Disney Park Hopper is an add-on option when you buy tickets that allows you to visit multiple Disney parks in one day. Offered at the Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, purchasing the Park Hopper upgrade with your theme park tickets might seem like a smart way to save time and money, especially if you're planning to visit multiple parks during your vacation.

But it's not actually worth it for all travelers. For starters, it comes at an additional cost. When you purchase a standard Disney ticket, you have access to just one theme park per day (despite the fact that there are actually two theme parks in California, and four in Florida). Tickets that allow you access to multiple parks per day — hence the Park Hopper option — can easily run more than $60 per person, depending on the resort and day. That's $300 (or more) for a family of five, simply for the chance to see multiple theme parks in one day.

Beyond the price difference though are other hidden costs that aren't necessarily financial. There's the cost of commuting between the theme parks. Especially at Walt Disney World, where parks are spread out, park hopping can mean you end up spending a lot of time simply waiting for the bus to take you to another park. There are also annoying limitations, such as how early you actually can park hop.

Given that, Park Hopper can be a great tool for some Disney vacationers, but it's not for everyone. Here's how to decide whether Disney Park Hopper is worth it for you:

What is Disney Park Hopper?

The Disney Park Hopper option allows you to visit multiple parks in a day as opposed to a regular park ticket, which allows access to only one park per day.

When can I use Park Hoper?

That doesn’t mean you can hop around whenever you want; there are restricted hours for using the pass. For example, Park Hopper hours don’t start until 2 p.m. at Disney World and 11 a.m. at Disneyland, and they end when the parks close.

At Disneyland in California, there are two parks, and you can visit both with a Park Hopper ticket:

Disney California Adventure.

Disneyland Park.

At Disney World in Florida, you can use the Park Hopper at four parks:

Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Disney's Hollywood Studios.

EPCOT.

Magic Kingdom.

Park Hopper Plus is like Park Hopper on steroids. In addition to the theme parks, it gives you add-on experiences, such as the option to enter Disney's Blizzard Beach water park. (Photo courtesy of Disney)

Disney World also offers an even more powerful (and more expensive) option, called Park Hopper Plus. With Disney World's Park Hopper Plus, you have access to all of the four theme parks named above. Plus, you can pick one of the following experiences per day of your ticket:

Blizzard Beach: One visit to Disney's snow-themed water park.

Typhoon Lagoon: One visit to Disney's tropical-themed water park.

Disney's Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course: One round of mini golf.

Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course: One round of mini golf.

Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course: Greens fees at Disney's 9-hole walking course.

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex: One visit to the sporting event venue.

How does Disney Park Hopper work?

The option to purchase Park Hopper will be offered to you at checkout when buying Disney tickets directly from Disney's site. If purchasing from a third-party, such as Target or a travel agency, you'll typically just have a few options of the ticket type you want to buy. If you purchase a Disney ticket with Park Hopper, it'll be automatically connected to your ticket, so you can visit one park in the morning, and hit other parks later.

Here's what you should expect when buying tickets from Disney's website:

Start by selecting how many days you want to explore Disney parks, how many guests and their ages.

You’ll then select the dates you want to visit the parks.

Select if you want the upgraded Park Hopper option, before going to the checkout page.