PHP - How to send an array to another page?

I'm trying to send an array to another page.

What I tryed before was:

page1

<input type='hidden' name='input_name' value='<?php print_r($array_name); ?>' />

And page2

<?php 
$passed_array = $_POST['input_name'];
?>

Now how do I make $passed_array act like an array?

Or do you know of any other way of solving this problem?

Thanks, Mike.

Edit: The reason I want to do it this way is because I need to avoid sessions and cookies.