Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stick with Disney directly or a trusted third party, not the various resellers with strip mall
storefronts.
Adding Park Hoppers
The Park Hopper ticket add-on allows the user to visit more than one theme park on the
same day. For example, the Animal Kingdom might close at 5pm on the day you choose to
visit. With the Park Hopper upgrade, you could exit the Animal Kingdom at any time and
travel to and enter any of the other three theme parks to take advantage of evening Extra
Magic Hours, a late dinner reservation, or anything else.
For both kids and adults, the current cost of the hopper on a one-day Magic Kingdom
ticket is $53.25 with tax. A hopper on a one-day, non-Magic Kingdom ticket is $61.77. For
two- or three-day tickets, the cost is $53.25. With a four- to ten-day ticket, the cost is a flat
$68.16 per ticket with tax. On a six-day ticket, the cost for the upgrade comes out to $11.36
per day. Guests adding both Park Hopper and Water Park Fun & More (described next) at
the same time receive a discount of about $40 versus adding them separately. The cost to
add both upgrades is $95.85.
Many guests have what they think is the bright idea of bypassing the expensive Park
Hopper upgrade and instead purchase more days of theme park admissions than they need
with the idea that they will visit a second theme park on the same day and simply use a
second day's admission. For example, a family might be visiting the parks on five days and
purchase seven days of admission with the idea that on day five they'll visit Animal King-
dom in the morning and then use a sixth day of admission on the same day to visit Epcot
at night. This will not work. Disney is wise to the fact that adding Park Hopper would be
over $60 per ticket, while adding two additional days is only about $20. In our example,
the Cast Member at Epcot would explain the benefits of upgrading to Park Hopper after the
ticket was rejected at the scanner.
In most situations, we don't recommend spending the money on the Park Hopper up-
grade, at least not until you experience Walt Disney World for the first time and realize
how big it is, how much there is to do everywhere, and how long it takes to get from park
to park. Remember, Disney will very rarely not take your money and they are more than
happy to add the Park Hopper upgrade to your ticket should you deem the cost necessary,
even after you've started using the ticket.
Remember that the regular base ticket allows unlimited re-entries to the same theme
park on the same day. Should you take a recommended afternoon break, you can return to
the same theme park later for dinner, additional attractions, and the night-time entertain-
ment. It's true that Animal Kingdom routinely closes around 5 or 6pm, and it may seem
like there's a lot of time after it closes to do
something
. Instead of pushing on to another
theme park, consider making a dinner reservation and exploring a nearby resort. In Animal
Kingdom's case, Animal Kingdom Lodge is just a few minutes away. It's a beautiful resort
where anyone is free to use the observatories to check out the giraffes, zebras, and other
animals on the savannas. The restaurants and quick service are all excellent as well.
Park Hopper does have its uses, particularly for guests staying at Epcot area resorts or
guests visiting for a special event. Guests staying at a resort like the Beach or Yacht Club
may wish to start their day at Magic Kingdom, take a break back at the resort, and then
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