Park Hopping vs One Park a day

[joejccva71]

Hello again everyone. I wasn't sure which section this kind of topic should be at but I'm trying to do some planning so I figured "Trip Planning" would be a good spot.

I went ahead and got the 5 park day with the park hopper as part of my package, but I'm curious. What do you believe is the best and most efficient way to visit the parks? Do you just give one full day to each park and stay there all day? Or do you park hop in a way where you would visit Epcot in the AM, and then go to MK in the PM one day, and then vice versa on a different day (MK in AM, Epcot PM)?

Just curious how you guys plan your trips? And with that being said, the only reason why I'm asking is my 10 year old has never been to Disney so I don't want her to be worn out by the 2nd or 3rd day of our trip.

Any tips/advice?

Thanks again guys!

 

[joejccva71]

We have always park hopped. We would plan out our schedule around the EMH and what dining reservations we have made. When we were at WDW in Feb 2013 with our DD (3yo at the time) we would be at the our park of choice right away when the gates opened, then around 11 or noon go back to the resort to let her nap and grab something to eat, maybe some pool time too. Then usually 4-5 we would go to another park for the rest of the day. We are going back in Feb of 2015 and will probably do about the same thing.

Think that kind of plan would work for a 10 year old? Were you still able to see everything? What was your itinerary like if you don't mind me asking?

 

[jlsHouston]

I didn't start park hopping until the about my 4th trip to WDW. I can go either way. Park Hopping worked well for me not for the sake of rides and attractions but more for dining....
Now that there are 3 FP+ allowed per day and only at one park, you could plan on getting to a park early and doing as many rides as possible walk on til it got busy then moving to the next park and select your fp at the 2nd park for late afternoon/evening hours.
In all honesty if you are a commando type park hopping is something you will like. If you are more of a take it easy, I still got time person then hopping is kind of ....hectic ?
People who know the parks and rides well, park hop well. Also if you know after say 4-6 hours you are going to want to do another 4-6 hours at another place besides your resort by all means get park hoppers.

 

[SMS55]

If you're a newbie, then I would recommend stay in one park. There's a lot to see and if you have really little ones, you may need to go back to the room for a nap. We park hop because there are certain things that we can go without doing sometimes. If you work the fast pass system and get their early, you can knock out most of the park in half a day.

 

[PHS79]

Think that kind of plan would work for a 10 year old? Were you still able to see everything? What was your itinerary like if you don't mind me asking?

I think it all kinda depends on the kid to be honest. I know when my boss was at WDW in 2012 with his then 10 and 6 yo DDs they did pretty much the same thing we did, they are going back in late March and doing about the same thing as far as I know.

We saw and did every ride that we wanted to 2 if not 3 times or more. And saw all the non-ride attractions we wanted to.

We were at WDW for 8 days/7 nights with park hopper for 6 days. On Day 1 we got to WDW roughly noon on day 1 and hung out at the pool for a couple hours, then napped and went to DTD for the night. Days 2-7 we spent most of our time at MK, Epcot was second most amount of time, we spent about 6 hrs total all in one day to AK, and only 4-5 hrs at HS (about 1-1.5hrs of it was a character meal). But I have been to WDW 6 or 7 times and kinda knew some of the things that we "had" to do and things that weren't worth wasting our time on, I personally didn't want to go to HS but my wife and DD had never been to WDW before so I figured we better do it just to see what it was like since I was there last.

On our next trip, Feb 2015 which is probably also going to be 8 days/7 nights, we are not even going to waste our time at HS. And we are also probably only going to do a 5 day hopper, and just take 1 day out of the vacation to just relax around the pool and check out some other resorts, and other non park related things.

Hope this helps!

 

[GoofGoof]

A couple variables to consider. If you go at an off time (like right now) the parks tend to close early and it doesn't get super hot so it makes a lot of sense to stay in one park all day. In the heat of the summer when MK stays open until midnight a lot of people plan an afternoon break to avoid the hottest part of the day with either a swim in the pool or relaxing in the room in the AC. After the break its easy to hop to a different park for the evening/night. No lost time commuting since you were going back to the hotel either way. Just keep in mind that the buses can be unpredictable and you may need to take more than one to get from park to park so hopping can take upwards of an hour of your time.

Another factor is where you are staying. If you are in a resort that is a walk or monorail ride to a park, hopping to that park is really easy. For example if you stay at CR and you are taking the monorail back from EPCOT after illuminations you have to stop at the MK anyway so if it's still open you can get some rides in, see wishes or even just grab an ice cream or some candy for a night time snack. Same goes for staying at a Boardwalk resort with a short and easy walk to the back entrance to EPCOT. It's pretty much never a bad idea to hit the French Bakery for a pastry and it's such a short walk.

 

[Weather_Lady]

It depends on when you're visiting.

If it's a low crowd time of year, IMHO the better touring strategy is to AVOID the park(s) with EMH, as they will see a bump in crowds because of it. With lower crowds, there's no real need for parkhoppers. Spend a full day at AK (if you're doing a special evening activity, dinner show or resort restaurant dinner, do it that day as well), a full day at HS, 1-2 full days at Epcot and 2 full days at the Magic Kingdom. If you have a half-day to "fill" and want to stay on property, go to Disney Springs (f/k/a "Downtown Disney") for Cirque, shopping, dining or bowling at Splitsville, or visit another WDW resort for dining or just a walkabout, or swim in your own resort pool and take advantage of its particular on-site amenities - fishing, surrey bikes, whatever strikes your fancy. You can also visit Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens for some of the most beautifully designed and creative mini-golfing you'll ever encounter. There are myriad ways to fill a day without visiting a second park.

If it's a higher crowd time of year, using EMH can be essential to avoid long standby lines. When we visited during Easter break, we'd start off at rope drop at the park with morning EMH (if any), get a ton of headliners done in the first couple of hours, hop to a non-EMH park and do some more touring using Fastpass (nowadays you'd have to schedule FP+ for that park), then go back to the resort and rest up for a late night, and at the end of the day, hop to the park with EMH (if any) and stay late. We'd get more done (meaning "more attractions visited") in the first and last 90 minutes of the day than during all the rest of the day combined.

 

[boilerpicc]

I've park hopped my whole life. When I was young, we would go to a park in the morning, do a resort/pool break, and then go someplace else in the evening. On our last trip, we went to the MK only to find that is was surprisingly crowded (see the post about about EMH in non-peak times). Instead of dealing with that, we left and went to the AK where the crowds were low. We went back to the MK on another day.

I have to think park hopping will be good for your 10-year-old. If it turns out she likes one park better than the others, you can go to that one more often. I was very into DHS and the World Showcase when I was that age, so we spent more time there. Now I have a toddler, so I spend more time at the MK.

With park hopping, you can also completely abuse the Disney transportation system. My brother and I used to come up with the strangest ways to move from park to park (boat from DHS to Epcot, walk through Epcot, monorail to MK, etc) and then have transportation races. Maybe not the best idea for someone's first trip, but much more fun than riding the buses

 

[joejccva71]

It depends on when you're visiting.

If it's a low crowd time of year, IMHO the better touring strategy is to AVOID the park(s) with EMH, as they will see a bump in crowds because of it. With lower crowds, there's no real need for parkhoppers. Spend a full day at AK (if you're doing a special evening activity, dinner show or resort restaurant dinner, do it that day as well), a full day at HS, 1-2 full days at Epcot and 2 full days at the Magic Kingdom. If you have a half-day to "fill" and want to stay on property, go to Disney Springs (f/k/a "Downtown Disney") for Cirque, shopping, dining or bowling at Splitsville, or visit another WDW resort for dining or just a walkabout, or swim in your own resort pool and take advantage of its particular on-site amenities - fishing, surrey bikes, whatever strikes your fancy. You can also visit Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens for some of the most beautifully designed and creative mini-golfing you'll ever encounter. There are myriad ways to fill a day without visiting a second park.

If it's a higher crowd time of year, using EMH can be essential to avoid long standby lines. When we visited during Easter break, we'd start off at rope drop at the park with morning EMH (if any), get a ton of headliners done in the first couple of hours, hop to a non-EMH park and do some more touring using Fastpass (nowadays you'd have to schedule FP+ for that park), then go back to the resort and rest up for a late night, and at the end of the day, hop to the park with EMH (if any) and stay late. We'd get more done (meaning "more attractions visited") in the first and last 90 minutes of the day than during all the rest of the day combined.

I'm going from May 5th - 11th and according to the calendars it's considered "regular time" and has low to moderate crowds. The thing I was also considering was that my 10 yo has never been to Disney before so I didn't want her to get worn out by the 2nd day by spending full days at parks, so I got the 5 day park hopper option and was going to do something like:

Monday: Arrive at 4pm, check into Pop Century and head to DTD with ADR at Fulton's. Go to bed early.

Tuesday: AM Epcot (lunch at Noon then go back to resort for nap or pool time), then go to MK at 5pm with 3 FP+ headliners, then fireworks at 10pm, electrical parade at 11pm.

Wednesday: AM MK, PM Epcot and have a nice dinner at one of the places in WS, Illuminations at 9.

Thursday: No parks in the AM (Pool and Resort time), probably go to MK at night.

Friday: AK until 3pm - then Epcot at night.

Saturday: AM HS, midday back to Resort, then go back to HS at night for Fantasmic.

Sunday: Departure back home in the AM.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I'm going from May 5th - 11th and according to the calendars it's considered "regular time" and has low to moderate crowds. The thing I was also considering was that my 10 yo has never been to Disney before so I didn't want her to get worn out by the 2nd day by spending full days at parks, so I got the 5 day park hopper option and was going to do something like:

Monday: Arrive at 4pm, check into Pop Century and head to DTD with ADR at Fulton's. Go to bed early.

Tuesday: AM Epcot (lunch at Noon then go back to resort for nap or pool time), then go to MK at 5pm with 3 FP+ headliners, then fireworks at 10pm, electrical parade at 11pm.

Wednesday: AM MK, PM Epcot and have a nice dinner at one of the places in WS, Illuminations at 9.

Thursday: No parks in the AM (Pool and Resort time), probably go to MK at night.

Friday: AK until 3pm - then Epcot at night.

Saturday: AM HS, midday back to Resort, then go back to HS at night for Fantasmic.

Sunday: Departure back home in the AM.

The only "issue" I see would be that late night on Tuesday. It's going to be tough to make rope drop at MK the next day if your daughter hasn't gotten to bed until midnight the night before. Why not watch the 9pm Electrical Parade on May 6th instead of the 11pm? That would at least get you out of there one hour earlier... Better yet, switch your itinerary for that day with your Saturday itinerary, so your "latest night" would be your last, and you can end your trip with the Magic Kingdom, which is likely to be your daughter's favorite park.

 

[joejccva71]

The only "issue" I see would be that late night on Tuesday. It's going to be tough to make rope drop at MK the next day if your daughter hasn't gotten to bed until midnight the night before. Why not watch the 9pm Electrical Parade on May 6th instead of the 11pm? That would at least get you out of there one hour earlier... Better yet, switch your itinerary for that day with your Saturday itinerary, so your "latest night" would be your last, and you can end your trip with the Magic Kingdom, which is likely to be your daughter's favorite park.

Well the thing is, Saturday is EMH for HS.

 

[stevehousse]

We are going May 6-13 and that week we r going is a great low crowd week! We have been to wdw 5 times during that time and have never waited longer than 30 minute for anything! The crowds r usually insanely low with most rides being a walk on! We actually will be at MK that Tuesday and Thursday same as you and Friday is our Epcot day! Hope you and your daughter have a great time!

 

[joejccva71]

We are going May 6-13 and that week we r going is a great low crowd week! We have been to wdw 5 times during that time and have never waited longer than 30 minute for anything! The crowds r usually insanely low with most rides being a walk on! We actually will be at MK that Tuesday and Thursday same as you and Friday is our Epcot day! Hope you and your daughter have a great time!

That is great to hear!

So question, do you do the park hopping thing during that week or do you do the one park all day?

 

[stevehousse]

I have little ones, almost 3 and 5. Hopping with them and stroller and waiting an traveling between parks can be a hassle with all that involved so we only do one park a day and always schedule one sit down meal a day as well. It's easier for us and the boys as well. I used to park hop all the time when I didn't have kids though because it was easier. When thy get older we will do that again, but one park a day always works for us and them right now with their ages.

If it's your daughters first time she will probably want to see everything in the park, and at that age, she might not want to leave to go somewhere else?!? You know your daughter more than anyone, so you will know what she would want to do. Involve her in the planning and see if she is comfortable leaving a park not getting to do everything to go somewhere else.

Your plans seem fine to me but I would make sure she is ok with that. Whichever you decide, she will have a blast but remember when taking busses and such it can take a lot longer to switch between the parks and can eat up your day traveling everywhere.

 

[stevehousse]

If you are interested in our itinerary for our May trip, I have a pre trip report I jut started, "my family's pirate adventure" in the trip report section along with my Nov trip report, "that family on small world was so bogus". Check it out if you want to get a feel for how our trips with one park a day usually go!

 

[rt06]

EMH means more people. If HS has EMH, I would go to AK. If MK has EMH, I would go to EP. And vice versa. Though I can't resist night EMH. I love the parks at night. And 8AM is rough for me.

May is low crowd so it might not matter.

 

[rt06]

For your Saturday, consider the Fantasmic! Dinner Package to guarantee seating. The menus are prix fixe and Mama Melrose has a lunch option so you can eat at 12 and be back at the resort by 1.

 

[maelstrom98]

We park hop. To make it easier on everyone, especially during the hot summer months, our schedule usually looks like this:

Get to a park for park opening (EMH if they have it)
Midday (right around when it starts to feel REALLY hot) back to room to swim (or nap)
Off to another park and there until close

 

[71dsp]

We park hop always. Rarely are we at one park all day. There's no need to cram it all in, just come back another day. We have resort time mid day to swim, shop, etc. recharge batteries and head to a different park for the evening. It's just a more relaxing pace and eliminates the "we have to do it all because I can't get back in without giving something up" feeling. For kids, it also helps avoid those impulse souvenir purchases. Our kids look around and we go back to wherever they found their most desired purchases and get them at the end of the trip.

We park hopped nearly every day on our last visit. It seems the more we go to WDW, the more we park hop. We will usually take advantage of extra magic hours, but that usually means that particular park will be the most crowded, so for morning EMHs, we'll arrive at the park at opening, ride a few rides and stick around until it starts getting crowded then head to a different park. For evening EMHs, we'll visit a park then a couple of hours before late EMHs start, we'll head to the park with the EMHs. This has worked well for us in the past.

 

[SAV]

We got hoppers the first 2 trips we did and we never found ourselves hopping. There is so much to do at each park, we had no reason to go to another one. So now we save the money and just do one park per day. We normally go during Early to mid June, so it isn't exactly low crowds, but they are building.

We tour commando, so we get in and don't leave until we are back at the room to sleep.

We usually do 2 days at MK, 2 at EPCOT, 2 at AK and one at DHS. We have never left a park that day feeling like we didn't have enough time to do anything.

I see all of these people leaving AK in the early afternoon and I thank you!!! It's awesome to be able to go back on everything with little to no wait after the parade.

 

[Figgy1]

I haven't hopped since the 80 when all tickets were hoppers and there was only 2 parks. We go for 10 park days and can make multiple full days out of each park so no reason to spend the extra money for us! Happy planning!