Park Hopping 2.meh: We Have to Talk Strategy
The title says it all. We're happy to see park hopping back, and we're also concerned. The changes are, well, blah. So in this blog, we're going to review what the new rules are, and then hopefully provide some strategy that allows you to, you know, actually park hop.
What is park hopping?
Park hopping is the act of visiting more than one Walt Disney World park in one day. In order to do it, in the Before Times, as we now call it, you had to purchase the Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus ticket add-on. This add-on let you use your one ticket (at a premium price, though) to access more than one park in a day.
We almost always hop. There are some parks we prefer in the morning and some we prefer in the evening. There are times we want to start our day riding Flight of Passage and end our day with the Magic Kingdom fireworks. And there are times we enter a park and we're just not digging the vibe and want other options rather than being stuck there all day. Hopping does involve traveling between two parks (or more) which consumes a lot of time, but it made sense for us since we usually took a break at our resort in the afternoon anyway, so we'd either have to travel back to the original park or travel to a new park... it is a wash in most cases.
Park Hopping 2.meh
You may know that since Walt Disney world re-opened, until recently, park hopping has been off the table. Those who purchased the park hopper ticket add-on were reimbursed the difference between the park hopper and the basic pass and basically could not hop. The parks were put on a Park Pass system where visitors had to reserve which park they would be in on which days well in advance.
While this was all done for the very good reason of limiting capacity, it also just feels unfathomable to us. How do I know if two months from now Thursday whether the sun will be shining and there will be a nice breeze and the animals will be out at Animal Kingdom or whether it will be a hot, sticky rain with almost no respite and no animals at this mostly outdoor park? The anxiety built. And I wasn't even traveling to Disney, so imagine if I was!
So, there was general good cheer when Disney announced the park hopper would return in January 2021. But return is maybe too strong a word. With the return came lots of restrictions and let's face it - it's just different now than it was in the Before Times. So, here's how it works:
1) You still must reserve a park using the Park Pass system. This is where you will must start your day. You can't hop if you don't enter this park first.
2) You may only hop to a second park after 2pm.
3) You may only hop to a second park if it hasn't already reached the already limited capacity (currently capacity is 35% normal capacity).
These three rules are the most important, but here are some other details that may be of interest:
1) Reserving in-park dining has often been a way that guests try to "cheat" the system and enter a park before opening or when they don't have a park pass. Effective immediately, Disney requires a Park Pass for the same park for which you have a dining reservation. In other words, what this boils down to is if you plan to hop after 2pm, your dining reservation is going to be lunch, not dinner in whatever park you have the park pass for (where you must start your day) unless you like to gamble.
2) Annual passes are a bit diminished. If you do not have a resort hotel reservation, you can only make 3 Park Pass reservations at a time. You can only make another once you've used one. So if you plan to drive down from Georgia and stay off site, you can only plan out our first three days and then you'll be planning the rest of your days as you use your park passes (two days ahead of time).
Here for the Strategy
As you can see, with all these restrictions, it puts the vacation planning at a whole new level. There are considerations we never had to think about before. Will the park we hope to spend the evening in even be letting people in or will it be at its 35% capacity? Where is the best place to start my day, knowing that I might be stuck there after all and if I want to make a dining reservation in a park, it has to be at the park where I start my day? If I have an annual pass, how can I possibly rely on making park passes only 2 days ahead of time?
All good questions, and difficult answers. Here is what we know:
First of all, the holidays are right out. Even though hopping doesn't even begin until January 1st, this impacts the annual pass holders. We are hearing parks are already out of park passes during the holidays. What this does mean is if you plan to stay off site with an annual pass after January 1st, you should probably plan to visit at a time of year that is traditionally less busy. What will those times be? We don't know because as people get vaccinated, we imagination there is going to be a vacation boom! But if I had to gamble, I would avoid any week before or after a holiday, even minor holidays like President's Day (not minor in Disney World logic). Better yet, if you plan to have an annual pass in 2021, maybe bite the bullet and stay at a resort hotel so you don't have to worry about not being able to book your Park Passes on short notice.
Second, Disney Hollywood Studios needs to be at least one of your Park Passes. Here's why:
It has consistently been reaching capacity, which means if you planned to hop to it, you are out of luck.
The Rise of the Resistance queue is a virtual queue that you can only get in once you enter the park. Because ride capacity is down as well, you basically need to get in this virtual queue on your MyDisneyExperience app the minute spots open. Spots open twice during the day and you must be inside Disney Hollywood Studios to snag one. Boarding passes are released at park opening, and at 1pm. Note that both of those times are before park hopping hours will begin, so if you plan to hop to Disney Hollywood Studios later in the day, you will not be able to ride Rise of the Resistance.
Not only that, Disney Hollywood Studios is consistently running out of park passes early so this should be the first park pass you book as soon as you can book it. Hop anywhere else after that, as long as there is capacity, but don't plan on hopping TO Disney Hollywood Studios. It likely won't happen.
EPCOT is probably your safest bet to gamble on being able to hop TO after your first park. Here's why:
EPCOT is huge. More space means more capacity.
World Showcase is extremely pleasant in the evening.
I would almost always choose to round out my day at EPCOT. There are only a few rides I must ride here. One is closed right now (Spaceship Earth). The other is Soarin'. Rather than get in line for that immediately upon park entry if hopping (which will be after 2pm), I'm going to wait until later in the evening as crowds start to peter out. Since there are currently no fireworks, I might very well make this my closing activity for the day.
The tragic downside of planning to park hop to EPCOT is that it is the home of some of the best dining at Walt Disney World. And you can't count on being able to take advantage of your table service dining reservation if for some reason EPCOT does reach capacity and you can't get in. A dining reservation does not guarantee park entry. You can, however, enjoy the many quick service locations which are satisfying enough, especially in World Showcase. Or you can try your luck at walking up and seeing if you can be seated at a table service (no guarantee and especially not likely during busy times).
Of course, you can also plan to start your day in EPCOT but if you are limited in what Park Passes you can make, EPCOT usually has enough space for you to hop to. There are some advantages to starting your day in EPCOT... mainly that you can make that dining reservation for whenever and not have to worry about getting in.
That leaves Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom. In terms of how many people each park can fit, it's probably a wash. We speculate that the Magic Kingdom is still the more popular of the two parks. Who wants to go to Disney and NOT see the castle? And with no fireworks, you won't have people planning to park hop just to be there in the evening because there is nothing extra special happening in the evening right now. Therefore...
Between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, we would start our day with a Park Pass for the Magic Kingdom and hope to hop to Animal Kingdom.
Unless....
If you absolutely want to ride Flight of Passage or see the Safari in the morning (the best time to see it), then Park Pass for Animal Kingdom.
If we used park hopping in early 2021, this is what our plan would look like for a four day vacation:
Day 1: Park Pass the Magic Kingdom. Hop to anywhere (Maybe Animal Kingdom to see Pandora at night)
Day 2: Park Pass DHS. Hop to anywhere (EPCOT would be nice since it's close by but since we have lots of opportunity for that park, our hopes don't hang on that.)
Day 3: Park Pass Animal Kingdom. Hop to anywhere. (we'd love to see Magic Kingdom in the evening but our hopes don't hang on this.)
Day 4: Park Pass DHS. Hop to anywhere (If we didn't already do EPCOT or want more time at EPCOT, do it now. Otherwise we are fans of closing our trip at the Magic Kingdom.)
So.... is Park Hopping 2.meh worth it?
Honestly? I'm going to go with "no". I don't think I want to spend the extra ticket money on chance. I'd rather know where I'm supposed to be and be able to make dining reservations for dinner without worrying about being able to get in. Remember, if I just have the Park Pass, I can leave and re-enter that park so I can still take my midday break. Not liking the vibe? That's fine. I'll leave and come back after the 2pm "shift change" and see what's what.
Ultimately, a trip to Walt Disney World anytime in at least the first half of the next year is going to require some flexibility and patience, and the acceptance that some days if you aren't loving the one park you chose for the day and can't get into another, maybe it's time to slow down and enjoy the resort for a bit.
Let's be clear. Just because we don't love the new version of park hopping doesn't mean we disagree with the decisions Disney made to get to this point. They are in the impossible game of trying to give guests what we say we want while also trying to keep us safe during the plague. It makes sense what Disney is doing here. That doesn't mean we have to like it or take them up on the offer to park hop.
So, what do you think? Are you excited for park hopping's return in 2021? If you're planning to use it, what is your strategy? Let us know and join the conversation over on our Facebook page! We'll see you next week.
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