Two Day Park Hopper or Three Day Single Park?

[ashaway12]

My wife and two daughters (10 and 7) are taking our first trip to Disneyland next year. The current plan is to do three nights at the Hilton Universal City (one day at universal studios and two days sightseeing in LA) and four nights at the Disneyland Hotel. My question is should we do a two day park hopper ticket or three day single park? Cost is almost equal. The two day park hopper benefit is that it gives us the ability to have a day in between park days to have a pool day to rest up. By the same token I don’t want to shortchange our trip by not having enough park time. With the two day park hopper my thought was one full day at Disneyland, the other day at DCA but then end the day at Disneyland and finish what we may have missed there. A three day park hopper is creeping up to being too expensive for what we want to spend. Thanks for your help!

 

[irlandaise]

Hmmm, tough one. The Disneyland Resort is the perfect place for park hoppers because Disneyland and California Adventure are so close. But two days doesn't seem like enough; I'm afraid you'll be frantic to do everything in your limited time and won't have a chance to just relax and soak up the unique atmosphere of Walt's own park. Any chance you could put more in the piggy bank before your trip and get three-day hoppers?

 

[DisneylandFan22]

I would consider getting the 3 day single park with 2 DL days and 1 DCA day and reducing your LA sightseeing time by 1 day, then using that as a DL pool day.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Three day park hopper.

If not that … three day single park (DL, DCA, DL).

Edited to add: Have you priced out a three-day park hopper from a discount ticket site rather than directly from Disney? Would save a little money and could help with your decision.

 

[DLgal]

Always Park Hopper. Always.

 

[StarlitNight05]

That's tough. I would say three days, but I cannot imagine not having a park hopper. The parks are just a stones throw from each other. Park hopping is nice for flexibility...is one park too crowded? Hop to the next. You may find that your kids (or you!) really love one particular ride, and if you are "stuck" in one park that can feel restricting.

You mentioned you are staying at DLH. What type of room do you have? If you plan on being in the parks alot as a first time visitor, I'd opt for a standard room (if that's not what you already have). That could free up some funds for the three day hopper.

ETA: I asked DH his perspective on this and he voted for hoppers. He made an excellent point I neglected to mention...ride breakdowns. On our last trip when we were in DL on our final day there was ride breakdown after ride breakdown. If not for our hoppers we would have been pretty unhappy.

 

[Aspencreek]

If the choice is down to 2 days with hopping or 3 days without I'd for sure take the 3 days without. Then I'd plan on doing a DCA sandwich with 1 day at DL, 1 at DCA, then back to DL to finish it off. With this being your first visit and with so much to do and explore staying in 1 park all day would be just fine.

 

[starlite_]

3 days for sure.