Park Hopper Plus Add-On Option
By: Erica KocherAugust 31, 2017I made a revelation this week that has honestly blown my mind! After planning frequent Disney vacations for my family, I never took advantage of the Park Hopper Plus Add-On Option because I didn’t want to put something extra into our already busy days and miss out on theme park time. I really wish that I would have read more about what the Park Hopper Plus Add-On really offers because it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!For first time Disney visitors, I’ll first explain the ticket options before I share this exciting fact. The main ticket option is the Base Ticket. This ticket will get you admission into any of the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, or Animal Kingdom) for one day. While purchasing the Base Ticket you are given two options that you can add-on for an additional cost. The first option is the Park Hopper Add-On. This add-on option will allow you to visit more than one of the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks. You could visit one park in the morning and a different park in the evening. If you are really adventurous, you could go to all four theme parks in one day if you choose. (This is a must-add for our family as we like to jam pack our Disney vacations while taking a short break in the afternoons for swimming or a nap.)The second option is the Park Hopper Plus Add-On. This ticket adds more options than just visiting the four theme parks. You also have admission to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park, Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park, a round of golf at Disney’s 9-hole Oak Trail Golf Course (tee times are required), ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course, and Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course. This add-on is the one that is often misunderstood, but very beneficial to have. Note: all ticket purchases must be used within 14 days of the first use.[gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="6524,6523"]Now on to better explaining the Park Hopper Plus Add-On, that I must admit has me super excite to share with you! Popular belief is that if you have a 5 day ticket with the Park Hopper Plus Add-on that you have to go to the parks and “plus” locations in 5 days out of the 14 days after first use. (For example, you could be at a Walt Disney World Resort for 7 days and take a break in the middle of the week just to relax at the resort pool.) This is not how this add-on works at all. For each day of theme park tickets you purchase, you get the same number of admissions to one of the “plus locations” that I mentioned above. What this means is that you don’t have to visit a water park the same day as a theme park, if you don’t choose to. You could essentially turn your 5 day Park Hopper Plus ticket into 10 days of Disney fun if you choose to. You would have 5 admissions to the fun locations to use as you wish, as long as it is within the 14 days of the first use. You could also use two of the extra admissions on the same day, but that would count as two admissions not just one. Park hopping only counts at the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks not the plus locations.
How you could use a 5 day Park Hopper Plus ticket for a spring break visit to Walt Disney World:
Day 1: Visit Magic Kingdom in the morning and hop to Epcot in the eveningDay 2: Visit Hollywood Studios in the morning and hop to Animal Kingdom in the eveningDay 3: Visit Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon in the morning and afternoon & visit Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course after dinner (this will take two of your plus location admissions)Day 4: Visit Epcot in the morning and hop to Hollywood Studios in the eveningDay 5: Visit Animal Kingdom in the morning and hop to Magic Kingdom in the eveningDay 6: Fit in a round of golf at Oak Trail Golf Course in the morning, shopping at Disney Springs in the afternoon and catch your favorite baseball team is playing the Atlanta Braves in a spring training game at the ESPN Sports Complex in the evening (this will take two of your plus location admissions)Day 7: Visit 3 parks in one day to ride your favorite rides at those parks and catch your favorite evening firework show (my family often does this because we all get to choose our favorite rides and we make sure we ride them on our last day at the theme parks)Day 8: You leave in the evening, but still have one plus location admission left, so you decide check out Disney’s Blizzard Beach…the hotel bell service will hold your luggage for you while you go and the water park has showers and changing rooms so you can freshen up before your travels homeBy buying the 5 day Park Hopper Plus ticket, you have just turned your vacation in to 8 full days of Walt Disney World fun!Like that wasn’t enough great Walt Disney World ticket knowledge to learn, here’s the best news. If you purchase the 5 day Park Hopper tickets, adding the Park Hopper Plus Add-On Option is only $15. That’s correct, if you do the math that is only $3 per admission to the plus option locations. I will definitely be adding the Park Hopper Plus Add-On Option to all of our future Disney vacations!If you would help finding the best way to get the most out of your future Disney vacations, I would love to help you! Feel free to email me at Erica@wishesfamilytravel.com or call me at 618-514-5536. Please visit my Facebook page for all the latest promotions, travel tips and information. You can visit our main Wishes Family Travel page for other great travel information and join our Facebook group Disney Conversations with Wishes.