I am trying to feel out whether I need park hopper. Can I get a 7 day ticket, and use one of those days to go to a different park one day. Meaning - I want to park hop only one day. I only plan to be in the parks for 6 days. Could I buy the seven day plan and use that to offset to have my plan use two parks for one day? So that I would really be using only six days?
No, it doesn’t work like that. You will have to buy a park hopper if you want to go to more than one park each day.
Darn, I figured that might be the case. Have to do a cost benefit analysis because while I like the flexibility, I am staying at the Poly (easy access to MK), I have a three year old that may not be able to handle jumping to different parks.
Hopping is not as easy as it sounds. MK to EP (or EP to MK) isn’t horrible because of the Monorail. But no matter where you’re hopping, it’s pretty time consuming. I would say unless you plan to hop more than once it will not be worth it for you. Just make your TPs work around the fact that you can’t hop.
I’m not sure how many are in your family, but if it is 2 adults and the 3-year old, it will cost you about $200 for Hopper privileges. If you’re only doing it once, not worth it, IMO. I’d use that money instead for a really nice meal!
Whatever you do, you’re gonna have a blast!
Let us know what you decide.
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yeah - cannot park hop one day. However we do not normally hop. I think it is one of those “hey we can do it - so we should do it” Each park is big enough for a day. Yes it is a nice option - but not necessary. When we go to a park and are done “early” - we take the time to relax and enjoy the resort.
You can also add the park hopper while you are there, although it is the same price whether you add it on your first day or on your last.
Perhaps I am in the minority, but I will probably never go without park hopper. First, I really prefer to do table service in Epcot, so it allows for the flexibility to eat dinner in Epcot no matter where you spend your morning. Second, I really don’t think it adds that much time to park hop. If you are taking a break back at your hotel it isn’t any different if you go back to the park you started at or if you go to a different park. We almost always start and end the day in different parks. It helps you take advantage of (or avoid) EMHs and evening entertainment.
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I think whether or not it is worth it depends greatly on the hours of the park. If you are there when they are closing earlier, you probably don’t want to waste the time hopping between parks. However, when they are open from sun up until well past sundown, it may be worth it, but probably not for only one day. We didn’t hop at all on our last trip in January/February, and didn’t take midday breaks either, and we were able to be fully entertained in one park each day.
I second this! Park-hopping directly from one park to another may be too time-consuming for you, but if you use in it conjunction with a mid-day break, that’s not an issue.
I’m also a hop-head. My strategy is to start off in the park with am EMH, and when it gets crowded, take the mid-day swim break, and then hop to a better park - usually for a very relaxed night tour and the fireworks show.
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Wahoohokie, I know you are smart because of the hokie part 
but I thought you could use another day’s pass if you wanted to park hop without the park hopper ticket (so burn 2 days of passes in one day).
Just checked another site. Yep you are right - can’t park hop without the park hopper option - darn
Yep, no park hopping without a park hopper ticket. Disney would lose a lot of money if they let you use two admissions in one day at different parks. People would just buy a longer non-hopper ticket instead of a shorter day hopper.
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And that’s exactly I wanted to do, lol.
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I remember
1 - there was only ONE park
2 - there were TWO parks and hopping was free
3 - there were THREE parks and hopping was free
4 - there were FOUR parks and hopping was free
5 - then they stopped that and I stopped hopping
I came down to the fact that we could basically stay LONGER for LESS than to add the HOPPER
Dave
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Thank you all for your input. WhIle I think I would like the flexability of parkhopper, I’m now not sure it would be best for us at this time. Kids almost 4 and almost 8, not good eaters. I like the fact that we can go to another park, but might be too much. And for restaurants may be easier to go to the resort restaurants if we want to eat out of the park.
Decisions decisions. Lol
You have described exactly why my 16 year old and I decided to add Park Hopper to our trip in August. Last time we were there, we chose not to park hop. There are advantages both ways, but this time through a mid day break is GOING to happen for us. Mainly because I plan to make her get up for RD and it’s a great way for me to implement a compromise. 
Hello, Disney is introducing a new express service between parks which bypasses security, price is $15pp for a day and $24 for multiple days. This will be great for some, but not necessarily for those of us with small kids. Our ticket includes hopping it was part of a package so I didn’t have a choice. Initially I thought we’d do lots of hopping as I was planning afternoon breaks everyday, I even partly chose the Poly because it was a convenient place to get back to. My final plan and we leave in 10 days only has us hopping once and that’s directly between MK and AK late morning. We still have afternoon breaks on half the days, but for those evenings are plans probably won’t include a Park. However I am still glad we have the hoppers because it means we can change our minds. If we are too tired to stay up for something we will always have the option of coming back another night. When I looked at how long it would take to get to and from the hotel plus security, especially for HS and AK, it put me off. I also choose the Poly because of the view of Wishes from the beach, while I do hope we can see the other parks evening entertainment, it doesn’t matter if we don’t. If you think you’ll only hop on one day it’s not worth it, but if your plan has free mornings and evenings where you might like to have the flexibility, then it’s worth considering. Might you put the kids in club one evening? Have you been before?