Debating Ditching Hopper Option

Park hoppers would still be my choice.

park hopper's all the way, just for the fact that if you are at a park and it is crazy busy you can go to another park for a whil. if you don't have thew option you are stuck, and believe me this does happen

If you stick with your current plan I could see skipping the "hoppers". I would definetely get the Cirque tickets. DW and I get the "hoppers" because even though we normaly have a plan of attack we seem to change what we do based on park attendance a particular day. Basically we throw the plan out the window and wing it. It seems that we are always in at least two different parks a day anyway.

Exactly!

No matter how well you plan, sometimes you just need to change parks. You can spend early morning and afternoon in one park, then return to the hotel for a swim, etc., and go to another park for the evening. Flexibility is a great option.

I agree. I'm guessing that week will be busy with families getting the vacation in before school starts.

I am soooo in agreement with this. August WILL be busy and parks WILL be crazy. At least once you WILL get fed up and want to switch parks. This happens to us every time we visit during the summer - and the holidays. Every time.

Go Hoppers!

Okay... I am going to be the odd man out here. We originally had hoppers for our trip (also our first time) and decided not to keep them. I planned our days pretty well and wanted to make sure I got to see EVERYTHING I could at the park we were at for that day so it turned out we didn't need them. We were also on the DDP and I made our reservations for a place we wanted to eat in at the park that was planned. We spent the full time in each park, closing most of them down. I think it really depends on if you think you will spend the full time in each park or not. My husband and I agreed on staying all day and it worked out great for us.
I would also say you should, for sure, get the Cirque tickets if you can. I wanted to go sooo bad but it didn't work out for us. Cirque shows are super amazing.

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*Jennifer Lynn* NDW #38

Check out my blog at Jennifer's Disney Adventures

My family usually saves money by NOT getting Park Hoppers.

It's nice to be able to switch parks if you want, but it is by no means a must for my family. There is more than enough to do at every park for a whole day. I say ditch the park hoppers and stick to your plan!

We are hoppers, but it's driven by the rides and an innate need to be flexible. We also go with only the most broad-brush of plans, so we aren't too emotionally invested.

We have spent entire days in one park, but it's been that happy occasion where the crowd levels are low and we're basically just walking on everything. Then there have been those days, where there's even a long wait for the water bubblers. It's that kind of day where you have to be able to ditch your plan and either go back to the hotel or on to another park.

Now, having said all that, isn't there a park-is-too-crowded-option? I recall that you can go to guest relations and tell them "the-park-is-too-crowded" and they will back out your admission and you can go to another park. Does anyone have any information on this?

Luckily being "stuck" in one park for a whole day is not like being stuck in a Turkish prison, so if you think the money can be better spent elsewhere, dump the hopper. Remember, you can always add the hopper option to the unused admissions on your tickets if you change your mind.

I'm a big fan of the park hopper. It gives you a ton of flexibility (especially if the park you're planning to attend one day is WAY too crowded).

I would have to agree with the others. Park Hopper is the way to go. I know that MK can get crazy busy with all the young kids and that's why we do the hopper. Have that option to go to a different park if MK gets that busy. It's just nice to know in the back of your head that you do have that option and you're not just having to go to one park a day. I guess it's convenient for us.

But no matter what you decide.. you'll have a great time!!! Good luck and have fun!!

I don't think you're going to make Wishes with a 9:15 dinner ressie. I've done ADRs for years and they are rarely ready on time. You're giving yourself 45 minutes to eat, pay and get back to MK to find a good watch spot. If this is your first trip, you're really going to want to be near the castle. Just my opinion
Dee

i say stick with the hoppers... you never know if you might want to hit a park's EMH one night or like someone else had suggested, go to one park then come back to rest and hit another park. Park hoppers are the way to go for us!

I've been once without a hopping option and it crippled me so much! I love the freedom of being able to come and go as I please between the parks. Being able to come out half way through the day, get some pool time in during the afternoon then head back out to play in the evenings, I actually feel like I have been able to explore much more of the parks in this way!

I admit, on our first trip we did pretty much hit one park in the morning and stay till closing and yes, we had park hoppers then too BUT, we still had days, especially towards the end when we wanted to cram as much magic in as possible, where we would hop around!

Without a hopper I couldn't do my traditional 4 parks - 1 day end to the trip!

I think you should get rid of the hopper option! I know i'm in the minority, but the way i see it is why would i want to waste time going from park to park on my trip?? I want to pick a park and do all that i want to do while i'm there.

We had hoppers years ago and then we had them again in 2009. The UK disney tickets ONLY offer hoppers and waterparks valid for unlimited use for 7, 14 or 21 days. They are a LOT more expensive than the MYW tickets so we buy our tickets from the US and get the amount we want for the amount of days we are there for. But this was before we knew about the different US based tickets. Since then we have always bought MYW.

This coming year we are staying onsite and getting free dining but we had to buy the UK tickets to get it so we're hopping a bit (only a bit though).

So coming from someone who has done both recently, I would say ditch the hop

I think the best compromise would be what someone already suggested - get the regular passes, and if you find you want to "hop", you can always add that to your pass.

I can't imagine spending an entire day, from opening to closing, in one park though. Even if you just hop over to Epcot for dinner or something - it's so nice to have that option.

IF?!?!?!

Trust me...you WILL go again.

I AGREE with that statement, LoL. Our "once in a lifetime" trip turned into "I really want to go back!" Last day of our trip we left KNOWING we would be back... even if it takes us a few years. (2016)

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*Jennifer Lynn* NDW #38

Check out my blog at Jennifer's Disney Adventures

Very interesting how everyone feels about the park hoppers. I have to wonder if I don't care about that that much about them because I spent so many of my early Disney years when there only was one or two parks.

Oh, wow. When I first saw this I immediately thought- Hop or die. Must hop. But the way you have it laid out- you could probably do it. We seem to end every evening at Epcot via the boardwalk restaurants, so for us- it would be impossible. If you really think you'll never be back- get those hoppers- also weather could change your plans, you should be ready for anything.

I can honestly say we would never even consider the non park hopping option. We almost always change our plans throughout the day based on so many things.

For us, being 4 very different people, I'm sure we will be jumping all over the place, especially since some of our group will go for rope drop and come back half way though the day and the others will likely just wander around the parks aimlessly. Planning well enough to stick to one park is too much for us. We just like coming and going as we please, especially when the cost to add on a park hopper in minimal over 7 days.