To hop or not to hop....

[goodeats]

If I were staying in the Boardwalk/Beach Club area park-hoppers would be a non-negotiable. Otherwise I don't think I need them. I've only had them before, but we never really maximized them. This trip is my DH and kids' first so we are saving $300 and not getting parkhoppers. I think we'll see more of each park without them. There are only two days where I could see wanting to hop (our DS day and our day where I can't choose between a second day at AK or Ep). Not really worth $300 to me!

 

[kwdw]

Even when I have an annual pass - I rarely hop. And when travelling with others - we do not buy hoppers. To us - its a waste of time and money and physical energy.

We plan our day to get a "break" in it. That is sometimes a TS meal in the park - or if at MK - at one of the restaurants at an MK area resort. So - at some point - we will slow down in the park we are at. Have a break in the park. There are lots of ways to schedule "break time" where you slow down, rest, or temperature adjust if its hot or cold or rainy right in a park.

We usually head to the park when we plan to get there - and don't leave until we are done with it for the day. Exiting and entering a park, transportation, security - those all take time and seem like wasted steps to us.

On a long trip (6-9 days) - we will probably include a non-park rest day. Head to the pool, rent a boat, go to Disney Springs, etc. On a shorter trip (4-6 days) - we might have a day or two where we visit the pool either in the morning or the evening - with the park the rest of the day. Or head to DS part of the day and then to a park for the rest of the day. Or maybe we plan a character breakfast at a non-park location, then head to a park. Or end at a park early and head to a special dinner at a non-park location. Or - we might break at the resort mid-day - but go to the same park in the morning and evening.

Sometimes on solo trips (the bulk of my trips) - I park hop with my annual pass. But honestly - it's an exception - not the norm for me. I just find I feel the same way. It' a waste of time. The only time I hop is on really short trips (4 days or less) and I can't quite get in everything I want to do at park due to my plane flight arrival/departure times OR if I need a break from the busyness of the parks - and riding the bus or monorail between parks seems like a good way to chill out.

 

[loves to dive]

We have been going since around 1982 and even when there was just two parks to hop to, we have always gotten PHS. In all our trips and there have been well over 30, we have only spent a day in one park once and that wasn't on purpose. We were walking around Epcot and on a whim my son and then DIL decided to stop at a DVC booth. They got talked into going to a sales pitch at BW (which we were staying at) and didn't even get a tour. We were promised it would only take a hour or hour and half at most and we ended up spending about 3 hours in the sales office watching videos and then they bought (despite my trying to talk them into waiting and doing more research, they were divorced 2 months later). So they took us back to Epcot and it was so late then we just grabbed something to eat and called it a day.

 

[gharter]

We have APs, so we don't have to decide. In general, we plan to be at one park all day. If the park becomes really crowded, we will change plans and hop to a different park. Sometimes we will hop just at the end of the day if we want to see a specific evening show.

 

[mommyboys3]

We got hoppers on our first trip 13 years ago because we didn't know any better & we never used them. We haven't gotten them since & never really see the need. We usually RD a park, take an afternoon swim break at the resort & maybe go back to that same park at night or maybe just have a nice TS meal at another resort. For my family hoppers are around $400. Last trip we stayed at BC & I thought it might have been nice to walk over to Epcot for a snack at night if we didn't go back to another park but then I realized at $400 that would have been a pretty expensive snack! We just make sure we get in all the rides & eat at any park restaurant we want on the day we are in that park.

 

[jeffg4]

I agree with the others who say it is a waste of money and time. I've never purchased hoppers. There are enough things to do in every park to take up an entire day. Even if you want to take a mid-day break, you can return to the same park. What little difference there may be in crowd levels is not worth the additional cost.

 

[disny_luvr]

We always hop. We start our day in one park, head back to resort to swim/rest, and then finish off the evening in a different park. We also enjoy park hopping when staying at an Epcot resort. It is so nice to pop into Epcot for dinner or to walk around World Showcase in the evening.

 

[Oneanne]

I'm a hopper. I normally arrive at RD, or just after, take midday resort breaks and then head out again in the evening, usually to EPCOT. A couple years ago I helped a co-worker plan her first family trip and did recommend that they not get hoppers, as they would have more than enough to do in one park per day... even if they took a midday break they could go back to the same park in the evening. My trip after that I toyed with the idea of not hopping, but immediately started to panic because it felt so restrictive.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

I've never not done hoppers, both at DL or WDW. But, we're in the minority (of this forum) that doesn't plan out our vacation minute by minute, and we like to wing it. Hoppers allow us to hop to a different park on a whim either by choice or if crowds dictate it. We always have a pleasant vacation that way.

 

[icesk8abc]

We are firmly in the hopper camp. At least for now. We have to go back to the room for naps with our littles ones anyway so the time for transportation issue doesn’t apply to us. We also like to do longer trips. We are going for 10 days in September and don’t plan to start and end the day in the same park on any of them. Some of it is influenced by parties. The kids are too young to make it through the parties so we take advantage of somewhat smaller crowds on those days to maximize attraction time and minimize waits. I feel like we only need 1 day of rope drop/FP+ at Epcot so we only go there 1 morning. Then we hop over for a few evenings to walk around F&W and do some of the things that we can get a 4th FP easily for or just don’t need them. Same with Animal Kingdom. We will spend 3 mornings there, but only 2 possible evenings. DHS is the same. A couple days of rope drop/FP+, but we only need to be there once for the fireworks. Fantasmic still scares the kids so it will be a few years before we need 2 evenings there.

Basically we pick the park in the morning where we want to go, go, go, and do and see. Then in the evening we walk around, relax and see what’s easy or convenient.

 

[tlmadden73]

Hoppers are just expensive .. like .. it is sometimes cheaper to just go an extra day rather than hop.
That being said, hopping has its appeal.

I've gotten them for old No-Expiration tickets .. knowing I would be going on some short trips ..and we used them to do 3 parks in 2 day.

I guess it just depends on what type of trip you are going on and what you get done.
It depends on the age of the group too. Adults? Hoppers are fun. Small children? Getting them in/out of another park just not worth the time.

If going on a 4-day trip, probably 1 park per day is enough (especially with the additions to AK and DHS).

If going on a 3 day or less trip, hoppers are nice, but REALLY expensive .. but cheaper than an additional day. To me .. it just takes a lot of precious time to jump between one park and another (especially now they stopped those Express busses that let you hop from inside the park to inside the park (well worth it).
(I often wonder if they are going to just raise the price of hoppers and bring back the Express bus bundled in with it).

If going on a 5-day or more trip, it doesn't add much more to the cost of the trip and the flexibility to jump to a different park later in the day probably just makes it more fun in my opinion.

At least a hopper isn't required to go on a specific attraction (how Universal requires a hopper for the Hogwart's Express) ..

 

[MomOTwins]

We are doing our first trip without hoppers in August. We are big character meal fans, and we normally book a couple months ahead when ADRs are scarce, so the hoppers were a great way to have flexibility to grab an open reservation at a different park (e.g., if we get Akershus dinner, and then a spot for a PPO breakfast at BOG opens up, we can grab it for the same day). We also like having it at very crowded times, because then you can look at the app midday and "shop" which park to visit next that has the lowest wait times. This time, we are in August after a lot of schools have started so I am not super worried about insane crowds, and we booked far enough ahead that we got every ADR we wanted, so I called disney and asked them to drop the hoppers from our tickets. If we hate it and feel the itch to hop, I can purchase the hopper upgrade while we are there.

 

[maryj11]

I have been trying to decide on hoopers or not too. The last time we had hoppers we hopped 2 times. What makes me not sure if we want to hop is riding those buses! We never have a car so we use Disney transportation. We are also staying at POFQ so we won't have the monorail like our last trip. Sometimes I just dread riding the buses. The waits and ride can be long and crowded. It just seems like it takes up to much time and energy. I really would like to go to the morning EMH's and hop to another park later after a break, but I'm not sure yet. I know my granddaughter will agree with what ever I decide so it's all up to me.

 

[drwadadli]

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!

This question is as debated as whether or not to get the dining plan. Our rule is the if under 4 days then no hopper but if over 4 days then hopper. We have no problem spending all day in a park. We typically spent all day at Epcot and Magic Kingdom. For short trips, we do a park per day. For longer trips, we typically do Animal Kingdom one morning and hit Epcot in the afternoon. We hit Hollywood Studios one morning and hit Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. Then one whole day at Magic Kingdom with a break during the hottest part of the day and then one whole day at Epcot again with a break during the hottest part of the day. The other days spent bouncing back and forth to catch anything we miss or want to do again.

 

[KSR0330]

Thanks for all of the great replies! This trip will be just me and teen DS for 4 full days. There are very valid reasons for and against hopping. I think I will get hoppers, but plan one day at AK, rope drop to close, to see how we like it.

Here's something I don't know because we've only ever had hoppers. With standard (non-hopper) tickets, can you leave the park and re-enter the same park later? I'd love to leave AK to go over to AKL for lunch as Saana!

 

[coast2coastmickey]

Thanks for all of the great replies! This trip will be just me and teen DS for 4 full days. There are very valid reasons for and against hopping. I think I will get hoppers, but plan one day at AK, rope drop to close, to see how we like it.

Here's something I don't know because we've only ever had hoppers. With standard (non-hopper) tickets, can you leave the park and re-enter the same park later? I'd love to leave AK to go over to AKL for lunch as Saana!

Yes.

 

[loves to dive]

I've never not done hoppers, both at DL or WDW. But, we're in the minority (of this forum) that doesn't plan out our vacation minute by minute, and we like to wing it. Hoppers allow us to hop to a different park on a whim either by choice or if crowds dictate it. We always have a pleasant vacation that way.

We don't plan either, I'm talking don't even plan FPs until morning of and don't plan ADRs until afternoon of. Hoppers (AP in my case) come in handy for that.

 

[Bork]

We haven't done hoppers since they starting charging for it. But when they started charging for hopping, they started making the extra days cost next to nothing. So we stay longer and it has kept us from leaving Disney property.

 

[StacyStrong]

I always get hoppers.

I don't get "bored" at one park all day, but sometimes I'm just in the MOOD to do something different, so I'll leave. I also am an antsy person generally, so even if I'm not bored, I'll check the app and see lower wait times at another park and just hop over! Plus park hours are different at each park, so I like being able to start early at one, but still have the option to hop over to another that has later hours. The flexibility is just awesome. I would still enjoy a trip without them, but it's just not for me.

Ask me again when (if) I have kids - maybe I'll feel differently. I can understand it being more complicated when you have to move kids around from park to park. But currently with just me and a friend? Super easy to just switch parks.

Yes, it takes awhile - but I'm NEVER going full stop at a park all day. Never. I'd die lol. Whether it's sitting down for awhile, taking a long lunch, or taking a midday break, I'm always "stopping" for some period time. So, why not stop on a bus to another park? Plus, if you are already breaking midday and going back to the resort, going to another resort isn't taking any additional time. Not everyone breaks midday though so, that's also a personal preference.

 

[StacyStrong]

Even when I have an annual pass - I rarely hop. And when travelling with others - we do not buy hoppers. To us - its a waste of time and money and physical energy.

We plan our day to get a "break" in it. That is sometimes a TS meal in the park - or if at MK - at one of the restaurants at an MK area resort. So - at some point - we will slow down in the park we are at. Have a break in the park. There are lots of ways to schedule "break time" where you slow down, rest, or temperature adjust if its hot or cold or rainy right in a park.

We usually head to the park when we plan to get there - and don't leave until we are done with it for the day. Exiting and entering a park, transportation, security - those all take time and seem like wasted steps to us.

On a long trip (6-9 days) - we will probably include a non-park rest day. Head to the pool, rent a boat, go to Disney Springs, etc. On a shorter trip (4-6 days) - we might have a day or two where we visit the pool either in the morning or the evening - with the park the rest of the day. Or head to DS part of the day and then to a park for the rest of the day. Or maybe we plan a character breakfast at a non-park location, then head to a park. Or end at a park early and head to a special dinner at a non-park location. Or - we might break at the resort mid-day - but go to the same park in the morning and evening.

Sometimes on solo trips (the bulk of my trips) - I park hop with my annual pass. But honestly - it's an exception - not the norm for me. I just find I feel the same way. It' a waste of time. The only time I hop is on really short trips (4 days or less) and I can't quite get in everything I want to do at park due to my plane flight arrival/departure times OR if I need a break from the busyness of the parks - and riding the bus or monorail between parks seems like a good way to chill out.

Personally, I have a hard time breaking in park. I do do it sometimes, but I'm still way more stressed. I get really anxious though and the crowds can overwhelm me. I handle them fine for the most part, but sometimes I just need to be out of that environment for an hour or two. Sitting in a restaurant or secluded place in park isn't enough for me (at times). Sometimes I just need an hour in my room without people milling about and lots of noise.