Park Hopper with young kids?

TangerineZoe

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 13, 2010
Hi, my bf has a 6.5yo daughter. It's his first time at WDW, I'm a veteran (lol), and his daughter's 2nd time. I have no idea the details of her first trip with mom last year (may ask later), but at least for now, do you think it's worth it to add the park hop option? Park hopping is sometimes tiring enough for me as an adult, but I'm afraid there may not be enough to interest a young child at Epcot for a full day. Thoughts?
 
Hi, my bf has a 6.5yo daughter. It's his first time at WDW, I'm a veteran (lol), and his daughter's 2nd time. I have no idea the details of her first trip with mom last year (may ask later), but at least for now, do you think it's worth it to add the park hop option? Park hopping is sometimes tiring enough for me as an adult, but I'm afraid there may not be enough to interest a young child at Epcot for a full day. Thoughts?
How about waiting until your FP window opens, book your Epcot rides, and then deciding if you've enough time or stimulation for the little one's entertainment? You'll still be able to book a hopper before you arrive at WDW should you feel you need it. Another option is to plan your trip via touring plans website. Not sure if a paid membership is needed for its park planning section though.
You could also just visit one of the Future Worlds coming in, do the WS, and then do the other side of Future World when you are leaving. That way you'll have rides entering and leaving.
As far as WS attractions, my traveling kiddos, particularly like the exhibits and shops at Japan, France,and Germany but much to offer at other countries too.
 
Thanks @NYCgrrl !

Perhaps I should also mention we’re going to be in the parks the Sat-Tues before Thanksgiving (so one park per day if no hopping) - how busy/crowded are the parks then?
 
I hopped with a 21 month old earlier this year.

I built the park hops into my plans. Day 1, start in MK, end in Epcot. Day 2, start at Hollywood Studios, end in Epcot. Day 3, start in epcot, end in MK. (obviously we really like Epcot). The only day we had as a one park day was when we went to AK.
 
We always hop. We found it helped keep the kids more engaged when they were younger. Also if you find a park is too busy and it's causing her to get antsy then you just shift plans and hop somewhere else. We also moved around a lot for dinner based on the kids suggestions and it helped a lot with that.
 
I would skip the hoppers for now - you can always upgrade at the parks if you really feel the need to hop.

Also, as someone with a 6 1/2 year old girl, you can easily spend a full day at Epcot! My daughters favorite rides are at that park - Figment, Test Track & the Frozen ride. There are lots of characters and the passport stations are really fun. HS is the Park that my daughter doesn’t enjoy - she is pretty meh about Star Wars and hates roller coasters.
 
We rarely used park hoppers when my kids young, one park a day is enough in my opinion.
 


I think depending on the attention span the world showcase with kids should take a day. We spent a day at epcot when my son was 2 and 4 and we had no trouble at all and when he was 6 we only spent half a day because we tried and succeeded to do 4 parks in 2 days.
 
My little guys (3 and 5) loved Epcot. We told them they could pick any park for the last day of our trip last May, and they picked Epcot.

That being said, we had hoppers and were glad of it. It was nice to have the flexibility. We would go to the hotel to rest in the afternoons and liked being able to hop to a different park in the evening if we wanted to. YMMV. Different people have different touring styles.
 
I wouldn't even go to Epcot -- to me, it's a nicely themed food court and shopping center with maybe three interesting rides.
 
We don't find the park hoppers necessary with our kids. We do one park per day. We're up and at the park early, then take a mid afternoon break and head back in the evening for dinner and more fun.
 
I do not find any value in hoppers with shorter trip that include children. I tend to plan my days and then if we leave early for a break we go back after dinner. We generally just plan to arrive early and leave at a reasonable hour or we arrive later after swimming, etc, and stay til close.
 
We don't park hop. And we're at Disneyland where it's a breeze! With little kids, we like to experience one Land at a time. We like to get everything done in one area before moving on. It helps to enhance the immersive experience, to keep the little ones not too over stimulated, and cuts down on walking a lot. And there is so much to see and do in each park!
When our kids are older, our touring style may change.
 
We did parkhopping with DS9 and DS4 (a week ago).

We went to Animal Kingdom in the AM, went to hotel to rest, went to MK in the PM (on Day 3).

We went to Epcot in the AM, and then AK after lunch (on Day 6). I don't know how my kids made it through this day. It went a lot longer than I had planned. We did EMH at Epcot (8 am) and left AK at 8 pm. Somehow, we did it (with no rest/nap). My fitness watch said we walked 10 miles that day.
 
we always park hop. for shorter stays we rope drop one park, take a pool break for a few hours and then head into a different park for the evening. For longer stays we pretty much follow the same plan except 1 or 2 of the days we just do one park and do a half day at the resort just enjoying the down time.
 
I try and make hopping fun, it's usually to go to the ride/park they want, and we'll take a ferry or monorail to add to the adventure.
 
We're AP holders and we rarely park hop. There is so much to do for kids, other than rides at Epcot, our DDs loved to do the Kidcot stops, Colortopia, the Advanced Training lab at Mission Space, the boat ride inside the Mexico Pavilion.
 
We love to park hop. We often take a break, so it doesn’t matter which park we go back to after the break.
 
Personally I do not think its worth it to Park Hop. Especially with a young child.

When I go to a park I remain there for the entire day or if at MK sometimes go have lunch/drinks at monorail resort then go back.

I could see it be useful if you had a very short stay but for the standard 5-7 day trip I dont think its necessary. To each is own though.
 

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