Is a Park Hopper Ticket at Disneyland Worth It?

photo credit: Loren Javier via Flickr

Short answer: yup.  And here’s why:  The merit of a Park Hopper ticket at Disney World may take a little more consideration (which I’ll lay out for you here in an upcoming post), but Disneyland is much easier to think about.  This is primarily because the Disneyland Resort is much smaller than Walt Disney World.

Why the Park Hopper Ticket Is Worth It

In Disneyland, you have two parks that are literally next door to each other.  When you go to enter the parks, you are in a middle walkway area with gates to Disneyland Park on one side and California Adventure on the other side.  So in this case, you could literally hop and skip (or, you know, just walk) between the two parks.  For Disney World veterans, this is kind of amazing since getting between parks in Disney World take a little more navigation and time.

Having Park Hopper tickets for Disneyland gives you a lot of flexibility.  Want to hit up Fantasyland and Adventureland in Disneyland Park in the Am, followed by a character meal at Ariel’s Grotto in California Adventure for lunch?  Sure!  Really like the night time portion at California Adventure?  You can spend most of your days in Disneyland, but hit up California Adventure each evening.

And did you know that the Fast Pass systems are not connected between the parks?  This means that with a Park Hopper ticket, you could go in to California Adventure at opening, grab a Fast Pass for Radiator Springs Racers, head over to Disneyland, get a Fast Pass for Space Mountain, rides a few rides, use your Fast Pass at Space Mountain, then head back over to California Adventure to use your Radiator Springs Racers Fast Pass.  It’s actually close enough to make that do able.  Just remember to get back to the right park in time for your Fast Pass window!

Do you absolutely need Park Hopper tickets?  No, you can certainly stick to one park a day if that’s more your style.  If you’ve only got two day tickets, for example, you may prefer to spend just one full day in each park, especially if it’s your first visit.  But if you’ve got more days, or if you have traveled to Disneyland before and have a decent idea of the rides you like most in each park, it can definitely be a valuable add on.