Park Hopper or Not?

[Ricky P]

Hi Disneyland Friends,

We are planning a 1 time trip to Disneyland in February 2015. Spending 3 days at the parks. Do we need Park Hopper option or not. If not how to divide the 3 Days, i.e. 2 at Disneyland and 1 at Disney California Adventure. etc.

Thanks

 

[sonnyjane]

Hi Disneyland Friends, We are planning a 1 time trip to Disneyland in February 2015. Spending 3 days at the parks. Do we need Park Hopper option or not. If not how to divide the 3 Days, i.e. 2 at Disneyland and 1 at Disney California Adventure. etc. Thanks

Can't recommend a hopper highly enough. The parks are so close to each other that you should just consider them one big park, and it's nice to have flexibility especially since you say it's a "one-time trip".

 

[Escape2Disney]

Yes - Hop!

This is especially important since you're only staying 3 days. We tend to do one park in the morning, then the other in the afternoon. The next day we switch which we do in the AM and PM.

 

[figment_jii]

I would highly recommend park hoppers as well. The two parks are only 110 ft apart, so hopping between them is fairly easy and generally quite quick. This will give you more flexibility in how to do things and see what you want in the parks.

 

[conniehar90]

We never park hop in WDW but bought the hoppers when we went to DL this summer. We also had three days planned. We ended up only hopping once (last day). We spent one full day at each park and then the last day, we started at DL and ended at DCA. I think DL takes more than one day to see but the kids LOVED Carsland so when we were glad we had the hopper so we could go back over there in the afternoon. I thought we might hop back to DL after DCA closed but everyone was pooped so we just headed back to our hotel. They are very close together.

Have a great trip!

 

[huskerchica]

We just returned from our 3 day visit and didn't hop once. I honestly wouldn't recommend them. We did 2 days at DLR and 1 day at CGA. Each family is different. We found there was just so much to do at both that we didn't feel the need to "hop."

 

[wdwrich]

We did 2 days at DLR and 1 day at CGA. Each family is different. We found there was just so much to do at both that we didn't feel the need to "hop."

True, but circumstances my lead to a desire to hop- The park you start off in may get crowded; one park may open earlier or close later then the one you plan to visit on a given day, etc. Having the flexibility to hop when/if wanted is a huge bonus given the fact that the two parks are in such close proximity.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We love our park hoppers. We return for a mid day break every day and would often go to a different park in the evening. At the end of our trip we even returned during the day when there was something we skipped due to time constraints and later realized we had the time for it (animation academy).

Now, as much as I am a strong advocate for hoppers, three days is a sweet spot, for not necessarily needing them. 1 day DCA, 2 DL.

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

We just returned from our 3 day visit and didn't hop once. I honestly wouldn't recommend them. We did 2 days at DLR and 1 day at CGA. Each family is different. We found there was just so much to do at both that we didn't feel the need to "hop."

If I had to tally a vote on this based on your situation I would vote "No".

I have two exactly opposite opinions on this matter. I see merits in both options and this argument above to not get the park hoppers is as good as any.

While obviously, having the option to go back and forth is great, it's not absolutely necessary. Yes, the two parks are close together, but sometimes midday, the process of exiting one park and entering another can be a little lengthy, especially if you go from DCA to DL.

Basically, whatever you decide will be fine.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Absolutely get parkhoppers. You will never regret getting them, but you'll kick yourself the moment you want to hop and can't. Most people who don't hop and say "No" are first-timers who don't "get" the value of them. Most repeat multi-day visitors on here sing their praises, however. The park entrances are literally 100 yards apart.

 

[Filipina]

The parks are so close together, get a hopper!

 

[Blue32]

I know most everyone here loves hoppers, and we have gotten them as well. But with 3 days, I would vote NO. I would go to DL 2 days and DCA for 1.

 

[Blue32]

Absolutely get parkhoppers. You will never regret getting them, but you'll kick yourself the moment you want to hop and can't. Most people who don't hop and say "No" are first-timers who don't "get" the value of them. Most repeat multi-day visitors on here sing their praises, however. The park entrances are literally 100 yards apart.

You may not regret having them but you may regret spending the money on something you didn't need rather than something else. And I don't know that I would kick myself because you can always upgrade them to hoppers if you feel you want/need to hop.

 

[Aladora]

True, but circumstances my lead to a desire to hop- The park you start off in may get crowded; one park may open earlier or close later then the one you plan to visit on a given day, etc. Having the flexibility to hop when/if wanted is a huge bonus given the fact that the two parks are in such close proximity.

Yes, this exactly.

 

[taffy]

Yes Hop, especially in the off season when the hours are limited so you can get toi see the parades and shows in both.

 

[cmpeter]

Can't you upgrade to Park Hoppers once you are there...say if you find out you would really like to hop but haven't bought hoppers, head to the ticket window and upgrade then? Or would that be a lot more expensive?

OP - I always get park hoppers. We prefer to do two days at DCA since it has our favorite rides and 1 day at DL (we have also been to both parks many times and have teens, if it's a first trip and you have younger children, I thing 2 at DL and 1 at DCA would be ideal)...but, I like to hop back over to DL in the evening since they stay open later than DCA.

 

[bayareafamily5]

Of course we'd love to be able to hop back and forth, or at least the possibility in case rides are down, crowds are worse at DL, etc. but that said we getting 1 park 1 day tickets for an upcoming 2-day trip. For a family of five it saves $195 via way.com to not hop, and my kids (two teens and a 9 year old) all said they'd rather use that $ for treats inside the parks and will just go all-out in each park each day.

In a sense it makes our planning easy, in a "if you want to do/see it, today's the day!" kinda way.

So, I definitely think you can make not hopping work with the right expectations and attitude.

 

[MouseEXP]

Since it is your first time I would recommend one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure with the third day being the Park Hop Day so you can enjoy the attractions that you want to experience again from day one and day two.

 

[fairestoneofall]

we just did four-day hoppers. we hopped every day but the first. we were there for the DL 1/2 marathon weekend, so we didn't have a full day in either park.
the food in CA was better (at least, in our opinion), so we hopped back and forth for meals.

it isn't just that the parks are close together. the parks themselves are smaller and more intimate than at WDW, so it's easy to go from the back of one to the other.

and yes, the re-entry is more involved than at WDW, but it was never an issue for us.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

Over the last 11 years of going we've hopped every day we've been there except the couple of days our in laws (65 & 70 yo) go with us. It usually takes less than 5 minutes to exit one park and enter the other. There are times I hop to DL from DCA just to get beignets and then head back