After limiting guests to one park per day for most of 2020, Disney World brought back park hopping in 2021 with some restrictions. Starting January 9, 2024 Disney World park hopping finally gets more flexible for most guests with the ability to move between parks allowed anytime during the day, not just after 2 pm.
What Is Disney World Park Hopping?
Park hopping is the ability to visit more than one Disney World theme park in a day.
Starting our day at Magic Kingdom before taking a midday nap was perfect when our daughter was a toddler. When she woke up we would visit Epcot for a delicious dinner and different attractions.
If you have limited days at Disney World, park hopper tickets give flexibility and the ability to experience highlights of more parks.
Is your family cranky and ready to leave before you’ve done everything you wanted? Knowing you can hop back over to a park for something you missed on another day is freeing.
Do I Need A Special Ticket To Park Hop?
Yes. Guests must purchase a park hopper ticket, or have an annual pass with park hopping, to visit more than one park per day.
What Are The New Rules For 2024 Disney World Park Hopping?
Most guests no longer need Disney World theme park reservations starting January 9, 2024. Visitors buy date-based tickets, and then show up to whatever park they’d like during those days.
A regular ticket isn’t enough to park hop. Guests must purchase date-based tickets with a park hopper add-on to move from park to park during their vacation.
Entering parks in 2024 will be based on capacity. I expect certain parks on popular days will get closed to park hopping when crowd levels get high.
2024 Disney World Annual Passholder Park Hopping Rules
Passholders still need reservations for the first park of the day, and you must visit the first park before hopping. After visiting the first park, Passholders can move freely between parks at anytime, assuming there’s capacity.
There are two exceptions for when Disney World annual passholders can enter theme parks without a park reservation. The first is “good-to-go” dates, select days where annual passholders can visit Disney World theme parks without a reservation.
The second way Passholders don’t need a reservation is when entering a Disney World theme park after 2 pm. However, this option is not available at Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays.
Park Hopping Depends On Crowd Levels
The 2024 Disney World park hopping rules are designed for flexibility, but also keep parks at a safe capacity. Low crowd levels means moving between parks with ease, while popular parks or high crowd days will limit availability.
How Will Virtual Queues Work With New 2024 Disney World Park Hopping Rules?
Unfortunately, this question hasn’t been directly answered yet. According to the Disney World website 7 am virtual queues are still only available to guests with a theme park reservation for that park. For example, Magic Kingdom reservation for Tron Lightcycle Run or Epcot reservation for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
The 1 pm virtual queue states, “Guests must be in EPCOT or Magic Kingdom to join the virtual queue at this time”. Until the new park hopping rules start, or Disney World gives a clear update, my guess is anyone inside Magic Kingdom or Epcot at 1 pm is eligible to join virtual queues.
Final Thoughts On Return Of Disney World Park Hopping 2024
We are beyond excited that flexible Disney World park hopping is back for most guests in 2024. Although the rules for Annual Passholders are complex, I still love the flexibility of switching parks earlier in the day.
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