Hot take: Park Hopper is overrated for short trips, especially if you care about your sanity and budget
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion on planning forums, but I feel Park Hopper gets recommended way too often for 1- to 3-day trips to Disneyland or Disney World.
I am pretty budget-conscious and, honestly, not great at staying perfectly organized once I'm inside a park. For me, Hopper turns into this weird pressure to "get my money's worth" by bouncing between parks. On paper it sounds smart. In practice it adds decision fatigue, extra walking, and a constant itch to chase shorter waits instead of just enjoying what you are doing.
I keep seeing plans that go rope drop to close with Hopper treated like a necessity. But if you are already there from open to close, when are you actually going to switch parks without killing your momentum? And if you plan a mid-day break, which I think most people need, the travel and timing become another thing that can go wrong.
My approach: pick one park per day, pick 2 or 3 anchors (one big ride, one must-eat, one show/parade/fireworks you want to see), and treat everything else as a bonus. If you finish early, great - you get a relaxed lap of snacks and shops instead of feeling like you should sprint to the other gate.
Curious what others think. For people who love Hopper, when has it actually made a short trip better instead of just busier?