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Disney World Brings Back Popular 1982 Policy

Park Hopper Return Monorail
Credit: Disney / Canva Editing

Effective today (January 9), Walt Disney World Resort will allow guests with a Park Hopper ticket to jump between theme parks without any restrictions.

Related: A New Roller Coaster Being Built Behind Space Mountain

cinderella castle magic kingdom

Credit: Disney

Disney Park Hopper Tickets

Park Hopper tickets were introduced in 1982 when Walt Disney World Resort added the EPCOT Center. With the addition of the second theme park, it only made sense to allow guests to hop between the two Disney Parks.

New Spaceship Earth Narrator

Credit: Disney

Over time, park hopping went from being included to a feature you could add on for a fee. As Walt Disney World Resort added Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom (and Disneyland Resort added California Adventure Park), park hopping became a common element of a Disney vacation.

Related: 2024 Park Hopping Info You Need to Know

The only limitations were park hours.

Policy Changes After Pandemic

However, since 2020, the Park Hopper ticket at Walt Disney World Resort has been on an unorthodox path. When the theme parks reopened, park hopping wasn’t available at all.

Disney dated tickets

Credit: Disney

In 2021, Walt Disney World restored the Park Hopper option, but it could only be used by guests after 2 p.m. And, of course, when factoring in the required park reservation system and Genie+, jumping from park to park became more complicated and less valuable.

Related: Disney World’s Limited Time $73 Ticket

For the past three years, Walt Disney World guests have been waiting for the full-day park hopping option to return. And it’s finally here!

All Day Park Hopper Returns!

Disney Park guests (with dated Park Hopper tickets or Annual Passholders on “good to go days”) are finally allowed to jump between any four of the Walt Disney World theme parks at any time of the day. The only restriction would be if one of the theme parks all day, hits capacity (which is rare).

Currently, a standard one-day Disney base ticket starts at $109, and the Park Hopper ticket starts at $187. Prices for those offerings go up if you visit at a busy time of the year.

Pandora Sunset Animal Kingdom

Credit: Todd F. Burgess, Flickr

The end of the unpopular park reservation system and the 2 p.m. requirement, may return some value to the classic Park Hopper tickets.

About Steven

Steven has a complicated relationship with Disney. As a child, he visited Walt Disney World every few years with his family. But he never understood why kids his age (and older) were so scared of Snow White or Alien Encounter. He is a former participant of the Disney College Program (left early…long story), and he also previously worked in Children’s publishing, where he adapted multiple Disney movies and TV shows. He has many controversial opinions about Disney…like having a positive view of Michael Eisner, believing Return of the Jedi is superior to The Empire Strikes Back, and that Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge should have never been built (at least not at Hollywood Studios). Every year for the past two decades, Steven has visited either Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani or went on a Disney Cruise. He’s happy to share any and all knowledge of the Disney destinations (and he likes using parenthesis a lot…as well as ellipses…)

One comment

  1. I’ve never found WDW park hopper passes to be practical. Unless you have a dinner reservation somewhere that you REALLY want, you simply lose too much time of the day transporting yourself between parks, because there is no direct way to get from one to another. Ever possible path to another park always involves at least one other stop somewhere.

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