One Park per day pass vs. Parkhopper

[cindyland]

We are planning a two-day trip in early August, and have been many, many times. It's me, DH, and our two teenage daughters (13 & 16). This is an end of summer, "surprise!" after looking at colleges, trip.

Promised hubby it would be a cheap trip (ha!), so one idea is to get one-park passes instead of our usual parkhoppers. My thought is we really don't "park hop," and there is now enough at DCA to keep us entertained all day. We're doing Disneyland our first day, DCA the second. Also expecting crowds and heat, so it will be difficult to do everything anyway.

Anyone else finding less need for parkhoppers? Will I regret this decision? Looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[cindyland]

And my ticker is way wrong. No holiday trips planned for this year.

 

[twodogs]

Our first trip was just last week, and my kids are younger than yours (8 & 6), but we found hoppers essential this time. Having never been before, I can only speculate, but the crowds were crazy, even for early entry. Because of this, we wanted to leave DL after the morning because it was insane. I think this was due to so many ride closures right now for refurb (which may not be as much of an issue when you go in August), but the lines for the rides that were open were very long. Then SM and BTMRR went down right at park opening, forcing even more people onto even fewer rides. So we didn't get to do any FL rides, and were glad to be able to go to DCA where it was decidedly calmer!

 

[figment_jii]

My family always park hops, so I couldn't really imagine a trip where we planned to only do one park per day. It would markedly change how we planned our days. Part of the reason is that we are night-people and DL is often open later than DCA. So after spending the afternoon in DCA, we "hop" over to DLR to get in a couple more hours of fun.

 

[rentayenta]

We had a similar trip, just two days, and didn't hop. It was SO freeing to just be and enjoy the park we were in. There is enough to do in DCA to spend a full day. For short trips we won't hop.

We also had access to EMH and chose the opposite park to visit each day. It worked our beautifully.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

We have annual passes, and love the option to park hop, but, having said that, there are many times where we have stayed in just one park for the entire day, and had a wonderful time!

If you are trying to keep this trip a "cheaper" one, my opinion is that you will be fine with the one park per day option(it's only one trip/two days)---it might even be fun to experience touring this way for the first time!

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

We did 2-day, 1 park per day tickets last July and loved it so much we're doing it again this June! It might just be a mental thing, but we were more relaxed and didn't feel the need to rush and get one park done so we could get over to the other. Have fun!

 

[etaber5]

We always get park hoppers, however last year we found that we weren't hopping at all. It was so relaxing to just hang out in one park per day and we did so many things we had never done before (we go every year). So this year we are going with one park per day tickets.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

On short 2 day trips, I actually prefer one park per day. The only time I regret it is as we're leaving DCA at 10:00pm knowing that I could have two more hours at DL if I had sprung for hoppers. But the flip side of that is it forces me back to hotel so I get at least one decent night of sleep over the weekend.

 

[lk2500]

Keep in mind that you can only use those Fast Passes during the scheduled time so this trip will be a bit different than your prior trips, if that factors into
your decision at all.

That being said, as others have pointed out, one park tickets will make things more relaxing but park hopping and Fast Pass running between parks will maximize the number of e-ticket rides. Depends on your priorities. I would go with park hoppers myself.

 

[ronandannette]

3-day/1 Park Per Day tickets are perfect for the way we tour. Day 1 is always DL. Day 2 is DCA for the entire day (no break) and we close the place. Day 3 back to DL for do-overs of big favourites or anything we might have had to forgo on Day 1. If worse comes to worse you could probably upgrade your last day to a Hopper if you needed to go back to DCA for something. Have a great trip.

 

[cindyland]

I am happy to report that my husband disagrees with the idea of one-park passes, and thinks we need to go THREE days! With parkhoppers! Who is this man, and what has he done with my husband?!

 

[goooof1]

I am happy to report that my husband disagrees with the idea of one-park passes, and thinks we need to go THREE days! With parkhoppers! Who is this man, and what has he done with my husband?!

Now that's good thinking!! very happy for you. You will be glad for the flexibility..... you can always take your time and enjoy everything around you AND if it gets too crowded, hop to the other park!!

 

[Steph4MM]

Thanks for the info. We are going to DL for 2 days in June and I was wondering what would be the better deal. We always go to WDW with hoppers so making sure we do and see everything in one park in one day is a little nerve racking but I also think doable.
Thanks again!