mindlessly accepting the need for them, not least because it' costs considerably more. Luckily I don't have this problem, all UK tickets include the park hopper plus extras automatically (and are cheaper than base tickets sold in the US).