Which is better park hopper or extra day???

[LongTimeLurker]

If I had to pick I think I'd choose an extra day, but we used park hoppers on our recent trip for a few specific reasons. First, we wanted fp for both pandora rides but did not need two full days in animal kingdom. Second, we wanted to see both fantasmic and Star Wars fireworks without trying to rush between the two. Again, Hollywood Studios in its current state is not a two full day park (it's barely a one day park) and we also didn't want to have two dinners there.

I'm planning to do exactly that for our upcoming December trip: did it work for you?

 

[SG131]

I'm planning to do exactly that for our upcoming December trip: did it work for you?

Yup, it worked great for both things. One evening we had a dinner in France (a little later than we probably should have at 6:40 since it is one of the slower restaurants) and then hopped on the boat and made it just in time for Star Wars. I was also glad to have two partial days for animal kingdom because I wasn't able to get fop fp for our first day, but I was able to change the schedule a bit and get it for my second ak day. I'm glad I was able to experience both Pandora rides without having to stand in insane lines, especially since DDs were along.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

Yup, it worked great for both things. One evening we had a dinner in France (a little later than we probably should have at 6:40 since it is one of the slower restaurants) and then hopped on the boat and made it just in time for Star Wars. I was also glad to have two partial days for animal kingdom because I wasn't able to get fop fp for our first day, but I was able to change the schedule a bit and get it for my second ak day. I'm glad I was able to experience both Pandora rides without having to stand in insane lines, especially since DDs were along.

That's wonderful, thank you! We have a CP package - lunch at Chefs de France and the 5:00 pm show, and I'm planning to book a Star Wars dessert party for the same day. Trying to get as many extras as possible (and as affordable) for the last days of our visit so we don't have to fight the crowds...
We're staying for 11 days, so I plan to do the same with Pandora, hopefully we'll get some FP for the rides there!

 

[DisneyFive]

For OUR family, it's easy. An extra day.

In a 8 night stay, we may only park hop once or twice. Also, the extra day REALLY helps if one of your days ended up having crappy weather.

Dan

 

[Hikergirl]

I would normally say an extra day, but if I was going during F&W I'd probably get hoppers so I could go over to the booths every night for drinks and dinner.

 

[SG131]

That's wonderful, thank you! We have a CP package - lunch at Chefs de France and the 5:00 pm show, and I'm planning to book a Star Wars dessert party for the same day. Trying to get as many extras as possible (and as affordable) for the last days of our visit so we don't have to fight the crowds...
We're staying for 11 days, so I plan to do the same with Pandora, hopefully we'll get some FP for the rides there!

Sounds like a great plan, hope all goes well! If you're going for 11 days I imagine you should be able to get fop for one of your later days no problem. Ours was for 60+5 in the afternooon on a non-emh day. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Delirium]

I would say hopper. But, one thing to consider is what resort you are at. If you are at an Epcot resort, absolutely get the hopper. IF you are at a Monorail resort, then you should strongly consider the hopper. If you're busing it everywhere, then it evens out some, but I would still go hopper.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

The short trips we park hop trying to fit in as much as possible but on long trips 10 days I don't think I would hop

 

[Day-Day]

The short trips we park hop trying to fit in as much as possible but on long trips 10 days I don't think I would hop

It's the opposite for us. On a short trip we are likely to spend all day in the same park. On long trips, we have more time for resort breaks and will have more opportunities to repeat our favorite attractions without spending all day in a park that we have otherwise "used up" for that trip.

 

[HausofDisney]

So does the ghost host make an announcement after 4pm or 7pm?

 

[DisneyLove2015]

We like to use morning EMH and then hop after an early lunch.
Hopping is also hugely beneficial for night time shows (when the shows aren't shown nightly) or during events like food and wine. It's fun to hop over for a few hours to grab some food in the evening or start there and hop to another park after a few hours.

 

[richkaryn]

We always get park hoppers regardless of length of trip, but mainly because we LOVE eating so many places in Epcot. We also tend to spend less than a day at HS and AK, so it is nice to have the hopping option available in our opinion. It really just boils down to your personal touring/dining style though.

 

[rg35]

Extra day. We used to get park hoppers but stopped 3 years ago. Haven't missed hopping at all.

 

[hllb]

I've had hoppers before and never used them. This trip, I think I'm going to add them though, because we don't know what we're doing on our last park day. I envision that we'll get a FOP fast pass on that last day, but likely won't want to stay in that park all day. Then, because we would have the hoppers, we may do the evening hours at other parks than our planned park day. There is also one day during our trip that has conflicting crowd ratings on different sites. So that day we may end up leaving our planned park if it gets to crowded. For us, it's really more like an insurance policy.

 

[Ouida]

I've had hoppers before and never used them. This trip, I think I'm going to add them though, because we don't know what we're doing on our last park day. I envision that we'll get a FOP fast pass on that last day, but likely won't want to stay in that park all day. Then, because we would have the hoppers, we may do the evening hours at other parks than our planned park day. There is also one day during our trip that has conflicting crowd ratings on different sites. So that day we may end up leaving our planned park if it gets to crowded. For us, it's really more like an insurance policy.

We decided to give up the Park Hoppers for an extra day, it was almost identical in price. I do feel really worried I will regret it. I envision 10am at MK on the Saturday before thanksgiving without an escape plan. Lol. But I found out for just one day, if it got real bad, we could add the hopper option per ticket for $37. Yes that's a lot, but it's kind of insurance that we could still do it, if the happiness of our trip was in jeopardy.

 

[hllb]

We decided to give up the Park Hoppers for an extra day, it was almost identical in price. I do feel really worried I will regret it. I envision 10am at MK on the Saturday before thanksgiving without an escape plan. Lol. But I found out for just one day, if it got real bad, we could add the hopper option per ticket for $37. Yes that's a lot, but it's kind of insurance that we could still do it, if the happiness of our trip was in jeopardy.

I've been told you absolutely CANNOT add just one day of ticket as a park hopper. You have to upgrade your entire ticket. I had asked because I thought maybe we could wait until that last day and just pay park hopper pricing for the final day. But we can't - they'll charge the full amount (which for us is around $400 for a 6 day park ticket for a family of 5).

 

[Silvermist999]

We like the flexibility that park hoppers give us. We always go back to the Resort for a swim/rest so it's nice to decide to visit a different park in the evening.

 

[bumbershoot]

This is so true. Our last trip, my husband and daughter felt if a park was open they should be there. Which made the whole trip about how many rides. I don't really like the rides, lol. Thats why it's so difficult to decide. Thanks for all the replies. I'm leaning towards keeping the hoppers. As one said if you miss something, you can't hop back. It's almost like insurance. If my plans go well, we likely won't use it, BUT, if something goes wrong it would be nice to have. Thanks

I assume you have a alxjage because yiu can consider taking the hooper off. Just do that. Take that option off all the tickets now, but keep that money set aside.

If you get into a situation where the two want to hop, they can go for it.

True but adding an extra day also means adding another hotel night which can be expensive.

Doesn't sound like that's the case for the OP.

We decided to give up the Park Hoppers for an extra day, it was almost identical in price. I do feel really worried I will regret it. I envision 10am at MK on the Saturday before thanksgiving without an escape plan. Lol. But I found out for just one day, if it got real bad, we could add the hopper option per ticket for $37. Yes that's a lot, but it's kind of insurance that we could still do it, if the happiness of our trip was in jeopardy.

It doesn't make sense that the hoppers were the same price difference as an extra day. Can you tell us exactly what you have?

And our resident ticket expert robo stated (as have many people for ages) that you can't add hopping for one day. It's possible they changed recently, which is why I went to robo's sticky thread, but he's not indicating a change.

 

[DisneyFive]

It doesn't make sense that the hoppers were the same price difference as an extra day. Can you tell us exactly what you have?

I think you have to consider that the extra day isn't just the roughly $10.50 per ticket, but also cost of the extra resort night (and possibly car rental), etc...

Dan

 

[Ouida]

I've been told you absolutely CANNOT add just one day of ticket as a park hopper. You have to upgrade your entire ticket. I had asked because I thought maybe we could wait until that last day and just pay park hopper pricing for the final day. But we can't - they'll charge the full amount (which for us is around $400 for a 6 day park ticket for a family of 5).

Ok you are right, I totally got that wrong. The CM told me that it could be added at any time. But could not give me a price. I found an old 2012 price on line. Ha, how much things have gone up. touringplans.com has a hopper post, says you can add hopper to any base ticket, but it's the same cost regardless of tickets you have left. So if you have 1 ticket or 5, it's the same price. So you can add it in the park, but my price was way off.