Future changes to park hopper rules?

[HeiHei2018]

Is the language about possible earlier park hopping hours new? This was the info at the “park hopper” link from an email Disney sent me.

 

[acgardne]

Definitely along the lines of the rumor going around about changes to park hopping. I would love to be able to hope before 2pm, but are they saying that hopping hours would vary by day? Ugh.

 

[HeiHei2018]

Definitely along the lines of the rumor going around about changes to park hopping. I would love to be able to hope before 2pm, but are they saying that hopping hours would vary by day? Ugh.

I didn’t notice the “by day and park” on first read. I wonder if early hopping might correlate with parks with open park pass reservations (usually Epcot or AK). it would make sense if the point of park reservations is to spread out the crowds.

 

[Liquidice]

It has always said since park hopping came back that park hopper hours could be earlier. I remember reading it when they first announced the 2pm time and thinking that hopefully by the time I go they'll have moved it back to earlier.

I think they've been trying to pull it back to earlier than 2pm for awhile but just have had issues to deal with like staffing shortages along with IT changes they are working on for Park Passes.

If a Park Pass is available for another park, you can always go to the park you currently have and then cancel and book the new park you want to hop to and you'll be allowed in before 2pm. There is a small risk that if the park you want to go to becomes unavailable while you cancel and before you rebook that you could be stuck without a park pass, but at that point you're still in the original park - so just don't leave.

EDIT - Just to note the above was something I had read you could do but had never done myself. It was confirmed in a later post down below that once you enter a park you cannot cancel the park pass for that park and won't be able to park hop until 2pm.

 

[HeiHei2018]

It has always said since park hopping came back that park hopper hours could be earlier. I remember reading it when they first announced the 2pm time and thinking that hopefully by the time I go they'll have moved it back to earlier.

I think they've been trying to pull it back to earlier than 2pm for awhile but just have had issues to deal with like staffing shortages along with IT changes they are working on for Park Passes.

If a Park Pass is available for another park, you can always go to the park you currently have and then cancel and book the new park you want to hop to and you'll be allowed in before 2pm. There is a small risk that if the park you want to go to becomes unavailable while you cancel and before you rebook that you could be stuck without a park pass, but at that point you're still in the original park - so just don't leave.

Thanks! So nothing new in the website I saw. Guess I just hadn’t read that part before.

 

[afan]

If a Park Pass is available for another park, you can always go to the park you currently have and then cancel and book the new park you want to hop to and you'll be allowed in before 2pm. There is a small risk that if the park you want to go to becomes unavailable while you cancel and before you rebook that you could be stuck without a park pass, but at that point you're still in the original park - so just don't leave

You can change your park res once you've entered the park to another one and then hop before 2? Or am I reading that wrong.

 

[Liquidice]

You can change your park res once you've entered the park to another one and then hop before 2? Or am I reading that wrong.

I swear I read that somewhere, but now that I'm trying to find the link I can't. I've never needed to do this myself before and since I can't find a link confirming it 100%, I don't want to say its true and mislead you.

 

[afan]

I swear I read that somewhere, but now that I'm trying to find the link I can't. I've never needed to do this myself before and since I can't find a link confirming it 100%, I don't want to say its true and mislead you.

I'd never heard it and feel like it'd be all over thr boarda if we could get around the 2pm thing with it. I could deal with the park res if we could just hope earlier. Even 1pm at dlr needs to be earlier.

 

[shoegal9]

I read it on the boards too. Someone was able to enter Epcot. Then cancel their Epcot park pass and make a park reservation for animal kingdom and enter that park before 2. I may try it tomorrow…

 

[Liquidice]

I read it on the boards too. Someone was able to enter Epcot. Then cancel their Epcot park pass and make a park reservation for animal kingdom and enter that park before 2. I may try it tomorrow…

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not going crazy lol. I knew I saw it somewhere

 

[lorenae]

I read it on the boards too. Someone was able to enter Epcot. Then cancel their Epcot park pass and make a park reservation for animal kingdom and enter that park before 2. I may try it tomorrow…

Please let us know how it goes! I want to go to AK if the new Lion King show is ready; but don’t want to make a reservation there until I’m sure it is. It would be nice to start at Epcot when I’m at the Swan, and get over to AK before 2 if possible with a new reservation!

 

[shoegal9]

So, I tried. But the “cancel reservation” button doesn’t show up for me to cancel Epcot
Oh well. They’re losing money on me today- I was going to go to Animal Kingdom, buy some merch and have lunch, but instead we will start our drive home.

 

[Liquidice]

So, I tried. But the “cancel reservation” button doesn’t show up for me to cancel Epcot
Oh well. They’re losing money on me today- I was going to go to Animal Kingdom, buy some merch and have lunch, but instead we will start our drive home.

Thanks for trying it out! Too bad it doesn't work. Hopefully at some point in the near future, park hopping rules change and we'll be able to park hop earlier than 2pm.

 

[Leigh L]

This 2 p.m. time is long overdue to be changed. I'd be happy with even noon at this point lol. That would be limiting but at least not as bad as 2 p.m. is.

 

[BrianL]

This 2 p.m. time is long overdue to be changed. I'd be happy with even noon at this point lol. That would be limiting but at least not as bad as 2 p.m. is.

Yeah, I rarely would hop before noon anyway, but 2 PM is too restrictive. It makes it hard if I want to plan a lunch at Epcot or something.

 

[Leigh L]

Yeah, I rarely would hop before noon anyway, but 2 PM is too restrictive. It makes it hard if I want to plan a lunch at Epcot or something.

True! The only other park we prefer for lunch options is at AK.

My teen and I have been known to either do (former) extra magic hours or rope drop, do a headliner that DH and my other DD are unable to ride, and then hop over to where they are at park open/shortly after park open. It was a good way for us to get in a ride they aren't doing without losing much time with them when at a park together (they also like to sleep in sometimes where my teen does not lol. I'm an early riser anyway so I'd rather be up and out too).

I miss that flexibility! Noon would still be awesome though

 

[lorenae]

I have a reservation for Epcot today, but since I got to ride GoG three times on Monday, I’m just not feeling it.
And yesterday, it was raining and storming briefly and I was in the stores at MK with about a million other people and wanted to grab something but it was just too crowded and kids were screaming and running around so I left.
I wish I could change my reservation to MK (but no reservations for hotel guests OR AP holders for MK today) or at least go to Epcot first, and then hop over to MK to grab that loungefly bag and a couple of gifts, but I”m not waiting around until 2 PM to do so.

Up until now, I was totally ok with the reservations/park hopping rules. It just never occurred to me that I might want to go back and buy something before heading home.

 

[ChipnDale79]

This 2 p.m. time is long overdue to be changed. I'd be happy with even noon at this point lol. That would be limiting but at least not as bad as 2 p.m. is.

We were there last week, (after having to replan our yellowstone trip due to the floods), one of the days we were at DHS; Rise, Toy Story, and Slinky Dog were all down at the same time in the early morning.

In the past, we would have simply moved to another park, however we were handcuffed to DHS until 2. When all 3 of those were down at the same time, it caused a domino effect for the rest of the day, it was brutal.

The limit on when you can park hop is insane and needs to be removed.

 

[penel3]

We were there last week, (after having to replan our yellowstone trip due to the floods), one of the days we were at DHS; Rise, Toy Story, and Slinky Dog were all down at the same time in the early morning.

In the past, we would have simply moved to another park, however we were handcuffed to DHS until 2. When all 3 of those were down at the same time, it caused a domino effect for the rest of the day, it was brutal.

The limit on when you can park hop is insane and needs to be removed.

This, 100%, is what I hate about the 2pm rule! Plus, there are times we’ve gotten to the park only to find the crowd calendars were way off and we want to bail…..hence why we have always purchased PH…..we lose half our day in both of these instances

 

[ChipnDale79]

This, 100%, is what I hate about the 2pm rule! Plus, there are times we’ve gotten to the park only to find the crowd calendars were way off and we want to bail…..hence why we have always purchased PH…..we lose half our day in both of these instances

yup....been there before where we walked in, and within an hour werent "feeling" that park, and hopped over to another one. i hate the limits.