To Hop or not to Hop?

[NintendoDS]

Even before FP+, my last few trips we didn't park hop. It didn't seem worth the extra cost to us. We usually spend 5 - 6 days in the park, 2 at MK, 1 or 2 days at Epcot, 1 at the Studios and 1 at Animal Kingdom (and we usually went to DTD at night of the AK day). Now with not being able to get FP+ at more than 1 park, I know we will not get park hoppers next trip whenever that is.

 

[JohnD]

I'm a hopper but my parents aren't who I'm going with in April. It's easier for them to purchase a three-day standard ticket and do two full days in Epcot and one full day in AK. Now, after dinner one night, I may see them to their transportation and hop on over to MK, especially if it closes at 1am (I have an AP).

 

[DisneyJoe]

We will still continue to park hop. We like to stay at the Epcot resorts and we often find ourselves walking through the World Showcase in the evenings having a few drinks or getting dinner. Without the park hoppers, that would be near impossible unless we spent all of our days at Epcot as well.

Plus, having the park hoppers gives us some flexibility. If we finish up at another park early and still want to check things out, we can always spend the afternoon at a different park.

And with the FP+, I think the strategy will be like someone above said, which is to get to the morning park at rope drop and hit all the headliners, then head to a different park that afternoon and have your FP+ reservations for that park. Doesn't devalue the park hopper to me, just alters the way I'd have to plan my day.

Well said, exactly how I do it.

 

[Allym146]

I like to hop. We didn't on our last trip and it was hard, they were long days.

 

[luv]

I always had the ability to hop. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't. I think you can have a successful trip either way. It's all about how you plan and how much time you have.

If you're using your scheduled ride times and can schedule them in the afternoon, you could actually get more done in the parks in a shorter amount of time, IMO.

I know this couldn't have been Disney's intention when they started, but I think people who are willing to get up early will be able to squeeze in more time for Uni this way.

 

[acishere]

If I am only in the park for 5 days I like to use the hopper (Thanks a lot Dish, now I have to say that in a Boston accent). It lets me do a return visit to both MK and Epcot on one day. It also frees me up to either watch Fantasmic on my AK or DHS day since I finish both those parks by around 3 or 4. Extended stays I don't get it just because everything can get it's own day (and Epcot and MK get 2 each).

 

[Susan Savia]

We like to park at Epcot and monorail over to MK, and then return in the late afternoon to Epcot and spend some time. We also like going into AK and doing the few things in there we enjoy and leaving about 11:00 and hopping to either another park or to Downtown Disney. Love the hopping....

 

[bethymouse]

We usually do 1 park a day ( 4 days), and just rest/relax at the pool/resort. We tried park hopping once and were exhausted.
But, if I ever get to stay at the BC/YC/BWI then I will definitely park hop between DHS and EPCOT. If staying at a value resort, you really must plan how you park hop as well as taking the buses! If at a MK resort, I might park hop between EPCOT and MK. Otherwise, no park hopping for us! I have twin boys age 9.

 

[Matt_Black]

On my last trip, I can't think of a single full day that I didn't hop.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

I still would hop on my next trip. The truth is I have no plans of using fastpass plus on my next trip.

 

[MinnieM123]

I'm fickle; I hop.

 

[Dwarful]

We were on the fence to hop this year. However, with the Tiered FP+ we have decided to hop. We have two full days at each park. We will go to the EMH mornings for sure. But we have decided that we will only use FP+ at Epcot one day and then use our second Epcot day at another park in the late day or evening. With the tiered system at Epcot for us it seems like a waste to use FP+.

 

[C&D]

We are fortunate to be able to visit twice a year (mostly) so we don't generally plan too far ahead enjoying going where we want whenever we want (when visiting the Parks) so that usually means a modicum of 'hopping'. We just about always return to our room at lunchtime so hopping is convenient if we have a quick change of plans.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I walk briskly, hopping is tough on my knee, old rugby injury.

 

[G00fyDad]

We got FP+ for later in the day at one park, but got to a different park first thing in the morning. Walk-ons for every ride that early (October) and then hopped to the other park after 3pm and used the FP's.

 

[WDWoptmist]

We haven't used park hoppers in the past few trips don't intend to this time has the Fastpass+ devalued park hopping so much that no one will use them still? opinions.

I think a lot of people will still hop anyway but FP+ certainly devalues your park hopper ticket, which is a big reason I think they will have to tweak FP+ some to allow for hopping but we will see I know during peak season I would probably avoid it if I couldn't have a FP to anything in a second park

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

i like to hop from park to park, but dh and i haven't used the fp+ system yet. i'm already formulating ways to start the day at one park and then use the fp+ for visiting another park in the afternoon. for us, the extra money for hoppers is worth it for the freedom to do what we want without crazy planning.

 

[G00fyDad]

i like to hop from park to park, but dh and i haven't used the fp+ system yet. i'm already formulating ways to start the day at one park and then use the fp+ for visiting another park in the afternoon. for us, the extra money for hoppers is worth it for the freedom to do what we want without crazy planning.

We tried the FP+ system just like that for our recent trip and it worked out pretty well. The only issue I had with it was what would happen if we decided last minute to change the park we wanted to go to in the afternoon. We did this a couple of times and I was able to change the FP's on my phone fairly easily and actually got some good times for some good attractions. Thankfully. I hope this works out as well for your trip.