When purchasing Disney theme park tickets, one of the first decisions you have to make is deciding which type of ticket best meets your vacation needs. First, there are base tickets, which are one-park-per-day tickets. This type of ticket allows access to one theme park with in-and-out privileges to that park, throughout the duration of the day. Second, there are Park Hopper tickets which allow you to visit more than one Disney theme park on a given day. Park Hopper tickets cost more and I'm often asked, "Are the tickets worth the extra price?" To answer this, let's look at what park hopping looks like at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Disneyland
A Park Hopper ticket allows you access to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Currently, park guests reserve their starting park and then after 11am, they can hop over to the other park. They can come and go between the two parks as often as they like after 11am. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park are literally steps from one another, so hopping back and forth is easy and convenient. If your goal is to ride as many attractions as possible and you are willing to put in the additional walking steps to make this happen, park hopping might be for you. Typically, the two parks have different operating hours. With a Park Hopper ticket, you can start in the park that opens first and end your evening in the park that stays open the latest. Another advantage to park hopping is nighttime entertainment. With the return of parades, Fantasmic, and World of Color, Park Hopper tickets allow you a greater chance to capture all of the nighttime activities during your vacation. However, if you prefer a slower pace to your vacations without the need to take in every attraction as many times as possible, you might prefer a one-park-per-day ticket. Not only will you be able to fully enjoy one park without the time pressure to hop over to the other, you will also save yourself some money. Park Hopper tickets typically cost $60 more per ticket than one-park-per-day tickets.
Generally speaking, I typically recommend Park Hopper tickets for most families spending 3 or more days in the park. Due to the close proximity of the parks, it is easy to hop back and forth which ensures the must-do activities are completed before the end of the trip. Hopper tickets also provide the opportunity to move parks if one park is more crowded than the other. For trips of 2 days or less, I typically recommend a one-park-per-day ticket.
Walt Disney World
While I encourage Park Hopper tickets while visiting the Disneyland Resort, I typically do not recommend them for visits to Walt Disney World. One of the key reasons people love Walt Disney World so much is because it is huge! Not only does it have four theme parks, but it also has two water parks, a large Disney Springs area and many, many resorts. The sheer size of Walt Disney World is the primary reason that I don't recommend Park Hopper tickets. While there are four parks to visit, they are not located close to one another. In fact, it can easily take 45+ minutes to move from one park to another due to transportation and location of the parks. The time spent hopping from one park to another is time that could be spent riding attractions, seeing a performance, or enjoying a meal. Park hopping at Walt Disney World currently begins at 2pm. Park guests reserve their starting park and then after 2pm, they can hop over to another park. They can keep moving between the four parks as long as there is availability. Yes, that is correct! With a hopper ticket, you could feasibly visit all four theme parks in a single day. However, it is not unusual for at least one of the parks to close around 7:00 or 8:00, giving you only 6 hours to enjoy the park hopping feature. Additionally, Park Hopper tickets cost at least $70 more, depending on the length of ticket purchased.
For those that do park hop, one of the big draws is EPCOT. EPCOT is known for having tasty food and beverages. If you have Park Hopper tickets, you could play in one of the parks during the day and then head over to EPCOT in the evening for dinner and drinks.
For those wanting to also enjoy the water parks, Walt Disney World offers a Water Park and Sports Option (visit one theme park per day in addition to one water park per day based on the length of your ticket) as well as a Park Hopper Plus Option (park hopping privileges plus water park admission based on the length of your ticket).
With so many options to choose from, you are sure to have a magical vacation regardless of whether or not you choose to hop.