Park Hopper Day - Start at DCA or DL first?

[CableKC]

We are only spending 1 day at Disneyland, so we'll be doing a Park Hopper.

Is it better to start the day at DCA and then go over to DL for the 2nd half of the day?

or

Should I start at DL, go over to DCA after 1pm then go back to DL for dinner?

We usually don't spend as much time at DCA, so I was thinking that we just do DCA in the morning then go over to DL for the rest of the day. But then I was thinking that we could start at DL at rope drop, stay there till 1pm then go back to DL after 6:30pm for the rest of the evening.

Most of the popular rides that we like to go on are at DL, so I was thinking that it would be better to make a run for them at the DL Rope drop. Of course, that means that we're going back and forth between the parks.

Thoughts on which is better?

 

[DisneylandFan22]

With what you have said I would rope drop at DL, hop to DCA, and then hop back and close out DL.

 

[CableKC]

With what you have said I would rope drop at DL, hop to DCA, and then hop back and close out DL.

I'm leaning towards this only because I feel that there is more to do at DL than there is at DCA. I'm gonna pay for Genie+ anyway, but I figure that I'd try to hit the hard rides to get on at rope drop at DL.

 

[J_GN]

FYI you can park hop at 11am now, instead of 1pm.

 

[DisneylandFan22]

FYI you can rope drop at 11am now, instead of 1pm.

*park hop

 

[Pluto468]

I like your plan of DL-DCA-DL. I can never wait to get into Disneyland lol. You can rope drop, then hop and go back to DL for dinner, etc.

 

[Lisa24jks]

I did a one day trip last weekend and did exactly that and it worked out well. Rope dropped DL, hit a lot of rides early that either had short lines or used Genie+, hopped over to DCA for lunch and hit up my faves there, then back to DLR in time for the second parade of Magic Happens, dinner, more rides and fireworks. Obviously, you won't be able to do EVERYTHING in one day, but if you prioritize your favorites, you can have a really great day that way.

 

[JavaDuck]

If you are staying at a Disney hotel and can use early entry, I would start at DCA since Guardians and Incredicoaster are part of the early entry. Then you can finish off DCA and hop over to DL at 11am. The parks are so close to each other so it is easy to hop. We usually hop at least twice a day.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

If you use early entry at DCA you can get on alot of rides early. Practically walk onto Guardians. The lines build slower at DCA so you can get a lot done earlier. We’ve noticed DCA tends to get really crowded around lunch time (people hopping over for the better food options?). But if you’re only there 1 day it’s a toss up! Genie + makes it easier to hit the big rides in either park.

 

[DLgal]

I would also recommend rope drop DL-DCA around 1 or 2pm-DL until close. If you can power through that long, that is 16 hours which is enough to do all the highlights.

 

[vakamalua]

You all have so much energy!