Hello Katherine!
I’m so glad you’ve stopped by planDisney with your question!
The Park Hopper Option allows you to visit more than one theme park per day, and it can be a great way to experience more of the theme parks, especially on a shorter visit!
The Park Hopper Option must be added to all days of a multi-day ticket. The price to add it to the 2-Day ticket isn’t much higher than the price to add it to a one-day ticket, so it's a better value for you to add it to both days. With such a short visit, you may get more out of your time with the Park Hopper Option on both days once you understand how the system works.
You only need a
Disney Park Pass Reservation for the first park you plan to visit on a specific day. You do not make a reservation for the park or parks you plan to “hop” to later in the day. So it doesn’t matter if there are only
reservations for one park available. Make the Park Pass Reservation for that park, and then beginning at 2 PM you can hop to any of the other three parks, even if it is currently booked for new reservations! Now, as always, there is a disclaimer here. It is always possible that if a park was to get too busy, you might not be allowed to hop into that park. To date, that has only happened once, and that was at Magic Kingdom on its 50th Anniversary. I do think it might be possible that it happens again at Magic Kingdom on New Year’s Eve, but even if one park was full, you would likely still be able to hop to an alternate park. Also, the closer you are to that 2 PM hopping time, the more likely you would be to gain admission to that second park.
I hope this helps with your planning, Katherine. With a 2-Day Ticket with Park Hopper, you might even be able to visit all four parks on your visit! Hopping isn’t even limited to once per day, you can hop to all four parks if you like. My husband did this once intending to ride a roller coaster in each park, and he still talks about how much fun it was. Wishing you a magical visit to the
Walt Disney World Resort, Katherine!
- Kate