Hiya, Kathy!
Welcome to planDisney! Thank you so much for sending this
Disneyland Resort vacation planning question to us hEAR! I'm Kristen, and I'm happy to be your planEAR today!
Oh Boy! You'll be at The Happiest Place on Earth in just two more sleeps, Kathy! I agree, the
Park Pass Reservation system is kind of a mess in cases like yours. While Park Hopping does start at 1:00 P.M., if you selected
Disney California Adventure Park as your
starting theme park for your
Park Hopper Theme Park Admission Ticket, then you will need to visit Disney California Adventure Park to validate your ticket before you can hop over to Walt's original theme park,
Disneyland Park.
The good thing is that this visit doesn't need to be that long, about 20 minutes or so. While you could enter
Disney California Adventure Park, exit right away, and go straight over to
Disneyland Park, your
park ticket will sort of tattle on you when you try to scan it at
Disneyland Park for not having stayed in your starting park long enough. The nice thing about visiting during this
holly jolly time of yEAR is that everything is so beautifully decorated, you might enjoy seeing the second park all decked out. (You won't want to miss
Cars Land!) Disney California Adventure Park is also home to the
Disney Festival of Holidays which showcases cultural celebrations and traditions from all across the globe through
performances, songs, and even
holiday food!
I'm so sorry that this answer might not have been what you wanted to hEAR, but I hope that it helped to clEAR your question up, Kathy. Be sure to follow the
official planDisney Panel Instagram account for even more tips and tricks. And if you have any more
Disneyland Resort park planning questions, We're All Ears!
~Kristen N.