Parks without hopping? Does it work?

[JCDarzi]

Great thread. I was wondering the same thing. We are taking a Disney cruise but wanted to hit the parks for a couple of days while close by.

It was so much cheaper to get two day admission without park hoppers. I might consider getting park hopper option if we were staying in Disney for the week. But like others have posted before me, we generally didn't park hop except to have dinner in EPCOT. Oddly enough, with the frequent trips to EPCOT, I always feel that's the park that we didn't spend enough time in. It will be interesting to see what happens without the park hopper option.

[Fastpasssteve]

The rhythm and pace of each trip to WDW dictates whether or not you feel the neccesity of the "park hopper" option.

For years, I have been going to to WDW with friends my own age or younger. We have kept up quite a pace while we were down there. True attraction commandos! We were usually down there in the summer due to life and scheduling. We had always 'park hopped' and it served us well. When the crowds grow to Gaussian proportions, we often had to change our plan of attack. We also weren't the best at making our ADR's far enough in advance and line them up with Extra Magic Hours, weather, and other like factors. We also favored the restaurants in EPCOT and usually found ourselves there in the evening/nighttime hours. We had been there a few times and we had a lot of experience with the restaurants all over WDW, so we knew our favorites and which new ones we wanted to try.

This October will bring a different kind of trip. I will be going to WDW with my East Coast 'adopted' Mom. She doesn't move with the ease and speed that she once did (who does, anymore?) and will be using one of those scooters. So, covering large distances won't be on the list of things to cherish. Because of careful planning, ADR's made on the 180th day out from the trip, consulting the Extra Magic Hours Schedule & the Oracle, I was able to fashion a week-long schedule that had us visiting only one park with one important exception: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Since the halloween party is a 'hard-ticketed' event, imbuing the ticket holder with Magic Kingdom entrance, no matter what other park one might have entered earlier in the day. So, keeping in mind which days were scheduled to present Fantasmic, SpectroMagic Parade, Wishes, and Illuminations...I made it all fit. It took a lot of time, concentration, and staring at my Excel Spreadsheet I fashioned with each day's opening and closing times along with special shows and ADR's (I can now bend spoons with my mind). Good luck, no matter what your decision turns out to be.

[merrymouse]

The rhythm and pace of each trip to WDW dictates whether or not you feel the neccesity of the "park hopper" option.

For years, I have been going to to WDW with friends my own age or younger. We have kept up quite a pace while we were down there. True attraction commandos! We were usually down there in the summer due to life and scheduling. We had always 'park hopped' and it served us well. When the crowds grow to Gaussian proportions, we often had to change our plan of attack. We also weren't the best at making our ADR's far enough in advance and line them up with Extra Magic Hours, weather, and other like factors. We also favored the restaurants in EPCOT and usually found ourselves there in the evening/nighttime hours. We had been there a few times and we had a lot of experience with the restaurants all over WDW, so we knew our favorites and which new ones we wanted to try.

This October will bring a different kind of trip. I will be going to WDW with my East Coast 'adopted' Mom. She doesn't move with the ease and speed that she once did (who does, anymore?) and will be using one of those scooters. So, covering large distances won't be on the list of things to cherish. Because of careful planning, ADR's made on the 180th day out from the trip, consulting the Extra Magic Hours Schedule & the Oracle, I was able to fashion a week-long schedule that had us visiting only one park with one important exception: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Since the halloween party is a 'hard-ticketed' event, imbuing the ticket holder with Magic Kingdom entrance, no matter what other park one might have entered earlier in the day. So, keeping in mind which days were scheduled to present Fantasmic, SpectroMagic Parade, Wishes, and Illuminations...I made it all fit. It took a lot of time, concentration, and staring at my Excel Spreadsheet I fashioned with each day's opening and closing times along with special shows and ADR's (I can now bend spoons with my mind). Good luck, no matter what your decision turns out to be.

Funny Post
You sound alot like me. I get totally obsessed with the planning.

[merrymouse]

I've never gotten the hopper option, like others said too much time wasted traveling but I never go when its been busy. I plan my ADR's around where I am that day etc. But this year we are going in Nov for the first time and was considering the hopper only because some parks close so early. 5:00 to 7:00. For instance the day I planned AK (closes at 5:00) we were going to hope over to MK because its EMH and stays open until 11:00 that night. But now that I think about it we are a family of 5, is it worth the extra cash just for two extended evenings? We have Hoop De doo and DTD plans on the other early nights. Hmmm...now I don't know what to do. Does anyone have suggestions? Sorry didn't mean to hijack.

[minnie-mouse]

We never park hop and because our children are young (4 & 6), it works for us. We take our time and spend the whole day at one park, from opening to about 4pm. We go home and take a break, have dinner, and even sometimes go back to that same park in the evening, if they have fireworks or festivities going on. It makes for a great day and we think more relxing than commuting somewhere else.

[AJ Springfield]

I've never gotten the hopper option, like others said too much time wasted traveling but I never go when its been busy. I plan my ADR's around where I am that day etc. But this year we are going in Nov for the first time and was considering the hopper only because some parks close so early. 5:00 to 7:00. For instance the day I planned AK (closes at 5:00) we were going to hope over to MK because its EMH and stays open until 11:00 that night. But now that I think about it we are a family of 5, is it worth the extra cash just for two extended evenings? We have Hoop De doo and DTD plans on the other early nights. Hmmm...now I don't know what to do. Does anyone have suggestions? Sorry didn't mean to hijack.

As I said earlier in this thread, we only went back to MK in the evening. On the other nights we resort hopped (check out restaurants and pools), went to DTD, and enjoyed our own resort-- pool, piano man at the River Roost at POR, had caracatures (spelling?) done, etc. We never felt like we were missing out on anything. It was nice to get away from the park crowds and transportation.

[indytraveler]

We only tend to Park hop FROM AK. Usually we can spend an entire day at each of the other 3 parks. Yes, we take our time in the park of the day which usually means we have a larger sit down lunch and snacks for dinner.

[Mr_Increddieble]

Due to a similiar post we chose the Water Park Fun Option instead of Park Hopper.
Once our schedule was made there were only 3 days where we could've Hopped had we wanted to (since we had 2 Water Park days, a Hoop Dee Doo night, and our arrival day).

Observation:
With young children 2 WaterPark days were too much; they got worn out. (Our 6-1/2 yr old daughter sleep walked thru our next to last day).

Future:
We would nix the Park Hopper & the WaterPark option. Since we were staying at the Beach Club we should have just factored in extra Resort time.

Final Thought:
Park Hopper is nice but definitely not req'd (at all) if you want to save some dough (and who doesn't).
Pick a nice resort and enjoy it. Take it slow at the parks. Schedule TS meals at a resorts you've never been to and check it out.

[Figment52]

We park hop, but there is only two of us and feel its money well spent. We just like being able to go wherever, whenever, if the mood strikes. Also, we only spend about a half day in DHS, and AK often closes at 5pm during the times we frequent.

We actually like that the ticket options are priced out now. In the past with the "length of stay" passes, I believe that covered park hopping and unlimited entry to all water parks (3 at that time), pleasure island, discovery island, and a bunch of other stuff was thrown in. We never used anything but the park hopping feature, so the rest was a waste of money.

[eeyorepoohfan]

It's just me and my DH. So we love having the PH option! On our trip in December, we went to 2 parks nearly every single day. We took a mid-day or early evening break every day to our hotel (POP). So once our break was done, we would hit another park! For us, it didn't feel like wasting any time since we were going to have to get on a bus to go to a park anyway! We were park commandos, so we went to whichever park had early entry or late entry every day. We were in the parks for 5 days. We didn't get to AK until our second to last day and it was our anniversary. So we went to AK until mid-afternoon, then went to our hotel to rest and change clothes (we got soaked on Kali River Rapids). We then went to the MK to watch SpectroMagic and Wishes for our Anniversary evening! We liked having the options. I did make an Excel sheet to show hours/shows/etc. Then we really analyzed what we wanted to see and do. With MK closing early 2 or 3 nights of our trip for Mickey's Christmas Party, we really needed the PH to be able to see as much as possible in such a short vacation and still enjoy some time at the MK! Just my and unless budget was SUPER tight, I think we will always opt for PH!

[Gator]

The last time I bought a park hopper ticket, I didn't even use it. My first two trips in 02 and 04, it was fun to hop. But after my first child was born, things changed. It suddenly became a pain in the backside to get to a park, spend a few hours there, and then board another bus to another park. Like I said, in 06 I bought the hopper and didn't use it at all. Since then, I've stayed at one park all day on the subsequent 08 and 10 trips.

I have to say I like it better. It seems to me that the parks were designed to be experienced one at a time. Get there early and enjoy how Disney makes you escape in each part of the park. The only thing I miss is doing something at the end of my Animal Kingdom days. But instead, I just go to a resort with a nice place to eat and enjoy life that way.

[kemps@wdw]

As die-hard "hoppers", we couldn't imagine not having that option. But, lo and behold, this will be our first year not "hopping". (due to the savings) But, as I look back on previous visits, I notice that when we had ADRs, we would schedule our park choices around that anyway. And as you can get a hand stamp and return to the day's park, I don't see it interfering with our midday breaks. So, I plan to enjoy the $ I save by doing the Keys tour! "Closed door...open window!"

[A Big Kid]

I'm a park hopper, Im a park hopper...(sung to the tune of Im a girl watcher?)

My wife and I find the World Showcase (of Epcot) to be our favorite park attraction. We usually end up there most every night of every trip. Therefore, a PH is a must for us.

[PopPhan]

I'm a park hopper, Im a park hopper...(sung to the tune of Im a girl watcher?)

My wife and I find the World Showcase (of Epcot) to be our favorite park attraction. We usually end up there most every night of every trip. Therefore, a PH is a must for us.

You are one sick ticket!! Now I have that song running through my head with the lyrics changed to fit Park Hoppers!!!

(I'm a Park Hopper
I'm a Park Hopper
Hopping Parks all day
Hey! Hey! Hey!

I'm a Park Hopper
Yeah, I'm a Park Hopper
Let's hop one now)

THANKS!!!!!

[Park Hopper]

As my user name might suggest, we are also fans of park hopping. We have kids and generally take breaks to return to the resort at midday anyway, so time lost to transportation is not a consideration. We like having the freedom to change our mind or go to a different park if we want to and, like others, we end up eating meals in Epcot on several of the nights we are there. Since we have always had park hoppers and with the impatience in us, I cannot imagine getting to Disney World and having to wait 3-4 days to get to one of the parks. For us, I think it would also be kind of sad to get to a park only once in a 6-7 day trip. For example, I would hate to say goodbye to Animal Kingdom with our vacation being only half or not even half over. We find that we can actually tailor exactly how much time we want to spend at each park better, if we split it up in halves, rather than whole day increments.

However, to each his/her own. I see it as a cost-benefit decision, kind of like staying at a Value vs. Moderate vs. Deluxe resort. If the luxury of being able to switch parks justifies the extra cost in your mind, then do it. At some point, and everyone is different, the benefits of park hopping do not justify the added cost.

[BrownEyedGrrl]

When it was just DH and I with other adult couples, we did hopping. But since we've had kids, we choose not to. It saves money, but also works out best for us. No sense in taking the time out to jump on transportation to another park, we just take our time in the one we are in for the day. And if we want a TS meal, we look at the park calendars in advance, choose which day to spend where based on the hours for that day, and choose a TS at that park. I can't imagine hopping with kids in tow, but I suppose it works for some. And maybe when our kids are older it would be fine. But, I've gotten to prefer spending one whole day in one park at a time.

[mrmcgiv]

we have gone twice and did not park hop he 2nd trip - we DID PH the first trip.

I was glad to have it the first trip, having never been to disney as a kid (and my husband was not either), it was over whelmong to walk into each park and have to naviagte efficiently. I took each park in small doses at first and then went back ready to navigate. It was a good option on that first trip. My son was only 2 at the time amd the PH was 40pp, so we only pd 120 extra. At the 2nd trip he was 5 and the PH went up so it would have been 200 - we passed and we were glad we did! I will not get the PH again. We go to a park and STAY for the day - no travel time lost!

[johnO]

Its great. You spend more time in the park and less time in 'transit'