how reasonable is park hopping?

[salann]

My family and I are visiting my sister in LA next month and my husband finally gave the ok to go to Disneyland (we went to WDW last year and he felt it was unnecessary to go to DL this summer) So we will only be going for one day.

I'm trying to figure out how reasonable my idea to visit DCA in the morning and then hop to DLR in the afternoon and still have a good chance of seeing most headliners. My son would love visiting Carsland, so that's our priority, and of course the day we will be going, August 12 seems to be EMH, so we will already be an hour behind.

I have my TP app and guide and have been trying to optimize the plan.

I have two kids, 7 and 8, so they can ride anything in the parks now.

Priorities at DLR, Space Mt, Splash, Haunted Mansion and Star Tours

Priorities at DCA would be RSR, Souring and Tower of Terror

Is this too much to do in one day? We have pretty aggressive touring styles from when we went to WDW...

 

[Kittyskyfish]

That's very doable! Have you been to DL before? After the morning crowds enter the parks, switching parks takes about 10-15 minutes. You can plan a morning at DCA, then switch over to DL.

Or you can plan to jump back and forth a few times. They are enforcing Fast Passes so when you get a later RSR FP, one option would be to use that gap to spend some of your time in DL and get FPs for Space Mountain and do another headliner early that morning, then hop back to DCA once you get off Space to do ToT, etc.

This is basically how we operate when we go.

 

[salann]

I actually grew up in Southern CA, so DL is very familiar to me, but the rest of my family, this will be their first time. I had noticed the crowd projection was at a 10 for that day and it kind of scared me. With WDW I had our touring down to the minute and we rarely had a wait, but that was being at the parks at RD, so starting an hour behind EMH also worried me.

Thanks for talking me off the ledge! It's good to see that it doesn't take that long to swtich over, DCA hadn't been built when I moved away, so I didn't know what to really expect

 

[butterflymouse]

That's very doable! In fact, you can do all that in half a day. You'll have plenty of time to anything else that interests you.

 

[DLR29]

I would say that you should do things that are more unique to DLR, especially if you just were at WDW. Those should be your priorities.

For example, Soarin is the exact same on both coasts. If I was at DLR for just one day, I would want to do California Screamin instead. Same goes with Star Tours. I would definitely make it a priority to ride Indiana Jones and Matterhorn before I moved onto Star Tours. Tower of Terror and Space Mountain are different enough that I would recommend them to someone who is familiar with WDW.

With it being an EMH day, you'll want to do RSR with a FP. The FPs run out within the first 2 hours of park opening, so you'll want to be there early.

Also don't worry about the predicted TP crowds. It will be crowded, but almost every day during the summer is rated as a "10", which confuses me. It's not wall to wall crowds at all. You'll have major rides have lines of 60-80 min during the middle of the day (but if you use FP, you'll bypass most of that). Most other attraction lines hover around 30 or fewer minutes.

And to answer your park hopping question, from the DCA entrance to the DL entrance it's a solid 2 min walk. Very doable!

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Don't be scared off by the crowd predictions--they aren't always correct--although it probably will be busy!

Park hopping at DLR is so incredibly easy, you will hardly believe it!

Have a general and flexible plan, know that it will be busy(but STILL manageable), and have a wonderful time!!!

 

[salann]

Thank you everyone for the advice!

I really appreciate it...makes me feel less overwhelmed!

 

[bcla]

It's literally less than 300 ft between entrances. The following satellite view is a bit odd since it was taken during construction of the new entrance to DCA, but it is really, really close. It was so close that my wife had no issue when I wanted to just say we got in on our last day before going home.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Disn...nd&t=h&hq=Disneyland+Resort,+Anaheim,+CA&z=19

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Unless you don't like pirates at all, ride it in DL. It is so much better than DW. The wait is often short. I agree about skipping identical rides like soarin to save time. It's one of my husband's faves so we rode it but we had more time.

 

[Crittsmom]

You said you grew up in So Cal, so remember the last time you visited DL?
Stand out side the gates, look straight ahead for about 300 feet across to the entrance for DCA. It isn't much farther to walk than parking your car at the mall.

Visiting DL and DCA in the same day is doable. We may hop between the parks up to 3-4x during the day..

 

[bcla]

Unless you don't like pirates at all, ride it in DL. It is so much better than DW. The wait is often short. I agree about skipping identical rides like soarin to save time. It's one of my husband's faves so we rode it but we had more time.

Depends on the time of day. We went after fireworks last Saturday. There was minimal wait. I think once we got to the "end" of the line two boats boarded before we got on. We were in front the next day at about 1 PM, and there was a line that looked to be maybe 45 minutes. I think a lot of people were looking to be where it was cooler. Even standing in line meant shade as well as A/C once entering the building.

 

[TamiV]

We were just at the parks on July 4th and 5th. I too was concerned about the crowds as they were rated 10 out of 10, it was not bad at all (we've been there when it was busy, this was not busy). We got up early and hit the park at opening, we did DCA on the 4th and DL on the 5th but hopped to DL around noon on the 4th. DH went straight to the RSR while I got in line for FPs, I caught up to him and we were on the ride within 10 mins or so (he actually waited for me where the CM stands). Our FPs were good for 9:30-10:30 I think, so we walked on to Little Mermaid, TSMM and Soarin', seriously, no waiting! Went back to RSR rode a few more rides, walked around a bit, had the best corndog ever at Corn Dog Castle and hopped to DL. I'm a weenie so I won't do Screamin' or TOT.

At DL, we went right on POC, HM, small world and a few others, we sat down around 2pm to have a snack and watched the 3pm parade! Most relaxed day ever at Disney! I think you'll have time for all your faves and then some! Enjoy!

 

[bcla]

We were just at the parks on July 4th and 5th. I too was concerned about the crowds as they were rated 10 out of 10, it was not bad at all (we've been there when it was busy, this was not busy). We got up early and hit the park at opening, we did DCA on the 4th and DL on the 5th but hopped to DL around noon on the 4th. DH went straight to the RSR while I got in line for FPs, I caught up to him and we were on the ride within 10 mins or so (he actually waited for me where the CM stands). Our FPs were good for 9:30-10:30 I think, so we walked on to Little Mermaid, TSMM and Soarin', seriously, no waiting! Went back to RSR rode a few more rides, walked around a bit, had the best corndog ever at Corn Dog Castle and hopped to DL. I'm a weenie so I won't do Screamin' or TOT.

On Saturday I actually walked from our hotel, arrived inside just before rope drop and saw a substantial line for RSR FP. My original plan was to get one, let my family sleep in, and later use the FP (I wanted to give it to my wife to use first) along with a rider swap since our kid isn't tall enough for the ride. I actually waited until about 8:35 to get a FP with the window in the afternoon. There were a few people waiting for a later time and the CMs were periodically updating what the current distribution was. I final got 12:05.

After successfully doing that, I checked out the single rider line. I was on the ride in less than 10 minutes. I then rode MJJ and Soarin' over California before getting breakfast. You know - being solo does make it a lot easier to actually get on several rides.

The other thing was that when it came time when we arrived, they were willing to do rider swap along with the FP, but the CM told my wife to just get in the single rider line since it was shorter and we were in a hurry to get somewhere else so I didn't ride again. So in the end the FP wasn't needed. We still have the rider swap pass (anyone know how to return it?).

If I hasn't wasted my time getting that single FP that went unused, I think I could have gone on two more rides - maybe RSR again or California Screamin'. Not only that, but it was cooler (my wife complained that it was too hot when she rode RSR at about 1 PM). I also used my wife's unvalidated ticket to try and get a "dead" FP stub. The machine spit it out, but the CM noticed and said that they weren't allowed to let us keep them, even as souvenirs. I think if you get them at the unmanned FP machines they don't care.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

You can easily do that. We never do Disneyland without park hopping. You will probably have to send DH to stand in line for FP to RSR while you and the kids to the other Cars Land rides, (although Luigis is pretty lame, but Maters is a crack up). Then do a few other things at DCA, California Screamin is a must. You'll probably have to hop to DL for a while, then eventually go back to DCA for your RSR FP time.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

My family and I are visiting my sister in LA next month and my husband finally gave the ok to go to Disneyland (we went to WDW last year and he felt it was unnecessary to go to DL this summer) So we will only be going for one day.

I'm trying to figure out how reasonable my idea to visit DCA in the morning and then hop to DLR in the afternoon and still have a good chance of seeing most headliners. My son would love visiting Carsland, so that's our priority, and of course the day we will be going, August 12 seems to be EMH, so we will already be an hour behind.

I have my TP app and guide and have been trying to optimize the plan.

I have two kids, 7 and 8, so they can ride anything in the parks now.

Priorities at DLR, Space Mt, Splash, Haunted Mansion and Star Tours

Priorities at DCA would be RSR, Souring and Tower of Terror

Is this too much to do in one day? We have pretty aggressive touring styles from when we went to WDW...

Totally doable. The park entrances are 100 yards apart. You could hop back and forth all day if you wanted to. It takes very little time. Lines are shorter at DLR, Fastpasses don't run out as quickly (except for RSR), and there's less walking to get to most of the headliners, too. (At DCA you'll really appreciate that with Soarin', and you can take the Red Car Trolley straight to the entrance to ToT, as well.) Sounds like you know how to do commando touring from WDW. I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the park maps in advance and you'll probably have no problem.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

It's completely reasonable as long as you don't expect to see everything. I'd suggest starting at whichever park does NOT have EMH that day. If it's DCA, head to RSR first (or Soaring after grabbing an RSR fastpass). If it's DL first, just go on any of the mountains or Star Tours right away because these have the longest lines usually.

My family have APs and we only go on day trips, so we're pretty used to it. Just go in with the expectation to have fun and not the expectation to go on everything and you'll be fine. If you plan on staying until park closing, it's also beneficial to use the time people are watching parades/night shows/fireworks for rides assuming rides are priority. After the fireworks, most people clear out, so that's also a great time to ride if you can keep your kids awake that late.

 

[Stitch35]

It's totally doable! Plus, if you are comfortable with it, both of your children are old enough for single rider. One adult in first, then the kids, then the other adult. This works great for all single rider lines, a lot of times you end up at least 2 riding together. However, you should be able to see all the headliners plus a lot in both parks! In August, we've been able to do all the rides at DL plus hop to CA and hit the headliners plus a few on an open to close Monday. Our kids are 4 and 7. The headliners were between 50-70min stand by times, but we were able to get FP for them.