Park Hoppers: Yay or Nay?

[huntland]

We bought them for our first trip, used them twice, did not buy them this time and did not feel like it made a difference to our vacation. The only down side I had was I felt more pressure to pick the "right park". We were there during 5-6 crowd levels so being in the right park could really affect your waiting in line time. If it was a low crowd time like 2-4 I wouldn't even consider getting them.

 

[Brian Noble]

In a week-long trip, I might hop once or twice. Typically, that's to couple a morning in one park that closes early with a later evening in another. If I am staying in the EP resort area, I might hop more often because Epcot is so easy to get to.

The big advantage of hoppers is that it gives you some extra flexibility in getting a "just so" itinerary. That's especially useful when, say, MSEP only runs a few nights each week, and those mornings are much busier in MK. During such seasons, I prefer to spend the morning somewhere else, but see the parade that night. I also find that trips with hopping feel longer because I'm mixing things up more.

The big downside of hoppers is that they tempt you to do more than you really ought to do. It is perfectly possible to have a wonderful vacation without hopping even once.

My advice: do not plan to hop, and do not buy it in advance. If something happens and you need to change things up while you are there, you can always add it then.

 

[PSUGuy]

We hop every day, hitting a non EMH park at rope drop then hopping to WS as soon as standby lines exceed 25 mins or so. Also we sometimes do something in a third park in the PM. Since FP+ came to be we're even more set in this strategy since we can book rides in WS and FW and have them waiting for us in the afternoon while in the past PF- rides were too far in the evening or gone altogether.

Bill From PA

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I never get them but last week I decided to for the 5 days I was down there. I used it once. It only benefits me for days I go to a park that doesn't take me a full day.

 

[DisneyDad222]

We've done the parks with the hoppers and without. We find that it depends more on where we stay than anything. If we stay at a monorail resort or at BW / YC-BC, we always get it. Reason being is that it is just too convenient to walk into to Epcot to eat if you're staying behind it. If you're on a monorail resort, the transportation is so much quicker to MK or Epcot that hopping is easy.
If we stay anywhere else (and have to take the bus everywhere), we don't get them and plan on the one park a day rule. We use the HS day to hit DTD for dinner and the AK day for a rest. We still come back to the resort sometimes at mid day, but we go back to the same park after a break.