Is Disneyland Park Hopper Worth It in 2024? [How To Maximize Your Value]

Considering Park Hopper tickets for an upcoming visit to Disneyland Resort? With Park Hopper tickets, you can hop between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park within a single day. These tickets offer flexibility and convenience that can help you maximize your theme park time. However, Park Hopper isn’t a good choice for all Disneyland guests. 

Whether Disneyland Park Hopper is worth it depends on how long you plan to visit, how much you’re willing to spend, and how you like to visit the parks — fast-paced or more leisurely. 

Read on to see what you need to know about getting and using Disneyland Park Hopper, along with our recommendations for when Park Hopper is worth it and how to maximize your itinerary if you get Park Hopper tickets for your trip to Disneyland.

What Is Disneyland Park Hopper?

Disneyland Park Hopper is a type of Disneyland Resort park ticket that allows you to visit both theme parks in a single day. You can visit the second park starting at 11 a.m. and go between parks until each closes.

How Much Disneyland Park Hopper Costs

For a 1-day Disneyland ticket, you’ll pay $65 more to book a Park Hopper ticket. Multi-day ticket prices vary, but each day costs less the more days you book. 

For example, if you book a 5-day adult ticket, you’ll pay $75 more total for a Park Hopper ticket, but over 5 days, that’s just a difference of $15 per day for a Park Hopper ticket rather than a standard ticket.

Compare the costs for single and multi-day ticket prices for Disneyland with and without Park Hopper:

Southern California residents can take advantage of 3-day ticket offers starting at $75 per day for Monday to Thursday admission or from $92 per day for Monday to Sunday admission. It costs $70 per ticket to add Park Hopper to these resident tickets.

Park Hopper tickets don’t include parking, which starts at $35 daily. At Disneyland Resort, you’ll use the same parking lot whether you’re visiting Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park, so you don’t need to move your car or pay for parking again to go between parks.

Disneyland vacation packages include park tickets, and you can choose Park Hopper tickets.

Hot Tip:

Adding Genie+ starts at $30 per ticket daily and is subject to availability. You can buy Genie+ as an add-on to your ticket when purchasing it or buy it during your visit in the Disneyland app. 

Another way to park hop is with a Magic Key. Magic Key passholders can hop between parks like Park Hopper ticketholders do.

Where To Buy Disneyland Park Hopper Tickets

Disneyland Park Hopper tickets are available online at disneyland.com or in the Disneyland app. Your tickets are included in Disneyland vacation packages, and you can upgrade tickets to Park Hopper. You can also buy Park Hopper tickets at the gate when you visit Disneyland ticket booths. 

You may be able to find discount tickets from authorized ticket sellers. For example, Undercover Tourist, Costco, and AAA typically offer tickets to major theme parks, including Disneyland, often for lower than you’d pay by purchasing directly. 

Hot Tip:

Be sure to check for offers and discounts before you purchase your tickets. Disneyland sometimes offers ticket deals, such as discount tickets for Southern California residents or discounts on stays at Disneyland hotels.

How To Add Park Hopper to Existing Disneyland Tickets

Selecting Park Hopper when you book your Disneyland vacation package or buy your Disneyland tickets is easiest. But if you decide to add Park Hopper to your existing Disneyland tickets, it’s still fairly easy to do so.

You can upgrade your standard ticket to a Park Hopper ticket online by logging into your My Disneyland Account or the Disneyland app. You’ll need to select Tickets and Passes, then click the Modify link next to your ticket. You should be able to purchase Park Hopper as an add-on. 

If that doesn’t work, you can upgrade Disneyland standard tickets to Park Hopper tickets by calling 714-781-4636 or visiting a Guest Relations or ticket booth outside of either Disneyland park.

Bottom Line:

You can reserve a Park Hopper ticket 180 days before your trip. It’s best to reserve your tickets as soon as possible so you can secure the dates you want. 

How Disneyland Park Hopper Tickets Work

With Disneyland Park Hopper tickets, you can visit Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park on the same day.

First, you’ll make a reservation for the park where you want to start your day. You can enter the first park and then visit the next park at 11 a.m. without a reservation. After you’ve visited that park, you can go between the parks until closing time at either park. 

Let’s say you rope drop Disneyland Park at 8 a.m., then head to Disney California Adventure Park for most of the day starting at 11 a.m. You can head back to Disneyland in the evening to catch the fireworks and then stay until the park closes at midnight.

It takes just minutes to get between the parks at Disneyland Resort, so it’s easy to go from park to park throughout the day. That’s much different than Walt Disney World Resort, where you need transportation between parks.

Keep these Disneyland Park Hopper rules in mind:

• You must make a park reservation for the first park you plan to visit.
• You don’t have to make a park reservation for the second park.
• Park hopping is subject to availability. You may be unable to visit a second park if the park has reached capacity. 
• You can enter either park after 11 a.m., regardless of which park you choose for your day’s reservation.
• Each park has its own operating hours, so both parks may not be open at the same time. For example, Disneyland Park generally stays open later than Disney California Adventure Park.
• Reservations for dining or other prebooked experiences don’t guarantee access to a park, so booking experiences with the park you reserve for your first visit of the day is best.
• There’s no limit to how many times you can hop back and forth between parks per day, though you might get an error and need a lead to let you in if you’re hopping too fast — like checking into 1 park 20 to 30 minutes after you checked into the other park.

Consider where you’re staying. If you’re at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa or Pixar Place Hotel, you’ll have a private entrance to Disney California Adventure Park. It makes sense to start your Park Hopper day at that park and then move on to Disneyland. 

On the other hand, if you’re staying at Disneyland Hotel, The Anaheim Hotel, or other hotels with quick entrances to Disneyland, you should start at Disneyland Park and then go to Disney California Adventure Park.

Park Hopper tickets may offer more park availability for reservations during peak visiting days. Some days may have both parks available to reserve as a starting park, but others may only have Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park as a starting park. You can start at the park you can get a reservation for, then at 11 a.m., move to the other park — assuming it hasn’t reached capacity.

Hot Tip:

Download the Disneyland app and turn on notifications to find out when a park reaches capacity and you cannot switch between parks.

When To Use Disneyland Park Hopper

Disneyland Park Hopper can be worth it, especially if you don’t have much time to explore the parks. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park are close, so hopping between the parks is easy. However, the cost isn’t always worth it, particularly if you’d like to hit most of the attractions at each park.

Take these considerations in mind when choosing whether Disneyland Park Hopper is worth it for your trip:

• How Long You’re Staying: If you have a couple of days to visit Disneyland, you have enough time to do a park per day without hopping.
• How Much You’re Willing to Spend: Park Hopper tickets are more expensive than 1-park tickets. You can save money if you opt for regular tickets.
• How Much Ground You Can Cover: If you’re visiting on a busy park day, long lines may slow you down enough that enjoying both parks is difficult.
• Ages and Abilities of Traveling Companions: Families with young children may move more slowly through the park than adults or families with teenagers. Elderly visitors and those with mobility needs may find it difficult to speed through the parks fast enough to visit both in a day.
• Using Genie+: You can cut the line at many Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park attractions using Genie+, and doing so may help you cover ground fast enough to make it through both parks.
• Special Events: On some days, special events at the park can cut hours short, and the ability to hop to the next park can give you more park hours when you’d otherwise have to leave for the day.

1 Day at Disneyland

Let’s say you have only a day to visit Disneyland Resort and want to see as much as possible, or you can’t afford to buy a 2-day ticket, but you can buy a single-day ticket with Park Hopper. In either case, going for the Park Hopper ticket makes sense. You can pack a lot into a single day, especially if you splurge for Genie+, which will help you get through lines faster so you can experience more.

But let’s say you only really care about visiting Disneyland Park, and you could take it or leave it with Disney California Adventure Park. Or you have a couple of days and can spend a day at Disneyland Park and then hit Disney California Adventure Park the next day. Using Park Hopper is probably not worth the added expense and transition time.

Fast-Moving Park Hoppers

The decision to park hop or not also depends on who you’re bringing to Disneyland. Disney adults on a mission can knock out attractions quickly, so you might be able to hit the highlights you want to see in a park and then move on to the next. But families with small children or large groups will probably move at a slower pace and may find it challenging to do everything you want to get to at a single park, much less both.

Special Events 

Special events can also play a part in a Park Hopper strategy. For example, if a park closes early on the day you plan to visit, you can use Park Hopper to visit the other park that’s still open. That way, you don’t have to waste those park hours.

First-Time Visitors

First-time visitors may prefer not to use Park Hopper. If you’re unfamiliar with Disneyland parks and want time to explore them, you’ll probably want to spend a full day in each park. But if you’re returning to Disneyland with favorites in mind and don’t have to see everything, you might find value in being able to hop between parks to visit attractions that are most important to you.

Genie+

If you plan to use Genie+ along with Park Hopper, you can visit more attractions faster because you’ll spend less time in lines. That can make it easier to hit the attractions you want and then move on to the next park, where you can continue using Genie+. You can make reservations for either park, so you can plan ahead and hop to each park as your reservation times arise.

Disability Access Service

Guests using the Disneyland Disability Access Service can make ride reservations similar to Genie+. However, you can only reserve rides for the park you’re currently scanned into. Unlike Genie+, there’s no way to make reservations for later in the day and then park hop over once it’s time. You have to be in the park before you can reserve a ride.

How To Choose Between Park Hopper or Single Park Tickets

Consider these factors that might push you toward Park Hopper or a 1-park ticket. You don’t need to check all of these boxes, but these are some situations when either ticket may work better for you than the other:

Bottom Line:

When my family visited Disneyland Resort for the first time, we spent all day at Disneyland Park, from rope drop to close (exhausting but fun). Trying to park hop would have given us access to more attractions. However, even with Genie+ to speed us through some lines, we found it challenging to do everything we wanted at Disneyland Park. We generally prefer to enjoy everything we can at a single park rather than hit the highlights at multiple parks. I wouldn’t get Park Hopper when primarily planning to visit Disneyland Park as we did. Still, I would consider it if we want to spend time at Disney California Adventure Park and end at Disneyland Park later in the day.

The Best Disneyland Park Hopper Itineraries

The best way to plan your day with Disneyland Park Hopper tickets is to arrive at the first park early to take advantage of short morning lines, then transition to the next park after 11 a.m. If you want maximum park time, plan to finish your day at Disneyland Park, which almost always closes later than Disney California Adventure Park.

Here’s a sample itinerary for a day of Disneyland park hopping starting at Disneyland Park:

• Rope drop Disneyland Park so you can knock out some major rides before lines get too long. For example, you might want to hit Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, or Haunted Mansion early in the day before you park hop.
• Hop to Disney California Adventure Park at 11 a.m. and head to Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT! and Radiator Springs Racers.
• Break for lunch at Disney California Adventure Park, then hit a few more attractions, such as Incredicoaster, Toy Story Midway Mania!, and Soarin’, before you return to Disneyland.
• Hop back to Disneyland Park around 4 p.m. to visit other attractions such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, and it’s a small world.
• Break for dinner around 7 p.m., then take another shot at any attractions you might not have had time for earlier in the day.
• Enjoy nighttime fireworks and entertainment at Disneyland Park before you leave for the day.

Prefer to start at Disney California Adventure Park? Try this itinerary to make the most of your day:

• Rope drop Disney California Adventure Park for shorter lines at attractions such as Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: BREAKOUT!, Radiator Springs Racers, and WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure.
• Hop to Disneyland Park at 11 a.m. and head to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, then visit another attraction, such as Space Mountain, before you break for lunch.
• Break for lunch at Disneyland Park, then hit a few more attractions, such as Indiana Jones Adventure and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
• Hop back to Disney California Adventure Park around 4 p.m. to visit other attractions such as Toy Story Midway Mania!, Soarin’, and any attractions you missed or want to revisit.
• Break for dinner around 7 p.m. at Disney California Adventure Park or head to Disneyland Park.
• Hop back to Disneyland Park if you haven’t already so you can visit the Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Jungle Cruise, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin, or any other major attractions you didn’t get to earlier in the day.  
• Enjoy nighttime fireworks and entertainment at Disneyland Park before you leave the parks for the day.

Final Thoughts

While you can certainly have a great Disneyland vacation without Park Hopper tickets, the flexibility of Park Hopper can add more fun to your visit. Whether Park Hopper is worth it for your Disneyland vacation depends on how many days you have to visit, your budget, and how fast you think you’ll move through the parks.

For most people, having enough days to visit a park per day can be a better and more leisurely option than park hopping. But if you only have a single day to visit both parks or you like the flexibility of bouncing between parks and have the budget for it, Park Hopper tickets can pay off.