Park hopping FAQ

To park hop or not. It may not be the eternal question, but it is one that must be made individually for each trip. Let’s look at the pros and cons of park hopping.

What is park hopping?

A park hopping ticket allows guests to change from one WDW theme park to another.

Can I park hop to more than one park?

There is no limit on how many theme parks you can hop to on any given day.

Does a park hopper ticket include hopping to a water park?

Hopping to either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon is not permitted with a standard Park Hopper ticket. You can upgrade to a Park Hopper Plus ticket if you would like to visit one of the water parks.

Why would a guest want to park hop?

· If you are traveling on a shorter WDW trip, park hopping gives more flexibility. On a three day weekend trip we once took for a bachelorette we were able to visit all four parks and hit the rides and experiences that were important to us, so park hopping was important.

· When traveling with teenagers or adult children it allows the party to split up in different directions later in the day.

· If you have been to WDW before, and know you prefer to spend more time at one park over another. Animal Kingdom is not usually a full day park for us, for example. We prefer spending time at other parks, park hopper gives us the opportunity to spend the time we want in Animal Kingdom, and then finish the day eating dinner at Epcot or watching Happily Ever After at the Magic Kingdom.

· If one or more of the parks stays open later than others or if there is a special ticketed event you are not planning to attend. For example at Magic Kingdom when there are holiday parties, you could still start the morning there and hop to another park for the evening. Parks that close early are often less crowded during the day, people with non-park hopper tickets would not want to waste their ticket that way. We might plan on spending the morning in the Magic Kingdom on a hard ticketed event day, enjoying slightly lower crowds, then hopping over to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic!

· You could eat dinner at Epcot every evening, which arguably has the best restaurants in the Walt Disney World area.

Why would a guest not want or need to park hop?

· Cost. It is more expensive to park hop.

· If you are traveling with younger children you may need to end your days earlier, changing parks would be a waste of your time then.

· Your family prefers a lower key vacation with more resort time.

· Your family is taking a longer trip and does not need to budget extra time for a particular park or parks.

· This is your first, or one of your first, trips to WDW and want to spread your time evenly over each park to get the whole experience.

Can I use Lightning Lane Multi Pass if I park hop?

Yes. After you redeem your first selection of the day you may use the MDE app to choose a Lightning Lane return time for any of the other theme parks, subject to availability.

Is there an additional charge for using the Multi Pass when park hopping?

No. There is no additional charge for Park Hopping.

What do you advise? Park hopping or not?

You will need to look at the goals of your trip and the length of time you are staying. Park hopping can definitely help to expand your enjoyment on a shorter trip or if you are a high energy rope drop to fireworks kind of vacationer. But if your family is less high-energy or your trip is longer, we think it is an expense you can skip.