Is park hopper worth it?

[dmband]

Pretty much a must for us.
We will hit a park between 9-10 till like 4
Then go grab a nap and hit another from like 6 till close
Back to the room like 11 or even later, we go during busy times so everything is open late, hence not getting to a park till 9/10.

We feel like one park all day can drag and things seem different from day/night.
It seems to keep things fresh for us breaking it up that way.
For FP, we usually book them at the second park with exception to mk

 

[Accident]

The best part about park hopper is you don't get a discount buying it in advance. You also can't get a refund for not using it. My recommendation is don't get it now, come to wdw and if you find yourself wanting to hop parks, it will cost exactly the same price upgrading your tickets as pre-purchasing it. Then you can decide if the cost is worth adding it on while your in the moment. I find most trips, you can't really justify it in the moment but there are exceptions to it. If this is your first trip, you probably won't use it. each park takes at least a day to do most things in it.

If you decide in the moment you need it, just stop at guest relations or any ticket booth when you hop and it'll take about 2-5 minutes to upgrade your tickets. not a big deal on time and do it at the second park your hopping too. You won't be hopping at rope drop so there usually is no line for tickets and really quick.

 

[dmband]

The best part about park hopper is you don't get a discount buying it in advance. You also can't get a refund for not using it. My recommendation is don't get it now, come to wdw and if you find yourself wanting to hop parks, it will cost exactly the same price upgrading your tickets as pre-purchasing it. Then you can decide if the cost is worth adding it on while your in the moment. I find most trips, you can't really justify it in the moment but there are exceptions to it. If this is your first trip, you probably won't use it. each park takes at least a day to do most things in it.

If you decide in the moment you need it, just stop at guest relations or any ticket booth when you hop and it'll take about 2-5 minutes to upgrade your tickets. not a big deal on time and do it at the second park your hopping too. You won't be hopping at rope drop so there usually is no line for tickets and really quick.

That depends were you buy the tickets, direct from Disney on a 6 day for example is $69. From otc it is $60
But it still might be worth it for many to hold off because a typical family of four would save $276 vs spend an extra 36

 

[starry_solo]

You can save some money by going through the southwest vacations promo link that's mentioned elsewhere in this theme parks forum.

 

[GunnarCharles]

I really enjoy the park hopper option. The flexibility really allows for a better experience in my opinion. I like the thought of rope dropping DAK, eating in Epcot, and finishing with an extra magic hour in Magic Kingdom. That being said, budgeting is important and as someone who works in the financial industry I realize that how much money you spend matters. I have experienced Disney without the park hopper option because it was my only option financially and I still had a great experience. I think if the budget is a top priority, going with single park per day is a perfectly fine option that will work as long as expectations are monitored.

 

[elleherself]

I have actually never understood how people park-hop. Speaking as someone who has done it, with annual passes, I can't imagine adding it in on a short trip. There's so much to do in every park, and at your resort. I'm a completest I guess, but I look at any transit time as wasted time. The parks are not that close together. Getting back to your vehicle, waiting for a bus, riding the monorail, etc. takes up a lot of time. Having done it myself as seamlessly as possible, I know. The few times I've park-hopped, I've always ended up just exhausted. I think it's an easy thing to do away with, it takes time and money from your vacation. It's a detraction.

 

[patclairesmom]

I personally don't like park hoppers. I feel it makes the whole experience too rushed. I liked absorbing the parks 1 a day, that way my memories are more defined.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I would just skip HS altogether and change that to another MK day, and not get hoppers.

 

[WishnDisney]

They are a must for us. One time I went with a friend that didn't want to fork over the extra for the park hopper and I felt like I was in prison. Its all what you are used to but we like it a lot.

This is us. We go in summer. Our touring style is to hit a park scheduled on lowest crowd levels. Do our FP+ and whatever else we want. Head back to resort for the afternoon.

We go back out at night for ADR (a lot of times in Epcot) and then to whatever park we feel like.

I feel like we have some flexibility in our overly planned vacation.

 

[dreiwhit]

It really depends on your style of visiting the parks and whether or not the additional cost is worth it.

For my family, we go to one park a day and stay at the park from rope drop to after dark. Park hoppers don't really fit our style of touring. And, the extra cost for hoppers is a significant expense on an already expensive vacation.

 

[Humphrey_Bear]

Here is also something to consider. When we went down with our 3 year old, we all had a 5 day 1 park/day passes. With him at that age, hopping would be too touch for all of us. But, my DH planned to hit RnR at the Studios an extra night. Rather than pay to upgrade to a hopper, we just added another day to his pass when we got there. Only cost us an extra $15 dollars (if I remember correct).

 

[Disneyfor8]

We struggled with this exact same question during our recent trip 10/12-10/21. There were 8 of us: me, DH, in-laws (mid-60s), and our four kids (10,8,6 and 6). I had been as a child but no one else had been to Disney. I decided to go with a 6 day base ticket and I'm so glad I did. Our agenda was almost exactly the same as yours, 2 days at MK, 1.5 days at Epcot and 1 day each at HS and AK. HS was a full day for us, from rope drop through Fantasmic. AK was a half day. We used the extra time to rest and swim and also would have liked to go to Disney Springs, but ran out of time. We typically would start the day right at rope drop and go until about 4ish. By then the kids and in laws were done and needed some rest. Since we were there during MNSSHP, we went to MK on party days to avoid crowds and even with a 7pm closure, we didn't feel like we missed out. One of our Epcot days, we slept in and went later in the afternoon, staying into the night to see Illuminations, so the kids got to see at least 1 fireworks show (in addition to Fantasmic). It was perfect for us and I am so glad I didn't spend the extra money on park hoppers. I think I would have felt pressured to park hop just to get my money's worth!

Ultimately, it comes down to what you think your family can handle and what kind of pace you want your vacation to take. And after that, it's just a toss-up! Good luck and no matter what, you will have a fantastic time!!

 

[gatorlisa]

My trips are always short ones (usually three days in the parks) and I always have hoppers. It is well worth the extra cost to me. It's the only way to hit up all my favorites on a short trip. I also like the flexibility it gives. It allows me to maximize hours in the parks by starting at whatever park is open earliest and finishing at whatever park is open latest. It allows me the ability to spend a day at one park, then hop to another for the night time entertainment...an especially useful thing during party season when I likely only have one night where MK is open to everyone at night for fireworks (and in the past the parade). I like being able to hop to another park when the one I'm in starts to feel crowded, or if I feel like I've done all I wanted to do in that park. Maybe my expectations are different than some, but I have very few complaints about transportation between parks. The wait for a bus/boat is usually pretty short and I use the transit time as my break time (we don't do mid-day breaks back at the resort). If you are not sure, I think the recommendation from several others is sound...wait until you get there to add the hopper feature. If you never feel the need to hop, you will have saved yourself some money, but if you do find yourself wanting to hop, it's a quick upgrade to your ticket and then you are set for the rest of your trip.

 

[luvsJack]

On our first trip, dd was about the age of your dd. We did have park hoppers and were really glad we did. We went to one park in the morning, went back to the resort and let her take a nap, and headed back out to a different park. We were able to plan well to avoid the crowds that way, not worry about our ADR's being in a certain park on a certain day and see all the night parades/shows. We have done it that way ever since.

Some with little ones don't like the hoppers and prefer just to do one park a day until their child is tired and then go back to the resort. Its really all depending on your family and how you want to do things.

 

[Anne5555]

We have taken our family to Disney 3 times, and park hopped only 1 day, I think. We generally spend all day at one park or leave early to spend time at the resort pool and/or at a resort restaurant. We had to buy hoppers as part of the free dining bounceback package, and so we used it on the last day of the trip to visit Epcot and then Hollywood Studios to ride some of our favorite attractions again before leaving. We also wanted to see the Star Wars fireworks, which we had missed while watching Fantasmic. Unfortunately, it started pouring that night and after a lengthy delay they finally cancelled them and we got soaked walking out to the car (but probably less soaked than the people waiting in line for the busses.) But it was still a great trip. Hoppers could be useful in the event of rain spoiling an evening activity early in the trip, allowing you to visit that park again later. Maybe just wait and see if you really want to buy them?

 

[GeneralTso]

You're going to see two very distinctive camps on this one. Both with very compelling reasons why they like to park hop or not.

I'm in the not camp. We like to dig in where ever we are and really just enjoy a park for the full day and/or night.
The overhead of leaving and getting to Park #2, parking, walking in, etc. just isn't worth it for us.

If we are done for the day/night, we go back to the resort and chill.

Park hoppers at Disneyland is a given. It's easy to bop between the two parks. You walk across. It takes a few minutes. You can bob and weave according to crowds. At WDW, it's a production.

 

[angierae]

We went without hoppers on our first trip and I'll never go without again. I like being able to hop to whichever park is open later, but I don't have small kids. We even hopped on a one day trip in 2013 - we hit MK in the morning to meet Peter Pan, had lunch in MK, hopped over to DHS, spent the day at DHS, saw Fantasmic, then took the bus to the Poly, had dinner at Captain Cook's and then went over to MK because they had EMH that night. 17 hour day, and we loved every minute of it.

 

[Pkltm]

We too are hopppers, we have never gone without them and we probably never will. We love the freedom, this past trip, we wanted pizza lunch so hopped to EP to get some, we enjoy mid day breaks too, but prefer to hop somewhere different each night.

 

[LSUfan4444]

So we are going at the end of January, the 23rd to the 29th. It's going to be me, my wife, my mother, and my daughter. My daughter is 2 and has never been to Disney before and my mom hasn't been in probably 20 years or so.
I was planning on just doing 1 park a day. 2 full days at MK, 1.5 at epcot, and then 1 full day at HS and AK. During the days we have planned, we miss all of the extra magic hours, which is a little disappointing but it's the slow time of year so I'm not too worried. But I just have it in my mind that HS and AK will be short days, esp AK. I would rather do AK stuff in the morning and then spend the rest of the day at MK.

I'm just wondering if it's worth it to spend a few extra hundred dollars for more time at MK or just use spare time to rest?

My answer is yes. It's always worth it to me. I factor in the cost and would "find" the money somewhere else in my budget if need be. Dining, souvenirs, beer and wine....okay, maybe not beer and wine but you get the point.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We get them because we like to hit EMH parks during our trip. If we do AM EMH that park tends to get really full around noon so we go somewhere else in the evening. If we do PM EMH we are somewhere else in the morning. Travel time isn't a factor for us since we always take midday breaks by the pool. We hop almost everyday. We love hitting MK or Epcot at night. If you are staying at an Epcot resort I believe a PH is a MUST. Same with a monorail resort.

I've read some trip reports where people get base tickets, RD, midday break and go back to the same park. I was really tempted to not get PH's for the next trip until I thought about the EMH.