Two Great Parks So Very Close Together

We've got two photos here -- two angles from the same spot, with Disneyland to the left...

 ...and DCA to the right.

Disneyland Resort regulars have come to know this Esplanade as a wonderful transition zone where Monorails zip past and great Disney instrumental music plays nonstop.

For any park fans who have never been to Disneyland Resort (or at least not since DCA was built), this is a quick visual demonstration that, yes, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure really are that close to each other. It gives park-hopping new meaning; I'm sure someone in better shape than me could literally hop on one foot from one park to the other...or travel by pogo stick.

Now that DCA is finally a fantastic park, this area generates a unique, surreal atmopshere in the morning as guests line up at the opposing turnstyles, glancing over their shoulders and wishing they could somehow enter both parks simultaneously.

During the recent holiday season's busiest days, the lines for the two parks met in the middle.

A Beautiful Day For Park Hopping

 

Frequent Park Hopping -- switching from one park to the other multiple times in a single day -- has become a natural part of a Disneyland Resort vacation. In the shot above, we see the Monorail passing above guests as they cross the Esplanade from Disneyland Park to Disney California Adventure. The trek takes only a minute, for Park Hopping here is as easy as the stroll down Main Street U.S.A.

Since the opening of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, there seems to be an increasing tendency among visitors to tour Disneyland and Disney California Adventure as if they're two halves of one gigantic park. After all, to a guest standing at Disneyland's Main Street Railroad Station, It's a Small World and Cars Land are just about the same walking distance away!