Disney hates poor people

I would suggest not park hopping your first time. Epcot may have the better food choices, but food at the other parks is still better than typical theme park food.

There's so much to do at MK and Epcot you definitely need at least a full day at each. AK dies close early and if you had park hoppers you could go to another park, or just have dinner at Downtown Disney or Boardwalk that nite.

Some feel that the studios isn't an all day park, but it can be if you see the shows and want to reprise the couple of best rides there.

I personally wouldn't get a park hopper the first time if I'd had an extra day and the opportunity to do it over.

We've never done the park hopper.

The last time I went, I added on the Park Hopper, but I spent 8 days in the parks. Definitely worth it at that point (even though we spend nearly 3 full days at Epcot, and could have spent more).

What Tek said. Take time to enjoy the parks; use Fastpass to your advantage if that will work for you.

And yes, don't forget the dining options at Downtown Disney Springs :-), the Boardwalk and at the hotels.

We like to break up our time at Magic Kingdom by taking the monorail to the Polynesian for lunch at Kona Cafe, one of our favorites at WDW.

We did not do park-hopper on our last visit in March (first visit for us as a family, first for myself since the 90's).

What I wonder about is the time; how much time does it take to actually hop between the different parks?

Epcot to MK or reverse can be done in under 20 minutes of you time it right. If you get lucky with bus departure times, ditto between other parks. Having a car does not necessarily save you time. At MK in particular, you have to monorail/ferry to the parking lot, then take a tram if you're in the remote parts of the lot. The other three lots are usually more walkable.

To be realistic, budget a half-hour to hop, but count on 45 minutes if it's something like MK to AK.

Kids will be 9 and 5 next month.

Honestly, I don't even have the slightest thing close to an itinerary for the week yet. Not sure if we'll be at the parks all 5 days (6? 7?), we may spend a day golfing or some other stuff not near Orlando. So I'll probably go with the park hopper the next time we visit when we can hopefully stay on property.

We scheduled a free day in the middle of our park blocks to just relax. After 3 days at the parks, we took the next day to drive up to Daytona Beach. Then back at it. Just my $0.02. (insert poor person joke here)

We've never done hopper at WDW but we also have never done a real vacation with kids there. Recently did DL for the first time with a 5 and a 3 y.o. with hoppers and it was a nice luxury but far from necessary. Even with the obvious built in break at nap time, we found ourselves going back to the same park in the afternoon every day. I hopped the most because I don't nap do I'd just take the time and ride some coasters and 2 of out 4 nights we switched to DL after DCA had closed (once with just me and my wife, once with the kids because they didn't want to deal with World of Color crowds and closures) but that was really just a bonus. We probably would have felt okay if we didn't have the chance to do so.

I did get hoppers at HK DL but didn't end up using them. ;)

"Disney World last year spent $425 million to expand Fantasyland, marked by the opening of a new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster."

The author's lack of understanding of the realities of business are impressive. I wonder if he bothered to figure out how much $425 million weighs on each ticket purchased to FantasyLand, or whatever Kingdom it belongs to.

I don't understand. Are you suggesting that they didn't spent $425 million to expand Fantasyland?

$425 million divided by number of visitors equals a substantial portion of the current ticket price.

The author wants state of the art entertainment at Waldermere prices. Huge investments, R&D, maintaining old attractions -- all way more expensive that running a left behind fish wrap like the Post. He's throwing out that number to generate resentment toward big bad business.

Another thought. Ironically they have to show profit back to the same investors he claims they cater to-wall street boys. Disney will set pricing to max profits. It's their job. I doubt that they can afford to price themselves into empty parks.

Btw. No disrespect to Waldermere. That's been our park for the last three years.

Thanks for clarifying. I first thought you were referring to the Orlando-area community before I realized you mis-spelling Waldameer.

I still don't know what he's talking about.

Yeah, I've heard of Windermere, but...

Actually, it would be an interesting Freudian slip. Isn't Windermere considered one of the wealthier parts of the Orlando area?

The town proper, yes, especially the lakefront properties. However, the zip code associated with Windermere is much larger, and covers a bunch of unincorporated Orange County. A lot of people in those areas think they're fancy too because of the zip code.

"I might have been born just plain white trash, but FANCY was my name..."

I've never been more disappointed to click on a YouTube link and not see Reba McEntire.

What!?! Bobbie was the original and best :-)

Hasn't anybody ever "Splurged" once in a while? Or better yet, try to keep your food budget at a minimum. In January of 2009 I visited EPCOT, and carried a Twenty Dollar Bill in my Wallet. For lunch I had a bowl of chili and a soda at one of the Future World Stands and a combo meal at the outdoor stand at the Mexican pavilion where I purchased one taco, one enchilada and tostada with rice and refried beans and a soda. That evening, when I left the park I had 45 cents in my pocket. Today whenever I visit a park, I carry along at least six flavor packets, the kind you place in a water bottle. Being the nice guy I am I will purchase ONE bottle of water at their price, then refill it as needed at their water fountains. They sure come handy if the weather is a scorcher. (I'll also ride their WETTEST ride, or in the case of Sea World I sit in the front row of their Shamu show and get DOUSED. Heat Wave? WHAT Heat Wave? I'm as cool as a cucumber! <G>