park hopping.......very misunderstood

[danlb_2000]

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.

I can think of a couple reasons to hop beyond that, most of which I have done...

- If we are taking a 5 day trip we may dedicate one day to each of the fours parks, but on the fifth we may hop to two or even three parks to hit the things we missed or just want to re-ride.

- If we are taking a 4 day trip and decide to dedicate a day to each park, but we get heavy rain on day one, we can use the flexibility of the park hopper to combine parks in the other three days.

- If you go to MK on a Halloween or Christmas party day, you can hop to another park in the evening.

- We stay at the Swan and Dolphin a lot so it's not uncommon for us to go to a park other then Epcot during the day, got back to the hotel for a break, and then go to Epcot for dinner in the evening.

- During Food and Wine festival we can hop to Epcot on a couple days to try more of the food.

 

[Damon7777]

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?

It looks like you more or less understand what I'm getting at--- you indeed got the gist(Yes, you surprised me afterall).......Which begs the question: why did you announce earlier to the board that you did not know what my point is when you had a fairly good grasp of it???? And you even prefaced it with a "to be honest"......
Hmmmmm??


Time to expand on my point.

If individual Disney parks (Universal, too) offered an experience so stellar, so over the top, something so profound and meaningful then the park goer would have little desire to seek entertainment at another park. If these individual parks arrested the guest like what Star Wars did to the movie goer in 1977.........whereby viewers would not leave their seats because they were so invested and saturated, just fully engrossed in the experience, even forsaking bathroom breaks and concession eats from opening scrolls to closing credits............then guests would not concern themselves with hopping over to get that 2:30 Test Track ride or making that 7pm dinner reservation at Citricos. They would finish the "movie" which they started.

Fittingly, I bet Galaxy's Edge will arrest the guest to the point of her not wanting to hop to a different park experience.

 

[NormC]

Welcome back Jordan.

 

[Allym146]

Could I stay at any park from open to close? Yes. Do I? Rarely. Why?
Short trip
With kids
Want to escape from kids and go to a separate park on my own
Operating hours
ADRs
I will literally hop for 1 ride 1 fireworks show 1 snack. Who cares?
80 min wait for FOP that I can't pass up when no one else with me plans to ride it
Tired so I take a break and I'm just so fickle that I decide to go somewhere else
It's at no fault of the park. Just my desire/preference/why do I need to explain myself? Honestly, again...who cares?

 

[Damon7777]

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.

Sorry Ralph for being late(somehow I overlooked your post yesterday).........I already made an analogy to a time in cinema history whereby the product(movie) was so magical, earthshaking as to arrest its audiences to the point of they would queue up for a 4th and 5th visit for hours. They were doing this in 1977 and to them it was so special they had no interest in another product.

The parks, particularly in WDW, do not arrest the guest enough to keep them inside. People in here can keep coming up with reasons to hop......"I do nights at Epcot", "Mk is too crowded on Sundays", Ak is near my hotel at AK Lodge" but ultimately it demonstrates Disney's failure at the individual park level, to hold its guest captive.

If the products(parks) were stellar and earthshaked the guest then the guest would endure the crazy crowds and stay in that park and not seek a less crowded one.---as what I fully predict will happen with Gal Edge.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

Well, aren't a lot of people on this site big Disney World goers? They might already know what Disney offers and don't have to stick around as long, probably why a lot of us are arguing the fact about park-hopper usage. Maybe if there were more newbies who have never been or who have been only a couple of times could probably help your argument. We just don't know because we are Disney goers already ourselves. We know what it offers.

 

[danyoung56]

...ultimately it demonstrates Disney's failure at the individual park level, to hold its guest captive.

You are of course welcome to your opinion. But from my point of view, you are completely wrong in your assertion. I don't leave the MK because I run out of things to do. I leave the MK because it's time to do so. I visit every 6 months or so, and it's unreasonable to think that anything in any of the parks could force me to stay, no matter how new and unique and compelling. And I think your analogy to the movies is a bit stretched. Sure, there were groups of fanbois who watched Star Wars 6 times in a row. But most of the public watched it once, maybe coming back on another day for a 2nd viewing.

 

[DisneyFreak]

I find the park hopper option no longer a viable option for us, especially at the additional cost. The time it takes getting from park-to-park is also part of the problem. The only way it makes sense for us is if we were going back to the resort in the afternoon for a break and then head to another park in the evening. Other than that we just plan our days in one park.

 

[NormC]

...... but ultimately it demonstrates Disney's failure at the individual park level, to hold its guest captive.

If the products(parks) were stellar and earthshaked the guest then the guest would endure the crazy crowds and stay in that park and not seek a less crowded one.---as what I fully predict will happen with Gal Edge.

You are entitled to your opinion Jordan but your logic is flawed. Guests go to WDW knowing full well that it is a resort that includes all of the individual parks, hotels, dining, water parks, and shopping and they use hoppers to make the best of this. Some choose not to do so and that is fine as well. They clearly still hold their guest captive as their beds are full.

How many more accounts are you going to create here just to be argumentative?

@wdwmagic

 

[Damon7777]

don't leave the MK because I run out of things to do. I leave the MK because it's time to do so.

Danny,
Did I even come close to talking about the amount of things to do? I never did. My position has never been about quantity on this thread but about *quality*.

Are you really telling us with a straight face that if Disney pulled out all the stops and grabbed your soul with something so profound and special in a specific park you would pack up and find another park, Really?

 

[Coaster Lover]

We utilized it a lot on our trip simply because Pandora was open MUCH later than all of the rest of the parks. While we were there, most of the parks closed at 9 or 10. With the park hopper, it gave us the opportunity to extend our day with an extra few hours at Pandora (which we wouldn't have been able to do without the hopper). Was it worth the extra cost just for a few hours at Pandora each night? That's debatable, though we did get a TON more rides on the Pandora attractions due to those EMH. If all of the parks opened and closed around the same time (within an hour of each other), the added value of the park hopper would diminish some (at least for me).

 

[Damon7777]

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

Yes....traveled there my first time in 2004 specifically just to see Dis Sea and then a few more times over the years. I used to live in East Asia for fun and recreation on and off for about 6 years

Yes, 2 parks at TDR....one very worthy and another completely out of this world in quality, far supreme to any USA park.

 

[danyoung56]

Are you really telling us with a straight face that if Disney pulled out all the stops and grabbed your soul with something so profound and special in a specific park you would pack up and find another park, Really?

Yes, really. I'd experience the attraction, enjoy it, probably plan to come back the next day to see it, and then leave because it was time to do so. There is absolutely nothing Disney could do, no attraction they could build, to keep me, say, in the MK for an entire day if that wasn't what I'd planned to do. Yeah, I might adjust things to come back later. But there are 4 parks to see (well, 3 1/2), and hopping is a terrific way to experience more attractions.

 

[larandtra]

Yet another example of someone who will argue constantly, move the lines and change their argument just to continue arguing, all the while doing so to have nothing more than a negative attitude about anything Disney does. Want to complain about dumb decisions management makes, absolutely. Want to try and find things to complain about, you become a joke and none of your arguments on any topic ever have merit.

 

[Ralphlaw]

).........I already made an analogy to a time in cinema history whereby the product(movie) was so magical, earthshaking as to arrest its audiences to the point of they would queue up for a 4th and 5th visit for hours. They were doing this in 1977 and to them it was so special they had no interest in another product.
.

Oh I remember when Star Wars was released. I believe it was the same time as Disney's bomb, "The Black Hole". Anyhow, few cities, if any, had multi-plexes back then. Most theatres showed a single movie, and your TV maybe had 7 channels if you splurged for cable. And almost no one had video tape machines. Star Wars was truly ground-breaking, striking a chord against the "Who is the good guy, who is the bad guy?" movies of the earlier 70s. Great story. Mythological themes. And never before seen special effects. Clear friends and enemies were also very refreshing.

Question: Once you've been to any parks, or indeed any place at all, more than 5 times, can it truly hold your interest for an entire day? In 2017, I fear that no place can do that very well. Some cities, like London, Venice and Florence can, but virtually no resorts or parks. We pick and choose, select and grow bored, and seek the next thrill or better dinner to satisfy our right to individualization.

Case in point: I no longer trust Travel Agents to do much of anything for us. They'll book a flight at a less than optimal time for us. They'll find a hotel that is okay, but a better one is a mile away. Indeed, I have taken my family to Europe each of the last four summers, and it often takes me looking at the websites of dozens of hotels in each city to find the right one. I'm not satisfied with a nice hotel, I want the perfect one at the perfect price and location for my family. Similarly, when I'm at Disney, I don't want to have dinner at one of the Studios restaurants, I want to wander back to the Boardwalk, take a rest, jump in the pool, grab a bite, and then spend the evening at a park that offers better food and/or night-time experiences. By the way, Studios in the evening is very nice, but we've been there done that. Plus, something better (for us) is nearby.

Truly, it would be great if each of the parks was so spectacular in 2017 that it would hold our interest for an entire day and evening, but I do not think it is possible for experienced travelers who've been in each park many times. Or, for that matter, for the guests who have a list of things to complete in a short amount of time. Variety, thy name is the 21st century. And park hopper is an integral part of that for many Disney guests.

 

[Weather_Lady]

No American would speak like that. or Brit for that matter.

"Far superior to any US park" would be the correct phrase.

This might be part of the problem in this thread since there may be a cultural and language barrier in what you are trying to communicate.

Good point. The diction has had me scratching my head all along -- e.g., references to whether a park is "sound"? I agree that the misunderstandings are being exacerbated by ESL issues... combined with an appreciable amount of gaslighting and rudeness on the part of the OP.

 

[Jedi Stitch]

To be honest, I was like many not fully using the hopper add on. We would go from drop to kiss goodnight at most parks and would be just bushed. The few days after we had been to each park a full day, we started to hop. Before DAK had a night time, you went to DAK, and then, said hey why not such n such show at the other places. My daughter loves ToT. We went first thing on last day. It was broke down the night before and now in the morn. We check out a few other rides and B-fast at the park, then my wife wanted to go look at EPCOT, so we did, and finally finished the day with Wishes at MK.

 

[eliza61nyc]

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.
t.

I am not sure I understand what that means. Get's what she wants? for example, I park hop all the time. Hollywood studios imo is a 3 hour park. I go in, get what I want (like in this instance) and then I'm done.

How is a park "not sound"?

i apologize I did not read all the replies.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Could be one of those Russian "Trolls" that CNN keeps mentioning.

LOL - is even parkhopping a political issue, now? Don't tell me somebody wants to build a wall around Epcot to keep people from hopping freely to the international pavilions, and is trying to influence our views on the subject...

 

[eliza61nyc]

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.

not necessarily. you are trying to quantify a product that has way to many variables to do so. for many people Epcot is as "fleshed out" as you can get, people love it. but while we love it once again we don't need an entire day in there. we've done WS to death so basically after we hit our rides and meander a bit we're done. Now of course we tend to go when parks are open 12-16 hours so no matter how fleshed out a park was, we wouldn't be spending 16 hours in one place.