Single Park Ticket vs Park Hopper

[Dizznee Freak]

We are returning next June for a week (7days). My question is, Since we will be in the parks for 7 days is it really necessary to have park hoppers or will one park a day do the trick. We are frequent visitors and don't really have a MUST SEE attraction. We just love the overall MAGIC!

 

[wilkeliza]

Totally up to you. We like park hopper on longer trips because we can decided on the fly and when you think about the longer the ticket the less it is per a day (since it is just a flat fee after 2 days) then it isn't so big of a deal.

 

[Dizznee Freak]

Totally up to you. We like park hopper on longer trips because we can decided on the fly and when you think about the longer the ticket the less it is per a day (since it is just a flat fee after 2 days) then it isn't so big of a deal.

True! I didn't think about that.

 

[wilkeliza]

True! I didn't think about that.

Yeah on a 7 day trip if we walk into the park we have our FPs and it is crowded we will do those 3 rides then walk back out and hop somewhere else. It is pretty freeing actually. Sometimes you get to the other park and it is so slow you realize everyone else is at the other places haha.

 

[Dizznee Freak]

Yeah on a 7 day trip if we walk into the park we have our FPs and it is crowded we will do those 3 rides then walk back out and hop somewhere else. It is pretty freeing actually. Sometimes you get to the other park and it is so slow you realize everyone else is at the other places haha.

Yea we also found out we can get the Disabled Person pass because my wife has MS and one of my daughters is Autistic, so that will play into our planning too

 

[wilkeliza]

Yea we also found out we can get the Disabled Person pass because my wife has MS and one of my daughters is Autistic, so that will play into our planning too

Just know the pass won't mitigate massive crowds. It will only allow you to wait outside of the line. They are called DAS and are not a guarentee even with diagnosis so don't plan 100% if you have never gone under one. It looks like you trip is 10 months away still so really no way to tell if the DAS may change in those 10 months or not so having a good plan of action outside the DAS is always recommended especially since it is based on need not diagnosis.

 

[ChristineOH]

We like to make FP reservations in the morning, take an afternoon breaks, and then have the flexibility to go to whatever park we want to in the evening. It also allows me flexibility to make dinner ADRs in any park. But it's really more about liking the idea of the freedom. When looking back at our last trip with seven park days, we spent the equivalent of two days each at Epcot, DHS, and Magic Kingdom, and one day at AK. So I could have easily done the same thing without hoppers.

We have APs this year, so we didn't pay "extra" for them, but it was definitely a perk we considered.

 

[Dizznee Freak]

Just know the pass won't mitigate massive crowds. It will only allow you to wait outside of the line. They are called DAS and are not a guarentee even with diagnosis so don't plan 100% if you have never gone under one. It looks like you trip is 10 months away still so really no way to tell if the DAS may change in those 10 months or not so having a good plan of action outside the DAS is always recommended especially since it is based on need not diagnosis.

We have never used the DAS before. I was informed on our last trip by several CM's that we should get it next time. We will try but not to worry if we get denied.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Since you are unsure, I would start with the base tickets. If you find, once you are there, that you would like to hop, simply go to any guest services window and ask to upgrade your ticket to hoppers. No need to outlay the money now if you don't know if you will use the option or not.

 

[AmberK24]

At WDW, I don't bother with the cost for Hoppers & often don't use them when we have them. I would give you a very different answer for Universal or DL, however, the ease of hopping doesn't quite exist in WDW and we aren't people that usually take a break in the middle of the day, so it is just a waste of time for us, and any of the parks can fill a full day. (If you are getting 7 day tickets, currently I would recommend 1 day at HS & 2 at the rest, or 1 at HS & AK, 2 at Epcot & 3 at MK depending on your families interests. That will change when HS isn't construction central!)

 

[Dizznee Freak]

At WDW, I don't bother with the cost for Hoppers & often don't use them when we have them. I would give you a very different answer for Universal or DL, however, the ease of hopping doesn't quite exist in WDW and we aren't people that usually take a break in the middle of the day, so it is just a waste of time for us, and any of the parks can fill a full day. (If you are getting 7 day tickets, currently I would recommend 1 day at HS & 2 at the rest, or 1 at HS & AK, 2 at Epcot & 3 at MK depending on your families interests. That will change when HS isn't construction central!)

Oh we have the parks down. We always start at DHS arrival night and disperse the rest of the days between the other parks. AK is always one day one visit for us. its a toss up between MK and Epcot on which park we will visit thrice.

 

[North of Mouse]

We are returning next June for a week (7days). My question is, Since we will be in the parks for 7 days is it really necessary to have park hoppers or will one park a day do the trick. We are frequent visitors and don't really have a MUST SEE attraction. We just love the overall MAGIC!

We love the spontaneity of hoppers or AP's (which we have now). Some people prefer not to hop, but we would never go with base tickets only - just our preference. We have never stayed in one park all day!

 

[twoplustwins]

We lose so much time in travel from park to park that we've decided not to do them on longer trips anymore. If we have four days or less, we get the hoppers.

 

[Dizznee Freak]

We lose so much time in travel from park to park that we've decided not to do them on longer trips anymore. If we have four days or less, we get the hoppers.

I like that advice!

 

[JerseyJanice]

There could be a deal out there like the one I got from Parksavers last year that you can consider as your trip date draws sooner.

Aside from that, I will tell you that I took many trips without hopping and didn't want or need it. However, last trip and my upcoming one this fall, the Swan is our resort and hoppers do have value when you're staying that close to two parks. We went to Epcot every day last year, and I expect to do the same this year.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We don't get ParkHoppers at WDW for reasons many others have mentioned. We are typically there for 3-5 park days plus one or two resort days. The time to hop isn't worth it for us, and I find it simpler to plan for one park each day.

 

[loves to dive]

We have always had hoppers from the days there were only 2 parks. We have been for as little as 4 days and as long as 8 and in over 30 years of going have spent 1 day in a single park and that wasn't on purpose. Otherwise, we start in one park and move on. We are not planners, we rarely make FPs any further out than day before and usually make ADRs day of so park hopping works for us. We have a trip upcoming the first week in August and the only thing we know is where we are staying and I just added an extra day last night and another resort for that extra night. We know we are going to ride both rides in AK and know we are going to have to wait in line maybe for as long as 2 hours. It's only a short trip Sat - Wens. and I can guarantee even with that short of a trip we will be in more than one park every day except the day we get there. We have been known to start in one park, hop to another go back to the resort and go back to the first park. It all depends on our mood.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

We pretty much always go to Epcot in the evenings for dinner and drinks. So yes, for us, PH's are mandatory!

 

[sharonabe]

Since you are unsure, I would start with the base tickets. If you find, once you are there, that you would like to hop, simply go to any guest services window and ask to upgrade your ticket to hoppers. No need to outlay the money now if you don't know if you will use the option or not.

I second, third, and quadruple THIS. It's not any cheaper to do it now, so why not just wait and see if you decide you want it when you're there? Plan for just one park a day and go from there.

 

[HillsboroHoppers]

We lose so much time in travel from park to park that we've decided not to do them on longer trips anymore. If we have four days or less, we get the hoppers.

My BFF and I are going Sept 6-13, staying at Pop and have 6 day hoppers plus a party ticket. We will be using the Express Transportation to cut WAY down on hopping time. Biggest plus about that is that you don't have to exit/reenter the parks, you are taken from one park's backstage area to the next, so no gates, no bag checks, etc. Should make hopping MUCH less time consuming. Our plans are to rope drop one park, have lunch then hop to the evening park where we have our FPs.