Greetings, Landen, and welcome to planDisney! Three days is the perfect amount of time to experience many of the attractions and entertainment offerings at the Disneyland Resort. The first step will be securing your theme park tickets and reservations.
You're welcome to upgrade your 3-day, one-park-per-day ticket to a
Park Hopper ticket, but the cost to upgrade would cover all the days – you can't upgrade for just one day.
I took a look at the
Disneyland Theme Park Tickets page to compare estimated pricing if you were to split up your tickets. For example, you could purchase a 2-day, one-park-per-day ticket and a 1-day Park Hopper ticket, or two 1-day, one-park-per-day tickets and a 1-day Park Hopper ticket. However, in most cases, the best value is to upgrade your 3-day ticket to a Park Hopper ticket rather than splitting the tickets and getting a Park Hopper for only one day.
With a
Park Hopper ticket, you could switch between Disneyland Park and California Adventure starting at 11 a.m. The park you have a reservation for is where you'd start the morning. Upgrading would give you the flexibility to move between the parks for each day of your visit. I have a
Magic Key pass, which has the park hopping benefit. It's nice to switch to the other park later in the day, especially if there's a show I want to see or a spot I want to eat at. If you're thinking of getting the
Lightning Lane Multi Pass, it's beneficial to have a Park Hopper ticket, too, since you can use the multi pass on attractions in both parks. It's something to consider!
Of course, you could also plan to visit one park per day. Spend one day in Disneyland Park and one in California Adventure. Then spend the third day revisiting your favorite!
You'll make
theme park reservations as part of your ticket purchase on the Disneyland website. However, you can modify your reservations afterward if needed. Sign in to your MyDisney account on the
Disneyland website, hover over the "My Disneyland" tab, and then click "My Plans." You should see your current reservations there. Alternatively, you can sign in on the
Disneyland mobile app, tap the three horizontal lines (☰), and then tap "Future Plans." There are times when reservations may become unavailable for a specific day or park, so I recommend modifying them sooner rather than later, if possible.
Landen, I hope this information has helped you decide how you'd like to approach your ticket purchase. If you think of any other questions as you continue planning, please reach out – we're always happy to help here at planDisney!
Your pal,
Kriss