Hiya Julie! Oh boy, you're a West Coast gal planning a vacation at Walt Disney World... how delightful! Welcome to planDisney, and I'm honored at the opportunity to add some pixie-dusted touches to your vacation.
First off, when my family has 6 days of theme park tickets we do not typically add the Park Hopper option. It adds expense, which I personally would rather reserve for spending on Mickey ice cream bars... or even purchasing
Lightning Lane passes! Using Lightning Lane and being able to skip the stand by line on some of your favorite attractions is fantastic, and really helps you pack more in to your Disney day.
I still think it's worthwhile purchasing a Multi Pass if you don't park hop. That time you save standing in line just seems to make your day more relaxing. In our experience it leaves us with more time for leisurely enjoying a tasty snack, browsing Disney shops, or investing in staking out an excellent viewing spot ahead of time for a parade or fireworks.
So if you are debating between single park tickets plus using Lightning Lane, or adding park hopper and skipping Lightning Lane... I vote the first option. I think with 6 days of tickets, you can easily enjoy each park fully. Then do a repeat day of your top two favorites. That's a bibbidi bobbidi beautiful plan!
When you initially purchase a Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP), you select just one park, and choose your three attraction reservations from there. I always advise friends to book as early of a time slot as they can, for at least one pass. Then as soon as you tap in to that attraction, you can immediately log on to the
My Disney Experience app and reserve another pass (subject to availability). It's true, if you have the park hopper option added to your ticket you can select your additional, same day passes from another park at that point. But it's definitely not required, and I actually think you'll get more out of your Lightning Lane Multi Pass purchase if you just stay in one park, and continue to reserve as many of those same-day passes as you can!
Some parks have more attractions (and pass availability) than others - specifically Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. So I highly recommend purchasing a Lightning Lane Multi Pass on those days. Plus, my family loves the highly popular
TRON Lightcycle / Run and
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind so much that I typically purchase a
Lightning Lane Single Pass for those attractions.
As a reminder, because you'll be staying at a Disney Resort, you can reserve Lightning Lane passes starting 7 days prior to your check-in date starting at 7 AM Eastern, for the duration of your stay. You are allowed to purchase 1 Lightning Lane Multi Pass and up to 2 Single Passes per person, per day. Make sure you're all ready to go before your booking window opens up! Have My Disney Experience app installed, and all guests in your party set up under "My Family & Friends".
Julie, I hope this helps and that you have an incredible vacation at Walt Disney World! Please send me another
message at planDisney if I can answer any other questions.
Magical memories await!
Tami