We will be arriving in Orlando on 9/14 in the evening, and leaving on 9/19 in the evening. We did a WDW vacation in March with family & never utilized the "park hopper" feature of our tickets ... so when we decided to go back in September (adults only this time), we planned to not have hoppers.

I've been reconsidering this, thinking parks will be open fairly late & that we could do the whole park-rest-park thing to beat some of the mid-day heat. I was looking at park hours for August (since September isn't posted yet) & saw that nothing was open particularly late (I don't consider anything closing before 10pm to be "open late"). I'm now wondering again if hoppers are worth the extra money. If we go back to the room in the middle of the day for a rest, there won't be much of an "evening" to go back to -- or am I being silly?

Are September hours usually fairly similar to August hours, or do they scale way back after Labor Day? If the hours in September are the same as they were in March (latest anything was open was 9pm), I'm not sure hoppers will be worth it.

I'd reconsider that. The hours are indeed scaled back in September. Some parks, like DHS, would probably close at 7. I would expect Epcot to stay open until 9. AK probably 5 or 6. MK? That one is always a toss-up. Don't really know, but when we went, if it was a MNSSHP night, it was 7 pm!

I always park hop. LOVE it. Makes the vacation seem twice as long!

I always park hop also. We are going the week after you are and I looked up last years hours to get an idea and they seem to close fairly early, I think DHS closed one or two times at 7:30, EPCOT I think was always 9, and Animal Kingdom was like 5 or 6. However if you ar staying on property they do have the extra evening hours that give you 3 extra hours in the evening afet the park closes. SO you could "hop" to that park after the other ones close, if they have any during your trip. Make sure you check the hours for MK because the halloween party may be happening while you are there and that closes the park early too, I want to say 6 or 7.

I hop when the parks 'close early' because I'll use that hop time as down time instead of going back to the hotel. Because they close early, I'm usually in bed at a fairly decent hour ,and getting up for rope drop, so I don't really want to nap, but a little bit of 'off feet, limited stimulation, air conditioned' time is helpful.

Also, then I don't have to worry about my park schedule when I make ADRs - I know I'll just hop to where I'm eating dinner, if I don't want to spend the whole day there.

But if you never hop, you might not end up using it.

Also, then I don't have to worry about my park schedule when I make ADRs - I know I'll just hop to where I'm eating dinner, if I don't want to spend the whole day there.

I made that point to my husband. It would certainly simplify matters. Not having to structure our days around our ADRs will be a good thing.

But if you never hop, you might not end up using it.

Since we didn't hop during our March trip, we were thinking of not hopping this time. Then DH & I discussed why we hadn't hopped -- we were with his folks, who aren't as spry as they used to be ... and we had a car with us, and our kidlet, and we were staying about 1/2 hour away... and it was just going to be sort of a logistical nightmare. Staying on property without anyone to worry about but ourselves will make it easier, I think.

Staying on property without anyone to worry about but ourselves will make it easier, I think.
That's a HUGE understatement, especially if you are relying on Disney transportation. You don't have to worry about the logistics of getting back to your car, when you decide to hop somewhere.

I say park hopper! If you are planning on table service dining, it can make it much easier. In September the weather can be unpredictable and you may want to change parks if it rains in the afternoon and you go back to the room to rest. We also found it helpful when we ran into picking a busy day at a certain park. We could just hop over to another and enjoy the smaller crowds. I am a big fan of the park hopper option! But remember it's your trip and your money and you have to decide if it's worth the money to you.

A fifth vote here for Park Hoppers. :) They give you more freedom.

I have made the executive decision -- we will be hopping!