Park hopper worth it?

[Delirium]

With kids that age, I would say no; its not worth it. Our first trip our kids were 7, 4, and 1. We found that the biggest benefit was to get to the park early, go back to the room for naps, and then return to the park that evening. It worked great as kids weren't cranky and were kept rested which in turn helped my DW and I to actually feel like we were having a vacation.

That's really no different than going to a park in the morning, going back to the resort for a nap, and then going to a different park in the evening. But, by hopping, you have much, much more flexibility in avoiding crowds.

 

[Ava]

We didn't have Park Hoppers on our last two trips, but we're trying them for this year. We were fine without hopping but we wanted water parks this year anyway so decided to add the hoppers as well. We typically go back to the room after lunch for a nap, so it will just break things up a bit more to go back to a different park in the evening. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Shmily01]

We've done both and we have settled on being a one park a day family. It was just too much for us to have to coordinate transportation to and from each park. Now, we do breaks mid day so it might be a little easier, but we usually spend the money for upgrading to park hoppers on something else.

 

[Jeannie in NJ]

My husband likes to sleep late, even at Disney so for ex. last visit, my daughter, my sister in law and myself would get up early and head over to MK to hang out at Main Street. We stay at Grand Floridian so easy to get to MK. After my husband was ready, we would meet him at another park for the day and then most evenings we would end up at Epcot. We love park hopping.

 

[msp2mco]

Lots of good points here. We have always had PH and always used them--with young children and older. Since it is your first trip, you just don't know how your kids may respond. We traveled with a family one time and their DS started having a meltdown with the heat, the crowds and I'm not sure what else. His mom whisked him away to Epcot and spent the afternoon with him by himself. It was a lifesaver for them to be able to do what the DS wanted or needed. He could not have stayed at MK without being miserable and everyone else around him being miserable too.

Even on a short trips, my DH and I split up with the kids if they want to do different things. One year my DS wanted to spend tons of time in the DAK boneyard but that wasn't too appealing to our DD.

Can you do it without PH? Absolutely. But, PH's give you some flexibility to maximize your vacation. Adding on once you are down there if you want them seems like a good idea.