Parkhopper opinions

[JoyAhead]

Hello all! We have an upcoming 6 park day trip booked with park hoppers. It's our first trip ever- 2 adults and a 5 year old daughter. In your experience, is park hopper worth it? I like the flexibility of it, and the option to leave a park and go back to MK if there isn't much my daughter is into at AK or DHS. Is it possible to just get park hopper for 3 of our park days? I don't think we will need it on MK park days.

 

[kmb584]

Hello all! We have an upcoming 6 park day trip booked with park hoppers. It's our first trip ever- 2 adults and a 5 year old daughter. In your experience, is park hopper worth it? I like the flexibility of it, and the option to leave a park and go back to MK if there isn't much my daughter is into at AK or DHS. Is it possible to just get park hopper for 3 of our park days? I don't think we will need it on MK park days.

The PH option needs to be added to all ticketed days. For us, adding the option was always useful as it allowed flexibility (moot point now as we've been annual passholders for the last 6 years). You could always start with a base ticket and then add the PH option once you're there. If you go that route, you'll have a better idea as to whether or not your family is up to hopping and if the added cost is worth it.

 

[Pkltm]

You will get so many opinions to this question, and what the right answer for you will vary greatly. Do you have or are you making ADRs? Will you be taking breaks?

We will never go without hoppers, we enjoy the flexibility. We like going to DHS in the morning, EP in the afternoon and finishing with fireworks at MK. We usually take our last day and hop to what we enjoyed most in the previous days. If we wake up and it is raining we may switch our plans.

 

[JoyAhead]

You will get so many opinions to this question, and what the right answer for you will vary greatly. Do you have or are you making ADRs? Will you be taking breaks?

We will never go without hoppers, we enjoy the flexibility. We like going to DHS in the morning, EP in the afternoon and finishing with fireworks at MK. We usually take our last day and hop to what we enjoyed most in the previous days. If we wake up and it is raining we may switch our plans.

We will have ADRs. I don't know where/when yet. We may take breaks? Just kind of depends on how the kiddo is holding up. I know so little about Disney that it's hard to figure all this out!

 

[Pkltm]

We will have ADRs. I don't know where/when yet. We may take breaks? Just kind of depends on how the kiddo is holding up. I know so little about Disney that it's hard to figure all this out!

There is so much to know, it seems a but crazy to have to plan so much in advance. I find it easier to find my adrs if we have hoppers. We were able to get a be Our Guest breakfast last year on the same day we got Le Cellier, we could not find either on different days, without hoppers we would of had to give one up. I prefer to have as much flexibility as possible on vacation but at WDW it can be hard to achieve that.

What time of year are you going? Staying on site?

 

[JoyAhead]

There is so much to know, it seems a but crazy to have to plan so much in advance. I find it easier to find my adrs if we have hoppers. We were able to get a be Our Guest breakfast last year on the same day we got Le Cellier, we could not find either on different days, without hoppers we would of had to give one up. I prefer to have as much flexibility as possible on vacation but at WDW it can be hard to achieve that.

What time of year are you going? Staying on site?

Thank you so much for your opinions! I appreciate all the input!

We are going the week after thanksgiving or possible the first week in December. We are staying onsite- probably AOA our daughter is little mermaid obsessed.

I like the idea of lots of flexibility, especially with a little one who may not like as much at some parks as others.

Do you find it is time consuming to hop from park to park? We will have our own car, or can use Disney transportation.

 

[Pkltm]

Thank you so much for your opinions! I appreciate all the input!

We are going the week after thanksgiving or possible the first week in December. We are staying onsite- probably AOA our daughter is little mermaid obsessed.

I like the idea of lots of flexibility, especially with a little one who may not like as much at some parks as others.

Do you find it is time consuming to hop from park to park? We will have our own car, or can use Disney transportation.

We fly from Canada so we always use Disney transportation, we have only ever once in 15+ trips had a transportation issue where we had to wait really long. There are buses that go between the parks you can take the monorail between Epcot and magic kingdom and there is even a boat option between Hollywood studios and Epcot.

There is a new express option between parks for an extra charge, we are going to try it out in September.

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I have APs right now and we tend to PH when given the chance. However, when traveling with my MIL and BIL last Oct we did not do PH. This year with my parents ( 74 and 79) we are doing 4 day tickets ( a special ticket recently) which is one park per day with no repeat parks. Due to some of their limitations this is all we can really manage right now. No one missed anything they wanted to do and we knew going in we needed to enjoy everything while we had the chance. But they have all been several times and my BIL calls himself a Lemming and will go wherever we go. I think for a first trip and you already being in the frame of mind to PH, that is what you should do. On your next trip if you didn't use it then at least you know.

Kinda like the dining plan. It is nice to pre pay but not really cheap. Some people like that aspect and some think it is too much food.

Like the PP said you can go for the day and then purchase the PH for the rest of the week once you see how much the 5 year old can do...

Have a wonderful trip.

 

[ToddyLu]

Oh, we will be there at the same time!!

 

[JoyAhead]

@ToddyLu Thank you! I think we will stick with park hoppers and see what happens. We also have the dining plan this trip- having never been and having no clue what to expect, we just signed up for everything! Live and learn.

 

[Klayfish]

First of all, you're going to have a wonderful time no matter what!!!! I can't comment on the dining plan, as we always stay off site and bring in our own food. I read that people spend a lot of time making ADRs and planning their trips around them. Personally, it's not something I'd do, as I would very much prefer to have flexibility to go where we want and when we want. Even if I had a dining plan, I'd rather do mostly quick service, because that would allow us to eat where and when we're ready. But that's just my own style, do what suits you.

As for park hopping, absolutely! Yes, you can do without it, but we wouldn't want to. We hop fairly often. Getting around between parks is pretty easy. We always take our car, it's faster and easier...and you get a nice quiet relaxing trip between parks. Have no interest in using Disney buses. The only WDW transportation we use is getting from the TTC to MK, or we'll also use the monorail from MK to Epcot, because it's fun.

One piece of unsolicited advice, and this can also be a controversial topic, but I'll throw it out there...get a stroller. Even if you feel your 5 year old is a great walker, etc...for your first trip, I think you'll be sorry if you don't have one. WDW is big...massive...you-don't-really-understand-until-you-are-there massive. Since it's your first trip, you'll probably want to see and do as much as you can. I don't ever recommend trying to do park open to park close, even with a stroller. But even a full 6 or 8 hour day in the park is a ton of walking. It would be really sad if DD5 ran out of gas on day 2. Trust me, we're fitness nuts, and WDW can wear even us down. It's HUGE.

 

[lanejudy]

As a PP clarified, the Parkhopper option is an all-or-nothing deal -- the price is dependent on the length of your ticket and you get the option to hop on all days or you may use it on just 1 day if you so choose. Same price.

I'll give the opposite opinion of most here. Our family doesn't hop. I don't enjoy planning ADRs months ahead of time and to use no restaurant is worth the cost of a hopper just to be able to go to a different park for a meal. We make just a few ADRs for the week based on our one-park-per-day plan and the rest of our meals are CS or walk-up. We don't usually take mid-day breaks outside the park, either; we spend our hours in the parks and once we're done that's it. We try to keep to typical meal times and close to regular bedtime as well, and DD is not much of a night-owl. We definitely don't feel like we've missed anything by not having hoppers.

But there is no right or wrong answer... whatever works for your family. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[JoyAhead]

@Klayfish and @lanejudy thanks for your opinions! It's nice to see others who think making dinner reservations 6 months out isn't their style! That is me, as well! I mean, I don't know what I'm having for lunch today, much less 6 months away! I looked at menus last night and didn't really see any 'gotta have it' restaurants. We will plan a few character meals for my daughter, but most everything else will probably be QS or spur of the moment.

We will take a stroller for sure! We have a baby (not going on trip) so we have a stroller anyway, might as well bring it along.

I think we will get hoppers just so we can hop to MK after some of the other smaller parks, but I'm still not sure it's necessary. I guess we will do it this time and see what we need for next time. Thanks!!

 

[KarenAylwood]

We took DS at almost 3 and got the park hopper. I don't think we'll ever go without. We liked the flexibility of it. The trip was with my parents as well so one night they had a date night and the other night DH and I had one. We didn't have to think about where we wanted to go based on what we had tickets for. If you're going to do character meals, you do need to book early even though I know it's tough for some people 6 months out. We didn't get the dining plan. DH and I ate at Chefs de France, my mom and dad ate at Le Cellier and we did Chef Mickey's with all of us. DS was over the moon to do Chef Mickey so I'm glad I booked early.

One of the best recommendations I gave to our friends with two girls (3 and 5) was to book the Cinderella's Royal Table in MK for an early breakfast time before the park opened. They were able to get some pictures in front of the castle with no one there and the girls loved it. I had recommended it to a friend with a 2 and 4 year old who hasn't been to Disney since she was a kid. She waited and waited to book the trip and by the time she did everything was booked up for CRT and she got a really crappy time for Akershus but at least she got something.

 

[brockash]

Hello all! We have an upcoming 6 park day trip booked with park hoppers. It's our first trip ever- 2 adults and a 5 year old daughter. In your experience, is park hopper worth it? I like the flexibility of it, and the option to leave a park and go back to MK if there isn't much my daughter is into at AK or DHS. Is it possible to just get park hopper for 3 of our park days? I don't think we will need it on MK park days.

We never use it. We used to always get it, just because I guess, but never used it. Years ago we stopped paying for it and have never had an instance where we were disappointed with not having it. For us, there's plenty to do in every park to fill a whole day and for us it takes up too much time and energy to do the traveling etc. I'd def. just save your money and stick to one park/day and no, you can't get the hopper for only part of your stay, it's an all or nothing.

 

[JoyAhead]

@KarenAylwood Thanks for the tips! My daughter would LOVE CRT. That, and BBB, are both on our list.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We had it once in 4 trips, and used it a lot that trip to justify having paid for it. I felt way more hurried that trip to get stuff done in one park and get on to the next. There is more than enough in each park to keep us occupied, and we dislike the time it takes to go from one place to another. We don't plan on having it for our next trip, and if I ever did decide I want it, I would wait until we're actually in the parks and decide to use it before adding it to the tickets.

We also don't take a mid-day break. We get to the park, stay as long as we want, go back to hotel, and we're done. When we tried to take a mid-day break it was just so much wasted time and effort walking out of the park, waiting for the bus, riding the bus, walking to hotel, and then that all in reverse. However, I think if the mid-day break works well for you, then you might like the hopper better ... because it's no more effort to go to a different park than it is to go to/from resort in the middle of the day. I also think it might work better for us once our kids are a little older.

 

[kariandy6698]

Hello all! We have an upcoming 6 park day trip booked with park hoppers. It's our first trip ever- 2 adults and a 5 year old daughter. In your experience, is park hopper worth it? I like the flexibility of it, and the option to leave a park and go back to MK if there isn't much my daughter is into at AK or DHS. Is it possible to just get park hopper for 3 of our park days? I don't think we will need it on MK park days.

In my opinion, it is worth to get the flexibility that it allows.

 

[Zargel]

I agree the park hoppers make it Great to get more done in all the parks.

 

[dillydally13]

We did not have the park hopper last time and I regretted it. Our MK day was the day after a super rainy day and although I had picked to do MK on the lowest crowd day - the rain caused many to shift around their week and MK was crazy crowded while we were there. There were super long waits for everything. If we had the park hopper - we could have done our FPs and then headed over to another park. It was still fun and we made the best of it but there is something to be said for flexibility!