5 Disney World Park Hopper Tips -

This post has been sponsored by Walt Disney World, all opinions are mine alone.

5 Disney World Park Hopper Tips to help you make the most of your Disney World vacation.

When we first started planning our latest trip to Disney World we decided that we were only going to visit 2 or 3 of the 4 parks in one day.

Although we had a lot of fun last year doing all 4 parks in one day (which you can read here and watch here) we decided that we would take things a bit slower this time.

However, as the date to choose FastPass+ drew closer we still hadn’t decided which of the 4 parks we would skip on this trip, because we love all of them!

So we decided to visit all 4 again in one day on this trip!

And I’m so glad we did because we had so much fun!

There were Extra Extra Magic Hours during our Disney vacation so we ended up spending 16 hours in the park and walking 16 miles that day.

Although we did take a 1-hour break to head back to our room and freshen up before heading back out for the evening.

If we had stayed from opening to closing we could have been there for 18 hours, but as you can imagine we were pretty tired by the end of the day.

But it is important to note that you don’t have to go to all 4 parks in one day with your Disney Park Hopper tickets.

You can totally just visit 2 parks, mixing and matching which ones you visit.

So whether you plan to visit only 2 parks or all 4 parks with your Disney Park Hopper pass, I hope that these 5 tips help you as you plan your next Disney World vacation!

1. Plan Ahead

One of the first things you are going to want to do is start planning early.

Figure out what season, month, and day you will be able to visit and what the parks predicted busyness will be on that day.

If you have flexibility in your schedule I highly recommend that you visit on a weekday during the off-season (although Disney doesn’t really have much of an off-season anymore. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a less busy day to visit, we did!).

Once you know when you will visit, go ahead and purchase your tickets and set a reminder on your phone of the earliest day you can sign up for FastPass+.

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2. Decide on the Order of Disney Parks You Want to Visit

Before you get too excited about setting up FastPass+ you need to decide what order you will be visiting the parks during your Disney trip.

If you are staying at a Disney affiliated resort you will want to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours.

However, if you aren’t staying at a Disney resort you will want to avoid choosing a park that has Extra Magic Hours first thing in the morning as your first park of the day. This is simply because the park will already be full by the time you get there.

Once you have decided on the order of parks you plan to visit make a list of your top rides for all of the parks so that you know what you most want to find FastPass+ for when it is your day to sign up.

You can sign up 60 days in advance if you already have a reservation at a Disney affiliated hotel or resort (including many of the hotels at Disney Springs) and 30 days prior to your trip if you are staying at an outside hotel.

3. Set up FastPass+

We always set up our FastPass+ for the second park we visit as we always get to our first park early enough so that we can enjoy all of our top rides before the park gets crowded.

However, if you are only visiting 2 parks in 1 day you may prefer to go ahead and set up FastPass+ for your first park as you will be spending more time in each of the two parks.

I spent a lot of time talking on the phone with a Disney castmember before our trip and I found out that if you are staying at a Disney resort you can book your FastPass+ starting 60 days prior to your hotel stay for your entire trip.

And it should be noted that this means if you are staying at a Disney resort and your trip starts on a Wednesday (visiting a park on a Thursday) this means that you can start booking your FastPass+ 60 days prior to that Wednesday hotel reservation check-in date.

He also mentioned that most people don’t realize that this means that if you wake up early (60 days out) to be the first to book the newest ride at 7:00 am you may be very disappointed to discover that there is no FastPass+ available for your top ride.

That’s because other people who are staying at a Disney resort from Monday-Friday (for example) already set up there FastPass+ for that entire week.

Just something to be aware of when you start planning your trip.

4. Use the My Disney Experience App

We use the Disney app both prior to and during our Disney vacation.

The week leading up to our trip we briefly checked the app every day (at different hours of the day) to see what the wait times were like so that we could get a better idea of what it may be like while we were there.

Although you can’t control the wait times, you will have a better idea of what rides you may what to go to first thing in the morning in order to avoid the crowds later in the day.

We also used the app throughout our Disney trip to set up a new FastPass+ once we had used our first 3 prescheduled FastPass+.

As soon as our Magic Bands are scanned into the system for our last of 3 FastPass+ Roger immediately pulls out his phone and signs up for a new one as he is walking through the empty FastPass+ line to get to the ride.

This is a great way to keep getting new FastPass+ throughout your day.

And if you don’t see something you want to sign up for, just keep closing out the app and then opening it as a way to refresh the app so that you will be able to see new options.

Other Disney guests are constantly changing their FastPass+ throughout the day too, whether that’s because they are running late to their FastPass+ or because they decide to get food instead.

So there are always new rides becoming available on the app.

5. Arrive early

I recommend arriving early (30 minutes to an hour) before the park even opens so that you have time to park, walk/take the tram to the park, get through security, and through the ticketed entrance where you can wait the last few minutes before the park opens.

This way you will be one of the first people on the rides that day.

And depending on the park/season it’s possible to even enjoy 2 rides before a 10-minute line forms.

If you find that you’ve arrived really early (which is rarely the case), you can always get yourself a drink or a special Disney treat (depending on which park you are starting in) to give yourself some extra fuel for your fun-filled day.

The important thing to remember is that you don’t need to feel like you have to go to all four parks and rush through it all.

If you prefer to take things a little bit slower and just soak in the magic you could choose to do just 3 parks or even only 2.

Getting the most of your Disney Park Hopper does not have to mean visiting all 4 parks.

You can get the most out of your Park Hopper ticket simply by visiting your top 2 favorite parks while enjoying the magic of Disney.

I hope you enjoyed these 5 tips! And if you want some more tips on How to Visit Four Disney World Parks in One Day be sure to click here for 20 more tips!

Also, if you are planning a trip to Disney World, or just want to start dreaming of the magical experiences that await, be sure to check out all of my posts and tips about planning a trip to Disney World here!

What are your favorite Disney World tips, tricks, & hacks?
I’d love to hear from you!
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With love, Giusti