by: D-Team Member Pixie Amy S.
Walt Disney World Resort’s Park Hopper Ticket Options
The two main options for tickets at Walt Disney World are Magic Your Way Base tickets and Magic Your Way Park Hopper tickets. The base tickets give you entrance into one park per day. Park Hopper tickets allow you to visit as many of the four main parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom) as you want per day without limitation.
The Park Hopper’s biggest advantage is the flexibility that it gives you. With the park hopper you are able to choose any park or dining location to eat at. Park hoppers also allow you to switch parks based on crowd levels or based on park hours. You can also use to park hoppers to enjoy extra magic hours in the morning and you can switch to another park when the crowds get to be too much.
The biggest disadvantage of the Park Hopper tickets is price. Paying $58 per ticket for the upgrade can be tough to fit into a budget. This price is the same regardless of the number of days you buy tickets for. Personally, I find it easier to justify adding the park hopper tickets to a longer stay than to a shorter stay. For example, if you buy a 7-day ticket it works out to be $8.29 per ticket per day to upgrade to a park hopper. For a two-day ticket the math is not in you favor, with the upgrade costing you $29 per ticket per day.
If you are having trouble deciding which ticket to buy I recommend starting with a base ticket. During your trip you can always upgrade your tickets to Park Hoppers if you need them. It only takes a few minutes to complete the upgrade at any Disney resort concierge desk or at the Disney parks. If you decide to add the park hoppers and realize that you don’t need them you are not able to downgrade your tickets to base tickets.
