Hello & welcome to the wonderful world of Disneyland planning!
Our oldest son was 23 months old his first trip to Disneyland and my husband and I fell so in love with seeing his face light up at all the Disney magic that we became Disneyland regulars. Our 2 other kids have been just as enamored with the magic at that age, so I highly recommend the age & feel it’s such a magical time go! So good for you to take her now.
Our youngest right now is 23 months old and his favorite things to do include the parades, anything with music/dancing (so lots of the atmospheric shows, Disney Jr. Live), any ride that spins in a gentle, circular motion, but most especially Dumbo & the carousel and any of the transportation rides (boats, train, Main Street Vehicles, etc. because he has learned that people will wave and he LOVES to wave to people). He also loves the dark rides that don’t have intense or dark scenes (it’s a small world, Winnie the Pooh, Monsters Inc, Little Mermaid). He is terrified of Snow White’s & Pinocchio’s so we won’t take him on Mr. Toad’s or Roger Rabbit’s for right now either. Our other 2 kids were similar and all 3 also really love meeting characters, especially Mickey, Minnie & Pluto (that they know & love & recognize from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)& pretty much any princess bc they are always so sweet & interactive with kids of ALL ages, seriously, even as little as 2-3 months old (which is the youngest our 2 younger kids were when they first entered a Disney park).
So all this to say your plan of a light itinerary with minimal waiting PLUS using the rider switch for some things you and the wife want to do are a perfect recipe for a successful/enjoyal trip!
I think that 2 days at Disneyland and 1 at DCA is a good balance of the 2 parks for her age. Just know that DCA has some real highlights for both you (Soarin, Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, Incredicoaster, Radiator Springs Racers) and her (Disney Jr Live, if she’s tall enough - 32" with shoes on- for the 2 smaller rides in Carsland both are excellent for that demographic). So just make sure you go in with a solid plan to prioritize what you really want to get done. By the time you go both the new Jessie’s Critter Carousel & Inside Out Whirlwind of Emotion rides should be operating & both will be big hits for her age! My kids always enjoyed the old sea-creature carousel that Jessie’s is replacing & I will venture they will love it even more with specific Disney Pixar theming. And as for the Inside Out ride, they are re-purposing the former Flik’s Fliers from the recently demolished A Bug’s Land and re-theming it to go in the Pixar Pier area. The ride was a HUGE hit with the baby before they took it away & so that should be another great one for her in DCA.
Then for midday breaks- they are ESSENTIAL at this age for the kids and for you. We generally try to leave by 1:30-2pm (with 2 of our kids being way past the nap stage it can get hard to drag them away from the fun but when they were younger it was so apparent & easy to know right around noon/1pm when they were ready to break). I don’t think it makes a huge difference between breaking from 12-4 vs. 1-5pm but if you’re staying at a hotel where you will use the Harbor security stations (on the east side of the resort) to enter back, erring on the side of earlier is better as those can get very backed up especially if traffic is diverted from Mickey & friends to park at Toy Story lot which will have busses coming from it to the east side & you may see a large surge of locals driving from home after work/school come down to DL for dinner/nighttime shows/etc.
Overall, I think you’re setting good expectations to enjoy the experience, Star Wars be damned & I do think you’ll have an amazing time with your daughter being at that magical age. As for any tips, tricks, things not to miss: (in addition to a lot of the rides already mentioned), Soundsational Parade, Mickey & the Magical Map, Disney Jr Live and allowing her time to roam in the play areas at ToonTown, Redwood Creek Challenge trail!
Happy planning & any other questions, fire away!