Why Park Hopper Tickets Were Not Worth It for Our Disney World Vacation

My family and I got back from a week-long vacation at Disney World. We had a great time. We rode all our favorite rides, ate our favorite snacks, and relaxed by our hotel pool.

But we came home without that usual Disney glow we’re used to.

Something felt off to me the entire time, and I wasn’t sure what it was.

Then it hit me at the end of the trip: it was because we upgraded to the Park Hopper this trip!

We are super fortunate and go to both Disneyland and Disney World yearly. We ALWAYS get Park Hopper tickets at Disneyland and never regret it.

I'd even say the park hopper option is a must at Disneyland. It gives you so much flexibility, and it's so easy to hop between parks.

We don’t usually add that option to our Disney World tickets, so we thought we’d give it a try.

After this trip, it’s something we’ll likely never do again. Here is why.

It Cost Us More Money

While the park hopper option isn’t a huge added expense, we didn’t need it. Those funds could have gone to a meal or a souvenir instead.

It Added Stress to the Trip

I found myself stressing about getting our money’s worth from the park hopper instead of enjoying the park I was in.

I was super aware of the time of day and constantly calculating how long we should stay at the first park before moving on to the next.

Usually, I’m not even thinking about other parks or the time when I’m in one. I like taking my time in each park, taking in the sights and the vibes, and enjoying all it has to offer.

We Had Less Downtime

When we go to Disney, we are not the type to go go go the entire time. We have those moments for sure, but we also enjoy our downtime.

Taking our time exploring the countries at EPCOT.

Looking for all the hidden Pascals in Fantasyland.

Walking around the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.

Enjoying an ice cream cone from Gerties in Hollywood Studios.

It felt like this trip, all we did was run from attraction to attraction.

Slowing down and enjoying the moment you are in is typically when that extra magic creeps in. Those moments are what make a Disney vacation memorable in my book.

We ended up waiting in more Lines

You can only pre-book Lightning Lanes in one park per day. Once you scan into your first Lightning Lane, you can book Lightning Lanes for attractions in other parks. But by then, most of the top attractions were “sold out,” or the times didn't work with our schedule.

That meant that if we wanted to hit all the top rides at multiple parks in one day, we had to wait in standby longer than I’d like.  

As someone who knows how to work that Lightning Lane system to its fullest advantage, I was not used to this.

It Wasn't All Bad....

There were some benefits to having Park Hopper. It gave us lots of flexibility, so if a park was super busy, we could hop over to another.

It also made it easier to take advantage of our Extended Evening Hours as a Deluxe Resort Guest. We didn't have to plan our park day around that specific activity; we just showed up when we wanted to.

Booking dining was also less stressful. If there was a specific restaurant we really wanted but could only get on a certain day, that was fine. We could hop over to that restaurant for dinner, no matter what our day looked like.

But none of these perks made it worth it for us.

Park Hopping Isn’t How We Do Disney

Remember that marketing campaign that they did on the Disney Channel? It’s a good one!

Everyone does Disney differently. While park hopping isn’t for my family, it could absolutely be for yours. The trick is figuring that out ahead of time.

I’m a travel agent who specializes in Disney. Figuring out if the Park Hopper option is right for your vacation is part of my complimentary planning services. Click here to schedule your Magical Vacation Consultation, and let’s explore what would be perfect for your family!

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