Everything Park Hopping - Please Read Post 1

[nuge67]

This is a thread intended to talk about everything to do with park hopping as we understand there are many questions.

Time: Park Hopping officially begins at 2:00 PM each day. Park Hopping guests may be allowed in as early as 1:45 but this is not guaranteed. Buses start running between parks at approx. 1:30.

Update: As of Jan 9, 2024, park hopping will no longer be restricted to 2:00PM!!! Guests will be able to park hop from park open to close!!

Park Hopping Capacity: There may be times that a park is closed to park hopping IF it has reached Park Hopping capacity.

With the exception of a couple of hours in the late afternoon of Oct 1, 2021 for the Magic Kingdom, to date, park hopping has always been allowed to all parks, even when all parks were full for new park reservations.

Park Reservation Capacity vs Park Hopping Capacity: Park capacity for daily reservations is not the same as park capacity for park hopping. If a park has reached capacity to book a daily reservation, this does not automatically mean you cannot hop to it.

Park Hopping Phone Number: To find out if a park is open for park hopping, guests may call 1-407-560-5000.

Park Hopping Requirement: In order to hop to a second park, a guest must have tapped into the park where they have booked a reservation for that day. Guests cannot just go to the second park even if it is after 2:00 PM. Guests only need a park reservation at their original park. They do not need a 2nd reservation at a different park in order to hop to it.

*NEW* Park Reservations (re: Hopping) for Annual Passholders: Beginning April 18, 2023 Walt Disney World Annual Passholders will be able to visit the theme parks after 2 p.m. without needing a park reservation, except on Saturdays and Sundays at Magic Kingdom Park.

Returning to Original Park: A guest can always return to the original park they had a reservation for. Even if it is at capacity for hopping, a guest with a reservation may enter their original park at any time that day.

Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR): An ADR may be booked at a park a guest intends to hop to but an ADR does not guarantee entrance to that park if it has reached park hopping capacity. (Reiterating that as of today a park has never reached capacity for hopping.) How the no-show fee for a missed reservation due to inability to hop has not yet been an issue so it is not known if the $10/person no-show fee would be charged or if this fee would be waived by Disney.

An ADR does not grant early access to a park via hopping. Reservations at the 'hopped to' park must be 2:00 or later.

Park Hopper Tickets: The park hopping option must be added to the entire number of days of the ticket. It is not possible to add Park Hopping to only a portion of the ticket.

Park Hopping to Multiple Parks: It is possible to hop to as many parks as a guest wishes to after 2:00 PM. There is not limit as long as there is availability.

Transportation Between Parks:

• Animal Kingdom to all parks - Bus
• Epcot to Hollywood Studios - Skyliner, Friendship Boat or Walk (approx. 20 min walk)
• Epcot to Animal Kingdom - Bus
• Epcot to Magic Kingdom - Monorail
• Hollywood Studios to Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom - Bus
• Hollywood Studios to Epcot - Skyliner, Friendship Boat or Walk (approx. 20 min walk)
• Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios - Bus
• Magic Kingdom to Epcot - Monorail

Adding Park Hopping to Ticket in Use: Park Hopper option can be added at any point in your trip although it will be added for all days. It is not possible to add the PH option to one day of a multiple day ticket. Once PH is added, PH can begin that same day as long as it is 2:00 PM or later.

Genie+: If you have Genie+ added to your ticket on a day you are PH ant book LL at a park you are hopping to, all LL reservation times displayed will be 2PM or later.

Update based on changes introduced Dec 8, 2022

Cost to add PH is now:

• 1 Day ticket: $60-$65 above MK ticket price
• 2-4 Day ticket: $85
• 5-10 Day ticket: $90

Any idea what the logic was for now allowing park hopping and restricting it to 2:00PM!!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Any idea what the logic was for now allowing park hopping and restricting it to 2:00PM!!!

Only Disney knows but it’s ending Jan 9th thankfully!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Any idea what the logic was for now allowing park hopping and restricting it to 2pm!!

When they introduced park reservations they had to also restrict hopping otherwise it would’ve made park reservations useless …

 

[hogie1]

Any idea what the logic was for now allowing park hopping and restricting it to 2:00PM!!!

If I had to make an educated guess, it might be to reduce transportation costs. Equipment, fuel, repairs, parts & maintenance is a huge expense, not even including payroll & benefits for bus drivers. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the airport transportation one of the first things they cut during the pandemic? Not saying I agree with it, but from a business standpoint it makes sense.

 

[JenniferFolsomCa]

We are going over Christmas and have park hoppers and planning to hop. For those of you there, any issues as long as you hop after 2pm or are the parks closed and not allowing hopping?

 

[soniam]

We are going over Christmas and have park hoppers and planning to hop. For those of you there, any issues as long as you hop after 2pm or are the parks closed and not allowing hopping?

I haven't heard anything from this week yet. However, the only time I have heard that park hopping was blocked was at MK back on the 50th anniversary day. It opened back up after maybe an hour. I think you are probably fine.

 

[dbudd72]

my wife and daughter are out of state passholders going next week and staying onsite. there are no park reservations available for MK for saturday/sunday, and i know passholders cant hop to MK on the weekends, but since they are out of state and staying on property will they be able to? my daughter will be very upset if she can't see happily ever after saturday night (there's xmas parties friday/sunday nights and those are the only 3 nights they are there.

 

[musicguy856]

my wife and daughter are out of state passholders going next week and staying onsite. there are no park reservations available for MK for saturday/sunday, and i know passholders cant hop to MK on the weekends, but since they are out of state and staying on property will they be able to? my daughter will be very upset if she can't see happily ever after saturday night (there's xmas parties friday/sunday nights and those are the only 3 nights they are there.

If they reserve another park and go there first they can hop to MK unless it hits capacity for hoppers, which is unlikely.

 

[dbudd72]

If they reserve another park and go there first they can hop to MK unless it hits capacity for hoppers, which is unlikely.

thank you!!!! they have epcot reservations so they should be good.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Thank you so much for this thread. We just decided to extend our trip to NYE because we are hoping to be at EPCOT for midnight. Of course, it is already sold out, but we will buy park hoppers and take our chances if we have to.

Does anybody know what time of day additional park reservations are most likely to be added to the system? When have people had luck picking up reservations for sold out dates?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you so much for this thread. We just decided to extend our trip to NYE because we are hoping to be at EPCOT for midnight. Of course, it is already sold out, but we will buy park hoppers and take our chances if we have to.

Does anybody know what time of day additional park reservations are most likely to be added to the system? When have people had luck picking up reservations for sold out dates?

There is not a normal drop time that I am aware of. My biggest tip is to not rely on the Park Reservations Calendar as it is not updated real-time. You are better to try to actually move a park reservation to see if Epcot has become available. A full park often has availability open up but your best option is perseverance, especially for Epcot on NYE.. Try as often as you can is my suggestion.

 

[Torontogal]

So, we are getting a park hopper on December 29th. We are thinking of Animal Kingdom in the morning and MK in afternoon. I realize we are permitted to enter the second park after 2:00 pm but wondering if there is a chance MK will be filled to capacity that day. Anyone know? I know Christmas Day, Eve, etc. always fill up but not sure about the 29th...

 

[RedHead0186]

So, we are getting a park hopper on December 29th. We are thinking of Animal Kingdom in the morning and MK in afternoon. I realize we are permitted to enter the second park after 2:00 pm but wondering if there is a chance MK will be filled to capacity that day. Anyone know? I know Christmas Day, Eve, etc. always fill up but not sure about the 29th...

You should be okay. To my knowledge, the only time post-COVID that a park was closed to hopping due to capacity was the day of the 50th Annivesary, in MK, and that was only for a couple of hours. With the 29th not being a 'special' day unto itself (like Christmas Eve, NYE, etc.), you should be fine.

 

[musicguy856]

So, we are getting a park hopper on December 29th. We are thinking of Animal Kingdom in the morning and MK in afternoon. I realize we are permitted to enter the second park after 2:00 pm but wondering if there is a chance MK will be filled to capacity that day. Anyone know? I know Christmas Day, Eve, etc. always fill up but not sure about the 29th...

Not likely. The last time it happened was over two years ago.

 

[fla4fun]

So, we are getting a park hopper on December 29th. We are thinking of Animal Kingdom in the morning and MK in afternoon. I realize we are permitted to enter the second park after 2:00 pm but wondering if there is a chance MK will be filled to capacity that day. Anyone know? I know Christmas Day, Eve, etc. always fill up but not sure about the 29th...

There’s no way to know for sure, but the odds are in your favor. The 26th tends to be very busy, and the 30th and 31st, but the 29th shouldn’t be bad enough to cause a closure. It hasn’t been happening nearly as often since they started the park reservations, which also bodes well for you.

I would monitor the situation either through the Disney app or on sites like the DIS for the 26th, 27th, and 28th to get an idea how the crowds are and whether any parks are dealing with capacity closures before your date so you have a better idea what to expect.

 

[scrappinginontario]

There’s no way to know for sure, but the odds are in your favor. The 26th tends to be very busy, and the 30th and 31st, but the 29th shouldn’t be bad enough to cause a closure. It hasn’t been happening nearly as often since they started the park reservations, which also bodes well for you.

I would monitor the situation either through the Disney app or on sites like the DIS for the 26th, 27th, and 28th to get an idea how the crowds are and whether any parks are dealing with capacity closures before your date so you have a better idea what to expect.

Anything can happen but park hopping has never been stopped during the holidays since park reservations were introduced in 2020.

 

[comby]

We are trying to go to Magic Kingdom on 24th of Dec., however, the park is not available for reservations anymore.

Does it make sense to get a park hopper ticket, do Hollywood in the morning and then hop to MK at 2pm? It looks like the park is open until midnight these days?!

 

[scrappinginontario]

We are trying to go to Magic Kingdom on 24th of Dec., however, the park is not available for reservations anymore.

Does it make sense to get a park hopper ticket, do Hollywood in the morning and then hop to MK at 2pm? It looks like the park is open until midnight these days?!

That should be a good option. You will need to add park hopping to your entire ticket. It is not possible to add it to only one day.

 

[comby]

That should be a good option. You will need to add park hopping to your entire ticket. It is not possible to add it to only one day.

Thanks.

Is it really open until midnight? I wasnt sure because it's not that long the days before and its christmas?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks.

Is it really open until midnight? I wasnt sure because it's not that long the days before and its christmas?

That part I don't know. I trust you're looking at the MDE app to determine what the park hours are. The app will tell you what the current posted hours are.