Park hoppers or no?

[3littlecuties]

We are planning our first trip to Disneyland in July. We will be going for 2 days...a Sunday and a Monday. Would we be ok with 1 park per day and just focus on that park? Or would we regret not having park hoppers? We have 3 children (16, 14, and 11) and our 14 year old has Down syndrome and will use a wheelchair for the trip so we don't move very quickly. We are very familiar with Disney World but not Disneyland. I know everyone says the parks are much smaller and easier to hop but would it be ok to just focus on one park a day?

 

[BadPinkTink]

I do one park per day and get a 3 day ticket. I do 2 days at Disneyland Main park, one day at California Adventures.

I like knowing I have the whole day in the park and I can see lands like Galaxys Edge and Carsland both in daylight and when it gets dark.

Rides such as Big Thunder Mountain and Radiator Springs are very different in the dark compared to in daylight.

 

[Cal-Pie]

You will find that opinions will definitely vary on hopping, but in your situation, I think 1pk/day makes perfect sense. You will not be able to cover everything in DL in one day, but if you focus on your top priorities, you'll be fine. I think hoppers are basically a necessity for longer trips, but not for shorter ones.

 

[cndkanga]

We've done one park/day and it was perfectly fine. I can get overwhelmed with park hopping so staying in one park feels easier. Just have realistic expectations about what you are going to be able to accomplish.

 

[CO2CA]

I would say park hoppers. We used to mostly stay in Disneyland and found California Adventure to be a "lesser" (for lack of a better word) park. But, with Webslingers we found we wanted to spend more time in CA than previous trips. We used to even go over to the Frozen show at the Hyperion Theater once per day of the trip and then head back over to Disneyland.

Your family may enjoy Disneyland or California Adventure more. While each park you could probably spend a day in, I wouldn't want to feel constricted and be able to go back if you found one park to be better. Disneyland also should have nightly fireworks. It may be worth it to spend the extra on park hoppers if you want to spend the day in California Adventure and then go back for fireworks/parades.

 

[whoever]

I'd probably still do hoppers, even with the rediculous 1PM hopping threshold.

 

[mdmost]

If you are going to stay onsite all day until late into the evening and not leave to take a break or say go back to your hotel to take a swim, I think you would be fine with with just one park only tickets. There's so much to do in both parks now. I would make a plan of what you hope to accomplish and see if you think it's realistic to do in one park per day.

Personally, we always opt for park hoppers because we like the flexibility of going back to re-ride something or see a different land at night.

 

[Orion Nebula]

EDIT: Just realized this was Walt Disney Land... not world... lol

 

[Wedgeout]

Don’t think you would regret it. I do think the extra cost is well worth it though. Sundays and Mondays can be a completely different experience in each park. Having the extra freedom to explore is nice. If going to use the genie+, it gives more rides to use it on. The parks have different hours. If you like late night, once one closes you can finish out at the other.

 

[BadPinkTink]

nothing to see here, all sorted

 

[Orion Nebula]

At Disneyland the parks are beside each other across an esplanade, no buses needed. You are posting about Walt Disney World in a thread about Disneyland California

I had edited my post as quickly as possible. I realized that right away. =)

 

[gelatoni fan]

I think one park per day is good enough. With one day in each park, I don't think you'll get bored and feel like park hopping adds that much.

 

[Timandalicia]

We are planning our first trip to Disneyland in July. We will be going for 2 days...a Sunday and a Monday. Would we be ok with 1 park per day and just focus on that park? Or would we regret not having park hoppers? We have 3 children (16, 14, and 11) and our 14 year old has Down syndrome and will use a wheelchair for the trip so we don't move very quickly. We are very familiar with Disney World but not Disneyland. I know everyone says the parks are much smaller and easier to hop but would it be ok to just focus on one park a day?

We are doing one park a day. We usually park hop at Disney World but there are certain reasons like Epcot at night, crowd dodging etc.
It is easy to hop. The parks are literally right next to each other. But we don’t see the benefit. You can always upgrade while there too. Maybe start without it and see

 

[Dr. G]

I'd say it depends on how much you like the rides in each park.

For us, we aren't big into roller coasters or being thrown around a bunch so California Adventure is only a part-day park. If you like the following at WDW you may want a full day in California Adventure: Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller coaster, Soarin, Barnstormer, Kali River Rapids, Toy Story Midway Mania. There are similar rides in California Adventure.

If you prefer more of the Magic Kingdom feel at WDW, you'll probably want hoppers to spend part of both days in Disneyland.

Two days is pretty short especially with a wheelchair pace. You'd probably be able to fill a day in each park.

Another option would be to add the parkhopper when you get there, IF there are still reservations available. In this case I'd do the 1st day at Disneyland since you'll likely fill that day easier. The 2nd day start at California Adventure and if you find yourselves done and wishing you could go back into Disneyland, pay for the hopper then. Remember though: you are taking a risk that there won't be availability last minute at Disneyland the 2nd day under this approach.

Good luck with the decision, and have a great trip!

 

[Chickinvic]

I ALWAYS hop in California. I never have bothered at WDW, but park hopping at DL is a must for me. Enjoy your visit!

 

[goooof1]

Yes, always hoppers !

 

[SnowDog808]

+1 for park hopping.

We were just there last Friday and Saturday. Rode Webslingers and Smugglers Run both days and RotR on Saturday. But we’ve been to DL hundreds of times. If this was a first trip, spending a full day at each park isn’t bad. But DL closed at midnight while CA closed at 10 pm. We closed CA and hopped to DL for the last 90 minutes and had a blast. Lines were pretty short.