Talk to me about Park Hopping....

[jshoemak]

We've always been a one park a day family. We've purchased park hoppers before just so we could eat at a particular park on one day and that's all we really used it for. Do most people park hop? What is your touring plan like?

 

[ajwolfe]

We always purchase park hoppers. Some days we hop and some days we don't. We find that we like to spend more days in MK and eat more meals in Epcot - so for us we may go to Hollywood Studios in the morning and then hop over to Epcot in the evening for dinner. Or we may go to Epcot in the morning one day and then end the day at MK to catch the evening fireworks again. Just kind of depends on what our plans are for that trip.
We also use them if we get to a park and find it busier than we want to deal with or lots of rides are down then we just hop over to a different park for the day.
We find it makes us a little more flexible in what we are able to do in a day.

 

[No.1000]

We have always been a 1 park per day family until we became AP last year. We love the freedom of being able to leave a park if it is too crowded or if we just want to do something else. For example, stroll the WS at Epcot and then hop over to MK for HEA. For us, it is more laid back then our previous commando park touring.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I've never not park hopped at Disney World. My family is all about the rides and special experiences. Last year, we rode every Thrill ride at all four parks in about four hours (the week of Thanksgiving) in one afternoon because we utilized Fastpass. We also use Uber to bounce around for Fastpasses, depending on the time of the Fastpass. The buses are fine as long as you aren't walking up to the bus stop as it's pulling away, making you wait another 15-25 minutes for another bus. Park hopping is so great, as they said above, because it gives you the flexibility to go to another park if the one you're at becomes too crowded. It's also great if you want an ADR at another park (such as breakfast as Tusker house but FP's at Hollywood studios, etc). Utilize MyDisneyExperience to the max and get your fastpasses, and check every park! (Plus, if you're shooting for that extra Flight of Passage FP, it can pop up anytime, and you can hop over there to ride it. We were able to ride it once every day around dinner time in August while we were there!)

 

[Robo]

Choice of "rope drop" park.
Choice of "AM EMH" park.
Choice of "PM EMH" park.
Choice of must-do FP bookings.
Choice of in-park restaurants.
Choice of "evening spectaculars."

Any combo of above on the same day.

 

[jshoemak]

Thanks everyone! It sounds like I need to learn how to utilize the hoppers. As far as fast passes go, we will need to use the first 3 in our first park before using the extra one in another park??

 

[No.1000]

Thanks everyone! It sounds like I need to learn how to utilize the hoppers. As far as fast passes go, we will need to use the first 3 in our first park before using the extra one in another park??

You will need to use whatever you have scheduled in one park (doesn't have to be 3) and as soon as you scan for the last FP, start searching for your new park.

 

[puffkins]

We've always been a one park a day family. We've purchased park hoppers before just so we could eat at a particular park on one day and that's all we really used it for. Do most people park hop? What is your touring plan like?

For us, park hopping is the only way to go. We like to spend, as an example, our mornings at Magic Kingdom. We'll take a lunch break and rest our feet back at the resort (usually the WDW Dolphin) and then walk to the International Gate for the afternoon/evenings at Epcot or Hollywood Studios. The park hoppers allow you to change atmosphere at will. The experience at Magic Kingdom versus the World Showcase in EPCOT could not be more different. Being able to do both in the same day is very enjoyable. Try park hopping. I think you will like it.

 

[JediBonas]

We always park hop, we hit at least two parks a day. We stay at YC/BC so usually go to whichever park has EMH in the morning then hop over to either Epcot or HS in the afternoon (or head back to the resort, rest, then hop to Epcot/HS).

 

[PSUGuy]

We usually go during Food&Wine for 9 - 10 day trips and our plan is to hit a park at RD, tour for a few hours then hop to WS with the exception of Sat when WS crowds are crazy during the festival. We follow this plan even if we're there at other times of the year. In addition, we'll often hit a third park in the evening so we'd be lost without hoppers.

Bill From PA

 

[EdmondD]

Time was, we would only get park hoppers. Then for awhile it seemed like a waste, as there is easily enough to do in one park to fill a day. Now we do a blend. We do pay for it, but only use it maybe on half of our park days. There are times when, due to various circumstances, you may definitely want to spend the early morning in Park A but want to see the nighttime show in Park B. The flexibility is nice. We find it especially useful given that we frequently stay at the Beach Club and being able to pop in to Epcot at night, just because, if we want to, is great.

 

[hiroMYhero]

FP tips for park hopping are explained here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/f...ng-cl-fp-trial-program.3538258/#post-56320829

 

[NickC]

We like having the option. We use it most with HS/Epcot days. We like the days at HS and Epcot is so wonderful at night. Also, aside from Brown Derby, the dinner options at HS aren't our favorites.
We usually stay at an Epcot area resort, so we can leave HS, take a boat to our hotel, and later on, walk to dinner at Epcot.

 

[disneyvoice]

We are AP holders now but prior to having them we always purchased Park Hoppers, even if we weren't sure when were going to use them. In general we used them to go to a different park for dinner some nights. We also sometimes used to head to a different park to watch the evening show/parade/fireworks. Toward the end of our trips we often rope drop one park to do one or two favorite rides and then go to a different park to hit favorites there. I would say that most of our park hopping is more spur of the moment not pre-planned. Sometimes we just feel like heading to a different park or going to another park to eat.

 

[CAS239]

We park hop every day.

 

[Moliphino]

We park hop every day, sometimes multiple times per day. One park in the morning, change parks in the early/mid afternoon, and maybe go to a third park if I can squeeze in another nighttime show. We usually try to avoid the AM EMH park in the morning (we're not rope droppers, nevermind getting up even earlier for EMH) and aim for PM EMH parks for the nights.

 

[tinkerbella16]

We have never gone without park hoppers. We don't hop from park to park anymore like we used to. We like to do one park in the morning, take a midday break to relax around the resort and go to another park in the evenings. We love having that option and not being held down to one park each day. Works great with dining, whether it is QS or TS. Whatever we are the mood for, we can just choose at any park.

 

[Average Joes]

For the end of Aug-Dec hoppers almost seem like a requirement to better tour MK. You can avoid busy MK during non-party days except to hop in late for a couple rides (including a FP) and fireworks. It also helps hit HS two night shows without having to be at HS twice during the day. EMH AM when it is hot can give you a nice hour temperature wise and hop to a less busy park after a break.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

For our longer (7-8 days) trips, we do 1 park per day. I like it that way. But this past fall, DD15 and I did a long weekend trip (4 days, with 2 park days and 1 party night). I can't go to WDW without going to MK, DD15 can't go to WDW without eating at Via Napoli, and I couldn't imagine going to WDW and not riding TSMM. Plus, DD wanted to see Pandora. So we got the hopper pass.
Our first day, we went to HS in the morning to ride TSMM as many times as we could. Then we walked to Epcot for F&W lunch. After that we went back to our hotel for our break, then AK for the evening.
The next morning, we headed to Epcot again for a few rides, lunch at VN, a couple more F&W booths, then our break. This was a Saturday and Epcot was a madhouse! I could not believe the hoards of people, and when we were leaving around 2pm, the CM at the gate was just shaking her head in awe and said "I have never seen this many people here before!" I was glad to be leaving, and not coming back! We went back to our hotel for a break, then headed to MK for the evening. We did the HEA Plaza dessert party and stayed at the park as long as we could.

I didn't mind hopping, but for our long trips, we'll save money and not hop. I embarrassingly admit also, hopping confused me! I'm used to getting on the bus we got on in the morning - it's just the way my brain thinks, so on our first full day after our break, when I noticed an AK bus as we were walking to the bus stop, I said "Oh good, it's not our bus". DD didn't say anything, and when we got to the bus stop and the bus had just drove away, I realized we needed to get on that bus. Duh!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I don't think any of us can say what most people do, but I'm thinking you are just using that expression to solicit replies form other DIS board folks. (If I had to guess though, I'd guess more than 50% of WDW don't hop, as it costs more.)

We've done WDW both ways a number of times.
Hopping used to be included with all tickets, and is still included with AP's.
When hopping was included or we had AP's we hopped. The rest of the time we don't typically hop.

Hopping between parks always = a loss of time in the parks. That's one of the key downsides. Hopping HS to Epcot is the shortest hop. If you go directly between the two, it takes about 20mintes. Sometimes hopping has taken us over an hour, especially when a bus didn't show or the monorail was down.

Upsides of hopping:
You can hop into Epcot's WS for dinner
You an take advantage of extended hours. This was more of a benefit back when AK closed early and MK was open late. Now the reverse is possible when MK has a party night.
You can hop to partly get around tiered FP. Epcot barely had 3 FP attractions, and well HS has reduced attractions at this time. Combining HS and Epcot is a good use of hopping.

If you regularly take afternoon breaks at your hotel, then the time loss of travel between parks disappears. Some folks like to hop just because.

Hopping also makes sense during shorter trips, or if you want to spend a day doing just thrill rides. It was easier to do in the old days. Now, you'd probably have to stand in some long standby lines to do it.

At Universal- I'll just throw this out there- hopping is great for repeat visitors, IMO, because of the Hogwart's Express. While some folks think the cost of US hopping is too high, 'for just one ride,' that one ride connects the back side of the two parks, and more or less connects the two HP areas. If you only go to US once, it probably doesn't make sense to pay to hop, but hopping is handy for repeat visitors.