We never do park hoppers, just the base. This year we are going Dec 16-23 and I think the park hoppers might come in handy (plus with free dining they are required). Please share why you like them and the best tips on getting the most advantage from them.
My biggest advice is don't try to find places to hop, it does take time to hop but you have a lot of flexibility when the day isn't going your way and doing different parks in the day and night on the same day with your resort break in the middle can be a nice way to do certain things you love a lot without having to spend most of your time at a specific park kind of bored and waiting for that something special..
In the past they have come in handy for the following:
- we just weren't into the park and kind of bored so we switched parks.
- the crowd was annoying and just too crowded at a park so we took a chance and switched (almost always pays off).
- that park was miserable for what turned into an all day rain instead of 20 minute rain so we got to one that was more friendly to rain with larger selection of indoor queues and rides.
- we were going to a park to find the longest bus line we've ever seen and nobody in line for another park so we switched parks to find a very empty park.
- my daughter with her anxiety can't always handle a full day so we generally do a half day strategy where the park we are before the mid after noon break may not be the same one we end of after the break..
- sometimes another park is still opened when 1 closes and we're not ready to call it a night...
- we just want to eat in specific places and it didn't fit where we were in the mood for so we'll go in for a lunch or breakfast somewhere and hop to another park the rest of the day... or we just couldn't get an adr at another time..
- in the mood for specific rides 1 last time the last day and running into all the different parks just for that 1 ride in each park we wanted.
- jumping in just for a specific night show that you couldn't fit into your schedule any other way.
Where it can very quickly be a waste of time
- ignoring the time it takes to hop to jump around between all different parks and resorts for food. you can easily spend the entire evening just getting to dinner and back for example.
- blindly changing parks hoping for better crowds without looking at wait times or anything before you change and walking into a worse crowd.
- finding places to hop for no reason except that your discount required you to buy hoppers... always have another reason other than you have the tickets you want to use them.
