Disney planning question (update and questions...this is getting real)

I think you will like this Disney math we did.
For our spring break trip our preferred airline, JetBlue, is a lot cheaper if we fly out one day later. DH agreed rather spend the money on another vacation night then expensive plane tickets— I’m excited about to add on the night!

Our last trip we had 4 days, this trip we will have 7 with hoppers.
I’m excited for a more relaxed (?) pace. How do you all plan for so many days? I was thinking we prob could save on hoppers, but since we are staying so close to MK it might be nice to pop in for a ride or walk around after breaks.

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Longer trips are less in need of hoppers…but if you get them, I suggest finding ways to use them, otherwise it will feel like a waste of money. (The one trip we had hoppers, it ended up being, well, a waste of money!)

But with hoppers and staying close to MK, as you said, you could do some interesting things with your days…like not dedicate whole days to a park, but maybe hit MK in the evenings several nights in a row after spending the morning/afternoon at other parks. Doing so, you could, for example, do 2 days at each of the other parks, and one full day at MK plus 1/2 day in the evenings of the other parks. That kind of thing.

We take advantage of hoppers. Taking a break in mid afternoon everyday, then going to a different park in the evening. We do this no matter how long or short our trip is.

Our next trip is also Spring Break! See you there!! LOL.

Yes good point!

Right now I have a morning at each park. And an afternoon in WS for dinner. Loaded with a lot of MK time. Kids are 3 and 6.

For my extra day should I add in some more HS time?

Great- we had hoppers last time. And I don’t think I hopped well. Afternoon hop should just be to MK cause it’s closer and easy.
Last time we hopped all
Over and it became too tiring.

By the way, Disney math at its best can be found here:

Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land

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I figured on our trip with park hopper that we needed to do two days of multiple parks to make it worth it (the difference was about the cost of two days regular tickets), so I’d be happy if we could do two extra nights at MK after other parks, and anything beyond that is “bonus”! It also made planning ADRs a lot nicer to not feel locked in to one park per day.

That said, I’ve also done a week with no park hopper and we had a great time then too!

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We are trying hoppers for our 7 nt trip in May. Like you, we are staying close to MK (BLT) and I felt it was worth trying with the proximity to MK.

I am working through the plans and developing our strategy. MK is a big part, but may not be the only part. We take breaks as well, always have. Honestly, in addition to the break for the kids, the break is great for me and the dw as well. That said, since we already break and leave a park and go back, picking a new park to hop back to is no problem. Adds a lot of flexibility and allows us to experience 2 parks most days, which I think will help keep us all fresh and excited.

My plan for now is to plan 6 main days and plan my FPP at our first park and go until we normally would take a break. I will FPP 2 MK, 2 HS, 1 E, 1 AK. Then I have a park set up as a top option to hop to after the break, but will keep options open on that and do what family wants to do. The only exception is HS, doing a full day there.

Thank you! My break down will be similar if I add another HS morning. Honestly I felt HS was rushed with my original plan, between popping into Ogas and lunch at Sci-fi wasn’t leaving a lot of time to explore.

Our last trip we really didn’t see a lot in HS, so this will be nice.

Also thanks to DD classmates she’s really into star wars so we should prob plan for her to do the rides she’s tall enough for.

Yeah the 2 days of FPP for HS made trying to get all the new done there. We have not been since TSL opened, so have that, SWGE, and the thrill rides that our kids were too small for last time… Oh, and possibly a new MMRR… One day would have made my head spin.

Yay! Where are you staying? We did 8 nights at the Poly last February and were sad we didn’t have hoppers. Not because we needed them per se but for the reason you stated…wanting to swing over and just leisurely stroll around MK during some of our down time.

We did another trip in July - 9 park days I think with hoppers. It was awesome!! I think we hit up each park at least 3 times and it was nice to be able to spread out our time - we’d spend the morning in one park and the evening in another with a break in the middle. I also felt like we were better able to utilize our FPs effectively overall.

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We are going to be at the Grand Floridian. Which I’m watching that building of the walkway closely, because then it will be even easier!

I think our days will look like this
Day 1 arrival - afternoon at MK
2- Epcot morning hop to MK
3- MK BBB tea party at GF then Epcot at night
4- MK EMH then hop to Hollywood Studios By 10
5- magic kingdom then luau at night
6- Animal Kingdom hop to MK
7- Hollywood Studios then say good bye to MK

Soooo much time this trip… so if we don’t make it back to MK it won’t be a big deal.

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We are planning 6 day Hoppers. This is the first time for hoppers with our kids. We were having a difficult time deciding between 2 days at HS and 2 days at Epcot, so we decided this is our one splurge item this trip. We plan on utilizing it more to split an HS and Epcot day and to maybe “eat around the world” for QS. QS at HS, our resort and at MK don’t really thrill me.

Popping into MK since you are close sounds like a good plan.

Congrats on your longer stay! And you’ll love Park Hopper! It’s so convenient :smiley:

Ha. I clicked the link. Music started pumping at volume 600. I couldn’t make it stop. My entire office commented.

I’m sure it was in complete adoration. Right?

(You should modify your YouTube settings to not auto-play!)

And deny my coworkers these magic moments?

Paying it forward. I get it. :slight_smile:

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I know it is a personal preference, but we have always done hoppers and wouldn’t consider otherwise. I went with DS6 in September and we did 5 parks in a day and he LOVED it. It was supposed to be our Epcot day with a 9 am opening. He woke up early and wanted to get started. Staying at WL, so we got a boat to MK. Rode Space Mtn 3 times then hopped on the monorail for RD at Epcot. Rode FEA, but then he said he didn’t want to ride anything else at Epcot, so we dumped FPPs and got what we could at DHS and headed there. In that park by 10 am. Was able to grab ToT FPP real easily. Rode that and a few others and then headed to the hotel for a few hours to rest. Was able to snag a same day FPP for FOP, so we went to AK around 5, rode FOP and EE, then headed back to DHS to close out the night.

The flexibility of the hopper was so worth it. I would forego a nicer hotel to have hoppers if that was the trade, as I try to maximize time in the parks, but I know that others may feel differently.

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I don’t feel hoppers are a must.

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