Disney Park Hopper Archives - Living a Disney LifeLiving a Disney Life

In a previous post, I listed five great reasons to purchase the park-hopper ticket upgrade at Walt Disney World. Today I’ll give you five great reasons NOT to buy park-hopper tickets. I know! It sounds like I can’t make up my mind, but, as I pointed out in that earlier post – the necessity (or not) of the park-hopper option all depends on where you are in your life, how you like to eat on vacation, and what Disney World touring style you favor.

Park-hopping is not a necessity. In fact, if you consider yourself firmly in one or more of the following categories, it’s an extra expense you may not need. Save that money for better restaurants or more souvenirs! You can still have a stellar vacation without the stress of jumping from park to park.

Five Reasons NOT to Purchase Disney’s Park-Hopper 1. You only have 4 or 5 days at Walt Disney World – There are four parks and each is completely deserving of an entire designated day. Have children? Spend that fifth day in Magic Kingdom to hit the attractions and sights you may have missed earlier. Love Epcot? Spend that fifth day exploring World Showcase to your heart’s content. One park per day – with some careful planning – will allow you to focus the experiences you most want to try, while also allowing time to soak up the atmosphere and amazing Disney details. 2. You know your favorite restaurants are not in the parks. Your day may look like this: Spend the day in Magic Kingdom before hopping on the monorail to eat dinner at ‘Ohana (Polynesian Village Resort) or Chef Mickey’s (Disney’s Contemporary Resort), then pop back over to the Magic Kingdom to close out the night! Spend all day at Animal Kingdom, then grab the bus over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for an evening of more animal viewing on the savannah overlook and dinner at Boma or Jiko. Get the idea? Maybe you’d prefer to walk from Epcot (through the International Gateway) to enjoy dinner on the Boardwalk before going back to Epcot for Illuminations. 3. You want to see and do it all. Start early and stay late! Park-hopping can be time consuming and take a chunk out of your precious park-time. If you start and end the day in the same park, you can certainly maximize the number of attractions, shows, shops, etc. that can be experienced in a singly day.

4. You have small children. Start early and take a break in the middle of the day for naptime, swim-time, resort rest and relaxation – then return to the same park later for more fun! Never underestimate the power of a second wind! Good rest time = quality park time. 5. You vacation to relax. You are a mystery to me, but, like the Yeti, I know you exist. You don’t plan to spend a lot of time in the parks – maybe you want to play golf, fish, shop, book spa treatments, chill by the pool, rent watercraft or bicycles. There’s no need for you to hop – you only want to hit your favorite attractions in a park before getting back to the really important stuff. One park per day would be more than enough for you. That’s the beauty of vacationing at Walt Disney World – there is truly something for everyone. Read Park-Hopper Pros in part one here. Which would you recommend – Single park tickets or the park-hopper option?

I love the Friday Five and today is no exception. I’m providing five reasons to choose (and pay extra for) Disney World’s park-hopper ticket add-on. Don’t fret though, next Friday I’ll give you five reasons NOT to purchase that option. Why must I be so contrary? Well, because I totally understand there are three factors that strongly influence park ticket selection: The life stage you’re in (for lack of a better way to describe that), your touring style, and where/how you like to enjoy meals. At Disney World, extra expense often equates to more options and the park-hopper ticket option is the perfect example.

Walt Disney World’s Park Hopper – Five reasons to say YES!

1. You want to start early and stay late! Yeah! You’re speaking my language. Here’s what we do: Rope-drop (arrive before the park opens) for EMH (Extra Magic Hour), if possible. Hit the headliners early then slow it down, wander around taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Eat a leisurely lunch and the HOP to the park where we’ve booked FastPasses for the afternoon and evening. The post lunch hop means you can catch a cat nap on the bus or monorail during the hop – seriously, this is a solid plan!

2. You want to book ADRs (Advance Dining Reservations) 180 days in advance and not have those choices dictate the park you’ll visit on any given day. I may want to eat in Epcot’s Le Cellier and I’m okay with scheduling that meal 6 months before I’m going to eat it, but I do NOT want said dinner to completely control my activities for that particular day. I should be able to spend my time anywhere I want to and then HOP to Epcot for my steak supper!

3. You want choices! Not an obsessive planner? Free-styling more your idea of fun? Book those FastPasses first thing in the morning and then boom, baby! The rest of the day is your oyster. Start one day at Animal Kingdom to ride Kilimanjaro Safari early while it’s still relatively cool. Then check out the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and Maharajah Jungle Trek before hitting Expedition Everest and Dinosaur. Now you’re free to leave and visit a different park. You can hop BACK to Animal Kingdom on the afternoon of a different day to see shows like Flights of Wonder, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo-The Musical, and It’s Tough to be a Bug (3D Movie). Animal Kingdom is absolutely a full-day park, but you can split it into two half-days easily with the park-hopper option.

4. You don’t want to spend all your time in the parks, but when you’re there you want what you want. Ah, the luxury of time and the ability to enjoy Walt Disney World at your leisure. If you have a week or longer or are (or planning to be) a frequent visitor, you don’t necessarily have to feel rushed, pressured, and meticulously planned. You can start the day in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Eat lunch in Epcot’s World Showcase. Spend the afternoon napping or swimming at your resort pool. Grab a bite to eat in the Magic Kingdom and enjoy Wishes before calling it a day.

5. You love a challenge! Four parks in one day? We’ve done it and with a park-hopper ticket, you can too! We decided on our last day of vacation a few years back that we would each pick an attraction we HAD to visit one last time before we went home. To do that, we had to visit each park – it was challenging, super fun, and created some really great memories of our last vacation day. We were too busy to be sad.

Are you pro-park-hopping? What’s your favorite reason for adding this option?