Park hopping planning

[Lucky'sMom]

I'd love some tips on how to efficiently park hop. All of the sample park schedules that I've found online are for one park only. I purchased the 3 day park hoppers, since so many people have recommended using them for DL. Could anyone give me an idea of how you do this for 3 days? We don't typically park hop at WDW, and I'm not sure how you plan your days doing this. Thanks so much!

 

[gottalovepluto]

We park hop based on EMH, dining plans & shows. If staying onsite EMH is for one park each day, if you're offsite this won't apply to you & you should start your day in the park where EMH isn't. We like to dine in DL, so we always go there for lunch. We like to drink in DCA (DL is dry FYI) so that's where we are for evening appetizers lol! An example I remember from our last trip: first half of the day in DL, pool break at hotel, evening appetizers & drinks in DCA, nighttime RSR, DCA closes & we hop to DL for late PTN & to hit up a couple rides over there (DL often closes later than DCA). We hop most on our last day as we try to hit everyone's favorites once more and/or hit up rides that were broken down when we tried previously (Indy & RSR are notorious for that). I wouldn't fret about how you'll utilize your hoppers. Another example (if you stay onsite) is EMH in DCA and after we hopped over to DL as it opened for the morning. Hopping tends to just happen for us but admittedly we are DL vets so my perspective is different from where you will be coming from. We know where we like to eat & drink so admittedly our stomaches are more often than not the guiding force for our hopping

 

[PaintsWindColors]

I love that park hopping is so easy at DL! We usually move from one park to the other based on crowds - we check wait times for rides and move to the next park if it looks like things are getting backed up. We've also exclusively park-hopped during meal times so that we could catch the lower crowds in the next park before stopping to eat.

 

[figment_jii]

I also do a lot of park hopping at DLR and only limited hopping at WDW. It might help to think of DLR like Epcot...DL is like Epcot's FW, DCA is like Epcot's WS and the Esplanade (the area between DL and DCA) is like the Future World bridge. I generally start in one park (e.g., whichever park doesn't have MM/EMH), then hop to the other park mid-afternoon. The evening depends on where I'm dining and the evening entertainment schedule. Normally, DL is open later than DCA, so if I'm at DCA at closing, I will hop back to DL for that last hour or two.

 

[fantasia73]

We always started the day at whichever park had EMH and then park hopped to the other park to get there for opening. This worked really well for us. Since the parks were so close together, several days we park hopped two or three times in a day. One day, we did EMH at DL, got to DCA for opening, went back to DL for lunch at Cafe Orleans, rested at the hotel and then returned to DL for dinner at Blue Bayou, PTN and DF. We weren't even that worn out, since walking distances weren't as far as you would experience at WDW.

 

[Indiana Scott]

We don't plan anything in advance. We just move between parks based on how crowded they are or what we feel like doing.
Planning every move kills the fun for us.

 

[ADLFAN]

The only way I really try to 'maximize' our park hoppers is to get a FP for RSR and TOT every day of our stay, otherwise we just go with the flow and if we want to hop, we do!

Have fun!

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Thanks, everyone. I am a planner, and really can't not be. I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

 

[goofyfan13]

We moved with (or against) the crowds. Found for us that it was best to plan to be at DCA when DL is CROWDED, late morning through early afternoon. Started and ended most days at DL. Park hoppers are a must for my family. The first time we were overwhelmed with the crowds and made the 100 yard walk to DCA, it made by day

 

[LizzyS]

I also do a lot of park hopping at DLR and only limited hopping at WDW. It might help to think of DLR like Epcot...DL is like Epcot's FW, DCA is like Epcot's WS and the Esplanade (the area between DL and DCA) is like the Future World bridge. I generally start in one park (e.g., whichever park doesn't have MM/EMH), then hop to the other park mid-afternoon. The evening depends on where I'm dining and the evening entertainment schedule. Normally, DL is open later than DCA, so if I'm at DCA at closing, I will hop back to DL for that last hour or two.

When you do this after DCA closes, are the lines pretty bad to get into DL or not too bad since it's later?

 

[Indiana Scott]

The only way I really try to 'maximize' our park hoppers is to get a FP for RSR and TOT every day of our stay, otherwise we just go with the flow and if we want to hop, we do!

Have fun!

We used PH's a lot during our last trip. We dont usually use them because we go when it's slow but this time we gave them a shot.
The thing we found is we ended up walking a lot more because of them. Since they had us returning about two hours later, we found ourselves wanting to go elsewhere in the park and then having to hide back for our return time. According to the app on my phone, we ended up walking about a mile farther during the day.

 

[SplashMo]

A few details about FP running will help.

1) Once a person has entered one of the parks a FP runnner can then run FP for them at both parks.

2) You can hold FP for both parks without any problems.

Then the basics:

Arrive at the front gate 45 minutes early each day. Do not use the GCH entrance to enter DCA in the morning.

I have rope droped DL with my group. Collected FP at INDY (because it was close by) then Rope dropped DCA using the right most line in hopes they will open more gates on that side (which they did). Collected FP for RSR and WOC then re-joined my party in DL at which point I could grab more FP for DL.

If I am in DL and it is getting crowded I will run a FP in DL for later and then go with my group to DCA.

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

We didn't hop as much; as PP mentioned, it makes for more walking if you are grabbing fast passes in both parks. I think our favorite part/ use for the hoppers was heading back mid day we would always go through DCA, hop on GRR 2-3 times (we went end of September last time and there was never a line) then run through GCH to get to PPH.

 

[texasgingerbread]

We hopped a ton...first time visit...got the 5 day PH. And we used the heck out of FP in both parks. Personally after being there and experiencing it, I would start most mornings in DL and then get the heck out of dodge and jump to DCA for the afternoons, etc.

You really only need one good morning at DCA to go straight to TSMM (unless you want to ride more than once). The rest of it can all be done via FP and we liked to ride RSR when it was dark outside. So we watched the DL app (it shows FP return times) and would send a runner to DCA because we were in DL for RSR tickets when our window was 45 min to one hour BEFORE we wanted to ride. By the time they made it out of DL into DCA and go the FP it was for the time we wanted. One day my hubby waited around for it to be our time so we only needed 30 min that day. It was usually around 10:45am for us when he would hop but we were on short park hour days. So if you want to ride RSR at 9pm you need to send a runner when the DL app says return time 8pm. Make sense?

We also would send a runner when we were hopping to DCA one hour-ish to grab Soarin FP so when we entered the park we turned right and rode it first. Again just watch the app return times. If we were going to hop to DCA at 2pm then we sent a runner at 1:00pm for a Soarin FP because the return time was about an hour later 2pm. (again low crowds and short park hours...watch the app)

Inside DL in Frontierland you can really play with all those rides...grab a FP for BTMRR, ride Pirates, ride HM, grab FP for Splash, ride BTMRR, Tarzan Treehouse, ride Pirates again if wanted, Grab indy FP, ride Splash, eat a meal (and especially get the pomegranate lemonade at Bengal BBQ or beignets from the to-go window at Cafe Orleans, tigger tail from Pooh's Corner when you're in the area), ride Indy. Or however it works. Lots of great FP ways to do this area because the return windows are usually shorter than 2 hours EXCEPT Indy so keep an eye on that and plan a meal after you grab it or something you wont need FP for.

 

[lindyv321]

I didn't realize you could hold FP for both parks at the same time! We've never had a runner go get passes from the other park before but it sounds like a great plan! I really want to ride RSR at night at least once this trip so having a runner may be the way to go.

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Just to clarify, my group only needs to have entered one park, and then I (the runner) can get FPs at the other park for all of us?

 

[disneychrista]

That is the beauty of park hopping at Disneyland you don't need to plan. You just do it.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Just to clarify, my group only needs to have entered one park, and then I (the runner) can get FPs at the other park for all of us?

This is correct.

 

[DLfan4]

We don't plan anything in advance. We just move between parks based on how crowded they are or what we feel like doing.
Planning every move kills the fun for us.

This is the same for us. When we had 3 day parkhoppers. we spent i day at DL one day at DCA and then on the 3rd day we parkhopped based on what we felt like going on.