Welcome to planDisney, Bethany! Thanks so much for coming to us with your question today. You're not alone in wondering how this works! The short and cheerful answer is: yes, you can upgrade your ticket to add the
Park Hopper option even after you've started using it, but there are a few important things to keep in mind.
Let's say you've purchased a 4-day base ticket, which lets you visit one theme park per day. If you get to your trip and think it would be fun to head over to
EPCOT for dinner after
Magic Kingdom, you can absolutely upgrade your ticket to a Park Hopper at that point. You can do this right in the
My Disney Experience app, at a
Guest Relations location, or at any ticket window in the parks.
But here's the catch: when you add the Park Hopper option, it applies to the entire remaining ticket length, not just one day. So even if you're only planning to hop on one of your four park days, the price to add Park Hopper will be the same as if you planned to hop all four days. There's no one-day Park Hopper upgrade option. The cost is a flat rate based on the number of days on your ticket, so in most cases, the earlier you add it, the more value you'll get from it, because upgrading with four days remaining is the same price as upgrading with only one day remaining!
So if you think there's even a chance you'll want to park hop on more than one day, or just like having that flexibility, it's worth considering the upgrade sooner rather than later.
And here's one more tip: you must have at least one unused day remaining on your ticket in order to make the upgrade, so don't wait until day four!
I hope this answers your question, Bethany, and please let us know if there's anything else we can do to help you plan your magical vacation.
Jessica