XP - Disneyland: Park Hopper or 1-park/day

[Jillaroo]

I am taking my daughter to Disneyland for her 4th birthday. She has never been before and we are getting 3 day passes. We live in California, so this won't be a one time visit by any means but we are an 8 hour drive away. We will probably go yearly, or when she is a little older get season passes like friends do and go 4x a year or so.

I am undecided about whether to get park hopper tickets or the 1-park per day tickets for the first trip. I have no experience with the California Adventures park and don't know whether that would be enough for a whole day, or if we should just stick with Disneyland the whole time, or get the park hopper and maybe visit California Adventures for an afternoon.
I don't know if this is relevant but we are doing 2 character meals and will do a special dinner on her birthday.

Does anyone have experience or opinion on whether two park would be too much? Will I regret not getting a park hopper? It is a $120 difference.

[countthestars]

I would do a park a day. There's lots to do at CA. I *think* if you really found yourself bored after a half day at CA you could upgrade to hoppers (for the price of full three days, even if you're on day 2 of 3) but I wouldn't do that preemptively.

[lala]

Oct 20, 2016 16:07:08 GMT -5 countthestars said:

I would do a park a day. There's lots to do at CA. I *think* if you really found yourself bored after a half day at CA you could upgrade to hoppers (for the price of full three days, even if you're on day 2 of 3) but I wouldn't do that preemptively.

I agree with this - 2 days at DL, 1 at CA. 

[alleinesein]

You can easily spend a whole day in DCA. There are enough rides and shows to keep you occupied. The Redwood Creek Challenge trail can keep a kid busy for hours.

[sfgiantsjo]

I personally like the flexibility of going from park to park whenever. They are close enough to each other that I have been known get a fast pass for Soarin', then head back to Disneyland for lunch at Carnation, then go back to CA Adventure when my fastpass is up. Or I'll get world of color fastpasses, and spend the majority of my day in Disneyland. I go where the wind takes me, so it's worth it for me! There's lots to do in DCA - A Bug's land is super fun for the littles.