Disney Park Hopper tickets, which allow guest to visit more than one park per day, are not a necessity, but sometimes a nice extra. Let’s talk about what to consider when deciding if this pricey add-on is right for your family.
What is a Disney Park Hopper?
Park hopper is Disney’s term for the ability to visit more than one park on a single day. Single day or “base tickets” allow you to visit only one park per day. You may enter and exit any one of the parks as many times as you want on the same day, but you can only enter and exit the one park where your ticket is valid for that day.
Disney Park Hopper tickets allow you to visit more than one park each day. You can change parks as often as you like.
Disney World in Orlando has four parks:
- Magic Kingdom
- Animal Kingdom
- Epcot
- Hollywood Studios
Disneyland in California has two parks:
- Disneyland Park
- Disney California Adventure
How Much Do Disney Park Hopper Tickets Cost?
This addition to a regular, one-park-per-day ticket is pricey. On June 29, 2019, park hopper prices jumped by just over $25 more per ticket, bringing the cost of a one-day theme park ticket with a park hopper addition to $169 plus tax. Tickets purchased for use in 2020, will cost $185 plus tax. These prices are valid for guests of the Walt Disney World theme parks.
California visitors deal with a different pricing structure. A regular one day ticket with park hopper option at Disneyland currently costs $179.
At both Disney destinations, the cost per day goes down if you buy park hoppers for multiple day visits.
What is the Disney Park Hopper Plus?
Park Hopper Plus is available at Walt Disney World only. It allows ticket-holders to visit more than one park per day as well as cool off at Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon –– Disney World’s fantastic water parks — visit Disney’s award winning Oak Trail Golf Course, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and the two mini-golf courses on Disney resort property, Winter Summerland and Fantasia Gardens.
What Are the Rules for Disney Park Hoppers?
Next, let’s discuss the rules governing park hopper use. For tickets purchased separate from a hotel package, it’s possible to pick and choose which tickets to upgrade to Park Hoppers. However, if you work with a travel agent or book a package on your own, everyone in the party associated with the reservation must have the same features on their ticket. So everyone upgrades to a Park Hopper, or no one does.
Additionally, park hopper options are non-transferable just like tickets are non-transferable. Disney tickets are tied to a MagicBand for Florida vacationers, and to a hard ticket for California vacationers. Fingerprints are used in addition to MagicBands to associate your ticket with your person at Disney World park, and photos are taken of each guest at Disneyland park to assure that guests don’t transfer tickets among their traveling party.
Park Hoppers for Florida Residents
Florida residents can save even more on tickets, and that includes ones with a park hopper add-on. Make sure to check the Disney World website for current ticket prices and specials if you are a Florida resident. Even when the specials end, ticket prices are still $30 less for both regular tickets and multi-day tickets with and without a park hopper option.
The same great deals aren’t often available to California residents and Disneyland lovers. Occasionally, there are ticket specials and discounts for Disneyland, but they are not offered on a regular basis they way they are for Florida residents.
Is Park Hopping Right for You?
Finally, how do you know if park hopping is right for your family? First, you need to consider your budget. The bottom line is that park hoppers are pricey. If it is going to bust the budget, it is simply not worth it.
Next, consider the number and ages of guests in your party. My family almost never uses park hoppers at Disney World when we visit with our kids. The parks and resorts are so spread out that it takes a minimum of 20-30 minutes to travel from one park to the other. When vacations are shorter or kids require breaks in between all the fun, that travel time seems like wasted time.
However, in Disneyland park, we always get park hopper tickets. It is easy to travel to a different park in California because they are right across from each other and connected via a walkable esplanade.
Lastly, consider your theme park plans. With Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge now open at Disneyland and opening on August 29 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, it may be prudent to park hop and avoid the masses gathering at those two new areas. Additionally, if conquering as many rides as possible in a short amount of time is a goal, park hopping is the way to go. FastPass reservations can only be made for parks in which guests have a ticket.
Also consider Extra Magic Hours for Disney resort guests. My family has been able to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours in one park, go back to our resort to rest or relax, and then visit a different park at night. Park hopping offers a lot of flexibility for guests who don’t like to be tied down to a set schedule.
Finally, if you purchased single day tickets initially, but believe your party would benefit from a park hopper, visit guest services at your hotel, Disney Springs, or in the parks themselves. They are happy to sell you park hoppers for the remainder of your stay.
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We are visiting in June and not staying at a Disney hotel. Is it worth it to get the ticket bands or just stay with a card ticket?
IMO a park hopper is worth it practically every case. As an example, on a 7 day trip where you buy a 7 day ticket, staying at Pop Century WITHOUT food cost, you’re going to pay roughly $1300 for a solo person. Again just an example. On that $1300, it costs only $80 more for a park hopper and you can visit any of the 4 parks you wanted to during those 7 days. So if you wanted to go to Magic Kingdom during the day, but feel like eating at Le Cellier for dinner? You can do it with a park hopper.
If you wanted to watch both Fantasmic (8pm start time) and Star Wars fireworks (8:30pm start time), you can do it with a park hopper by going on different nights. You’d be hard pressed to sit down for Fantasmic and when that show ends, Star Wars starts and you’ll be fighting the crowd to make it over to the chinese theatre in time.
It’s the little differences that make it completely worth it for as little cost as it is.
I would just like to add for travelers that are planning to return to the park in the future, an annual pass may be something to consider. This allows you to park your car for free at any of the Walt Disney world theme parks and also includes tons of money saving benefits as well. Some of these perks include free memory maker package which includes Disney photo pass which allows you to take home your pictures taken while on vacation for the whole year. Not too mention all of the dining and merchandise discounts as well that can substantially add up. If you purchase let’s say a park hopper or even an magic your way ticket from undercover tourist, when you arrive at the park you can use your ticket which you most likely saved a few dollars purchasing from under cover tourist to upgrade to an annual pass at guest services. Your new pass will allow you access to Walt Disney world for an entire year, maybe some black out dates depending on your choice of AP, Gold, platinum or platinum plus. This pass is also renewable at the end of the year which will now allow you save even more on the renewal cost.
hi i was wondering. does the park hopper pass work for walt disney world and universal studios or do i have to buy 2 difference park hopper passes
No they are unrelated parks. US is not a Disney thing .
My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Disney World in February. We are on a very tight budget, would you recommend to get the park hoppers for us to do more or to get the dining plan to make sure that we don’t over spend.
We always get the Park Hopper option. If you’re on a budget, it actually makes sense to pay for it. For us, we’re not big Star Wars fans, so Hollywood Studios is pretty much just Toy Story Land, the 3D Muppets, and Fantasmic. It’s not a whole-day park. And the restaurant choices at HS aren’t that great, so we leave to eat at someplace else. Animal Kingdom is a half-day park as well.. So we can buy fewer days and still get to all the parks, leaving a full day for Epcot and Magic Kingdom.
And while I don’t have young kids that need to take naps, we always leave the park after lunch to go back to the resort. 1. That’s the most crowdest time at the parks. 2. I need to get off of my feet for more than a few minutes. And 3. My granddaughter wants to swim. It’s a win-win.
Save money by realizing that there’s a lot more to Disney World than just its four parks. We can spend hours at Disney Springs. And the Disney resorts have the greatest pools! We actually plan our schedule with time allotted for swimming.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!! We did park hopper once eons ago. Now my girls are older, 12 and 9. We want to see Toy Story and do Epoct and we know both are not full days parks.We did Epoct when one daughter was a lil over a year and it was blah to us so we havent taken them back. we just did the other parks all the time. AK is def a half day park as well.
Yes, you can even hang out in DT Disney for a while and it is free. So much to see and do.
What is s good website to purchase Disney tickets without being scammed
There are only a few legitimate companies who are authorize resellers of Disney tickets where you can buy multi-day tickets at a discount. TravelingMom recommends and vouches for Undercover Tourist and Get Away Today – see our links in this very post (right at the end) to buy!
If I enter Disneyland on a base ticket and then leave to go to downtown Disney, can I enter Disneyland again with a base ticket?
Hi Leslie,
We are going to Florida soon and help me understand this park hopper stuff better, LOL. If I buy park hopper for 4 days to all the parks, does that mean I can visit any of the Disney properties during those 4 days?
Thanks!
Park hopper means you can go to any and every park on all of the 4 days. So you could vist up to all four parks on Monday (if you wanted), all four parks again on Tuesday, all four on Wednesday, etc. Park hopper tickets give you the right to go to more than one park in a single day. With regular tickets, you have to pick a park for a single day and stick with it (and can only to go to a different park on a subsequent day).
I purchased Disney wrist bands several years ago, will the still work when I revisit the park this year?
As long as the MagicBands are still showing as “active” when you log into your My Disney Experience account, they will work!
Doesn’t the RFID chip in the band stop working at some point? Is there anyway to tell that it doesn’t work other then trying to use it (or have a cast member test it)?
I read on another post that the batteries which tie in to the Memory Maker feature may wear out after a couple years, but that the RFID chip that touches you in to the ticket stiles and the Fast Pass lines will continue to work, indefinitely was my understanding.
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