Walt Disney World announced Friday morning that park hopping will return next year! A statement on the WDW website notified guests that “Starting January 1, 2021, Guests who purchased a ticket or annual pass with Park Hopper benefits will be able to visit more than one park per day after 2 PM”. It is important to note that you will have to be an annual pass holder or have purchased park hopper tickets to take advantage of this offer. 

There are also some changes to the park hopper system to make sure you are aware of. First, you still need to use the park reservation system to make a reservation for the park you plan to visit first. You must visit that park before visiting another. Once you have attended the park for which you have made a reservation, you may visit other parks starting at 2 pm, as long as that park is not at capacity. The only exception to this is Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. If you want to ride ROTR, you’ll need a park reservation for Hollywood Studios. 

How should this impact your trip? It seems there are 2 demographics this new change will really benefit. The first of those are annual passholders. Many APs feel the value of their pass was diminished while park hopping was unavailable. Now that it is an option again many people may feel that value has been reinstated. 

The second group of people who may benefit most from these updates are those whose top priority is to ride ROTR. If you are dying to ride ROTR on your trip you should purchase a park hopper ticket for at least 2 days and start both of those days at Hollywood Studios. This increases the odds of getting a boarding group and making it on the ride. Once you have ridden ROTR you can park hop to a different park. This plan would also give you more opportunities to ride WDWs other most popular ride at the moment, Mickey and Minnie’s Away Railway.

The added flexibility of park hopping also means that guests will have the ability to take advantage of later closing hours in parks like EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. Catching a Festival of Holiday’s dinner after a morning spent in Animal Kingdom is now back on the table! 

Will you be taking advantage of park hopping? Let us know in the comments below!