Best way to tour parks?

[svfive]

We have a 5 day hopper. Does it make a difference if we alternate parks and then do a find day doing our favourites? Or do you recommend doing two days back to back in each park?

 

[chickapin parterre]

the difference in how each individual tours the park is their scheme of values in the framework of tradition and attractions that are must do, over and over and over....

On your first visit to the park, you will have no reference points. If you are a thrill seeker with fun elements, then DCA RSR T Zone, Screamn, soarin and Goofy will be your favorite place to have fun. If you like warm blankets from the dryer, stereo sound and stunning visuals at each step, then Disneyland will be your preference.

Back to back will have no bearing on the references you choose.

I myself am a traditionalist and open Disneyland every day on my visit. I leave at noon to become wet on Grizzly run or rest in Crush. Return at early evening for RSR then back to Disneyland for the magic of the night. That is how I park hop

 

[Winnowill]

Early entry is a key determining factor of where to start if you're a rope-drop kind of person. If you have access to it, go to whichever park has it. If not, start at the other park.

Since you have hoppers, I'd definitely make full use of them, especially since you can hold FPs in both at the same time. For our five day hoppers, we spent one full day at DCA (because one person in our party just had a one-park, one-day ticket so hopping was not possible with him), one full day at DL, and the other three days we bounced around - if we started at DL, someone would run over to DCA at some point to grab FPs for RSR for later, and we'd spend an hour or two at DCA doing that and other things. Our last day, we did a lot of bouncing to make sure we rode everyone's favorite thing before we left.

 

[Blondie Mom]

We just returned from our first time visit and we had 5 day park hoppers as well. We actually never ended up using the hopper aspect. We spent days 1, 3, 5 at Disneyland and days 2, 4 at DCA. The crowds were insane, and having never been there before we had plenty to do in one park per day without having the time to switch parks. Even with 5 days, we were still unable to accomplish everything we wanted with the crowd level being so high.

 

[meggles]

Regardless of whether you park hop a bunch or not, follow common sense touring guidelines. Get there early, get fP for the busier e ticket type rides. Do those first because mornings are the least busy. Focus on shows, rides with shorter lines, and shopping/wandering during the midday hours. Get FP before taking a break in the afternoon or directly upon reentering the parks in the early evening.