To Hop or Not to Hop?

[Drewmama]

Going to WDW and plan to hit the parks during 2/5-2/8/2018. I've read that that time of year is a good time to go because crowds are low. I'm planning to get a 3-day non-hopper ticket as opposed to a 4-day non-hopper ticket but now I'm wondering if it's worth it to get a 3-day hopper in the event we're able to do all we want in one park before day's end and want to experience a different park. That way, we could possibly hit all 4 parks in 3 days (we want one rest day). For 2 adults and 1 child, the cost of a 3 day park hopper is $1,029 (not including tax) and the cost of a 4 day non park hopper is $1,030.

 

[skippytx]

I personally always recommend getting the hoppers. I think they're worth it.

To me, HS and Epcot are not all day parks. I could spend a full day at AK, but usually we do a park in the morning, take an afternoon break, and finish every evening at Magic Kingdom. MK isn't staying open late those dates though, so if it was me we might change our normal routine. We usually visit during busier times where MK is open until 11PM or later though.

 

[mel&me]

I always get hoppers. I rarely stay in one park for the whole day.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I would like the hopper. There are few reasons for me to go to DHS, but I like them enough to hop.

 

[alldiz]

I would hop. Park during day... different park at night for dinner and a more relaxing approach to park.

Or 1st park opening ride bunch o rides, and have your fastpasses at 2nd park.
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

I think the hoppers are nice to have vs a must have. If you want resort time, you could spend the morning at DHS, for example, and the afternoon at your resort.

 

[Murron]

I think it also depends on where you are staying. If I'm in the Epcot resorts, I always get a hopper because I know I'll wind up in Epcot at night. If I'm in SSR or OKW, I can do the park of the day and head to Disney Springs at night. Overall, however, I do admit we are either annual passes or hoppers.

 

[Ben E N]

I would go hopper. The day off would be a nice way to enjoy big meals at another hotel, pools, etc.
The hopper will allow you to revisit rides that you especially enjoyed, and also helps make up if weather affects any plans, such as rain cancelling fantasmic for an evening.

I have gone to Disney without a hopper two times and wished that I had it each time that I went. Still had a good time, but it felt constricting to be stuck to one park all day.

 

[disneynutz]

We never hop and we stay at a resort close to the park for that vacation. One year MK, next year Epcot/DHS, maybe a side trip to AK but not often. We don't spend time taking transportation from park to park, what we don't see this year we will see next year. WDW isn't going anywhere, it will be there for years to come.

Bill

 

[clayfolks]

We are trying non hopper tickets for our grandsons (6,6,&8) this February. It is the first time we have skipped them. I figure we can always add it on if needed OR for just about the same $$, we can do the MK after hours event on our last night.

 

[michelleiada]

I think if staying on property, a park hopper is well worth the money for the flexibility it offers. We always get the hopper option.

 

[ludari]

I always get hoppers just to have the flexibility if one park gets too crowed for my preference I like that I can go to another park.

 

[crisi]

One benefit of hoppers has gotten so much better with technology - if you are in a park and discover its much busier than you hoped - you can check wait times at the other parks and decide if its worth it to hop over - then try the park you were in on a different day. Of course, that screws up all your ride futures.

We always end up hopping - its just easier to have the freedom to change our minds. And we've been so often that if the lines are long for attractions, we often skip them - so we will end up just strolling through Epcot or AK because the Magic Kingdom was body to body.

 

[DisBuckMan]

We're AP holders, but quite frankly, we never hop. Just not worth the time it takes to go to another park. We go during less-busy times, and plan our days for one park.

 

[Ben E N]

We're AP holders, but quite frankly, we never hop. Just not worth the time it takes to go to another park. We go during less-busy times, and plan our days for one park.

Do you never go morning in one park, afternoon in another? That's how I hop. I have only once ever gone directly from one park to another without a mid-day break.

 

[kboo]

Do you never go morning in one park, afternoon in another? That's how I hop. I have only once ever gone directly from one park to another without a mid-day break.

This is what we normally do - lunch/nap break midday, and we go back to the park where we are having dinner and do some attractions there too. We did hop once from MK to AK but that was to use an special FP for 7DMT first thing in the AM (rained out the night before), and then go to AK as originally planned. Crazy thing was - the bus to AK was delayed, it was wicked hot, and so they gave us anytime FP for AK. We only had a FP for Navi River, but we got to do that AND FOP for standing outside in the heat for 20 minutes! But, we were also DONE with parks after hopping between 2 back to back, and spent the rest of the day at the resort and pools.

 

[bwvBound]

Related question, if you'll pardon my piggy-backing on this thread.

I have an old, non-expire PH in my MDE account with a single day remaining. I have FP+ already selected for an upcoming trip for AK and will likely spend the full day in one park.
QUESTION: Is possible and beneficial to purchase a 1-day, 1-park pass just before our arrival and enter the park on that pass rather than burn my older PH pass? I'm thinking leaving the old non-expire PH in my account allows me to book FP+ at the earliest window while waiting to commit to park passes at a later date. Is this a crazy idea? thx!