While I can't imagine spending less than a week at Walt Disney World on any trip, I believe most travellers spend somewhere between three and six days at the theme parks. For anyone that fits that common bill, do NOT buy the Hopper ticket. It's a scam. There's a much better solution--simply buy more day passes. Why buy a hopper when you can get twice the number of day tickets at a cheaper price?
Let's say a family is going to the Orlando area for a week. They plan on arriving at the hotel in the late afternoon on day one (as opposed to day two? 
), anticipate spending three full days at Disney, one day combing a beach, one day elsewhere (what a waste!), and another travel day where they aren't sure if they'll do anything or not. They could buy a three day hopper for $318 (including taxes), but why do that? They could buy a six day pass for $296 and use two tickets every day. Here's an even better way to maximize their dollars and time beyond the simple use-two-tickets-each-day-if-you-want-to plan...
If they feel up to spending a few hours that first night at a park, they can spend the first ticket that night at, let's say, Epcot. The second ticket could be a full day at the Magic Kingdom. The third ticket can be used at the Studios. The fourth ticket can be used at Animal Kingdom one morning, and then the fifth can be used that same night at Epcot. They hopped around one day, got a bonus short evening at Epcot and have another ticket to use for a brief morning before leaving central Florida if they choose...and they saved $22 per person.
That's just one scenario. Maybe they want to go to a park in the evening after going to the beach; they can go just to catch a ride or two and watch the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes if they want. Maybe they know they only need five tickets and can save another $11 per person. There are many ways to optimize your dollars by simply buying more days instead of wasting them with a Hopper. Just go!
**I'm brand spanking new to this site, so if this tip is somewhere I didn't see, I apologize for the redundancy.
