Park hopping with kids

[birthygirl]

The last time we went with our boys we just did one park per day, but since we have FD this time we also have park hoppers. I'm wondering what the logistics are like park hopping with 3 kids (ages between 7-11). What are your thoughts? What does park hopping look like for your family?

 

[Klayfish]

I'm not sure I completely understand your question. I don't mean that rudely, just not sure I get what you're asking. We've got 3 kids, ages 13, 9, 9. But we've always been park hoppers, so we've done it since they were 4, 1, 1. The logistics wouldn't really look any different than they would if you did it without kids. When you're ready to move to the next park, hop a bus, grab the monorail, ferry, go to your car, whatever your transportation mode is.

Our park hopping is normally done spur of the moment. We always plan out one park, because you have to in order to get your FP+. But once we use those, we decide on the spot if we want to hop and what park we want to hop to.

Sorry that's a general answer. Post what specifics you're looking for, and I'll be happy to give details.

 

[monorailsilver]

I have always park hopped and won't do it any other way.

For us regardless if it was just DH and I or 1,2 or 3 kids (some Weren't born..) we wake up at 6, read this as me, the wife, wake she up at 6, in the shower by 6:15 when the DH finally wakes and does his thing while I shower...yes I allow that otherwise it Would be like our first trip when his thing occurred while rope drop was happening...he learned the value of time and has since changed his timing!!

DH showers after me, I get dressed and slowly open the black out curtain so the kids wake, if they don't I am not quiet. They get dressed and eat while DH is still showering and doing his am beauty prep (me-shower, quick shave, gel to hair, contacts in, hair put in a clip; DH-shower, shave, fix hair, 5 min of teeth time, lotion to faces check nose hairs or any out of place hair...it takes him forever!).

DH and I eat while eating the finishing touches ready...wait I eat while doing things, DH is still getting dressed and can't do more then one thing. I fill up our water bottles, make sure our bags have what we need-water, one snack if that, camera, phone, ponchos if rain expected.

7-7:15 out the door to get to the early entry park. Have lunch in park and leave. Return to room for naps...yes all of us. I had done laundry during nap time but my last trip I needed a nap. Wake around 4, everyone shower and out the door by 5 til closing. Repeat the next day. Next trip next year, I don't think we will have naps but will still go back for a I'd day. Read and maybe swim.

I won't do more then 2 days with out a non park day/rest day. Plus we go in the summer.

 

[my2lovedisney]

We've park hopped since our first trip back in 2011. My kids were 4.5 and 8 months. We love park hopping. I think with your kids being the ages they are, park hopping will be a breeze! You won't have a stroller to worry about and they're all old enough to give their input on what they want to do. We always start in one park (wherever FP are that morning) and usually end up in another in the evening or mid afternoon.

 

[wonderstruck88]

We like to visit one park in the morning, go back to the hotel and relax for awhile, and then go to another park at night, so park hopping is a must for us!

 

[jedijake]

Park hopping is great. I have little guys who needed to leave for rest everyday and most days we'd go to a different park for the afternoons evening.
My oldest loves the monorail and the trek from Epcot to MK was a highlight

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I've never park hopped but also have them because of free dining. I am trying to figure what benefit it really holds if your ADRs are scheduled for your park of choice on a particular day and you aren't planning on afternoon breaks. Is there anyone who hops NOT because of ADRs or afternoon breaks that can chime in on what the benefits to it include? I'm just trying to understand why you would spend the time travelling to a new park when you can just stay where you are at. Not that park hopping is the wrong thing to do- I'm just really trying to understand it.

 

[wonderstruck88]

I've never park hopped but also have them because of free dining. I am trying to figure what benefit it really holds if your ADRs are scheduled for your park of choice on a particular day and you aren't planning on afternoon breaks. Is there anyone who hops NOT because of ADRs or afternoon breaks that can chime in on what the benefits to it include? I'm just trying to understand why you would spend the time travelling to a new park when you can just stay where you are at. Not that park hopping is the wrong thing to do- I'm just really trying to understand it.

It's really just a personal preference. For me, instead of saying "Why spend time traveling when you can just stay where you already are?" I would be asking why you would choose to limit yourself to just one park and go all day without a break if you don't have to. Different touring plans fit different families. If the morning EMH are Magic Kingdom, for example, I want the option to go there in the morning, but then leave if it starts to get too crowded or I want to see Fantasmic that night or whatever. I just don't like being tied to one park all day.

On the other hand, I literally can't comprehend not taking an afternoon break, because our family get super crabby and hot without them. So that is the other part of your perspective that is totally the opposite of mine. Like you said, neither is wrong, but just because you don't see something as a benefit doesn't mean others don't either.

Edited for typos...I should really stop commenting from my phone.

 

[Klayfish]

I've never park hopped but also have them because of free dining. I am trying to figure what benefit it really holds if your ADRs are scheduled for your park of choice on a particular day and you aren't planning on afternoon breaks. Is there anyone who hops NOT because of ADRs or afternoon breaks that can chime in on what the benefits to it include? I'm just trying to understand why you would spend the time travelling to a new park when you can just stay where you are at. Not that park hopping is the wrong thing to do- I'm just really trying to understand it.

Sure, I can give you our thoughts. We don't have any ADRs, as we never eat in restaurants (we bring our own food in). We don't take planned ahead afternoon breaks, we do them ad hoc. Park hopping simply gives you a ton of flexibility. Let's say we have plans for MK. We may get there around 9:30am (we don't rope drop either). Around 2pm, we may have accomplished everything we wanted in MK for that day. So the kids may say they want to go ride Test Track...at that point, we jump on MDE, see if we can get a FP+ and hop over. Or sometimes we will head back to our condo (we stay offsite) and relax. But at dinner, we may spur of the moment decide we want to go catch Illuminations and get on Soarin'. Having park hopper allows us to do that. Our mentality isn't "one park per day", it's more like "do what we want, when we want". So the hopper allows us to do that.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

It's really just a personal preference. For me, instead of saying "Why spend time traveling when you can just stay where you're trying?" I would be asking why you would choose to limit yourself to just one park and go all day without a break if you don't have to. Different touring plans fit different families. If the morning EMH are Magic Kingdom, for example, I want the option to go there in the morning, but then leave if it starts to get too crowded or I want to see Fantasmic that night or whatever. I just don't like being tied to one park all day.

On the other hand, I literally can't comprehend not taking an afternoon break, because our family get sick super crabby and hot without them. So that is the other part of your perspective that is totally the opposite of mine. Like you said, neither is wrong, but just because you don't see something as a benefit doesn't mean others don't either.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You make a great point about extra magic hours and that is something I had not really thought about before. In regards to breaks, I can totally understand why they work for most people. I'm open to taking them, but never plan for them and haven't needed to yet. We try to relax and catch an indoor show, or find a spot to sit in the shade for a break and that usually refreshes us.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Sure, I can give you our thoughts. We don't have any ADRs, as we never eat in restaurants (we bring our own food in). We don't take planned ahead afternoon breaks, we do them ad hoc. Park hopping simply gives you a ton of flexibility. Let's say we have plans for MK. We may get there around 9:30am (we don't rope drop either). Around 2pm, we may have accomplished everything we wanted in MK for that day. So the kids may say they want to go ride Test Track...at that point, we jump on MDE, see if we can get a FP+ and hop over. Or sometimes we will head back to our condo (we stay offsite) and relax. But at dinner, we may spur of the moment decide we want to go catch Illuminations and get on Soarin'. Having park hopper allows us to do that. Our mentality isn't "one park per day", it's more like "do what we want, when we want". So the hopper allows us to do that.

Thank you! It's interesting seeing how other people tour the parks. I read a lot of people saying they love the flexibility of park hopper but don't really read too many specifics. I think you explained well how they help for a more spontaeous, go with the flow touring approach. I also hadn't considered that dd might actually request to ride something at a different park. It makes complete sense, I just hadn't thought about it. It seems like everything has to be planned so far in advance for these trips that sometimes it's hard to realize that certain things can still be done spur of the moment. Thank you!

 

[Meeko5]

We always go during party season, so MK closes early several nights in our week. We hit MK at RD son party days, then around 4 left for an ADR in another park or resort. Then after dinner went to Epcot to wander a bit.

We also went end of the month and had baby swap passes that we had accumulated that expired mid trip (on the 31st) so we hit 3 parks that day to use them up and had a blast we love the flexibility of hopping!

 

[Klayfish]

It seems like everything has to be planned so far in advance for these trips that sometimes it's hard to realize that certain things can still be done spur of the moment. Thank you!

A lot of people do very detailed planning, using spreadsheets, etc... so that nearly every hour of every day is pre-planned. For those who enjoy that style, it's great. They say the planning can be as much fun as the trip. I wouldn't argue with them, because that's what works for them. But that would be dreadful for us. Funny enough, in my "normal" life, I'm much more of a planning type. However, with WDW, I'm polar opposite. Yes, we plan our FP+ 30 days out because it's super easy and very helpful. So that requires us to at least figure out what park we'll be in for part of the day. But beyond that, we just do things on a whim.

 

[kboo]

I have always park hopped and won't do it any other way.

For us regardless if it was just DH and I or 1,2 or 3 kids (some Weren't born..) we wake up at 6, read this as me, the wife, wake she up at 6, in the shower by 6:15 when the DH finally wakes and does his thing while I shower...yes I allow that otherwise it Would be like our first trip when his thing occurred while rope drop was happening...he learned the value of time and has since changed his timing!!

DH showers after me, I get dressed and slowly open the black out curtain so the kids wake, if they don't I am not quiet. They get dressed and eat while DH is still showering and doing his am beauty prep (me-shower, quick shave, gel to hair, contacts in, hair put in a clip; DH-shower, shave, fix hair, 5 min of teeth time, lotion to faces check nose hairs or any out of place hair...it takes him forever!).

DH and I eat while eating the finishing touches ready...wait I eat while doing things, DH is still getting dressed and can't do more then one thing. I fill up our water bottles, make sure our bags have what we need-water, one snack if that, camera, phone, ponchos if rain expected.

7-7:15 out the door to get to the early entry park. Have lunch in park and leave. Return to room for naps...yes all of us. I had done laundry during nap time but my last trip I needed a nap. Wake around 4, everyone shower and out the door by 5 til closing. Repeat the next day. Next trip next year, I don't think we will have naps but will still go back for a I'd day. Read and maybe swim.

I won't do more then 2 days with out a non park day/rest day. Plus we go in the summer.

OMG THIS IS MY DH.

We park hop all the time. We are afternoon break people, but we absolutely also make decisions because of unexpected crowds or whatever. We have recently stayed close to MK and we have 2 little kids who get up REALLY EARLY. So when there's AM EMH (or we have a pre-rope-drop ADR), we will spend the AM with the EMH, and then leave early if it gets unbearably crowded. Yes, we do plan around our ADRs, but we have also in the past liked the flexibility of deciding on a last minute ADR (like, making a 5pm ADR when the kids are up at 4) and not being limited to resorts or the one park we had been in earlier. I think also with PH you don't feel like you have to stay in the park as long, and if someone really wants to go to the pool, you can. It's also changed our FP+ strategy, to the extent we have one - we set up our FP for the late morning and once we knock them out, we can book others, sometimes at another park. The time we stayed at BWV it was really helpful, too, because we'd plan on going back to the resort around dinner time and eating around World Showcase. Sometimes it was at the food stands or other QS, and it lent more spontaneity to the trip.

 

[wonderstruck88]

OMG THIS IS MY DH.

We park hop all the time. We are afternoon break people, but we absolutely also make decisions because of unexpected crowds or whatever. We have recently stayed close to MK and we have 2 little kids who get up REALLY EARLY. So when there's AM EMH (or we have a pre-rope-drop ADR), we will spend the AM with the EMH, and then leave early if it gets unbearably crowded. Yes, we do plan around our ADRs, but we have also in the past liked the flexibility of deciding on a last minute ADR (like, making a 5pm ADR when the kids are up at 4) and not being limited to resorts or the one park we had been in earlier. I think also with PH you don't feel like you have to stay in the park as long, and if someone really wants to go to the pool, you can. It's also changed our FP+ strategy, to the extent we have one - we set up our FP for the late morning and once we knock them out, we can book others, sometimes at another park. The time we stayed at BWV it was really helpful, too, because we'd plan on going back to the resort around dinner time and eating around World Showcase. Sometimes it was at the food stands or other QS, and it lent more spontaneity to the trip.

It's nice to read about someone who sounds similar to us in terms of flexibility and see how you handle FP+. Our upcoming trip will be our first one since FP+ was rolled out, so I'm a bit nervous about that part of it. Makes sense to just set them up for late morning stuff.

 

[srwarden1928]

I think the OP wants to know why people park hop other than ADRs and afternoon breaks. I love to park hop. I NEVER take afternoon breaks, because for ME it is a waste of potential park time. I do enjoy my ADRs, but I plan them (both park and resort) to be near where I plan to be. What I do is this: on the first four days I do one park per day doing all the attractions I want to do in that park. Then I plan two days to do the "best" attractions in two parks per day. Then I plan a one day four parks thrill rides. On the next trip, those are seven days, and days five and nine are for catch up and whatever I feel like. I enjoy doing the parks this way, and park hopping is necessary to do it.

 

[kboo]

Ok, true confession, we are foodies too... And when booking ADRs, some of our favorites are BOG dinner, California Grill, CRT and Akershus, not all in 1 trip. Especially for BOG dinner, though, you get what you get and you don't get upset. And the dates where you might snag the last reservation on 180+10 may not be the dates that have the best FP availability later. Having PH allows you to not sweat it. I realize this is a "we use PH because of ADRs" reason, but again, I think it just gives more flexibility.

 

[BearInWoods]

park hopping is fun.. and it gets maximum exposure of all the fun and sights of what you came for. for the first few days we always park hop. but what windo at the last few days is to slow down and to pick a particular pace we enjoy and take it slow. otherwise, you will need a mini-vacation to recover from your vacation!

 

[birthygirl]

I guess I was thinking I didn't want to lose too much park time. For instance, our day I have planned at HS, we have a PPO ADR, but I was thinking since there aren't many great places to eat there, we will take a "break" and take the boat to Epcot and eat there, then come back for the night time show.

We only have 5 park days and we do have ADRs daily (mostly for breakfast), so the parks we'll start in each day is pretty set, and we want to see night time shows at each park. We aren't planning to go back to the resort in the afternoons and don't want to lose too much park time so I just wondered how we would be able to park hop with those "restrictions".

Thanks for all of your input!

 

[kniquy]

Our last trip was with 9 yo twin boys( DD 18 months stayed home). We did get hoppers and loved the freedom. It was especially nice to do our main park and FPs but then hop over to a park that had evening EMH. This helped because our day at HS Rockin was down and did not re-open. We really wanted to ride it so we went back late 9pm when they had EMH. We popped into MK one evening just because we had time before an ADR at the Poly. This coming trip will be with DD who will be almost 5 -- I am on the fence on whether or not hoppers are worth it because she needs to get a good night sleep so hopping over to another park later in the day/evening might not be in the cards for her. With your age bracket of kids they should be able to do a full and still be able to hop over to another park.