To Park hop or not -- that is the question

durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
25 years ago when I started going to WDW as a child we would never park hop. We'd either stay in Orlando or later in the Disney Village as it was called back then and go from open to close at one park. Once we started staying on property we began to park hop, and now having kids of my own, I would have a hard time imagining not park hopping as we usually go to one park in the AM, come back to the resort and take a swim and or rest and then go to a different park in the evening. So I'm wondering, how many of you park hop and how many don't, and what's your reason for either choice?
 
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DisneyPrincess5

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Park hopping all the way! It's so fun to jump around and explore different parks in one day! Plus, I don't like the feeling of being "trapped" in one park for the whole day. I enjoy the freedom.
 
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nepalostparks

nepalostparks

Well-Known Member
When planning our first Disney trip, I like everybody else wanted to know whether or not to get the park hopper option. Sure, you can do one park per day, but for me, the benefits of having the park hopper were well worth the price.

It allows you the flexibilty I like to have while on vacation. Magic Kingdom getting to crowded in the late morning? Hop the monorail to Epcot. Rain moving in at Animal Kingdom? Hop to the Studios to do the indoor shows.

While I don't think the lack of the park hopper would ruin a vacation, it sure does help make it a better one for me and my family!
 
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njDizFan

njDizFan

Well-Known Member
I never understood Park Hopping. When I get to a park I don't see any reason to leave. I have it planned with ADRs to split up the day and stay completely immersed in that one park. I seems like a waste of time. that time spent transfering to another park is time wasted I could be on a few more attractions. Unless you did everything you wanted to do and just wanted to hit your favorite attractions at each park before you leave.
 
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durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
njDizFan said:
I never understood Park Hopping. When I get to a park I don't see any reason to leave. I have it planned with ADRs to split up the day and stay completely immersed in that one park. I seems like a waste of time. that time spent transfering to another park is time wasted I could be on a few more attractions. Unless you did everything you wanted to do and just wanted to hit your favorite attractions at each park before you leave.
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That's an interesting perspective. How long do you usually stay for? I wonder if the people who are park hopping are usually staying for 5 days or longer and those who aren't are basically staying for less than 5 days so they hit each park once. For our family, we've been to WDW about 30 times and don't feel the need to do each ride. We have our favorites and traditions, but also like the relaxed pace we're able to do by staying a little longer going back to the hotel each day for a swim and not trying to get on every ride. But that's just us, I'm sure a lot of people would view our way of doing things as a waste of time.
 
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njDizFan

njDizFan

Well-Known Member
that's a good point, I can only go once every 2 years and we stay for a week. In that week I like to pack in 2 days at Mk, 2 days at EPCOT, 1 each at DAK and DHS, and the last day for either sea world or resort hopping. So I need to see everything went I go with no time to waste.
 
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shaelyn

shaelyn

New Member
We're going next month and it's the first time we're not getting a park hopper in I-don't-know-how-long. I'm a little nervous, but since we'll only have 4.5 days in the parks, I'm hoping we'll be okay spending a full day in each park and an extra half day in probably Epcot.
 
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Atomicmickey

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
Park Hopping rocks!

If you're taking advantage of Extra Magic Hours, for example, you can start in a park, then hop over to the one that's open late.

Or start early in AK, then hop over to MK for Wishes.

Not to mention, last time we were there, on our last day, we did all four
parks in one day! It was a blast, going from park to park and hitting our favorites in a whirlwind tour!
 
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Monty

Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
I always have a hopper ticket, but also almost always only plan one park per day [unless a particular ADR conflicts with the plan]. I pay the extra for the flexibility to be able to just leave if favourite rides are down at the park I'm at and I don't want the delay of having to stop at a ticket window or GR to upgrade...

Disney must love me! :lol:
 
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mickeymatt

mickeymatt

Active Member
I have never park hopped. I would like to do that one time and see how we enjoy it but every time I look at the $$$ I just can't do it. Mostly our trip is just one day so yeah it doesn't make sense, but last Sept. We went for 5 days but with our ADR's in place we stayed in one park per day and still had a great time. One day (when I am out of grad school and actually have an income) I will get the park hopper option.
My question is how many of you get the Water parks option and is it worth having. I mean how many days do you need to spend at the waterparks before you break even?
 
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bgraham34

bgraham34

Well-Known Member
I always park hope. I dont have kids so its a lot easier. I always hit 2 parks a day and some does its 3 but I have never done 4. I love to split up my trips. Its a lot more fun and we also plan our parks around meal reservations as well.
 
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Jessie&Buzz

Jessie&Buzz

Active Member
We always park hop. It all depends on how busy a park is or what one has emh. We most likely will start out at the morning ones at one park and hop to the one with evening later.
 
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Beccone

Beccone

New Member
We have never park hopped and don't have plans on getting the hopper any time soon. Our kids are young and the time it takes to get them out of each park without screams, getting in the car (because we bring our double stroller and don't like dealing with it on the buses), then driving over to another park, it just seems like it would be a big waste of time. We do 2 days at MK, 2 days at Epcot, 2 at DHS and 1 at AK, we usually stay until close only 1 of the days at the park for the nighttime shows but leave after dinner on the other days. We get everything in that we want, in fact we've never left without thinking we've missed out on anything.
 
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sueuk

sueuk

Member
mickeymatt said:
I have never park hopped. I would like to do that one time and see how we enjoy it but every time I look at the $$$ I just can't do it. Mostly our trip is just one day so yeah it doesn't make sense, but last Sept. We went for 5 days but with our ADR's in place we stayed in one park per day and still had a great time. One day (when I am out of grad school and actually have an income) I will get the park hopper option.
My question is how many of you get the Water parks option and is it worth having. I mean how many days do you need to spend at the waterparks before you break even?
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We're quite lucky in the UK, there are special 14/21 day Ultimate tickets. They include unlimited parks, water parks, Disney Quest and park hopping - but they must be used within the 14/21 day limit and can only be bought here. They are really good value for money; so much so that most people buy them even if we aren't expecting to spend 14 full days in the parks ( because of the price, and to be able to call into a park on the way back from somewhere else without worrying about using a day ticket up.) We got ours for this September when we booked the holiday last Autumn, and paid £188 each for 14 days.
 
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durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
sueuk said:
We're quite lucky in the UK, there are special 14/21 day Ultimate tickets. They include unlimited parks, water parks, Disney Quest and park hopping - but they must be used within the 14/21 day limit and can only be bought here. They are really good value for money; so much so that most people buy them even if we aren't expecting to spend 14 full days in the parks ( because of the price, and to be able to call into a park on the way back from somewhere else without worrying about using a day ticket up.) We got ours for this September when we booked the holiday last Autumn, and paid £188 each for 14 days.
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Wow, that's a great deal!
 
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