Sweet park hopping, how we’ve missed you…
2020 brought many challenges and changes to Disney parks, but for many guests, the loss of park hopping was one of the toughest pills to swallow. While some visitors prefer to tour Walt Disney World one park at a time, for others (especially Passholders), the Most Magical Place on Earth felt very strange without the ability to hit multiple parks in a day. A park hopping enthusiast myself, I noticed this shift most profoundly when I realized I couldn’t just walk between Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, bouncing between parks as the wind carried me.
Disney had to make many tough choices early in the pandemic to identify a strategy to reopen the parks safely—such as required mask wearing, social distancing in queues and attractions, and the implementation of the Disney Parks Pass reservation system. Park hopping was an unfortunate casualty of this season. There just didn’t seem to be a good way for Disney to limit park capacity with people able to hop from park to park randomly.
Fortunately, the minds behind the Mouse found a way, and as of 2021, park hopping is back. Both Annual Passholders and guests who add a Park Hopper option to their ticket now have a way to explore multiple Disney parks in a day if your heart desires.
The only catch is park hopping isn’t as simple as it used to be…
How exactly does park hopping work now? What are the catches in the new system, and is it a worthwhile investment in this current season? Here are some key points to consider…
1. You still need a Disney Parks Pass reservation (and a Park Hopper ticket)
If you’ve been to Walt Disney World recently (or following Theme Park Tourist), this one won’t come as too much of a shock—you still need a valid Disney Parks Pass reservation if you’re planning to park hop.
Disney’s reservation system continues to confound many visitors (especially those used to buying tickets at the gate). At the time of this writing, there is no way for guests to enter a Walt Disney World park without a Disney Parks Pass reservation. The parks are each currently capped at 30% capacity, and times where the parks reach this capacity limit are becoming more common (especially at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom).
The reservation requirement is very important for potential park hoppers: when you visit Walt Disney World, you must start your day in whatever park you have a reservation at. This rule applies to everyone in your party planning to park hop. It doesn’t matter if you arrive at 8am or 6pm—you have to scan your ticket/band at your reserved park first before park hopping.
This rule is important to keep in mind if you want to hack your trip to get into a full capacity park by using park hopping. The most common scenario would be if a family wants to see Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but there aren’t any reservations available. You could, theoretically, make a reservation for another park, add a Park Hopper onto your tickets, then hop to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a half-day. If you take this route, you may want Epcot to be your first park so you lose as little time as possible switching parks mid-day. No matter which park you choose, you have to start there.
Obvious, but also important is that you will need a Park Hopper option added to your ticket in order to park hop. While this benefit is automatically included in all Annual Passes, guests with a regular ticket can either add a Park Hopper option when you purchase your tickets or add it at a ticket booth at Disney parks. Also important for Florida residents—the Park Hopper add-on is different from the multi-park, multi-day tickets often made available to locals. You can add a Park Hopper option onto these tickets, but it usually isn’t automatically included.
2. Park Hopping currently starts at 2:00 PM
Make sure the park you choose for your reservation is one you’ll enjoy—you’ll be spending your morning there.
At the time of this writing, Park Hopping hours currently start at 2:00 PM. Yup, that is correct that we only have afternoon-evening park hopping right now. It’s at least better than no park hopping at all. Assumedly, Disney chose this course to keep capacity limits under control, particularly in parks like Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The good news is that after 2:00 PM, you can hop to any other Disney park you like, even if you want to hit all four (as long as capacity allows—more on that shortly). While the afternoon start might feel limiting for some park hopping-veterans, this still makes for a very workable multi-park day as many guests used to choose to park hop around 2:00 in the past anyways.
A few important catches to be aware of…
3. You can only ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance if Disney’s Hollywood Studios is your main park
Remember how we mentioned you can use park hopping to hack your way over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios if you want to check out Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on a full capacity day? That trick comes with a major caveat.
You cannot get onto Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance via park hopping—Disney’s Hollywood Studios has to be your main park for the day to get a Boarding Group for the ride.
For those unfamiliar, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance operates exclusively with a virtual queue. Guests can try for a “Boarding Group” (a spot in the queue) via the My Disney Experience app at 7:00 AM. Unlike previous iterations of the system, you no longer have to be inside the park to try for a boarding group for the first distribution time—you don’t even need to be in Orlando. You just need a valid Disney Parks Pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios for that day. If you don’t get into a group during that first call, you can try again at 1:00 PM from inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios (this second time is location-restricted to the park).
At this point, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance just doesn’t have the capacity to be able to support park hopping guests. Every day, there are still guests with reservations who aren’t able to get onto the ride, even with backup boarding groups distributed as a second, no-guarantees option. The ride has been operating at reasonably high capacity (it’s 5:20 on a Sunday the day this is being written, and they’re already up to group 100), but even so, there just isn’t room to add park hoppers into the mix.
Unless some major changes are made to the ride, it’s likely this may stay the case for the foreseeable future.
4. Park Hopping is capped, so admission to another park isn’t guaranteed
I have been absolutely elated to see the return of park hopping since the start of 2021. On a recent visit to Disney’s Magic Kingdom on the Friday before President’s Day (a 30% full capacity day), I was more than ready to enjoy some multi-park fun after navigating the holiday crowds. Without thinking, I got in my car and flitted over to Epcot around 4:00 PM, looking forward to a little calm and carefree wandering through World Showcase.
When I pulled up to the parking gate, a friendly cast member informed me that it was possible park hopping had reached capacity just as I arrived. He wasn’t certain because a cast member on radio had said the park wasn’t accepting any more park hoppers, but his app said there was room.
The thought that Disney would need to limit park hopping capacity hadn’t occurred to me until that moment. He fortunately let me through, and I quickly made my way to the gate. Fortunately, they let me through without issue, and I was able to go about my day.
It makes perfect sense that Disney currently has capacity limits on park hopping—after all, if everyone with a park hopper ticket showed up at the same time at a full capacity park, that could be problematic for Disney’s safety protocols. It’s not 100% clear how park hopping capacity works, however. It seems likely that the limits are based on the number of park hoppers rather than simply how many people are in the park—after all, you would have some pretty unhappy guests if a family had a reservation for a park, decided to let their kids take a mid-day nap at the resort, then returned and were denied entry.
Theoretically, it seems likely that if other park hoppers leave the park, you could still get in, but you may find yourself waiting without guarantees. The takeaway is this: don’t wait too late to park hop on a busy day. If some parks are at maximum capacity already (you can see this by looking at the Parks Pass Availability Calendar), you may want to park hop as close to 2:00 PM as possible to ensure you get in on time.
Supposedly, guests can use Disney’s Park Hopper hotline (407-560-5000) to call and find out if any parks are at hopper capacity. This method may or may not work—when I tested it, I simply got an automated message that park hopping starts at 2:00 PM. It can’t hurt to give the hotline a quick check on your day visiting, but be aware it may or may not be updated accurately.
5. Some parks are better for Park Hopping than others
Because of the 2:00 PM start and changes in hours at Walt Disney World, you’ll want to choose your parks wisely.
For example, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot remain excellent choices for park hopping since they are so close and easy to travel between. The only catch with these two parks is that on some nights, they are closing a little early. Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in particular, tends to close at 7PM lately, with shops often closing an hour before that.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a great choice to start your day at thanks to its early opening, but it has proven hit or miss as a park to hop to due to limited hours. Fortunately, Disney appears to be expanding the hours for this park to last later into the evening. Closing time varies daily, so check ahead of time before making plans to hop there—if the park closes at 5:00 or 6:00 PM, it may not be an ideal choice.
Disney’s Magic Kingdom remains an oddball for park hopping for several reasons—most of them surrounding transportation. No matter what, you are going to lose some time travelling to or from Magic Kingdom. Speaking of which…
6. Plan your transportation wisely
As mentioned, transportation is kind of a big factor in park hopping right now. Many of Disney’s previously-abundant transportation options are down or limited at the time of this writing, such as the still-closed Epcot monorail.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot remain the easiest parks for park hopping—you can take Friendship Boats, the Skyliner, or walk easily between parks. The only warning is if your car is parked at Epcot, you’ll need to get back inside the park before Epcot closes since its parking lot is at the front (while Disney’s Hollywood Studios is accessed through the International Gateway in the back). While a cast member theoretically might be able to assist so you aren’t stranded, that’s a pretty big hassle to avoid.
Busses are currently the only option for transportation between other parks. Busses for park hopping start at 1:45 PM (no point coming much earlier than that), and cast members are scanning MagicBands and tickets to ensure guests have a park hopper option already. Without it, you won’t be able to board.
Having a personal vehicle has proven a real advantage at Walt Disney World during this season. The only area where personal vehicles fall a little short is at Magic Kingdom due to the unwavering time-suck which is the Transportation & Ticket Center. Whether you park, Uber, shuttle, or use a non-Disney bus, you’ll inevitably have to wade through a stop at the TTC, followed by a wait for the ferry or monorail to reach the actual park. The same situation works in reverse if you’ll be using any of these methods to leave Magic Kingdom. Disney busses are a little faster since they drop you off and pick you up at the front of the park, but you may still end up waiting since less busses are running at this time. All in all, just plan accordingly if including Magic Kingdom in your park hopping plans…
Is park hopping worth it right now? For local Annual Passholders who make frequent visits or for park hopping experts, yes—there’s an undeniable freedom to being able to split your Disney days between parks if you are already familiar with Walt Disney World. For other guests or even park-hop-enthusiasts visiting on holidays, we aren’t so sure. It may be worth sticking to one park at a time during this season if park hopping isn’t a crucial part of your Disney vacation.
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