Single Park Ticket vs Park Hopper

[Aliceacc]

We love parkhoppers. We assume we'll be using them when we make ADRs 6 months out.

On our first trip, we left for AK on a beautiful day. We went on Kali, and got soaked.
Then the skies darkened and it started to pour. No typical summer shower-- these were the leading bands of Tropical Storm Faye. We were cold and miserable.
So after a while, we went back to the resort, changed, and went over to Epcot and had a delightful day.

I love the flexibility that parkhoppers give us. We love the Epcot resorts, and tend to end up there a lot of evenings-- after a day at DHS or AK in particular.

I agree with the advice to start off without them, and upgrade if and when you feel the need.

 

[malarky]

We love parkhoppers. We assume we'll be using them when we make ADRs 6 months out.

On our first trip, we left for AK on a beautiful day. We went on Kali, and got soaked.
Then the skies darkened and it started to pour. No typical summer shower-- these were the leading bands of Tropical Storm Faye. We were cold and miserable.
So after a while, we went back to the resort, changed, and went over to Epcot and had a delightful day.

I love the flexibility that parkhoppers give us. We love the Epcot resorts, and tend to end up there a lot of evenings-- after a day at DHS or AK in particular.

I agree with the advice to start off without them, and upgrade if and when you feel the need.

how long dose it take to upgrade to hopper if u change your minds thank you

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm pretty sure you can do it on your way into the park-- I'm guessing 5 minutes??

 

[skysmom99]

We've never purchased park hoppers. We always find so much to do that we never feel we need to switch parks. I have to admit to not really wanting to pay extra, too. Of course, my husband is only a half day in a park person, so it doesn't make sense to buy hoppers for him, and generally one of the boys goes back to the resort with him.

 

[solfan68]

We really like the flexibility it affords us. Parks crowded ? Bounce elsewhere. Dinner plans in a different park ? No problem. Certainly not for everyone, but on a longer trip, its a no-brainer for our family's vacation style.

 

[Shellyred8]

We like the hoppers because of the freedom it gives us. We usually end up in one park in the morning and then a different one for the nighttime show. We do some planning ahead of time, but we like to be flexible to be able to react to crowd sizes. If we have planned a day at MK, but it gets obnoxiously crowded, we will leave and go to a different park.

But if that's not your style, then (as others have suggested) it might be best to get just the base tickets and see how things go when you are there and if you want to do hoppers, just upgrade them when you are there.

Have a great trip!

 

[kelliejason]

When's the last time you did this? It's my understanding that that little loophole was closed yeeeeeeears ago.

Last time was a year and a half ago. Fall 2015. I was even advised at the time by a cast member that if I use the ticket at one park in the morning, and then go to another park in the afternoon, then it simply takes away an additional "Day". Again, this is just my experience and maybe I got lucky.

 

[sharonabe]

Last time was a year and a half ago. Fall 2015. I was even advised at the time by a cast member that if I use the ticket at one park in the morning, and then go to another park in the afternoon, then it simply takes away an additional "Day". Again, this is just my experience and maybe I got lucky.

My guess is they sold you something other than a 10-day ticket, because there's no way this worked in the Fall of 2015. They park entrance system would not have allowed it unless you had a park hopper or a completely separate ticket.

 

[kelliejason]

My guess is they sold you something other than a 10-day ticket, because there's no way this worked in the Fall of 2015. They park entrance system would not have allowed it unless you had a park hopper or a completely separate ticket.

Nope. It worked. Bought tickets online in advance. Not Hoppers. Not part of a package or anything. Linked them to my MDE account myself. I bought 7 day tickets, went to the parks on 5 days, went to a different park on 2 days. Didn't buy the Hopper Option & didn't have separate tickets. I was in like Flynn. No problems whatsoever. I have no way of testing on my next trip since the Hoppers are required with the Free Dining deal I got for this Thanksgiving. Again, just my experience. But if they closed the loophole, it wouldn't work now, I just wouldn't go to multiple parks in one day.

 

[sharonabe]

Nope. It worked. Bought tickets online in advance. Not Hoppers. Not part of a package or anything. Linked them to my MDE account myself. I bought 7 day tickets, went to the parks on 5 days, went to a different park on 2 days. Didn't buy the Hopper Option & didn't have separate tickets. I was in like Flynn. No problems whatsoever. I have no way of testing on my next trip since the Hoppers are required with the Free Dining deal I got for this Thanksgiving. Again, just my experience. But if they closed the loophole, it wouldn't work now, I just wouldn't go to multiple parks in one day.

It's not a loophole; never has been a loophole, and it doesn't work, so please don't advise others to do it.

 

[Leelo]

We love the park hoppers for the freedom of doing whatever we want. It is totally worth it to us. We park hop just for our favorite meal, snack or ride. We love the freedom to wing it and go where we want to go. It makes the trip more relaxing for us because if we miss something on one day, we can go back on another.

A few years ago we got to one of the parks at rope drop to ride a newer ride that we hadn't experienced before. We were so excited. Lines were expected to get crazy so we got there early to try to have a shorter line. It ended up having technical issues and we were told it would be a minimum of 2 hours before it was fixed. We had the park hopper so we just came back at rope drop on another day for that 1 ride. We would have been so bummed to have to wait until a future trip to experience it. Park Hoppers saved the day!