10 Tips and Secrets for Park Hopping at Walt Disney World

8. Make dining reservations purposefully. Dining reservations have a lot to do with planning a trip to the parks at Disney World. When you don’t have the Park Hopper option, having a dining reservation at EPCOT on a Wednesday means that you probably will want to spend that Wednesday at EPCOT. If you have the Park Hopper option, you can visit one park, then hop to another park for a dining reservation. But plan those reservations carefully. Even though you have the entitlement to hop, there are times when weather, crowds, traffic and the like can make getting from one theme park to another very difficult. For example, if you park at EPCOT and enjoy that park in the morning, but you have a dining reservation for mid-afternoon lunch at Magic Kingdom, you can usually hop on the monorail from EPCOT and take it to Magic Kingdom. Simple enough, right? Yes, ordinarily it would be, but if a summer thunderstorm pops up out of nowhere right before you head to the monorail, you may find yourself looking for other ways to get to Magic Kingdom since the monorail may be temporarily disabled because of the weather. Those other ways might be more time-consuming, thus making you late for your reservation. Always give yourself extra time when you’re hopping to another park for a dining reservation.