I feel like since there is SO much to do in each park, is the Park Hopper really worth the money? Because you can easily stay at any of the parks open to close and not run out of things to do. What are some situations where it makes sense to have it?
If the only argument is: you can hop from AK to MK because AK closes earlier (sometimes much earlier) than MK. Is that enough to make it worth it?
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I hate answering “worth” questions, because it’s so subjective… I always have hoppers; either an AP or Military Salute tickets (which come as hoppers). Jumping to a different park after AK closes is one example. I rarely want to spend 2 full days at MK, so if I plan on more than one MK RD, on the second day I’ll hop to EP in the afternoon for more WS time in evening (and dinner). Last trip our DHS day got rained out around 3:00 PM, so we hopped there in the evening later in the week to be able to see the Osborne Lights (our one and only chance). All of the above being said, if I DIDN’T have hoppers, I could no doubt find enough to do to spend a full day at each park (although this is getting harder and harder to do at DHS).
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I park hop for so many reasons. Yes, I will PH to MK for night time events but I also go to EP for WS, not the attractions. I love to hop over to EP when I am at HS and grab something to eat. I also love HS in the morning and at night but I do not want to spend one day doing the same attractions. I would rather spread them out over multiple days. I think another reason I PH is I have a ridiculous short attention span. I go to a park in the morning, take a break (maybe hop to EP for food) then go to a night time park.
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I wouldn’t want to be without the option to hop! My family likes to dine in Epcot multiple times, maybe even four nights of a seven night trip. We don’t want to spend all four of those days at Epcot, though! The park hopper allows us to get everything we want.
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The option is nice to have - but for use I don’t find the value. Think of it this way. If you went to any “local” park - would the notion of hopping even occur to you - NO. There is so much in the park you are at. Yes there is an urge to hop - HEY THERE IS FUN TO BE HAD OVER THERE - but then you look around - there is a lot of fun to be had HERE. Between the cost and the time needed for hopping - for me - it isn’t worth it
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My husband and I always get the hopper. On our last trip we used it a lot. We went for 9 days, and would do a park for the morning, take a break, and choose another one for the afternoon/evening. However, it was in early December, so along with Animal Kingdom closing early, Magic Kingdom closed early a lot for party nights. When we went with a bigger group a couple years ago, we didn’t use the hopper as much. It depends on how you want to travel and experience the parks. I enjoyed starting at Animal kingdom to ride the safari, and then going someplace else for the rest of the day. In fact, on our last day, we hopped to all 4 parks and rode our favorite rides. So for us, it’s worth it. But it’s not worth it for everyone.
Unfortunately with RoL and the novelty of AK at night I think you may want to PH away from AK not because it is closed but to get away from the crowds! I cannot wait!
We use an early close at a park as time to slow down. And even though with a 5 a close you can take your time leaving it isn’t that you have to be at the front by 5.
I normally base it on how long I’m there and if it will be worth it 
There is so much to do and even if AK closes early you can still do stuff at your hotel or Downtown Disney. There are so many options. One thing I like it for is when they have an early morning and a late night You can go to one park in the day and the other at night This trip that I am going on in Feb, I have a one day ticket and then we have our park hopper tickets We are doing 2 different parks, AK and then going to HS for late night We may also do MK the same day It is an option that is nice to have but definitely not necessary in all circumstances, the choice would be yours 
We park hopped every day on our 9 day trip in Sept, would start the morning in one park, rest, then end at a different park (usually EP for WS). The only day we didn’t hop was the day we went to AK, and we had an ADR at Boma after so there wasn’t any time left to go to another park. There’s certainly enough to do in each park for a full day, but we always like having the freedom to do whatever we feel like versus feeling like we’re “stuck” with one park. We also don’t have kids though, so it’s easier and quicker for us to move around.
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We just came back from a week without hoppers and I saw no need for them. We were kept plenty busy at each park and, honestly, I would feel like the travel time was wasted time. But the park hours were short. In the dead of summer, I may want hoppers.
We will never not get hoppers. Then again, we stay at BC and it’s so convenient for us to head back to the resort mid day and then just go wherever we want in the evening. I personally find it worth every penny… AK for us is a half day park, as is HS. We can usually do both in one day (In HS current state, anyway.)
It’s hard to answer questions like this because everyone has their own opinions on what’s important to them but for us I can’t imagine going without park hoppers. It’s honestly never something that I considered but only because I don’t want to be limited to one park especially for dining and on early park closing days. It’s easier and less stressful for me not worry about where we can and can’t go. Plus the price difference wasn’t a game changer for us as I always plan it in the overall cost of our vacation. Any way you do it… you’re still in Disney and that in itself is magical!!! Just my humble sparkly opinion.
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I must be the only one who doesn’t park hop. We have never done it, and on t g e day that the park closes early, we head over to one of the hotels for dinner, or back to the room and go swimming, or over to Fort Wilderness. There is just so many other things to do. That’s just my opinion.
we dont hop either waste of time and money in my oppinion
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If you have little ones who nap in the afternoon just go back to the same park.
I used to buy the park hopper “just in case” I wanted or needed it. What I found was that I could do a full day at each park and didn’t want to start over at another one halfway through the day. That said, if you think you’ll use it for fireworks or reservations, or you are staying on site and want to hop somewhere different during the evening, it might be useful. We just weren’t up to rope drop and evening fireworks on the same days.
One other thing to consider is that you would only get FP for one of the parks, so unless you planned to do RD at one park and then use FP at the other park later in the day, you might find yourself missing out on rides or at least standing in line ups for the headliners.
It really is a personal decision. Until recently I never hopped. It is nice to be able to jump around. But there is enough to do in one park then if you finish early or the park closes early it gives you a chance to go to sleep early swim go to disney springs. There are a lot of options.
If you wanted my personal advice. Do not buy any park hoppers. See how it works for you if you are happy with one park one day.
If you find yourself wanting to hop to another park you can add it while there.
I just made my plans for my 7 night stay. Unless something changes with AK, I will be at every park at least twice but only at HS and MK at night. For me, I need PHs.
For us, we always use PHs. We use them all the time to Park Hop for Dinner reservations, typically ending up back at Epcot. So we’ll do a day wherever, rest and then PH to Epcot for a nice Dinner. We also used it a lot on our last visit to PH to MK at night to have a bonus few hours at the MK. Given we stayed at GF the proximity to MK it makes those quick trips to MK easy and a lot of fun.
I think you can certainly plan your day around only 1 park and manage. For us though, it’s nice to not have to worry that if MK extends their hours and we feel up to it, we have the flexibility to PH over. Plus being able to sample a bunch of Epcot sit downs for dinner is nice and if limited to 1 park your sit down food options are more limited…
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