I prefer one park a day to limit the amount of hassle and running around that comes with going from one park to the other. Especially if I have enough days for a park per day, then it’s very unlikely I’d hop.
I also don’t enjoy leaving the parks in the middle of the day because going back and forth feels like a waste of time and energy. So I’d rather do a 3/4 day in a park than two 1/2 days.
There are some exceptions, of course, but this is my general preference 
As I’m reading through people’s responses, something that I’m wondering about is how people view WDW in general. If you think of it as essentially just the “parks”, then wasting time going back to the room midday, or hopping, WOULD seem like a waste of time. But for us, WDW is the whole experience. It is escapism. Which is partly why even when we had a vehicle on a stay a couple years ago, we still ended up just using buses. Getting in a car seems “ordinary”. But being on Disney transportation, whatever the form, is escapist still (at least for us). The walking the grounds of the resorts, grabbing a coffee (for my wife…blech, I hate coffee) at a resort Starbucks or Joffrey’s, etc. All of it is the WDW experience. Being at the parks is just one PART of that. So, I don’t see it as “wasting time” hopping.
But if you are there to get as much done in the PARKS as possible, then I see why hopping would NOT necessarily be a good idea. Which goes back to what I was saying in my first post to this thread…that shorter trips tend to be more about getting it all done in the parks, versus longer trips, which is about the whole of WDW experience.
I’ll second this. Maybe it’s because I essentially drive for a living. But it’s also partially that I then don’t need to account for being behind the wheel on unfamiliar roads if I have any alcohol
We never do a whole day in the park though. We never rope drop, we have a hot breakfast and roll up to a park at 10:30 or 11.
And we’re there for 2 weeks, with maybe 9 Disney days. We don’t rush, we don’t wear ourselves out. We “smell the roses” - 30 minutes watching the trains at Epcot or sitting with a drink in the UK or Canada gardens. DH never does more than 4 hours in a park unless we have a TS meal planned to break it up.
It isn’t exhausting to park hop if you’ve spent a couple of hours on the balcony of your room before heading out again for 2-3 hours.
We have always used PH’s or AP’s, mainly because we like to try to do both AK and HS in a half day and go to Epcot for dinner in the evening. Probably not the most economic strategy. MK is definitely a one park per day visit. It would be great if you could mix your tickets to make some days PH and some not. But right now you would have to buy them separately, eliminating the advantage of the multi-day pricing.
This is the same for me more or less. On short solo trips I am also more laid back and meeting up with people, so tend to hop more.
For family trips we are less likely to hop, especially for short trips.
A wild card is resort location. For Winter Break I am staying at Beach Club. Having a park hopper is a must so we can pop into EPCOT for food and festival activities. One June we were at AKL and had a hopper so we could go over to AKnin the evening. Afternoon thunder storms thwarted that plan.
Still waiting for Disney to install that giant dome over all of WDW. Imagine the projection shows they could do….
I mean at least over Epcot since that was the original plan….
Totally agree - the whole Disney experience is worthwhile, even the wasted time. 
that shorter trips tend to be more about getting it all done in the parks, versus longer trips, which is about the whole of WDW experience.
Yup! But also for those of that go frequently this is also probably more true as we don’t have that feeling of having to do everything in a park.
One strategy they didn’t mention on the podcast is to go to a cheaper LLMP park in the morning - AK or EP - burn through your three prebooks, then hop to MK or HS for the afternoon and / or evening to make full use of LLMP without paying the upcharge.
(They actually talked about this backward - starting at MK and hopping to EP. Which costs more and then you’re at the mercy of same-day availability for FEA / TT / Remy.)
I personally am happy to do without the sardine buses at night with stinky people all around
ThE park hopping poll is such a fun idea! 
I love the excitement of GOING between parks it’s like getting the best of all worlds in one day! I voted for starting at Animal Kingdom in the morning to catch those early rides and then hopping to EPCOT for some evening festival vibes. What’s everyone else’s favorite park-hopping combo?
Fun fact - I have beem to DLR four times and have never had a park hopper.
But it’s so easy to hop! I may get in trouble for saying this but aside from passing through the taps, I kind of think of it all as one giant park
I have almost always park hopped.
Cost: with a good plan, park hopping can save you money. As a DVC owner I can hope to the deluxe parks at night. With park hoppers I can spend two or three mornings at HS and hop to a deluxe night and not buy LLs. Over a trip, that saves more money.
Time: I will never spend 12 hours in a park. Hopping to a park after returning from a break adds no extra time to my day. I actually can spend extra time in some parks because I can hop there at night. It allows me to plan AM and PM. AK without a hopper is one park. Add a hopper and you are adding “bonus” time.
That being said, my trip next month, I told my friends to buy one park tickets. We will hop to MK for MNSSHP but for first trips, I am also planning some down time.
(Post posted and the forum hopped me to another thread- how ironic).
I think trips with 3-5 days can lose a lot with hopping but I love having it as an option. The longer the trip, the more utilized I think park hopping becomes.
But there is so much to do in each park there is no need to hop! And if you run out of things then that forces you to ambiance pr do the fun special things.
And I adore not have cover such a large physical space.
My longest trip was 3.5 days. So 1.5 in DCA and 2 at DL. Was perfect.
