Why buy park hoppers?

[3littlecuties]

We are going for 2 days in mid July and plan to spend 1 day at Disneyland and 1 day at CA. I planned to just purchase the 1 park per day tickets but I've had several people now say to consider buying park hoppers. We have been to Disney World many times and do not purchase park hoppers. We just pick 1 park and focus on that as we find that too much time is lost traveling between parks. Also, my daughter will be in a medical stroller (like a wheelchair) and we don't move at a fast pass. This is our 1st trip to Disneyland. Is there a compelling reason to spend the extra money to get park hoppers? I know everything is much closer together in Disneyland. Any reason not to just focus on 1 park per day? The price difference is $1,125 vs $1,400.

 

[Mike_M]

The biggest reason to park hop in my opinion is how close the two parks are to each other. You can see the entrance to one park from the entrance of the other which is a big difference from Walt Disney World.

it is not unheard of to spend a couple hours in Disneyland, then cross over into California adventure and spend a couple hours there, then back again and so on.

in the end, it gives you flexibility. Let’s say after spending half a day in California adventure you decide you want to finish your trip in Disneyland. With a park hopper, you easily have that choice.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Plenty of people choose one park per day, so you can definitely do that! Park hopping takes five minutes and you don’t have to go through security again, which is why so many people do it. It’s nice to have the flexibility if say, you want to start you day in DCA but you really wish you could watch Fantasmic or fireworks in DL that evening. Or of one park is really crowded and the other is less busy it’s nice to hop over. You can also collect fastpasses in either park with MaxPass if you want. But focusing on one park per day works great too!

 

[jcatron243]

One park per day is fine. We have done it for several years to save on cost. (Although we do 5days at the park)

 

[becks59]

Park hopping is so easy and fast at Disneyland. I love the flexibility of moving between the parks. If things are busy at one, just hope to the other. You want to see a show in the other park, then just hop. It only takes about 1-2 minutes to go from Disneyland’s entrance to California adventures entrance.

 

[bcla]

It makes more sense the more days you have, since the additional price is about the same.

 

[noodle73]

I don't think the park hopper is worth the price especially if you are moving at a slower pace and don't want to walk ALL THE MILES. My kids are 4 & 6 and we don't bring a stroller so we plan our day to minimize walking. There's still a lot of walking obviously, but we'll do the parks mostly one land at a time instead of zigzagging all over, and walking back and forth from DL to DCA, even though there are close, is still not worth it. We went last fall and did one day at each park and were able to do everything we wanted to do. Some people say DCA is not a full day park but I think if it's your first time there and you're taking your time there is plenty to do for a whole day.

 

[crystal1313]

We usually do the same thing. One park per day. We like the money savings and we tend to get more done that way, only focusing on one park. I do have to say, this last time we all talked about maybe just doing DL both days instead. We love DCA, don't get me wrong, we just got everything done that we wanted too really early. That particular day I wished we had a PH.

 

[DLgal]

The most compelling reason (for me) is that DCA can be done pretty quickly and it's tough to spend a whole day there unless you literally plan to ride every ride, watch the Frozen show AND stick around for World of color. We love DCA, but DL has so much more to do by comparison that its hard to do it all in one day, and DCA is too easy to do in one day.

Plus, the walk between the 2 parks is literal yards long. It takes 3 minutes at a slow pace.

 

[MrJT]

DL has so much more to do by comparison that its hard to do it all in one day

Honestly, can you really do Disneyland in one day, especially in the summer?

 

[DLgal]

Honestly, can you really do Disneyland in one day, especially in the summer?

With Maxpass and hours of 8am-12 midnight you can do a whole lot!

 

[DryBananaHippyHat]

We never park hop. We went with friends last year who do park hop and it totally blew my mind when they announced back at Pooh Corner that their fastpass window for midway mania was available. Clear on the opposite side of the other park! *Cue internal screaming* That’s just too much walking/working through crowds for us, but maybe we’re just lazy. I find we are way more efficient just sticking to one park per day.

 

[Cal-Pie]

We used to always buy hoppers, then it just became cost-prohibitive for our family, and we weren't hopping enough to make it worth it. In all honesty, I haven't really missed it. The only time I consider hoppers is if we're spending more than 3 days in the parks.

 

[DLgal]

We never park hop. We went with friends last year who do park hop and it totally blew my mind when they announced back at Pooh Corner that their fastpass window for midway mania was available. Clear on the opposite side of the other park! *Cue internal screaming* That’s just too much walking/working through crowds for us, but maybe we’re just lazy. I find we are way more efficient just sticking to one park per day.

The window is an hour and 15 minutes, which is plenty of time to LEISURELY walk over there. We do that all the time. Just went from Star Wars land to Goofy's sky school last weekend. It took us less than 15 minutes.

 

[DryBananaHippyHat]

Yep. And that’s why I said for US we are just more efficient when we stick to one park per day. Everyone is different.

 

[tenneycjt]

Its nice if you say watch Frozen and then go over to disneyland for the parade or to eat. I love the freedom it affords

 

[Pamela M]

The most compelling reason (for me) is that DCA can be done pretty quickly and it's tough to spend a whole day there unless you literally plan to ride every ride, watch the Frozen show AND stick around for World of color. We love DCA, but DL has so much more to do by comparison that its hard to do it all in one day, and DCA is too easy to do in one day.

Plus, the walk between the 2 parks is literal yards long. It takes 3 minutes at a slow pace.

I agree with this but... if you plan on taking a rest mid day then doing 1 park per day will be ok. Just know that DCA is really a 1/2 day park especially since Bugs land is currently being turned into the Avengers Campus so a portion of the DCA is closed and under construction.

 

[mad hatter fan]

I think you will be just fine without hoppers. But keep in mind you could upgrade to hoppers on your 2nd day if you begin to feel like there isn’t enough to fill your day in CA or if You had regrets about not doing certain things on your DL day.

 

[DLgal]

I agree with this but... if you plan on taking a rest mid day then doing 1 park per day will be ok. Just know that DCA is really a 1/2 day park especially since Bugs land is currently being turned into the Avengers Campus so a portion of the DCA is closed and under construction.

They are coming in mid July. It should be open by then.

 

[BellaandMickey]

I have been going to Disneyland and Disneyworld regularly since I was 5, which was 30 years ago. I’ve never purchased hoppers at either place and I’ve never felt the need to.

(Obviously hoppers haven’t been available that whole time, I’m just saying how long I’ve been going to illustrate that I’m a seasoned Disney fan).