Park hopping at Disneyland Resort is a frogtastic way to make the most of your theme park day! With Disneyland being a quick walk across the esplanade from Disney California Adventure Park, it's super easy to park hop. It's important to note that Disneyland has a theme park reservation system, making it so guests have to reserve which park to visit first each day in advance. But guests with Park Hopper tickets or Magic Key passes can go back and forth as much as they want, as Disneyland has removed the 11 a.m. time restriction as of June 9, 2026. Naturally, people have a lot of questions about park hopping at Disneyland. Luckily, Undercover Tourist has the answers!
FAQs
- When can you park hop? People with Park Hopper tickets or Magic Keys can hop (or enter either park) at any time. (There is no more 11 a.m. rule!)
- How does park hopping affect park reservations? Even though park hopping hours have changed, you still have to reserve a starting park. That said, when we tested it out on the first day, we were able to enter DCA before the park opened, even though we had a Disneyland Park reservation.
- How much does park hopping cost? Park hopping costs vary by day and type of ticket. You can save on Park Hopper tickets when you buy multi-day and promo tickets through Undercover Tourist. The Kids Summer Tickets include FREE park hopping!
- Is park hopping worth it? It depends. You can save money with a 1-Park per day ticket. Park hopping is more worth it for teens and adults, for people with promo tickets that include park hopping for free, multi-day tickets, and guests using Lightning Lanes.
- How long does it take to hop? How fast can you walk or roll? It takes about 1 minute to hop between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure.
Park Hopping Hours at Disneyland Resort — New Hours
Keep in mind that park hopping is slightly different at Disneyland versus Disney World, so if you are planning to visit Orlando, you’ll want to hop over to the correct post about hopping at Disney World.
Disneyland has removed the park-hopping restriction as of June 9, 2026. Here's what you need to know:
As of June 9, 2026:
- For guests with Park Hopper tickets (or Magic Key passes), park hopping is allowed at any time.
- In our personal experience on June 9, 2026, we had a Disneyland Park reservation, but we were able to enter Disney California Adventure prior to both parks officially opening at 8 a.m.
- No 11 a.m. wait required!
- Staying the same: You will still need to make a reservation for your starting theme park, but you do not need one for the second park.
Now that the park-hopping restriction has dropped, it adds a lot more flexibility for plans! Families can better maximize Lightning Lane across both parks and make full use of their day, without having to worry about that 11 a.m. time.
The two theme park entrances are just across from each other, making hopping a much quicker process on foot than at Disney World, where hoppers have to hop on a bus, boat, monorail or the Disney Skyliner to access another park.
If you're wondering if park hopping is worth it, or if you should stick to a 1-Park per day ticket, we will offer some advice in that department as well. Let’s go over the common questions about park hopping at Disneyland, including how hopping affects dining reservations and accessibility needs.
How to Reserve a Park Hopper Ticket
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Most ticket buyers can reserve up to 180 days in advance. We recommend that you book early so you have the best selection of dates and the park you want. Holidays and weekends book up quickly. So do Tuesdays and Wednesdays since they are usually the least expensive days to visit for single-day ticket buyers.
If you purchase directly through Disneyland, you have to choose your dates and starting park before you purchase. (But you can always cancel and rebook if you need to.) If you purchase discount Park Hopper tickets through Undercover Tourist, you will reserve them after you purchase them. You can even purchase tickets before the 180-day window. Then be prepared to make reservations once the reservation window opens up. (Plus, if Disneyland ticket prices go up before your visit, you will have locked in the lowest rates!)
Our Disneyland Park reservations post has all the steps and details for making or changing a reservation once you have tickets. But we want to offer a few tips:
- Look at the park hours before you reserve. (These are only released about six weeks in advance, but our best time to visit Disneyland post and Crowd Calendar will alert you to any red flags.)
- Check the availability calendar before you buy to make sure your dates and preferred starting park are available.
- After purchasing tickets, link them to your Disneyland account (you'll need to create an account if you don't have one).
- At Disneyland.com, tap/click My Disneyland, then Theme Park Reservations. Tap or click Make or Modify Park Reservations.
- If you are staying on-site, tap Hotel Reservations to link your hotel reservation before booking park days so you can open up a different pool of reservations for hotel guests.
- Tap Book Theme Park Reservation and create your party by selecting each name and Next. Select your date and the park where you wish to start your day, and then hit Next.
- This next step is important. Scroll down to select the Terms and Conditions and Confirm, or the reservation will not be finalized.
- You should be able to view the reservation, and you can repeat the steps to reserve the next day of your trip and so on.
- You can modify a reservation without having to cancel it.
- Try to start in each park at least once if you can. We love to take advantage of short wait times and low crowds at park opening, and starting in each park at least once gives you the best of both worlds.
- Consider where you are staying. If you are staying at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, the hotel has a theme park entrance directly into Disney California Adventure. If you want to take advantage of that in the morning, you'll need to start your day at that park. But if you want to end your day using that quick exit to the hotel, you can start in either park when hopping. If you were hoping to take the monorail in from Downtown Disney in the morning, you should start in Disneyland, since that is the monorail's only theme park stop.
How to Use Park Hopper as a Reservation and Park Strategy
Use your Park Hopper tickets as a strategy to get the starting park you want when booking theme park reservations. At times, one park may not have any reservations left during your visit for 1-Park per day tickets for one or either park. You might want to visit the other park, but then you check the calendar for Park Hopper tickets and see more options. A Park Hopper may be the ticket you need to unlock those days. Park Hopper tickets usually have better availability than the 1-Park tickets. You can see the difference between 1 Park per day availability compared to the Park Hopper availability at the same time from May 2022. (These images are for example only.)
Also, let's say only Disneyland Park is available for park hoppers to reserve as a starting park, but you want to experience Disney California Adventure too. If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can still get into the other park. So it really does open up your options!
Once again, if you are staying on-site at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels, you’ll want to link your hotel reservation and make park reservations through the hotel page. It will unlock better theme park availability for you! You can book rooms directly with your froggy friends to get a discounted rate, now with a refundable deposit. Ribbit!
This hopful availability link shows you the current status of available reservations for guests with 1-Park tickets, guests with Park Hopper tickets and Disneyland Resort hotel guests for the next 180 days. Magic Key Holders have a different Magic Key Access Calendar.
If you buy a short-term promo ticket, such as the California resident tickets or the summer promo tickets, they may have their own pool of availability. You'll want to reserve those as early as possible, especially if you want to visit on dates nearing their expiration, and they do fill up.
Strategies for Starting at Disneyland Park
There are several strategies we follow when starting at Disneyland and later hopping to Disney California Adventure. We have a 1-Day Park Hopper park plan that helps us get as much done as possible when starting at Disneyland. We enter the park early for rope drop to take advantage of the short morning lines. If we want to take the monorail from Downtown Disney (near Disneyland Hotel) in the morning, we start in Disneyland Park. (Since the monorail does not stop in Disney California Adventure.)
We use Lightning Lane Multi Pass to book priority Lightning Lanes that will disappear quickly throughout the day, such as Space Mountain or Indiana Jones Adventure. Then we take advantage of short standby lines in the first two hours of the day.
We watch World of Color at night, making sure we hit any important Pixar Pier attractions before they close for the show. Sometimes Incredicoaster and usually Toy Story Midway Mania! run during World of Color performances. The World of Color virtual queue opens at 12 p.m.
As of June 9, 2026, you can start making Lightning Lane reservations for Disney California Adventure after you've scanned into Disneyland Park!
Strategies for Starting at Disney California Adventure
When we start at Disney California Adventure, we follow our 1-Day Park Hopper park plan for starting at California Adventure. If we stay at Disney's Grand California Hotel, we like to use the hotel's theme park entrance. Again, we arrive for rope drop to maximize time and find the shortest morning lines. We like to hit Soarin', Guardians of the Galaxy and Toy Story Midway Mania as early as possible for the shortest waits. WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure is short at park opening. It and Radiator Springs Racers have single rider lines if our party is all over the age of 7.
If we plan to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland later, we either book a Lightning Lane Single Pass, or (to save money) save it for the last hour of the ride's opening for the shortest wait. A few hours before we hop, we book our first Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection for Disneyland Park and set an alarm to book the next ride two hours later. We can modify our time if we decide to hop later, and that does not affect any two-hour eligibility windows. We eat dinner early so we are ready to hop in place for the nighttime entertainment such as parades, fireworks and Fantasmic!.
As of June 9, 2026, you will be able to make Lightning Lanes for rides at Disneyland after you scan into DCA!
How Much Is Park Hopping?
The price varies depending on the length of the ticket and whether it is a promo ticket. Plus, don't froget you can save even more money (up to $59) on Park Hopper tickets through Undercover Tourist. (Save even more on promotional Park Hopper tickets when available.)
Here are Disneyland park hopping prices as of May 20, 2026:
- Add park hopping to a 1-day ticket: $70 - $90 (Tier 0-2: $70 per day, Tier 3-4: $80 per day, Tier 5-6: $90 per day)
- To add park hopping to a 2-day ticket: $100 ($50 per day)
- To add park hopping to a 3-day ticket: $110 ($36.60 per day)
- To add park hopping to a 4-day ticket: $120 ($30 per day)
- To add park hopping to a 5-day ticket: $135 ($27 per day)
California Resident Park Hopper Promo Tickets
Park hopping is much less for California Residents whenever there's a ticket deal. You do need to show ID for guests 18 and up upon first entry. Stay tuned for future deals!
Summer Kids' Ticket with FREE Park Hopping
Summer 2026 is THE summer to park hop. The Summer Kids' Ticket offer includes Park Hopper with admission for as low as $48 per day for ages 3-9 through Undercover Tourist! You can save up to $368 with this ticket.
Are Park Hopper Tickets Worth It?
You do not need a Park Hopper ticket at Disneyland. If this is your first visit and you are just getting to know and explore the parks, you may just want to skip it. If you only have one or two days, you might want to spend a full day in each park. There is plenty to keep you busy in each park, especially Disneyland Park. Eliminating Park Hopper is one way to save some green on Disneyland tickets. That being said, adding Park Hopper to a multi-day ticket is less expensive per day than adding it to a 1-Day Ticket. Plus, it's really nice to have the option. It's toadally hopful if you are interested in seeing nighttime entertainment, but the park hosting those must-see shows differs from where you want to spend your daytime hours.
One thing to note is that you need to make the decision of whether to hop or not hop before you purchase tickets. If you buy 1-Park Tickets and then decide to hop, you have to upgrade the tickets, and that can mess with your park reservations. You may be able to upgrade in the Disney app, but then check to see if you need to re-book a park reservation. It's best to decide before you buy!
Because the park entrances are less than a minute's walk from each other, park hopping is much easier and faster at Disneyland than at Disney World.
Frequently Asked Questions About Park Hopping at Disneyland Resort
Here are some more FAQs about park hopping.
How Can I Save on a Park Hopper Ticket?
Multi-day tickets are the way to go when saving at Disneyland. So at Disneyland Resort, adding Park Hopper to any multi-day ticket costs less per day than a 1-Day ticket. You can purchase discount Disneyland Park Hopper tickets through Undercover Tourist (with an option to include Lightning Lane Multi Pass)! Lightning Lane Multi Pass is a better deal when park hopping because you can access more rides with Lightning Lanes across two parks. Plus, Undercover Tourist Park Hopper tickets offer additional savings on multi-day tickets. And they come with our 365-day refund policy from the date of purchase. Another perk that comes from purchasing a ticket through Undercover Tourist is a FREE $20 Dining Dollars promo code with every ticket.
Another way multi-day tickets save money is that multi-day tickets are not subject to tiered pricing. So a weekend or holiday visit may cost $314 for just one day with park hopping. But a 5-Day Park Hopper from Undercover Tourist is $574.01 total, which comes to $114.80 per day! And it can be used for any five days of your stay with no blackout dates as long as there are reservations available. That’s a savings of $995.99 over five separate weekend visits! (Prices are subject to change.)
That being said, going without Park Hopper will save you right there if hopping is not important to you.
What If a Park Hits Capacity?
If a park were to hit capacity, it could pause letting people hop into the park. This is very rare. We've only seen this a couple of times in recent years. It can hoppen if the front of the park is crowded for a new parade. The park has to wait until crowds disperse around the park to let more people in. For the most part, it seems that people from each park hop to the other, balancing things out. We would not really worry about this unless it were a big opening, event or a really busy holiday. In that case, hop early and well before the entertainment you want to catch.
How Does Park Hopping Work With Magic Key Passes?
All Magic Key passes have park-hopping abilities. Magic Key holders must make a reservation for the first park they want to visit up. After they've scanned into their first park, Magic Key holders may visit either park.
How Quickly Can I Hop?
Do not enter a park and change your mind and hop too quickly. If you enter a park and decide to hop within about 20 to 30 minutes, you will get stopped at the other park and a lead will be called. They want to be sure that someone else did not use your ticket to enter the other park. They will confirm you are you and approve entry, but that delay is no fun. If you enter Disney California Adventure from the Grand Californian theme park entrance and then quickly exit that park and hop to Disneyland, you may get flagged and have to explain why you hopped so quickly.
Can I Make Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass Reservations for My Second Park Before Hopping?
Yes! This is a great strategy, actually. First of all, Lightning Lane Multi Pass is an especially good value when you park hop. Why? You get more ride choices for your money. But it also helps you set up your hopping time nicely, especially if you'll arrive in the other park during midday peak line times.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass times are distributed as first available (although the times can jump around from later or earlier). Our Disneyland Lightning Lane Multi Pass FAQ post has more on this and other Lightning Lane topics.
If you are sitting here wondering what Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass even are, they are optional paid services that allow you to reserve a window to ride. Hop over to our beginner guide to Disneyland Lightning Lane to learn more and get up to speed.
The value of Lightning Lane Multi Pass is really maximized when park hopping for several reasons. You have more ride choices across two parks when you hop. It allows you to skip some lines and accomplish more. And it allows you to reserve rides before you hop. Having a Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection or two lined up can send you straight to fun instead of a long line. We frogs are all about skipping the lines.
There is a third bougie option: Lightning Lane Premier Pass. It comes at a premium price, but it is more worth it when park hopping. When you pay for Premier Pass, you can just walk up and enter any available Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass attraction once per day. You don't have to reserve them.
It's a flat fee whether you park hop or stay in one park. If you are going to splurge for this pass, you may as well park hop to take advantage of skipping the lines for all the Lightning Lanes in both parks.
Why Is My Tip Board Only Displaying One Park?
In the Disneyland app, the Tip Board only shows you one park at a time. (And not necessarily the park you are in!) It seems to default to Disneyland Park for us. But sometimes, when we are in Disneyland Park, it shows us Disney California Adventure instead. At the top in tiny blue type, it says "Change Park." Tap that to switch to the other park. Whew!
What About Dining and Other Reservations?
You’ll want to plan your dining reservations around your park hopping. Or plan your park reservations based on when and where you are dining.
If you make a reservation to build a Lightsaber at Savi's Workshop in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, you'll need to have a valid theme park reservation for Disneyland Park (especially if you have a morning build time). If you have a park hopper ticket, you can access Disneyland after you've scanned into DCA.
Some people like to build near the end of the day. That way, they can take night pics with their lightsaber in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and not have to carry it around all day. If you are staying at a Disneyland hotel, you can have your purchase shipped to the hotel gift shop for next-day pickup.
How Do I Use DAS When Park Hopping?
A small number of guests use the Disneyland Disability Access Service (DAS). There have been changes made to how you acquire DAS. You can now reserve return times through the Disneyland app. Our Disneyland DAS post has all the deets. But park hopping does present a challenge. You may only be able to reserve rides for the park you are scanned into. You have to hop before you can make selections on your phone in the other park. If you want to reserve a ride in the other park, stop at a Guest Relations kiosk. Ask for a return time in the other park before you hop.
Tips for Park Hopping at Disneyland Resort
Keep these tips in mind when park hopping:
- Only purchase Park Hopper tickets for a multi-day ticket or promo ticket (to save money).
- Hop if you have teens and older kids, but consider sticking to one park per day with babies and toddlers.
- Make sure all members of your party have the same park reservation and ticket type.
- Use Lightning Lane Multi Pass strategically. Reserve rides in the other park before you hop so you can head straight to attractions without a wait.
- If you get a ride breakdown and receive a Multiple Experiences pass, you can tap it to see which rides are included. It allows you to use it for most rides in either park (for hoppers) any time before the park closes. You can select the park at the top to see which rides are included or excluded for either park. If we receive these in the morning, we save them to use in the second park. Ride selections are more limited in the afternoon, especially when hopping to Disney California Adventure.
- Consider where you want to end your day. Is it at Disneyland for fireworks or at Disney California Adventure for World of Color? If where you want to end your day is different from where you want to start your day, a Park Hopper is worth it for the flexibility.
- If you rent a stroller or wheelchair at Disneyland, you can just bring it with you when you hop.
- Make sure other reservations you have (dining, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and building lightsabers) fit into your theme park reservation schedule or fall into the afternoon or evening.
- Hold onto your reservation confirmation email. We once had to show ours when the system went down.
Looking for Park Hopper Disneyland tickets? You can get your 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-Day Park Hopper Tickets from Undercover Tourist to save some green. If you want to add Lightning Lane Multi Pass to all days of the ticket, you can purchase Park Hopper Tickets with Lightning Lane Multi Pass. If you aren't sure, or you only plan to use Lightning Lane Multi Pass some of the days, here's how to save money. Purchase just the Park Hopper tickets. Then add Lightning Lane Multi Pass onto your tickets through the Disneyland app each day once you have entered a theme park. Keep in mind that on busy days and holidays, Lightning Lanes may sell out before park opening!
Related: Tips to Maximize Time at Disneyland
Related: How to Save Money on Disneyland Tickets
Keep hopping!
