Here’s Everything We Experienced From the Return of Park Hopping in Disney World!

Park Hopping is back again in Disney World!

Barnstormer

However, Park Hopping is seeing a few differences in its structure as guests are only able to head to other Disney World parks after 2PM. People are still required to have Disney Park Pass reservations at the first park they visit before heading to another in the afternoon. But, we’re here to give you a look at all the changes so you know exactly how the new Park Hopping system works in Disney World before you go!

Since Park Hopping doesn’t begin until 2PM, guests are required to head to their first park of the day with a Disney Park Pass prior to this. We started our day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with our reservation to hop on a few of our favorite rides.

Molly in Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Since we had the goal of trying to visit as many parks as possible in one day, we were thrilled to know the Disney transportation that runs from park-to-park starts before Park Hopping Hours!

Disney Bus

So, guests have the chance to arrive right at 2PM to their next destination of the day. When we made our way over to the bus stop, we were greeted by Cast Members who scanned our MagicBands to make sure that our tickets came with a Park Hopper option.

Cast Member scanning for Park Hopping

After that, we hopped on our bus to make our way over to our second park of the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

The bus that we took from Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Disney’s Hollywood Studios arrived about 20 minutes prior to the beginning of Park Hopping at 2PM.

We were told that guests should be able to enter the park 10 to 15 minutes before 2PM began, but that may not always be the case!

Molly’s in Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

After Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we headed over to the Skyliner to go to EPCOT.

Once we scanned in…

EPCOT MagicBand Scanner

…we were ready to take a look at everything happening in the park for the day!

Along with visiting our pals Nemo and Dory…

…we also noticed that there was a new Festival of the Arts Map in the parks to gear up for the festival’s January 8th start!

EPCOT Map

And, with that, we were ready to make our way to our FINAL destination of the day!

EPCOT

Since the EPCOT Monorail line isn’t in operation at the moment, we took a Disney Bus from EPCOT over to the Magic Kingdom.

After we went through another round of security and temperature screenings (since you’ll need to do that at each new park), we made it to our fourth and final park at Magic Kingdom!

Molly in Magic Kingdom

We do recommend making sure that you check out the  Park Hopper hours in each theme park and the availability by calling Disney’s Park Hopping number before you plan out your day around Disney World.

Winnie the Pooh Pals

You have the option of driving your own vehicle around the property to find parking spots at each destination, or you can use Disney Transportation to travel from park to park.

Skyliner to EPCOT

We also cannot stress enough that you MUST use your Disney Park Pass reservation at your initial park before Park Hopping. Guests also must have a ticket with the Park Hopper option in order to do so as well. We did see several guests turned away who had not checked in for their initial reservation, so it’s important to plan out your day accordingly!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Bus Transportation

As we continue to make our way around Disney World, we’ll be sure to give you a look at what our Park Hopping experience is like!

Find out what special souvenir you can get in Disney World today!

Will you be going to Disney World any time soon to park-hop? Let us know in the comments below!

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Rachel Franko has been going to Disney Parks since she was a baby, and her love of Disney has only grown into a SLIGHT obsession since! She's been writing for AllEars since 2019 and loves sharing the magic with all the readers. When she's not writing, you can catch her heading to Disney and Universal Studios with a heart full of dreams and a backpack full of themed ears!

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One Reply to “Here’s Everything We Experienced From the Return of Park Hopping in Disney World!”

  1. I purchased a park hopper but wondering if I should have. Can you tell me what the experience has been like since this new “park hopper” policy started. I mainly want to know if guests have been turned away from any of the parks after visiting their first park. I would guess that this may happen most when park hopping to the Magic Kingdom, as it probably is still the most popular park and has the highest probability of meeting the current capacity guidelines. Have guest complained about this or has it been very few and far between the times when you end up not being able to park hop to your next park of choice? does it depend on which park you are hopping to? Thanks!