Worth Park Hopper for only one day at parks

[infoseeker72964a]

Will be going to Disneyland this Sunday September 1. Is it worth it for a first timer to get a park hopper to go to DCA at night? Worried that it may be too crowed since its Labor Day weekend so may only stay in one park.

 

[RobertaMomof2]

Personally, I say no. Just do Disneyland all day and late into the night. For sure add in MaxPass though. You can do mobile ordering (which will save you time in the food lines) and get your fastpasses while you eat. For sure worth it! Enjoy your trip!

 

[infoseeker72964a]

Personally, I say no. Just do Disneyland all day and late into the night. For sure add in MaxPass though. You can do mobile ordering (which will save you time in the food lines) and get your fastpasses while you eat. For sure worth it! Enjoy your trip!

Thanks!

 

[figment_jii]

It depends on what you want to do in DCA and how much of a priority those things are. The two parks have pretty similar hours (DL is open until 11 and DCA is open until 10), so you probably wouldn't be able to get back into DL and do much after DCA closes (especially if you wait to watch WoC at 10:15 pm or hop into line right at DCA's closing time). Personally, I'd probably forgo getting a park hopper for a first time visit and concentrate on seeing as much of DL as possible. Then plan a longer trip that includes both parks the next time around.

(Caveat: All that being said, park hopping at DLR is pretty easy; the two parks are about 110 yards apart. It's possible to exit DL and enter DCA in under 5 minutes (it all depends on how long the ticket gate lines are). So if you really wanted to see something(s) in DCA, you probably won't lose a ton of time going between the parks.)

 

[Mike_M]

My vote is no to a park hopper as well.

I’ve done single day trips before and while you could probably cover a lot in a day with Maxpass, it would be a whirlwind - blink and you’ll miss it kind of day.

Focus on one park (Disneyland itself imho) and enjoy it more. Maxpass for sure to cover the big rides as well.

 

[haileymarie92]

For a single day, I would say no unless there’s something in DCA that you just -have- to do.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Only having one day makes a PH even more important.

 

[hyperminimalism]

Having been to DCA plenty of times, it's a staple of my DL visits now and I could not imagine not being able to hop across the parks at this point. However, if you've not been yet and you're only spending one day there I think you could probably just visit Disneyland for a one day trip this time. Plenty of people I've seen only like to do one park per day and it seems like they're able to do that easily. For me, though, I would not miss out on DCA. There's more than enough there that I know I'd want to do if I was going for one day but that's just me.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

The lower APs are blocked on 9/01 and Flex needs reservations that day, so it could be less crowded than you're expecting. Busy? Probably. Packed? Probably not. That leaves the park hopping question open. I think it depends on what you want to do and how hard you're willing to hit the parks. If there are rides/shows/attractions/food/etc. that are priorities for you (e.g. "If I leave today without seeing/doing X, I'm going to be very disappointed") in both parks, then get the park hopper and plan well. If you find that most/all of your top priorities are in one park, then you might be just fine with a one park ticket.

 

[DisTXMom]

If we had 1 day, we would choose DL and no hopper. We like DCA, but that would be a pricey add-on when you’ll have a very full day at DL.

 

[ktlm]

We would absolutely 100% do the hopper. On labor day weekend, I would probably do the hopper and add Max Pass. We are typically WDW people, and our first trip to Disneyland (since I was a kid) was about 10 years ago. I was on a business trip in the summer and I took DH with me and we got hoppers, stayed from open to close and did pretty much every ride in both parks and hit the Aladdin show (of course that was before Carsland and Star Wars and we did not have our DD with us who was 2 at the time so we were moving quickly from one thing to the next). Hopping takes no time at all at DLR-- the walk between parks is about the length of a football field and you do not have to go through security again to hop between parks. It is a 5 minute process unlike at WDW where hopping can take an hour or more. We had a fantastic time that first trip hitting both parks in one day. . We wound up going back to DL when DD was 4 so that she could see the Aladdin show before it was gone. Both of those trips were supposed to be one time only trips since we were "WDW people". We have been to DLR every year since we took DD when she was 4. We got hooked.

I don't know what ages you have with you, but Radiator Springs Racers has a single rider line. To us, a hopper would be worth it just to see Carsland (it is amazing and we are not Cars movie fans) and to single rider that ride.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

Take a look at the attractions available at California Adventure, and decide how much they interest you. If you have someone in your party that just MUST ride Guardians of the Galaxy or see Carsland, for example, then the park hopper may be worth it. But if you are finding that no California Adventure attractions are must-dos, then skip the park hoppers. You can get so much out of a day spent just at Disneyland. In fact, you could spend 3 days just at Disneyland and still feel like you haven't done it all. For me, California Adventure is a half day park at best, and the only rides I really like there are Toy Story Midway Mania and Soarin' (I've never understood the popularity of Carsland). I do think that California Adventure is worth seeing at least once, but perhaps on a different trip when you have more time to spend at both parks.

 

[skyblue17]

I would say yes, but it also depends on what you want to get out of your trips and what kind of rides are important to you. If you plan on doing rides that have FP, a PH is great because you can book FPs for rides in either park. If you aren't interested in shows or restaurants and are mostly going to see the parks and ride, you'll have more options available to you if you have a PH. If there are things you definitely aren't interested in doing or trying, that will help make the decision too. It also depends how much time you are planning on spending at the parks. If it's a full day, morning til close type deal, go for the PH.

 

[jbh275]

I agree, well worth it, I would go ahead and add the max pass too.

 

[chickapin parterre]

It is your very first visit to Disneyland, how will you know if it is crowded? There is so much to see beyond the attractions, Main street could take you a good two hours just to see the themes, shows, music and riding each street element. A whole different visit at night with small world, monorail, autopia, jungle cruise, NOS, Big thunder, train, why toontown has some fun night lights. ....and what about fireworks on our tiny castle....and are you visiting SWGE?