First Disneyland Trip Ever!

[Hog]

So we are making our way out to California for the first time ever. We plan on going 3 days total to DL/DCA. We don't plan on getting hopper passes and just doing 1 whole day at each park and then spending the 3rd day at whichever park we feel like we need more time in. Is this a mistake? Should we spend the extra money and get hoppers?

Also I have read most of the posts on what to skip because it's so similar to Disney World, so we plan on skipping those. But with 3 days be enough time to at least ride all the rides? We will be going January 23rd.

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[BrerGnat]

I tend to prefer park hopping. Disneyland takes FAR more time to "complete" than DCA but it is impossible to do it all in just a couple of days. Disneyland is just too crowded, usually, to get things done quickly. On thr other hand, DCA is much easier to bang out in one day. For this reason, park hopping makes sense. When DL is just too packed, hop over to DCA. When you are done at DCA, and you still have half a day left, head to DL to do more attractions.

I know the park hopping is expensive, but with only 3 days, it will definitely allow you to make the most of your time and be able to see all the nighttime entertainment as well.

[faline]

We spent a few nights in Disneyland in March and did purchase a park hopper. In retrospect, I wish we had not. The only time we actually entered both parks on the same day was a day we didn't really need to. We were on our way to Disneyland and my husband headed for the hotel park entrance (California Adventure) so we ended up walking through California Adventure on our way to Disneyland. This was not our first visit to Disneyland so we had some sense of the lay of the land and what we wanted to to and despite the short walk from one park to the other - did not utilize the park hopping feature.