Park-hopping Lines

[FallsChurchDad]

We haven't been to DL in 10 years; have been to WDW a few times since then. Bought park-hoppers for a DL-DCA visit in early January, with 6 people (3 adults, 3 kids).

I see many people mention on the Boards that park-hopping is easy in DL. It was certainly easy on our last visit, but that was in 2008 with no kids.

How is it now, with lines to enter each park? Is there a separate line for re-entry, if you already entered a park for the day? Or do you always have to go through the regular turnstiles?

We have MM at DL for one day (out of a 4-day ticket), so we were thinking about maybe just doing the first two hours in DL that day, then switching over to DCA. But if it might take a half hour to get into DCA at 10 am, we'll just stay longer in DL.

Also, if we want to leave the parks and have lunch in DTD, do we have to go thru security again? Is it worth it, or is it better to just eat in the parks?

Thanks!

 

[BrianL]

The lines are not bad excepting right when the other park opens (if you were in the earlier one) and after one closes and the other is still open. Even then, they go very fast. It's really easy and you go through any line.

Downtown Disney is now inside the security bubble, so there is no need to re-enter through a security checkpoint. I hope that helps.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Usually very fast! What time does DCA open that day? If it opens at 10 you will have a line at that time, but if it’s already been open for an hour or more I wouldn’t expect a line.

With short lines, it usually takes me 5 minutes or less to leave one park and hop to the other.

 

[ImDMous]

We were there Dec 1 & 2 and went back and forth several times throughout the day, never had more than 5 or 6 people in front of us at either park. This was the weekend of Candlelight so crowds were fairly heavy, but not impossible.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’d eat in the park or downtown Disney. Security lines in the evening to get back in looked too long for my taste on the harbor side.

 

[katyringo]

We never had a long wait park hoping on our last trips. One was during the week between Christmas and New Years and the other was the weekend after Thanksgiving. We even did magic morning at Disneyland and then headed to DCA right at opening for DCA and barley had a wait. The lines really are at security..

 

[cruisehopeful]

No special lines, but very easy to do. If you look at the farthest turnstiles on either side, you may find no line at all. People tend to line up in lines and overlook that there are entry points without any lines.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

Thanks everyone -- seems like we will be doing some park hopping!

We are staying on Harbor, so the comments from BrianL, smartlabel, and katyringo have me concerned about our plan on some days to do a park in the morning, go back to rest at the hotel, and then go back to the parks at night (hopefully with a stack of 3-5 FPs for the evening by using MaxPass while resting at the hotel).

We will be there Jan 6 (Sunday, last day of DL holiday stuff); Jan 7 (Monday, first day for many passholders to come back and visit, and DCA will still have holiday stuff), Jan 8 (Tuesday, last day of DCA holiday stuff), and Jan 9 (Wednesday, hopefully a less crowded day).

Our plan was: on Sunday, go early and late, using MaxPass and with a big hotel break in the afternoon; on Monday, do rope drop with no MaxPass and leave by 1 or 2 pm, and not go back to the parks; on Tuesday, use MM at DL, hop over to DCA after about 2 hours, and then just play it by ear the rest of the trip.

We have 3 boys, ages 7, 4 and 1. The older two love fast rides. DS4 naps maybe once a week these days, but I think he will be more tired at DL and could easily nap if we go back to the hotel. Even DS7 might nap one day, especially because we are adding this at the back end of a two-week trip to see family who are spread around California. With 4 days, we would tend to leave by 8 pm every day, even though the parks are open later, to keep the boys roughly on their regular sleep schedule.

SO --

1. Just how bad is security likely to be, say on Harbor Blvd at 5 pm on a Sunday?

2. Especially on the Sunday and Tuesday, would you plan to go back to the hotel and rest, or stay in the "bubble" to avoid going back thru security? We've got 4 days, so there is no reason to push through, I think. But if walking will take 30 minutes round trip and security will take 45 minutes, is it better to just stay?

3. If we do stay in the bubble, where are the good, chill places that would help our boys get their energy back? Maybe DL Railroad, Pirate's Lair, Redwood Creek, somewhere in DTD? Or will even these places be crowded?

4. Any other tips / things I might be missing?

Thanks very much!

 

[siskaren]

The Grand Californian is a great place to chill out for a few hours - you can enter through DTD (it's next to the Sephora store if I remember right).

 

[katyringo]

Thanks everyone -- seems like we will be doing some park hopping!

We are staying on Harbor, so the comments from BrianL, smartlabel, and katyringo have me concerned about our plan on some days to do a park in the morning, go back to rest at the hotel, and then go back to the parks at night (hopefully with a stack of 3-5 FPs for the evening by using MaxPass while resting at the hotel).

We will be there Jan 6 (Sunday, last day of DL holiday stuff); Jan 7 (Monday, first day for many passholders to come back and visit, and DCA will still have holiday stuff), Jan 8 (Tuesday, last day of DCA holiday stuff), and Jan 9 (Wednesday, hopefully a less crowded day).

Our plan was: on Sunday, go early and late, using MaxPass and with a big hotel break in the afternoon; on Monday, do rope drop with no MaxPass and leave by 1 or 2 pm, and not go back to the parks; on Tuesday, use MM at DL, hop over to DCA after about 2 hours, and then just play it by ear the rest of the trip.

We have 3 boys, ages 7, 4 and 1. The older two love fast rides. DS4 naps maybe once a week these days, but I think he will be more tired at DL and could easily nap if we go back to the hotel. Even DS7 might nap one day, especially because we are adding this at the back end of a two-week trip to see family who are spread around California. With 4 days, we would tend to leave by 8 pm every day, even though the parks are open later, to keep the boys roughly on their regular sleep schedule.

SO --

1. Just how bad is security likely to be, say on Harbor Blvd at 5 pm on a Sunday?

2. Especially on the Sunday and Tuesday, would you plan to go back to the hotel and rest, or stay in the "bubble" to avoid going back thru security? We've got 4 days, so there is no reason to push through, I think. But if walking will take 30 minutes round trip and security will take 45 minutes, is it better to just stay?

3. If we do stay in the bubble, where are the good, chill places that would help our boys get their energy back? Maybe DL Railroad, Pirate's Lair, Redwood Creek, somewhere in DTD? Or will even these places be crowded?

4. Any other tips / things I might be missing?

Thanks very much!

We always take a hotel break. The lines at security on harbor were never a problem later in the day.

 

[serendipityaey]

I’ve found the lines at Harbor to only be a problem starting around 9-10 and so when most people are getting up and going.

 

[tarheelalum]

Thanks everyone -- seems like we will be doing some park hopping!

We are staying on Harbor, so the comments from BrianL, smartlabel, and katyringo have me concerned about our plan on some days to do a park in the morning, go back to rest at the hotel, and then go back to the parks at night (hopefully with a stack of 3-5 FPs for the evening by using MaxPass while resting at the hotel).

We always leave after lunch and come back in the late afternoon. The waits are not that bad. You may have to wait 10 minutes or so. Probably less so don't worry about the security lines. They may look long but are often not that bad. But if you are really concerned about the wait times, split your group up and have one half of the group go in one line and the other in the next line over. My wife and I often do this if the lines are long because some security of the people are really slow or do their job a little too good and take forever. So if one of the lines is moving a lot faster than the other, the one slow line joins the one in the fast line. But unless you have like 50+ people in every line, I wouldn't bother with it. And if you want to relax, ride the railroad or go sit in the back of Hungry Bear's outside seating. Both of those of super relaxing.

And be sure to relax and enjoy the trip. Its not like Disney World where everything has to be planned out like a military operation. In fact too much planning is bad at Disneyland because rides go down or crowds get bad or you can't cross a parade or Fantastmic crowds to get to where you hoped to go. Be sure to take it is easy and have a great time at Disneyland.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

And be sure to relax and enjoy the trip. Its not like Disney World where everything has to be planned out like a military operation. In fact too much planning is bad at Disneyland because rides go down or crowds get bad or you can't cross a parade or Fantastmic crowds to get to where you hoped to go. Be sure to take it is easy and have a great time at Disneyland.

Thanks for all your advice but especially this.