To Park Hop or not to Park Hop

[hwdelien]

In the past I've bought tickets with the park hopper option only to find find that we seldomly used it. Our stay in Florida is normally a week and usually get a 4 day pass and for the most part we spent 1 day in each park. Sometimes after AK closes we'd hop over to Epcot, but that's about it. Most of the time, we just wish that we had more days in the park and didn't need more parks in a day.

This year I realized something. The difference in price between a 4 day base and a 7 day base is $9. That's it! :hammer: All this time paying $52 times 5 people (that's $260 extra, people) when for $45 we can park hop and/or spend extra days in the park. How dumb I have been! :brick:

11 more long days until I arrive in Orlando. I can't wait. My life really needs some magic!!!!!!!

 

[Mouse Man]

Honestly I never really think about the park hopper or non park hopper beacuase our tickets is included in my vacation package. I always get the Park Hopper and of course the water parks. The wife and I love to hop from place to place during our stay and love the freedom of doing so. I never thought about the cost only because park hopping is what the DWF and I do alot.

 

[Figment632]

I will always get it :shrug:

 

[RiversideBunny]

All this time paying $52 times 5 people (that's $260 extra, people) when for $45 we can park hop and/or spend extra days in the park.

You can spend extra days in a particular park by buying the extra days.
You can't park hop with the extra days.
Without the Park Hopper option you can enter only one park per day.

Sounds like you've figured out what works best for your group.
Have fun.

 

[DrummerAlly]

This year I realized something. The difference in price between a 4 day base and a 7 day base is $9. That's it! :hammer: All this time paying $52 times 5 people (that's $260 extra, people) when for $45 we can park hop and/or spend extra days in the park. How dumb I have been! :brick:

You haven't been stupid at all - Disney's thought of this already. If you were to buy the 7 day pass, you could spend extra days in the park, but you could not have park hopped. You can't use an extra day's pass to enter a second park on the same day if you haven't bought park hoppers.

 

[lebeau]

I think a lot of people buy PHs without thinking. They just take the need to park hop for granted. Depending on your touring style, it may or may not be worth it.

I think for most casual tourists, it's not worth it. They will typically go to a park and spend the whole day there. (My boss is still mad someone talked him into shelling out for park hoppers years ago).

On our last trip, we made good use of hoppers. But our tickets were free. If we'd have been paying for our tickets, we probably could have done without the hopper option.

In short, I like your solution. More days > Fewer days + hopper

 

[glee]

Over here if you buy a seven day park hopper ticket you get 7 days free. :sohappy:

 

[LoriMistress]

I love park hopping! We do it just about every trip. We visit one park during the morning, take a break, and visit normally Epcot at night.

 

[Master Gracey 5]

We always park hop, especially to Epcot for dinner. We'll also go to MK or whatever park is open latest when the others close. I know on one trip we left DHS at 11 and went to MK since it was open until 1am. We just love to spend every minute we can at the parks!

 

[njDizFan]

I never get the park hopper. I understand how it could be worth it but my style is usally one park a day. With the 7 day pass I visit 3 parks twice and 1 park once, or add a water park.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

ALWAYS park hop. I think I used it every day on the last trip we were on.

 

[dreamfinder]

It really comes down to your touring style. Some people like to go to Epcot every night for dinner, so for them, hopping makes sense. Others get at a park at open and stay til close, so hopping may not make sense. Personally I don't like hopping as a ticket addon. The hour or more it usually takes to get between parks more than outweighs the possibility to change parks to cut down on crowds. If you schedule your days to hop, then good for you. But I spend the whole day in the park (unless solo and doing as many characters/thrill rides I can in a day) Just my 2 cents.

 

[OklaHoops]

Park Hopper is the way to go. We stay in the Epcot area and go back and forth between MK (By monorail) , Epcot (By boat) and DHS (by boat). This way we can combine activities at each park for the perfect day!:sohappy::sohappy:

 

[DisneyJoe]

We ALWAYS park hop - during my next trip, AK closes at 5pm and DS closes at 7pm. Even if we spent the entire day at those parks, I'd still have plenty of daylight to kill.

We will either hop to Epcot or MK, depending on their hours.

 

[hwdelien]

Ok, so I screwed up. I thought buying the extra days would give me flexibility. I was obviously wrong. Oh well, I guess I'm going to the park 7 days whether I feel up to it or not. The worst part is my wife is disabled, and I know she won't be able to handle all 7 days.

 

[WildcatDen]

Of course, the not getting the park option with the intent of spending a few more days will also increase your lodging and food cost. If you can get it all done with the hopper, it may work out cheaper in the long run.

We love the hopper option. Last trip it allowed us to grab dinners at different locals and take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours. More than once we hit one park during the day, took a break for dinner or swimming, and then hit the EMH park in the evening. Worked well for us.

 

[zurgandfriend]

We always park hop, especially to Epcot for dinner. We'll also go to MK or whatever park is open latest when the others close. I know on one trip we left DHS at 11 and went to MK since it was open until 1am. We just love to spend every minute we can at the parks!

I agree with Master Gracey, we park hop over to Epcot for dinner many nights.
We usually stay at an MK area resort and when the family returns to the resort for the evening and DW is resting DS and I will hop over to the MK or Epcot for an additional Disney fix.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Oh well, I guess I'm going to the park 7 days whether I feel up to it or not.

Don't forget, it's only $9 difference!

 

[CP_alum08]

I think it depends on what you are doing. We have done it both with and without park hopper and each was different. not better or worse, just different. If you can plan everything out in advance - ADR, EMH, etc. - you can do a non-hopper pretty easily. But if you like the flexibility to do whatever you want, then hopper is definitely the way to go.

 

[Lisalyn]

Well

I'm in the little group that DOESN'T hop! LOL

My daughter and I like taking our time and do one park per day. We usually go 7 days to parks and this year we are doing 2 at Epcot, 1 at MK, 2 at DHS and 1 at AK. The 7th day is our "leaving day" so it's wherever we choose to go for a special breakfast before leaving to drive home. This year (keeping my fingers crossed!) we plan on doing CRT!!

In addition, my daughter has ADHD so she really likes doing just one park a day also. If we hopped, she'd go into overload so she is happy with one park per day. When she is happy, I am happy!!! LOL

Good luck!