Two days of solo DLR parkhopping. Which park to start in on which day?

I’m planning a solo trip to the Disneyland Resort in early August. I’m not a first-time visitor, but the last time I went was in 2018 and a lot has changed! Also this is my first solo trip. Trying to come up with a plan that factors in single rider lines, genie+, park reservations, and the no-park-hopping-until-1PM rule is sending me in circles.

The first choice I need to make: which park to reserve on which day?

Part of me thinks I should reserve one day in DCA and one day in Disneyland, so I can have one morning to rope drop each. But there are more rides I’m interested in at Disneyland, so I’m wondering if I should reserve two days there, and on one of the days, stack up Genie+ at DCA and head there after one. (I’m definitely buying Genie+; it seems like a necessity since I’ll be there on days with an 8 or 9 crowd level.)

Two other questions:
• In the Maxpass days, I religiously followed whatever plan the Lines app told me to follow. But given that the current version doesn’t support Genie+ forecasts, it seems a lot less relevant. I’m wondering if I’m better off using the Becky G+ Techniques plus single-rider lines and just kind of winging it. Is there a best practice for using Lines and Genie+ simultaneously?

• On general principle, I hate paying for individual ride access. But ROTR is the ride I’m most excited about, and a single ILL for it is well within my budget. My sense is that standby lines jump up to 60 minutes or higher pretty much immediately on opening, and the only way to avoid that is to be first in line for rope drop. But how early do I need to arrive to make that happen? Or is it a moot point because I’m not staying in a Disney hotel and all the Extra Magic Hour guests beat me there any way?

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I started out in DL my first day and hopped to DCA after as I was most interested in Avengers Campus and had been advised to see it at night for the first time.

Then the second day I started at DCA to do Avengers Campus in the daytime.

I don’t believe in Star Wars, so that was a non-issue for me.

I always start at Disneyland the first day. If I’m there multiple days, I will alternate with Disneyland picking up any extra days if it’s an odd number. So for you I would say to do DL day one and DCA day 2 because you will want morning time at both parks.

As a solo rider, you should have several opportunities to use the single rider line in both parks, which will cut down the number of LLs you need. I recommend getting 2-3 in your first park and then start stacking for the second park around lunchtime.

I would personally either buy ILL or go later in the afternoon or evening. Lines that far back in the park tend to wane late in the day as people head for dinner and entertainment. The line may say 60-80 minutes in the app, but it will probably be 30-45 until the preshow. Doable.

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Thanks, lizzieanne771 and Jeff_AZ! That is super helpful.

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