How Do You Park Hop at Disney World?

There are a lot of choices to be made when you visit Disney World—such as paying for Memory Maker at Disney and knowing how to book a split stay at Disney — but picking a single park to visit doesn’t need to be one of them. Park hopping means going from one park to another in a single day, and it’s a great way to enjoy your favorite attractions and rides and not waste any time on things you’re not interested in. This way of exploring Disney World is quite popular.

Immediately after the post-COVID reopening, park hopping was not allowed, and guests were only allowed to visit one park a day. As of 2022, however, park hopping is back with a set of modified rules. Now you can rope drop at Galaxy’s Edge and Hollywood Studios in the morning and hop to Epcot in the evening for dinner after a nice walk around the World Showcase.

What Is Park Hopping?

Park hopping at Disney World means visiting two or more parks in a single day, which gives you a lot of flexibility in your Disney World experience. Disney World has four theme parks—Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. Park hopping allows you to mix up these parks and have a unique experience, making it one of the best Disney World vacation deals available.

How To Park Hop at Disney World

Since the reopening after COVID, Disney has introduced a few new rules in park hopping:

1. Buy Hopper Tickets for Disney World

Before you can hop parks, you need a valid theme park ticket or an annual pass with Park Hopper benefits. Standard tickets don’t come with hopper admissions. You’ll also need a park reservation for the first park you intend to visit each day — without a park pass reservation, you can’t visit the parks.

2. Enter the First Park

You need to enter the first part for which you want to make a reservation—this will be counted as your first park of the day. Then, under the new rules, you can’t visit the second park until 2:00 PM. 

3. Wait Until That Day’s Park Hopping Starts (Currently 2:00 PM)

Currently, park hoppings begin at 2:00 PM and end at park closing. You can leave the first park at any point you want, but you can’t enter the second park until 2:00 PM.

4. Enter the Second Park

After 2:00 PM, you can enter the second park. You don’t need another reservation for your second park.

Understanding Capacity Constraints

Park hopping in Disney World is dependent on the park’s capacity. If your desired park is at full capacity, you won’t be allowed to enter. For instance, if you visit EPCOT in the morning and want to see Hollywood Studios at night, you need to check if Hollywood Studios has reached its capacity or not.

If you reach the second park and it’s full, you can either wait until space becomes available or visit another park – call the park hopper hotline to see if a park has space or not.

Transportation Between Parks

Traveling from one park to another can take longer than you think, and you need to consider that to maximize your time in parks. The fastest and easiest transportation is between Magic Kingdom and Epcot—they’re connected by Monorail. Epcot and Hollywood Studios are connected by Skyliner. You can find buses running between several parks, but it might not be the most efficient option.

How Many Parks Can You Visit?

If you have the park hopping pass, you can visit as many parks as you want. There’s no limit to how many parks you can hop to, and you don’t need reservations for the other parks. After 2:00 PM, you can go wherever you want—you can visit all four parks in one day, and even come back to the park you started at.

In Summary

Park hopping can be a fun experience that allows you to get the most out of your Disney World trip, so be sure to follow the guidelines in this post and you will have a great time hopping around the parks. Of course, MagicGuides will keep you updated with the latest information on park hopping, including if any rules continue to change!