Becky:
Thanks for coming back for the followup question! I
actually said to avoid the
theme parks with Extra Magic Hours if you buy the basic Magic Your Way ticket. You can know those parks in advance by checking
the park calendar.
I typically recommend families of children buy the basic ticket rather than spending $54 plus tax per person for the Park Hopper ticket. Moving from park to park with little ones can be cumbersome if you have a stroller and tiresome since it generally takes no less than 30 to 45 minutes to transfer from one park to another. A Park Hopper ticket, in my opinion, simply doesn't make
cents with small children when you also need to go a little slower in the parks with them, also. So, choose your park, explore and enjoy that park for the day.
If I've convinced you to save the money and get the basic ticket, why avoid the parks with Extra Magic Hours if you have that ticket? Generally this is my advice for Early Magic Hours because not only will the park that opens early attract resort guests who want to take advantage of the early opening, but by mid-morning everyone else who was planning to go to that park that day will arrive. By lunch, I have found that the crowds in that park are thicker than the other parks. If I have a basic ticket, and not a Park Hopper, I can't just leave and hop to another park that's less-crowded. To me, an extra hour of rides in the morning is not worth purchasing a Park Hopper ticket nor the time it takes to pack everyone up and move to the another park. I can think of so many things to spend that money on that will actually create a memory for our family.
Wishing y'all a magical vacation!
Whitney