Park hopping strategy Anaheim Disneyland

[milleroccie]

We are planning a trip to Disneyland/California adventure sometime the end of January/ beginning February 2023. Have purchased 4 day park hopper tickets w/genie+. Our park days are Sunday ( later weekend hours) through Wednesday ( shorter weekday hours). We plan to start 3 of our mornings at Disneyland and 1 morning at California Adventure. Which day should we start in California Adventure? We would like to go on a day where we have a better chance of getting on Radiator Springs Racers, GotG, etc. as standby and then get on again using Genie + ( knowing that RSR is a paid lightening lane).
Any suggestions?

 

[JavaDuck]

Are you staying on property? If so I would start two days at Disneyland and 2 days at California Adventure. If not, I would start at DCA on Tuesday or Wednesday. Monday tends to be a busy day at the parks. The single rider at Radiator Racers is a great option if you don't have younger riders in your party. When rope dropping DCA, I would do Radiator Racers first, then ride Guardians.

 

[milleroccie]

Are you staying on property? If so I would start two days at Disneyland and 2 days at California Adventure. If not, I would start at DCA on Tuesday or Wednesday. Monday tends to be a busy day at the parks. The single rider at Radiator Racers is a great option if you don't have younger riders in your party. When rope dropping DCA, I would do Radiator Racers first, then ride Guardians.

Thank you! We are not staying onsite. Appreciate your advice! My husband wanted to start with DCA on Sunday- I didn't think that was a good plan!

 

[Epicnemesis]

There is something anticlimactic of starting a trip in DCA. You almost have to start Sunday walking down main street. All other days should be more or less the same I think. I’d pick DCA on a day that it doesn’t open early for resort guests (assuming that is a thing st this point, I haven’t followed up on that in a while) that way you maximize rope drop instead of just joining an already long resort line.

 

[pharmama]

When you say end of January/beginning of February.... are you aware that the Disney100 celebration kicks off the weekend starting Friday Jan 27th and includes the premier of a new nighttime fireworks (and projection on weeknights) show, a new World of Color and the opening of Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway ride in Toontown? That will likely be a very busy weekend in the parks if that is the targeted start of your trip.

If you are indeed targeting that first week of Disney100 I'm not sure which day is which really matters too much. People have historically reported Mondays being busy but lately days where 1 day tickets are the lowest price tier have also been busy... and most Tues/Wed in Jan and Feb are indeed lowest tier.

I’d pick DCA on a day that it doesn’t open early for resort guests (assuming that is a thing st this point, I haven’t followed up on that in a while) that way you maximize rope drop instead of just joining an already long resort line.

This is not a thing anymore. Both parks are open 30 min early for onsite guests (though you can only go to whichever park you have a reservation to start at that day).

 

[Tksolomom]

I would do Sunday at Disneyland since that is the only day fireworks are on. I would probably do Monday at CA since it seems to be super busy on Mondays at DL.

 

[Pluto468]

We are planning a trip to Disneyland/California adventure sometime the end of January/ beginning February 2023. Have purchased 4 day park hopper tickets w/genie+. Our park days are Sunday ( later weekend hours) through Wednesday ( shorter weekday hours). We plan to start 3 of our mornings at Disneyland and 1 morning at California Adventure. Which day should we start in California Adventure? We would like to go on a day where we have a better chance of getting on Radiator Springs Racers, GotG, etc. as standby and then get on again using Genie + ( knowing that RSR is a paid lightening lane).
Any suggestions?

I would do DL-DCA-DL-DL.

 

[twodogs]

I would do Sunday at Disneyland since that is the only day fireworks are on. I would probably do Monday at CA since it seems to be super busy on Mondays at DL.

Since you have park hoppers, you can see the fireworks or night time enteratinment in either park, no matter which park you start in. It seems like every day is busy these days, so unless a park has an early closure for a hard ticket event, I am not sure it makes much difference.

As OP said, early entry for resort guests is in both parks every day, so that doesn't make a difference here either. RSR is NOT open during EE, so some resort guests will be lined up already by using their EE time to get over to the RSR line area, before you are even allowed in the park. The number of EE guests is not huge, but just know that even RDing it, you will still be behind a lot of folks for RSR who have EE. GOTG is open for EE. Your best best for riding RSR and GOTG standby and again with ILL$/LL is to definitely do RD, be at the front of the RD line (get there very early) and hope that both are operating at park opening. I agree that you should probably do RSR first, then GOTG, since the RSR line builds instantly and stays long all day long. GOTG takes longer to build in the morning. You can buy the RSR ILL$ as soon as you are all scanned into the park (you don't have to wait for RD, just have to scan in), as long as the return time is out far enough for your liking. You can also book GOTG LL as your first one after you enter the park, if the return time is what you want. You should be able to get on both rides twice in one day, barring major ride breakdowns of those rides. If the ride goes downs (especially true for RSR), then the line for ILL$ will be massive when it reopens as all of those folks that had return times during the down time will show up. At that point, the SB line slows to a crawl or a halt. Early in the morning, not many have purchased ILL$ yet, so the SB moves a little faster IMO. Single rider is great for RSR, but we don't like to split up on that ride because it is not as fun for us.

 

[milleroccie]

When you say end of January/beginning of February.... are you aware that the Disney100 celebration kicks off the weekend starting Friday Jan 27th and includes the premier of a new nighttime fireworks (and projection on weeknights) show, a new World of Color and the opening of Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway ride in Toontown? That will likely be a very busy weekend in the parks if that is the targeted start of your trip.

If you are indeed targeting that first week of Disney100 I'm not sure which day is which really matters too much. People have historically reported Mondays being busy but lately days where 1 day tickets are the lowest price tier have also been busy... and most Tues/Wed in Jan and Feb are indeed lowest tier.



This is not a thing anymore. Both parks are open 30 min early for onsite guests (though you can only go to whichever park you have a reservation to start at that day).

Yup! That's the week we've booked-months ago! Guess we will make a good plan going in and"lean into" the festivities. I've always been a detailed planner whenever we have done Disneyland/Disney World. Have managed Christmas crowds at Disney World just fine thanks to rope drop and Touring Plans, but with Genie+, Covid revenge travel, and now the 100 anniversary, I'm feeling like a novice again! Am considering looking at booking a Disney hotel at a $700 increase, for the early entry, but don't know if it would be worth it. Runaway Railway ride is throwing off my plan!

 

[Mrsjoneslilac]

I'll be in DL from 1/28 - 2/1. It's our first time! Yay! We booked months before the 100th celebrations were announced too. I've been trying so hard to get the World of Color Dessert Party tickets with no luck so far because of it. We are alternating with our park reservations. DL-DCA-DL-DCA-DL. Have fun and happy planning!

 

[chezcurrie]

Yup! That's the week we've booked-months ago! Guess we will make a good plan going in and"lean into" the festivities. I've always been a detailed planner whenever we have done Disneyland/Disney World. Have managed Christmas crowds at Disney World just fine thanks to rope drop and Touring Plans, but with Genie+, Covid revenge travel, and now the 100 anniversary, I'm feeling like a novice again! Am considering looking at booking a Disney hotel at a $700 increase, for the early entry, but don't know if it would be worth it. Runaway Railway ride is throwing off my plan!

Are you in the parks *on* the 27? Like others I usually advise starting at DL for a multi-day trip, and agree early morning is more beneficial in DL. However, if your day 1 is the 27th I might pivot to DCA to start As DL will likely be *crawling* with bloggers and instagrammers. But there nothing is like walking down main street to start, so if you avoid the main areas like Mickey & Minnies, or wherever there might be 100th specific march/treats (ie start in Galaxy’s edge) you could knock some headliners out in the am and then hop over to DCA. So I guess, what are your dates?

 

[milleroccie]

Are you in the parks *on* the 27? Like others I usually advise starting at DL for a multi-day trip, and agree early morning is more beneficial in DL. However, if your day 1 is the 27th I might pivot to DCA to start As DL will likely be *crawling* with bloggers and instagrammers. But there nothing is like walking down main street to start, so if you avoid the main areas like Mickey & Minnies, or wherever there might be 100th specific march/treats (ie start in Galaxy’s edge) you could knock some headliners out in the am and then hop over to DCA. So I guess, what are your dates?

Many Thanks!

 

[milleroccie]

I'll be in DL from 1/28 - 2/1. It's our first time! Yay! We booked months before the 100th celebrations were announced too. I've been trying so hard to get the World of Color Dessert Party tickets with no luck so far because of it. We are alternating with our park reservations. DL-DCA-DL-DCA-DL. Have fun and happy planning!

You have a great time as well! Any luck with your World of Color tickets? I've managed to get every reservation on my list so far (Not doing the dessert party), but its killing me getting up at 5:30 every morning to be ready to reserve at 6!

 

[Mrsjoneslilac]

You have a great time as well! Any luck with your World of Color tickets? I've managed to get every reservation on my list so far (Not doing the dessert party), but it’s killing me getting up at 5:30 every morning to be ready to reserve at 6!

Thank you! Nope. We never got one. We did find everything else we wanted. I guess we’ll just have to try and find a spot one of the nights we’re there. Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Lisa24jks]

Thank you! Nope. We never got one. We did find everything else we wanted. I guess we’ll just have to try and find a spot one of the nights we’re there. Enjoy your trip!!

I still don’t think they’ve released WOC dessert reservations beyond Jan 26th yet. I set a dining alert for the 28th and nothing yet.

 

[Mrsjoneslilac]

I still don’t think they’ve released WOC dessert reservations beyond Jan 26th yet. I set a dining alert for the 28th and nothing yet.

I was starting to suspect that they haven't been released yet. Are you using touring plans? I'm thinking about using a service like theirs for the first time.

 

[Lisa24jks]

I was starting to suspect that they haven't been released yet. Are you using touring plans? I'm thinking about using a service like theirs for the first time.

I use Mouse Dining and Mouse Watchers and nothing yet.

 

[Mrsjoneslilac]

I use Mouse Dining and Mouse Watchers and nothing yet.

Just got me reservation!! I used Mouse Watchers I hope you did too!

 

[Lisa24jks]

Just got me reservation!! I used Mouse Watchers I hope you did too!

I did and got mine for the 28th just now! So relieved!!!