Driving to Hakone - Worth buying Free Pass?

We are a family of three, including one child, currently planning a road trip. One of the days, we'll be driving from Gotemba to Hakone for a day trip before continuing on to Kamakura. We will be staying at a hotel near Gora Station. Here's the plan for our day in Hakone:

After arriving, we'll park our car at the hotel and take a 5 minutes stroll to Gora Station to catch the cable car to Sounzan Station. From there, we’ll take the ropeway to Owakudani, hunting for the famous black eggs.

After Owakudani, we’ll continue on the ropeway to Togendai for the Pirate Ship cruise, which ends at Motohakone-ko.

From Motohakone-ko, we’ll need to find a way back to our hotel near Gora Station. I’m assuming we can take a bus.

Initially, I wasn’t considering buying the Hakone Free Pass, since we’ll be traveling by car. However, I came across a cheaper version of the Hakone Free Pass, available for purchase in Odawara, and now I’m trying to calculate whether it’s worth getting.

Questions:
1. Without the Hakone Free Pass, do I need to buy two separate ropeway tickets—one for Sounzan to Owakudani and another from Owakudani to Togendai? It seems the ropeway fares are higher than I expected.

2. Is it difficult to find a bus from Motohakone-ko back to Gora Station? And is this bus covered by the Hakone Free Pass?

3. The cheaper version of the Hakone Free Pass is only available for purchase in Odawara and can't be booked online, correct? If that’s the case, it might not work for us since we won’t be passing through Odawara.

In short, if the cost of transportation and the Pirate Ship cruise without the Hakone Free Pass isn't significantly different, I’d prefer to buy the pass, even if we don't use it fully. I believe it would save us time by allowing us to skip the ticket queues.

Thank you very much in advance.

good morning

as you rightly suggested
even though Odawara Station ~ Gora Station on Hakone Tozan Railway may not be applicable
it may be worthwhile to consider other discounted passes eg.

OWAKUDANI 2Day Pass
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/discount_passes/owakudani
with a return trip included for Odawara Station ~ Gora Station on Hakone Tozan Railway
why not visit the Odawara castle on the next day :)

ASHINOKO 2Day Pass
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/discount_passes/ashinoko
please note that this pass is no longer for sale after Sep2024

Hakone Tozan Train 1Day Pass
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/discount_passes/nonbiri

ASHINOKO Liner
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/discount_passes/ashinokolin...
otherwise it is extremely easy to catch a local bus
please feel free to ask for a bus timetable at the tourist centre
the transport system in hakone is one of the best in japan and heavily geared towards tourism

you may also be interested in the hako ticket
which includes entries to quite a number of facilities in the area
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/discount_passes/hakoneticke...

ps. i am still baffled as to why the hakone free pass is not available for online purchase as clearly detailed (even with screenshots) at the official website
https://www.odakyu.jp/english/passes/hakone/

have a wonderful trip

Thank you very much Anastasia. I've just rechecked, and the cheaper version of the pass can be purchase online.