To Hop or not to Hop
Pro: Flexibility The best reason why I would suggest purchasing the park hopper option is because of the added flexibility it will give you during your trip. Being able to switch parks on a whim means that you can spend the day at Hollywood Studios and go over to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations. This can be particularly helpful if you plan on dining at restaurants that basically require reservations months ahead of time, but you are unsure of which park you’ll actually want to be in during that day of the trip. It is also a good idea to have some flexibility in your ticket option if you simply feel like switching parks. For instance, if the Magic Kingdom is packed but you notice on the My Disney Experience app that Animal Kingdom appears to be pretty quiet, it might make sense to switch parks for a little while. Con: Cost Depending on your budget, the added cost of the park hopper option might be out of reach for your next trip. If you’re paying for multiple family members, the extra cost for the park hopper option might be better spent on dinners at your favorite restaurants or souvenir shopping. The park hopper option does not necessarily buy you extra time in the parks, it just buys you the ability to switch between multiple parks in the same day—so depending on your budget, the cost might not be worth it if switching parks is not a priority during your trip. Pro: Upgrades from Magic Your Way Base tickets If you’re worried about the cost of a park hopper, especially if you are unsure of how often you’ll actually end up going to more than one park per day, you can always purchase a base ticket and upgrade later. If you purchase Magic Your Way Base tickets, and then realize that you think you’d rather be able to switch parks, you can visit a vacation planning kiosk outside of the park and upgrade the tickets. You’ll pay the same extra cost that you would have anyway for the park hoppers, but this can be good to know if you would have otherwise purchased park hoppers and not park hopped. Con: Trip planning, especially with larger groups When planning a trip for a group of any size, but especially larger ones, it can easily become quite complicated to factor in park hopping. If you’ve been elected leader of a family reunion trip to Disney, it will be much easier to plan on doing one park per day. This can also become tricky if you’ve prepaid for the park hopper option, as you’ll feel obligated to use it which can be difficult with a larger group. |