The Benefits of Park Hopping
Dana Munoz3.30.19When we plan Disney trips, we are always financially cognizant of our decisions. I don’t like to use the term “budget” because I truly believe you cannot put a price on the service, fun, and experience to be had at Disney. When I plan trips for my family, one area in which we do not waver in our experience is the option of adding a Park Hopper. All of our Disney experiences would not have been complete if we did not have the ability to park-hop!
For those newer to the Disney experience, park-hopping is an add on to your ticket that allows you to visit as many parks, as many times per day as you want. You first set up a base ticket (for example, 4-day base ticket to one park per day), then can add on the Park Hopper option to allow you more than one park per day. The idea of park hopping and being in more than one place on any given day with an already packed itinerary can seem a little daunting, but with the carefully crafted itinerary of a Wishes travel professional, you can use your Park Hopper to help you maximize your experiences at Disney.My husband and I just returned from a Disney trip with our 2 best friends. We traveled in December which is one of the most crowded times of the year, and only had 4 park days, which at a crowded time of year, might not seem like enough time to accomplish everything. We accomplished everything we wanted to and more, and we owe that to our Park Hopper passes!
On the second day of our trip, we were able to hit Toy Story Land, all of our FastPasses, and other attractions we wanted to see at Hollywood Studios by 2:00 p.m. We still had 4 and a half hours until our reserved dinner, so we decided to hop over to Animal Kingdom, and wait in line for Kilimanjaro Safari - an experience for which we were not able to get a FastPass. Because we had the Park Hopper, we were able to go to Animal Kingdom, wait in the line, and ride the safari which ended up being one of our favorite experiences of this trip! We were then able to head back to Hollywood Studios for our dinner, and to see the Fantasmic Show.On the third day of our trip, we had a big agenda. Breakfast at the Polynesian, late afternoon/early evening FastPasses at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom attractions, and seeing Happily Ever After fireworks that night. We were able to make this day a reality- solely because of our Park Hopper. We ate our wonderful breakfast, rode our favorite attractions at the Magic Kingdom, made it to Animal Kingdom for our FastPasses, and made it back to the Magic Kingdom to not only see the show, but also shop on Main Street, and take a night time ride on the “Jingle Cruise”! If we would have opted out of a Park Hopper, we would have had to forgo half of these experiences while on our trip.
Park hopping can also come in handy on mornings and evenings that parks are offering Extra Magic Hours for resort guests, which my husband and I take advantage of all the time! You can plan to spend your day at one park, head back to your resort and rest, then go back to a park with Extra Magic Hours to extend your fun and experiences!A Park Hopper ticket can be the right fit for any family, regardless of your travel party size, ages, or Disney experience. Your Wishes professional will be there to help you use this feature to create double the memories!