New Park-Hoppers, Not Newbies

[mimiloveswdw]

Hi! Due to a generous amount of Disney Dollars, my family's upgraded our tickets to Park-Hoppers. We've gone many times, but we always did one park a day.

We're not planning any crazy maneuvers, but I just wanted to know if there's anyone who has been down a similar road and could tell us what your experience was like with being new Park Hoppers. I like to know what I should expect, you know?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Robo]

Hi! Due to a generous amount of Disney Dollars, my family's upgraded our tickets to Park-Hoppers. We've gone many times, but we always did one park a day.

We're not planning any crazy maneuvers, but I just wanted to know if there's anyone who has been down a similar road and could tell us what your experience was like with being new Park Hoppers. I like to know what I should expect, you know?

Thanks for your help!

Some possible scenarios:

DAK closes earlier than the rest of the parks.
On A day you are at DAK, you can head to any of the other parks to see a nighttime event (fireworks, Fantasmic!)

On a day that you are at DHS, you could take the Friendship over to Epcot for a meal, then return to DHS for more fun.

Depending on your dates, sometimes it's possible to see Fantasmic! and IllumiNations on the same night.
Check the timing of each show.

Start your day at one park, then hop over to another park which is having a late PM EMH.

 

[WsPrincess]

Not sure what you are looking for but here is how we use our Park Hoppers (we have DD4 and DS2)

We usually start the day at the preferred park for the day. We do this park from Rope Drop until after lunch, usually about 2 or so. Then we head back to the resort. We have the kids rest and we do the pool. Then we usually have an ADR for around 5 or 6. We head to dinner after dinner we head to another park. Sometimes we even head to another one after that one closes.

An example is from our last trip at BC: We did Rope Drop at DHS, had CS at resort, used SAB, had dinner at Flying Fish, saw Illuminations at Epcot, took the monorail to MK for EMH and stayed until midnight. It was the perfect Disney day!!!

 

[Butterbunkins]

We have always done park hoppers.

The main reason is Epcot is our favorite park and ignoring EMH is stays open later then the other parks, at least at the time of the year we go. So for most days we start off in one park, and either rest/swim at the hotel and than head to Epcot or just head straight to Epcot.

We might do an EMH at DHS one night and we usually do MVMCP one night.

Park hoppers have also come in very handy when we have arrived at a park and it was packed. We just scooted off to another.

 

[DisneyWitch]

Park Hoppers are also an excellent value when it comes to booking ADRs for restaurants. No longer will you have to ensure that you book your ADR for the park that you're in that day...nor do you have to be in that park at all. You're not "stuck" at MK because you have dinner reservations at Tony's Town Square that night. You can hang out in Epcot all day, maybe toodle off to DHS if you want, and still make it for your 8pm appointment in MK, with no problem!

If you change your mind about which park to go to, or decide to dine somewhere else, you won't be wasting money and time! Just book your favorite restaurants and it won't matter where you plan to be that day!

We wouldn't consider going to WDW without hoppers - it gives us flexibility and peace of mind knowing that we can go to any park we want (or even all 4 if we were crazy) on any day we're there!

Enjoy!!

 

[DisDayz]

For us one of the best parts of park hopping is being able to enjoy the EMH morning park and then leaving around lunch time when the crowd really starts to show up. We head back to the resort for some down time or just jump to a slower park for the evening.

 

[shannonstar]

Park hoppers are awesome. Like you, I didn't use them my first trip and then I added them 1/2 way through the 2nd, so it was new for me.

We love being able to do HS and then end the day at Epcot. We made rope drop 3 times for TSM and then after hitting TSM, JTA, ToT, RnR, and Star Tours, we would head over to Epcot.
Also, as previous poster said, on AK day, it was nice to be able to finish right around parade time (hit Kali River Rapids on the way out) head to resort to change clothes and then hit the EMH park of the evening.

It was nice to know when the park started getting a bit too crowded, we could head to another park, usually Epcot for some KP, now Agent P missions.

 

[Cherinva]

We get the park hoppers for the flexability...it comes in handy when like another said...Animal Kingdom closes early. When we go in September, we will spend the day at AK, leaving just before closing and head to the GF for dinner. After that, we will have the option to go to MK or DHS as both will have later hours. Having a PH gives us that option.

There have also been times when we are in a park, and find that the crowd level is just too much....so we hop to another park that is less crowded...again, the flexability is available to us.

Have fun !!!

 

[shruley]

We have always done Park Hoppers, so I can't tell you how it's different, but I can tell you what we really like about it. We typically travel during value season, so some nightly shows (Fantasmic, Spectro) aren't shown every night. The nighttime shows are our favorite, but some trips they've only been shown 2 or 3 times a week (think Sept.), and then the park is packed the day they are scheduled because everyone wants to see them. We like that we can start at the least crowded park in the morning (usually the park without any EMH or nighttime show) and then park hop in the evening to just catch dinner and the shows. It has also allowed us to do EMH in the morning at a park we may feel we need the extra hour at (sometimes in Sept. due to heat, etc we do better at getting up early so we can tour when it's cooler), and then leave about 11 when the park gets really busy and hop to a less crowded park, after we've had a chance to swin and cool off. When we park hop, we often have found a noticable difference in crowd attendance between the most and least recommended park, so for us it's worth it.

Lastly, we travel with younger kids. NO flames, but my kids realy dislike Epcot. If we hit Test Track and Soarin, maybe Living Seas, they're ready to go. We like that we can go and do the rides we want, then hop back over to a park the kids want to spend more time at (almost always the MK.)

 

[POOHsie]

We had a friend fly in for just a few days during our trip. We wanted him to see MSEP and Wishes at MK, but it was our Epcot day, and Epcot had EMH. About 7pm we took the monorail to MK for MSEP and Wishes, then back to Epcot.

Another time, we parked at the MK lot, took the monorail to Epcot, spent most of the day there, then monorailed to MK for EMH.

As others pointed out, AK closes at dinner-time, so we used PHs to visit other parks after AK closed.

Last, you have to consider afternoon showers. One time we left DHS early because of rain. We weren't able to see Fantasmic! Later after the rain, we visited another park. On a later day we visited the park that was scheduled for that day, but took time out for DHS just to catch Fantasmic!

 

[Minerva Mouse]

I can't imagine not having park hoppers. We have always toured this way, and typically leave MK or HS for dinner at Epcot. Good luck, I think it will grow on you.

 

[lindsmom]

We like Park Hoppers, like PP's mentioned we split our days. It almost feels like we're doubling our vacation days - especially for the kids, DS3 has no concept of time so when we go to one park in the morning, go back for a nap, he thinks it's a whole new day when we go out to a different park at night - haha!

DD11 will catch on, but she's old enough to appreciate the concept of avoiding crowds etc.

Last trip, the best feeling was going to a park around 4:00 after we had a nap and lunch in our air conditioned hotel suite - on our way in we would pass DOZENS of unhappy families that had commandoed since RD and their children were so DONE. We literally skipped into the park, looking forward to a refreshed evening.

Makes the 9:00 or 10:00 etc fireworks and parades much more doable too!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate knowing that what we were thinking of using them for was very possible to do!

Makes me even more excited!!

 

[loricdietzel]

We love park hoppers for the reason someone else posted: We don't have to plan our ADRs based on what park we will be at when. So if I make an ADR in Epcot but that is the only night we can see the electrical parade at MK it is no big deal and I don't have to plan for what is when ahead of time.

Also, we like going to one park, taking a break, then doing another park at night.

 

[doconeill]

We've been analyzing our usage as of late as we've always gotten park hoppers.

If we are staying at a resort in proximity to a park (monorail resorts, Epcot resorts), we'll definitely get park hoppers.

If we are at any of the other resorts, we'd look closer at our park plans, and probably not get the park hopping right away, and upgrade to it if we deem it beneficial. If we make it through the trip without hopping, we've saved over $200.

But our touring style is becoming much more relaxed and allows for that.

 

[msmama]

I hop to eat at better restaurants!

Mostly ends up as hopping to Epcot, lol (which is good since the only time you HAVE to bus to Epcot is from AK - boat from HS and monorail from MK).