How organized is your planning?
Are you the type of Disney guest who pours through guide books, maps, and blogs before their visit? Do you arrive with a detailed itinerary that includes your day’s FastPass+ reservations, meal reservations, and parade schedule? If you’re highly organized with a careful plan for the day, you may be able to efficiently knock out a set of early morning Fast Passes, accomplish your favorite attractions, and move on to another park that same afternoon without feeling like you missed anything.
If you prefer a more leisurely visit where you take the day as it comes, park hopping may seem more stressful. You don’t want to interrupt your leisurely stroll through World Showcase or rush around Animal Kingdom in a tizzy hoping to squeeze another park in by nightfall to make your ticket investment worth it.
What’s on your Disney bucket list?
Lay out your bucket list for your visit to Walt Disney World. Does it include must-see attractions in every park? Are you dying to hit the dining options in three different parks during a two-day visit? If you simply can’t accomplish your bucket list without park hopping, then, by all means, opt for the additional expense. If, however, you’re visiting with your eye on Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival and you’re not sure what you’d like to do outside of that, you may want to save your money and enjoy a more focused visit on a single park.
There’s no one answer that will work for every party. If you’re a family with young children, you may want to stick with single park tickets on this visit, but indulge in that park hopper when you come back with energetic teens who want to stay up late to enjoy Extra Magic Hours at different locations each evening. Consider your needs carefully to pick the right tickets for your visit.
Comments
As a local I totally agree with this article. Even though I have an annual pass and can freely go from park to park we very rarely park hop. The reason why is it just takes way too long to get from park to park. Depending on where you are going it takes up to two hours to go from one attraction in one park to another attraction at another park. That's a large time investment. Whether you are taking disney transportation or your own car it just takes too long. Stick with one park/day to maximize your time. Even if you are limited in your vacation time I still think it is a better option to just choose a park and stick with it. This is especially true with Animal Kingdom becoming a true full day park. In the past when it closed at 5 its a great idea to park hop to MK until it closes at midnight. That's no longer the case. One exception for now would be Hollywood Studios as that is now a true half day park and could easily be combined with a some more time at MK or Epcot.
Unfortunately the old "Water Parks and More" option requires a parkhopper now. If you plan to visit the water parks or Oak Trail walking golf course at least twice, it is more economical to get the new Parkhopper Plus option.
Everything is a valid point except for one point... You do not have to take your car around to each park... There is free transportation going between the parks