To hop or not to hop....

[KSR0330]

We always get park hoppers and spend the first part of the day at one park and last part at another. If it's hot, we'll go back to the resort mid day to rest or swim. We have literally never spent an entire day at just one park. I'm thinking that if we just stay the day at one park, it would save a lot of wasted travel time. I'm just worried that we'll get tired of being at the same park all day. Taking the cost difference out of it, can those who have done both hoppers and single parks comment on this? Thanks!

 

[disneygirlsng]

For me, if I'm there 3 days or less I get hoppers, that way I can hit all the parks. If I'm there 4 days or longer, I don't get hoppers. IMO there is more than enough to do at each park to keep me busy all day long. And I'm a rope drop to park closing every day I'm there kinda person.

 

[Disneylover99]

We’ve enjoyed our non hopper trips as much as our hopper trips.

We find the hopper trips a bit more relaxing and less stressful because we know we can always hop over to a park if we’ve missed a particular must do attraction. But we find that we actually get more done without the hopper because we know there is no going back if we miss something, so we stay and do it.

If you get there and miss the hopper, you can always add it on.

 

[glocon]

This will be our first trip with hoppers...
All our previous trips have been great, so no worries there.
We’ve always stayed at one park from rd to close, never took hotel breaks mid- day.
Always had a great time and not bored.

 

[epcotobsessed]

I've tried both and we choose not to get the hoppers now. We just don't think it's worth the extra money.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I’ve bought park hopping my last three trips, mainly because I was traveling with AP holders, and I didn’t want them to hold back because I couldn’t park hop. Also, we stayed at the Swan where access to Epcot and the Studios is normally quick and easy.

Last September, I got good use out of the hoppers. We hit up Epcot every day. This last May, I hopped exactly once—totally not worth the $75 that it cost.

Why no hopping last month? Mainly, the weather. Most of our trip had loads of rain. When we were out in ponchos most of the day, we were in no mood to go back out at night and get wet again. It also didn’t help that we had no boat service at the Swan.

Unless I get an exceptional deal on hopper passes (like I did in 2016), I won’t purchase hopping ahead of time for my next trip. I could have added it last month for the same price while I was there.

 

[Planner2012]

We prefer park hoppers. If we’re at a park and it’s insanely busy or we’re just not “feeling” that park we love that we can go to a different park. It also gives us the option to go back to a park for just a ride or two and not feel we’re wasting a park ticket because we’ll also have been/are going to another park that day.

 

[GillianP1301]

I prefer to hop. I'm the same in that I like to change it up and not stay in the same park all day. I don't hop every day of my trip, but I love having the flexibility, especially for meals since I may want to hope to EP multiple evenings for dinner, for example.

I don't think you would be bored at one park per day, because I think there's tons of fun to be had whether you hop or not. It really comes down to how much flexibility you want to have.

We drive, so the amount of time to hop is significantly less than if you use Disney transportation, so that factors into my decision as well.

 

[Beer Me]

I like the flexibility of hoppers. FPs and ADRs can be in different parks on the same day. It's easier to see all of the nighttime shows.

My kids are older now so they get to do their own thing if they want (they want to ride stuff in HS while DW and I hang out in world showcase). We can change plans as necessary due to weather or ride closures or just because we feel like it.

I'm sure I could make it work without hoppers but I'm pretty spoiled now and it's definitely my preference.

 

[GillianP1301]

I like the flexibility of hoppers. FPs and ADRs can be in different parks on the same day. It's easier to see all of the nighttime shows.

My kids are older now so they get to do their own thing if they want (they want to ride stuff in HS while DW and I hang out in world showcase). We can change plans as necessary due to weather or ride closures or just because we feel like it.

I'm sure I could make it work without hoppers but I'm pretty spoiled now and it's definitely my preference.

This is me exactly. I always say that a hopper ticket is something you don't know you're missing until you're used it the first time. It is hard to go back to non-hopping after you've done. But, you can still be perfectly content without one, if you don't know any better.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Once I leave a park, I have no desire to go back that day. For example, if I start out my morning at AK, i'll leave just after 12 for a break....I wont want to come back to that same park after my rest/swim break is over. I want to hit a different park. That's just me. So a park hopper is definitely a must.

 

[juuuliebeth]

One thought is that they are very helpful if you go during a party time of year. Non-party days at MK have much lower crowds, so I like to visit during the day, then go elsewhere. Whether that's just a resort or another park can change. Also, I have to see Happily Ever After, which means going to MK in the evening when I haven't spent the day there. So while I don't hop every day, it's very helpful to have it for situations like this.

 

[DisLiss]

We enjoy hopping and we do as you mentioned. We go to one park early in the day, go back to the resort room for a bit, then go to another park for the evening. The way I see it, if you enjoy going back to the room, to cool off, freshen up, rest, etc., then it makes no difference time-wise if you return to the same park or a different one.

Now, on our next trip we're planning to go the MNSSHP, so that day we are going to attempt, for that one day only to stay at magic Kingdom the entire day. But mostly, we really prefer the small break and then heading off to a different park. It's just what makes us happy. I think part of it is that it eliminates the idea that you have to cram everything you want to do in a park into one day. It takes off that pressure to be able to say "Well, we'll be here again in a day or two." Or if the weather is lousy one day, then you're not watching the one day you planned for this park or that park get messed up. You split the crummy day between two parks doing indoor things, and come back and split a nicer day doing the outdoor things. Or if lines are terrible and you can't get a FB, you know you can try again another day.

It also makes it so we don't have to feel we need to eat everyplace we're interested in at a park in one day. We rather to have one table service meal per day. So if we're at DHS and want both Sci-Fi & 50s, we don't have to stuff ourselves with 2 table service meals in one day. We can just eat a TS meal each time we're there.

 

[familyman123]

We did non-hoppers in 2014 for 6 Park days and hoppers in 2016 for 5 Park days. We are going again in September...with 7 day non-hoppers.

The hoppers do offer freedom to move around. And if you are focused on hitting the top attractions in each park in a short time frame they are worth it. But if you are staying longer, I prefer to stay in one park for the following reasons.
1. It avoids thinking “what else could I be doing”.
2. It’s more restful because you can linger and enjoy the non E-ticket attractions.
3. You don’t waste time traveling between parks
4. You can use that money for longer tickets

Part of my bias is we have young kids and rope drop. So we aren’t going for late days anyway.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We use Hoppers to enjoy one park, eat at another.

 

[mom2rtk]

We almost never hop at WDW but always do at DLR. That has everything to do with the time it takes to get from one park to another. I look at it as lost time.

Something to keep in mind is that you don't have to have the hopper option going in. Get base tickets, then if you get there and decide to hop, you can add it then.

 

[DisneyFan119]

One factor that may help you decide is where you're staying. If you're staying at a monorail resort, it's nice to be able to buzz over anytime for one or two attractions at MK if you feel like it. Or if you're staying at the Beach Club, you could walk over to Epcot and grab a snack from world showcase at the end of your day. But if you're staying at a resort with only bus transportation to the parks, it may not be as convenient to park hop.

For me, I most always get park hoppers because I like the freedom and flexibility it affords, but I may not use it everyday. I just like having the option there.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We got hoppers for the first time on our last trip, only because you can't purchase the WP add-on without them. We hopped once. It took so much time and felt like we lost out on the opportunity to do things during that travel time. We originally planned to hop more, but decided against it. It's just not for us, though unfortunately it seems like we will always have e them if we want to do the water parks.

We spend 10-12 hrs straight in the parks, no breaks. We don't get bored.

 

[Rich M]

We always get hoppers. We do one park in the morning and one at night and sometimes a third park for EMH. I could not stay at the same park all day and not feel the want to see another one later. Spoiled from DL is suppose of being able to go back and forth with ease. I honestly could not spend all day at HS. For me there is not enough to do there. Its a half day park for me as well as AK. AK is just to hot of a park in the middle of the day. I either go in the morning and gone by 12 or come after the evening cool down and stay to close. For me the Hopper is a must every trip.

 

[Moliphino]

We always get hoppers, it really lets us maximize our nighttime show viewing. Plus all of our trips over the past 6? 7? years have been at times when the MK has parties, so hoppers let you go there in the morning on party days (which are somewhat less crowded) and somewhere else at night.