park hopper for 1st trip? 4 days

[Sagginit]

i know this is probably debated a lot but i am in a bit of a time crunch since i am about two weeks out from my wedding so i figured i would post about my exact scenario instead of reading a few posts, this also means my normal 6 month long trip planning has not taken place which is why i am unsure of myself.

i am going for 4 full days on my honeymoon and we are staying at the camelot inn. i understand it is fairly close and we intend on taking breaks. i am thinking that unlike when i got to WDW i won't have a meal plan, and therefore will spend more time outside the parks in the evening for lunch/dinner. i was going to get a park hopper but i am second guessing having the time to hop around when we just have an average of 2 days for each park. what are your thoughts? i am also guessing the crowds at the 2 parks won't vary much since they are so close a lot of people get hoppers. in WDW if one park feels awful we use the hoppers to go elsewhere, but in this case since its across the street everyone does that and it balances it out.

i also didn't make any plans to eat in parks. i love character meals but i am not sure of the price. if you were me would you skip a hopper and instead book 1-2 character meals to save the time i would have spent to see characters in the park, and therefore not need to run around like a chicken with my head cut off? people think 4 days is a lot of time but i normally do 6-7 days in WDW and feel like with leaving the park for meals it will be more hectic.

 

[Tyggress]

YES, YES, YES...get park hoppers! Unlike WDW, the 2 parks in CA are only about 100 yards apart...you can hop back and forth, and to DTD (for meals, etc) very easily, multiple times a day. The parks are so close together, I treat them like 1 big park! It makes it easier to get more done, too...you can hold FP's for rides in both parks at once, too.

 

[tlovesdis]

Definitely get park hoppers as Tyggress said!!! And I would plan on eating some meals in the parks! Some of the food is going to be better than your options across the street (Denny's, IHOP, etc...). Cafe Orleans is yummy! The fried chicken at Plaza Inn is delish! So many yummy things to eat!!! DTD also has some good places to eat!!!

 

[figment_jii]

i also didn't make any plans to eat in parks.

I would highly recommend making some reservations if you want to eat at any of the in-park TS locations. While you can usually make reservations with relatively short notice, I have also noticed that fewer and fewer locations are taking walk-ups. I've been turned away or seen guests being turned away at Blue Bayou (almost always), Cafe Orleans, Carnation Cafe, Big Thunder Ranch BBQ, and Carthay Circle. Wait times in DTD on weekends (Fri-Sun) can often exceed 1 hour.

i love character meals but i am not sure of the price. if you were me would you skip a hopper and instead book 1-2 character meals to save the time i would have spent to see characters in the park, and therefore not need to run around like a chicken with my head cut off? people think 4 days is a lot of time but i normally do 6-7 days in WDW and feel like with leaving the park for meals it will be more hectic.

DL and DCA are about 110 yards apart from each other (less than the length of Main Street), so park hopping is really quite easy. You can see into one park from the main gate of the other park. I generally find that my family will hop at least once or twice per day. If nothing else, on nights when DL is open later than DCA, we hop to DL when DCA closes. If you're going in two weeks, you may have a lot of MHP nights to content with, in which case DCA would be open later than DL (to the general public). I've found that having hoppers give you more flexibility and is usually worth having - especially if you want to see the nighttime entertainment.

In terms of character meals, DLR doesn't have a lot of character meals and almost all of them are breakfasts. If you do opt for a character meal, I would go with the one that has the most characters you're interested in meeting.

• Plaza Inn (breakfast, DL) - Minnie and friends (often quite a random assortment - I've seen Max, Rafiki, Eeyore, Pooh, etc.)
• Ariel's Grotto (breakfast and lunch, DCA) - Princesses
• Storytellers (breakfast, GCH) - Chip, Dale, and other woodland friends (usually Meeko, Koda, and Kenai)
• Goofy's Kitchen (all meals, DLH) - Goofy and friends (usually Chip & Dale, Minnie and Pluto)
• PCH Grill (breakfast, PPH) - Mickey and friends (usually Daisy, Pluto, and Stitch - occasionally Minnie).

For characters in the parks, I would recommend downloading the official Disneyland App. It now lists when the characters should be out and where they should be. In some ways, DLR is not like WDW in terms of character meet and greets. There are far fewer formal meet and greets, so you just have to keep your eyes open because you never know who'll you'll come across.

 

[Winnowill]

Go for the hoppers. Definitely. Our first trip, in 2013, we went for four days but didn't have hoppers. We had only one day at DCA, and we didn't even get to ride RSR because we didn't know enough to plan FPs correctly and we didn't want to spend 70 minutes in line for it our only day there. For our more recent trip in August, we got five-day hoppers and the difference was amazing. We were in both parks almost every day, and there were a couple of days we bounced back and forth like they were the same park. On one of our DL days, I ran over early and got FPs for RSR, and we hopped just to ride it and then went back to DL. The flexibility you get with the hoppers just can't be beat, and they are well worth every penny they cost. We will never NOT do hoppers again!

 

[jammyjam25]

I agree with those saying get the hoppers. Hopping is so convenient between DL and DCA and one park (Disneyland) does in fact often get more crowded than the other.

As far as eating, I personally wouldn't waste time going off site to eat, unless you're going to downtown Disney. The food at both counter service and table service restaurants is quite good and well priced. It doesn't make sense to me to lose an hour or more of park time to go down to Harbor to eat at a Tony Roma's, Bubba Gumps, etc.

 

[Sagginit]

Thank you everyone! I knew my fellow disboarders would come through for me I will get the park hopper then as you sold me on it. Our room will have a fridge so we plan on doing breakfast there, but now that you mention the great character meals maybe on a rope drop day do a super late breakfast (11am ish), which will get us back to rides by the time others are at lunch. I am gluten free too, so I was thinking of eating in the parks as I know I can get food at a few places ( i am actually dying for Mickey waffles so I will hunt around to find out which restaurant has the allergy mix for that).

For outside the parks I was thinking of maybe lunch in the hotel on some days and dinner in the area, my fiance is not a huge disney person and i am afraid all park meals will be overload. i didnt realize i could hold FP in both parks. Cars is one of my favorite movies, so i may use that to my advantage to get to ride RSR more than once. i see three refurbs so far for my time period, including space mountain, so i think that will drive people to other big rides in the morning. i may be doing a touring plan on the plane the way that time is slipping away from me, but in the afternoon i do like to wander, so i think the park hoppers then will help with that.

 

[Canuck16]

YES YES and YES get hoppers!

We always get them for our trips and use them all the time especially at DLR.

 

[Winnowill]

Thank you everyone! I knew my fellow disboarders would come through for me I will get the park hopper then as you sold me on it. Our room will have a fridge so we plan on doing breakfast there, but now that you mention the great character meals maybe on a rope drop day do a super late breakfast (11am ish), which will get us back to rides by the time others are at lunch.

We did the 10:30 am breakfast at the Plaza (the latest available), and it was awesome. We had all of our early morning touring time, still got all the characters, and, since we were the last seating, the place really cleared out as the meal went on and we had some great character interactions. They didn't let the food get all old, either - they kept it fresh.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Another pro-PH person here. Well worth it!

 

[LALA8971]

Yes to Parkhoppers! With 4 days, there will be plenty of reasons to head to a different park throughout the day.
We don't do character meals, but a stop at Cafe Orleans for Monte Cristos is always a must!

 

[barbaraann]

I just did a four day trip without a park hopper. It was my first time not having a hopper. I actually liked that, and I may do it again. There's more than enough to do in DCA, to spend an entire day there. I traveled alone, and my first day was a full day in DCA. My plan was to then do three days in Disneyland. Then my plan had to change, when the dates were finalized for the Halloween Parties. So, since I saved $40 by not having a hopper, I paid the $74 for the Halloween party, and had the ticket to a Monday Night Party. So the day of the party, I spent Monday Morning in DCA, and got to ride my favorite ride, the ferris wheel, and many other of my favorite activities were enjoyed, before I entered Disneyland, between 3 and 4 p.m.

So for roughly $334, I had four days in the parks, and a Halloween Party to enjoy. Not too bad a deal. It was crowded, but I got on most of my favorite rides, except Peter Pan and Star Tours. I rode Haunted Mansion twice, but I did not get to meet and greet Jack and Sally. I only saw their line once, and it was horrendous on the day that Disneyland let in 54,000 people.