Haven't been since 2012..Do you still park-hop?

[Mugglemama]

After a 3 year hiatus, we're considering a DLR trip this year. I noticed several months ago, when the parks began enforcing return times for Fast Pass, quite a few people mentioned that park-hopping was no longer as much of a benefit as it used to be.

Skipping park-hopping saves us $200 - a legitimate consideration for us, since all of our trips are "budget" trips. However, if park-hopping still provides substantial benefit, I don't mind spending the extra money to do so.

Just curious to know what most die-hards are doing these days...park-hopping, or not? I do feel like we can make a whole day out of California Adventure, so I'm not worried about being stuck in only one park that won't take up enough time.

Our main goal is to do as many attractions as possible, including repeats. We'll have 5 days, and since we'll be going during a time when hours are a bit shorter, and our kids are older, we'll be staying from opening to close.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Personal experience? It's all appreciated! THANKS!

 

[Congo Queen]

Wow Mugglemama has it really been three years since you visited? I feel like it wasn't that long since I was reading your advice and trip reports. My two cents on hopping or not hopping is that it is very very doable now not to hop. As you said, plenty to do in DCA and since FP must be used in the timeframe specified, there is no incentive to hoard them for night time use across both parks. The only time we send a FP runner across the esplanade now is to get a GRR or Splash FP for a specific time (usually that hour or so right before we are going back to the hotel for midday break - I have to watch my wait time apps to make sure the FP window I want is coming up.) That said, has my family moved to the non-hopper - nope. There is something about knowing that we can hop. If for some reason things are crazy crowded at Dland and we want to escape to DCA for larger walk ways, then we can. Or if someone in my family gets a hankering for something specific like a late night dole whip or a vanilla soft serve at the Cozy Cone then we can follow that whim. Those are the only reasons left for us - having that freedom to decide in the moment. Have a great trip.

 

[lorijohnhill]

We still hop all the time. I like the freedom to decide in the moment, as Congo Queen said.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I vote yes PH for you since your main goals are to do as many rides as possible and repeat rides. I see 3 reasons for this- 1: maximize your park hours, often times DCA closes an hour or two before DL so you can hop over to DL after DCA closes 2: rides break for no reason, some trips are practically perfect and then others have RSR & ToT down at the same time over crowding whats left in DCA leaving you wishing you could just hop over to DL 3: for repeating your favorites. We love that 5th day for hitting our repeats & they are inevitably in both parks with 5 family members.

Whether or not any of that is worth the extra $200 for your family only you can really guess though.

 

[figment_jii]

For my family, we also like to be able to park hop. As gottalovepluto mentioned, park hopping is great for getting in an extra ride or two in DL after DCA has closed. It also means we can do split day (i.e., start in DCA on it's non-EMH morning, then hop to DL for the afternoon or vice-a-versa). With 5-days, I do think you can get a lot done without park hoppers, but I like having the freedom and flexibility to go to either park on any given day.

 

[Mugglemama]

Yep, 3 years this week! Our last visit was for 8 days and honestly, we were really "done" for a while after that one. By the time we wanted to go again, about a year later, as you all know quite a few major refurbs started occurring, so we thought we'd try to wait most of them out. Then we'd start planning again, only to have the same thing happen again. It's a 12 hour drive each way, plus these days we really have to save for a while to go, so it's worth it to us to wait until we have a better chance of fewer attractions being down, KWIM?

Thanks for the replies! We love that 5th day for repeats too, and yes, our favorites are not confined to just one park. And that's a really good point about the extra hours at DL after DCA closes...although the last time we went, DL was NOT less crowded in those later hours, it stayed busy all the way to closing, even on non-grad-nites, IIRC.

Hmm...I still don't know what to do. lol!

 

[mom2rtk]

We never get hoppers at WDW, but always do at DLR. For us it seems to be more about making sure we can see all the shows we want to see while still choosing the best park to enter in the morning.

Sometimes we just can't help it. For example, our first rule is to try and spend higher crowd days in DCA instead of DLR, but when we go Fantasmic only shows on weekends, the higher crowd days.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

I can't believe it's been three years! With the 60th Diamond Celebration castle, new Paint the Night parade, and refurbishments, this could be a fantastic trip for your family.

It's a tough decision between single park and PH tickets because you have five days in the parks. I tend to like PH tickets for longer trips because all the minor rides have been done and everyone wants to go back to their favorites, and those tend to be at "both" parks! If you have single park tickets, you might find the grass is a little greener in the other park on those last two days, especially if your list of favorites is lopsided toward one park.

One advantage I find with single park tickets is the ability to slow down and take in the atmosphere. Being restricted in one park cuts down on the available ride options, and once the rush of newness is over, that restriction forces you to relax and do things you normally don't allow time for, such as feeding the ducks (shhh we won't tell), doing an activity, seeing a show and WOC in one day, even using the hotel pool, things like that.

 

[superlarz]

Not getting PHs saves a ton of walking. As mentioned it allows you to stop and smell the roses as well. Last trip I took with non-AP family members we did not get PHs. The first day was great, we spent it at DL. We didnt miss hopping at all. Day 2 at DCA was good as well, until after WoC when the park was closed and we were all still ready to go and do more things. YMMV, its up to you if it is worth 200 extra dollars. If I was going for 5 days I would say no. 2 or 3, maybe.

 

[Mugglemama]

Thanks! Such great points everyone is making, for either decision. Good thing we have a few months to figure it out because I'm no closer to making a choice, lol.

Slowing down a tiny bit might actually make the trip better (we've never actually tried that)...all until the LAST day...when I'm wondering if we won't be really regretting not having the option to go back and forth. The last time we went, as I mentioned it was for 8 days (we did a M-F, skipped the weekend, then back for Mon, Tues, & Wed), and on our last day, we ended up only going into DCA for a few hours and then spent the rest of our time in Downtown Disney, which we had never done, and which we ended up enjoying SO, SO much.

I think what I'm trying to figure out, are the odds of being disappointed if we *can't* go back and forth. $200 more for souvenirs might be cool, especially now that the kids like to collect pins. First world problems, I know....I'd just like to make the best choices with the budget we'll be working with.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

As passholders, we hop since we usually only go for a day at a time. But, when we bring family with us, we save as much money as we can. So, we tend to just do 1-park days. I don't think it's a big deal to hop as long as you make sure to do and get everything you want from each park on the day you go to that one.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I know for us, we could would not even consider not hopping. We went to WDW last year and and we did have park hoppers which we used, but we were often in one park and we would think of something we wanted to go on. Well, that was at another park. The good thing about DLR is every ride, show, and restaurant is open to you at any given moment. All you have to do is walk. We will have APs anyway, but for us, we'd just have to hop. When we went with my sister and her small children however, we did little park hopping because it was harder to do all that extra walking with small children. I'd say it depends on your family. Do you tend to zig zag around the parks, or work your way slowly through them to save on walking?

 

[Butterfly123]

You can always upgrade when you are at the parks, starting off with non-hoppers and upgrading them to hoppers if you miss them, but I think you'll miss them! I know that the more days that we spend at the parks, the more we tend to park hop. If you're there two days one day at each park might work fine. But after you've spent one full day at each park, I think the urge to hop will hit! With so much new entertainment I think that having flexibility will be key this year.

ETA someone on another thread asked a question about whether to get three-day hopper's or four days without hoppers. If it means adding an extra day I would always go for more days.

Another ETA...nice to see you back Mugglemama!

 

[buddhaluvthemouse]

I too like the freedom of hopping, two years ago we were using the mousewaite and saw some of fav rides at DCA were under 20 minutes so we went over and rode TT, Soaring and TS and then headed back to disneyland.

 

[RKKUNK]

My family honestly wouldn't know how to so DLR without parkhoppers! We have always had those or an AP and on our trips we always park hop. We always start at the park with non EMH and then later hop over to the other park and we usually end the day at DL, especially if there are fireworks that night! I personally think we would get bored at DCA if we had to spend an entire day there.

 

[fantasmicfantastic]

My wife and I agree with most of the PPs...We love to park hop off a whim depending on how we are feeling and what attraction/show we feel like that day.

 

[ktlm]

We go back and forth all day. DL getting a little crowded? Wait times app showing shorter waits over at CA, well let's just hop over there awhile!

 

[Mugglemama]

Thanks a bunch for the replies! We have always park-hopped, too. In fact, we're one of those families who sends runners between parks for FP's, etc. And we do zig-zag around the parks all day long.

We're probably leaning towards hopping...one of my main reasons - and this may sound silly - is that I like to do certain rides at certain times of day. For instance, I love DCA most in the late, late afternoon and evening...whereas, I love Disneyland most during the day. When I thought about that, I realized my whole family kind of gravitates the same way.

Not getting to be in specific parks (and even specific *areas* of the parks) at our favorite times certainly isn't a deal-breaker. But I tell ya...life has Kicked.Our.Butts these last few years, and I don't think we've ever *needed* a Disneyland vacation more than we need it right now. For that reason, I think I'd like to make it as flexible as possible so that we can enjoy it as much as possible, KWIM?

Thanks a ton for all the input! It reminded me of things I hadn't considered. And @ BUTTERFLY123 - Thanks for the welcome back!