Spring Break Survival Thread

[Julie711]

Same here!

Where is everyone staying? Trying to nail down a cheap place.

We are staying at Fairfield Inn!!

 

[Julie711]

Me! Me too! I want to jump in here, I am so excited.

I can't wait for our trip time to roll around.

We are arriving April 18th after 7 hours in the air in addition to one layover for 2 hours in Atlanta and will be hopping between the parks for 5 days through April 23rd

Our trip looks like this:

4-18- arrive, go to Huntington Beach, shopping for water and snacks, then Dinner somewhere in Downtown Disney

4-19 - early admission for DLH guests at DCA- RSR here we come- wide right make way for the Jacobs Family!!!!!! Junior is finally tall enough to ride!!!!

Lunch or dinner at Flos V-8, stay as long as my East coast DS7 can manage to walk and be awake and not look like the walking dead

4-20- early entry DLH guests at Disneyland - lunch on the run as will be dinner, again stay as late as we can manage

4-21- sleep in a bit if junior isn't up at 4am pst since this is his regular waking up time at home EST when it's 7am, then parks- swim maybe if warm enough and I can get him away from the park rides for a few hours- this is also laundry day so if DS is up at 4am then I will wash our clothes then- it's all good!

4-22- early entry again, parks all day

4-23- last day to play so again early entry- we hope to play all day but might squeeze a little nap in there if needed then we will close the parks down for the night

4-25- 1pm flight home

I haven't planned a lot of table service meals as we are more of go with the flo kind of family, and I am hoping that the DL guide for WDW vets is correct and we may be able to get seating if the mood strikes at a nice rest.

I hear ya on the flight we have a 6 hour flight, but no stops.
See you there!

 

[Shegardens]

Same here!

Where is everyone staying? Trying to nail down a cheap place.

Tropicana, you may be hard pressed to find a close place for a spring break trip, I know it was tough for us.

Carousel is a good hotel, we stayed there 4 years ago.

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Hey all, sorry I've been MIA, i was away at training all week. We can start making dining requests in 4 days! Still frustrating that the darn calendar isn't up that far, but what can you do.

Can't wait, just 9 more weeks!

 

[theworldneedscolor]

This thread is going to be a life saver! We will be in the parks 3-26 and 3-28.

 

[Mackie Mouse]

Same here!

Where is everyone staying? Trying to nail down a cheap place.

We are at the HoJo, which we booked way, way back over this past summer when we were first planning our trip. I know there are only a few days left, but they are running daily deals for the whole month of January through their Facebook page...the deals are pretty good, but we saved by booking early before rates started going up.

In other news, You can take the girls out of WDW, but you can't take WDW out of the girl...I have been slowly but surely sending e-mails to book meals for my trip. Waiting to hear back on a Carthay Circle reservation today, but besides that everything is booked! I am a huge fan of sending a leisurely e-mail whenever I want rather than getting up at the crack of dawn exactly 180 days in advance and anxiously hoping for a time I can actually make work!

 

[theworldneedscolor]

Is anyone else really worried about the crowd situation? We will only be in the parks two days, and I have accepted that we will not get everything we want done, but I am afraid we will be standing in 1-2 hour lines for everything and will only get to ride a handful of rides

 

[Shegardens]

You only have a 1 day per park? That could be tough I would make a list of the rides you 110% want to get to.

 

[theworldneedscolor]

Well, two day park hoppers, and we will probably be more at Disneyland than DCA, since there is more to do there. We will start one morning at each park, though.

 

[denluvsdisney]

We are there March 12-16. We are staying at the BWPPI. We are planning one meal that reservations are a must to me at the Blue Bayou. The rest are fly by the seat of our pants. Everyone going, have a great time.

 

[sophies*mom]

We are at the HoJo, which we booked way, way back over this past summer when we were first planning our trip. I know there are only a few days left, but they are running daily deals for the whole month of January through their Facebook page...the deals are pretty good, but we saved by booking early before rates started going up.

Somebody else suggested this to me and I have since "liked" their page, but we have to wait for our tax return to book our room , so unfortunately we aren't able to take advantage of their daily deals! Too bad, I would LOVE to stay there!

Is anyone else really worried about the crowd situation? We will only be in the parks two days, and I have accepted that we will not get everything we want done, but I am afraid we will be standing in 1-2 hour lines for everything and will only get to ride a handful of rides

We aren't going during high crowds, so I am less stressed about that. Though we decided that with two small kids (3yrs and 8mo at the time of our trip) we aren't going to bother with park hopping (yay for saving a little money on tickets). Hang in there!

 

[sophies*mom]

Oh and if we can still get the deal on lastminutetravel.com when we get our return, we'll be staying at Castle Inn & Suites.

 

[aussiechic]

Somebody else suggested this to me and I have since "liked" their page, but we have to wait for our tax return to book our room , so unfortunately we aren't able to take advantage of their daily deals! Too bad, I would LOVE to stay there!

We aren't going during high crowds, so I am less stressed about that. Though we decided that with two small kids (3yrs and 8mo at the time of our trip) we aren't going to bother with park hopping (yay for saving a little money on tickets). Hang in there!

With HOJO they just take your credit card number and they will charge it or another (or cash) upon arrival. They dont take a deposit or anything which is great

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

We are at the HoJo, which we booked way, way back over this past summer when we were first planning our trip. I know there are only a few days left, but they are running daily deals for the whole month of January through their Facebook page...the deals are pretty good, but we saved by booking early before rates started going up.

In other news, You can take the girls out of WDW, but you can't take WDW out of the girl...I have been slowly but surely sending e-mails to book meals for my trip. Waiting to hear back on a Carthay Circle reservation today, but besides that everything is booked! I am a huge fan of sending a leisurely e-mail whenever I want rather than getting up at the crack of dawn exactly 180 days in advance and anxiously hoping for a time I can actually make work!

So, I really thank you for this comment! I've been biting my nails thinking I need to block my work calendar/step out of any meetings I'm having right at 11 am Eastern time to ensure we get what we want (every freaking day for 6 days, LOL!). Are you saying that you were able to get everything you wanted, without stress, through a simple daily email (ok, maybe it's not fair to say without stress, as you may have been checking for a confirmation all day )?? You would so make my day if that's true!

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

Is anyone else really worried about the crowd situation? We will only be in the parks two days, and I have accepted that we will not get everything we want done, but I am afraid we will be standing in 1-2 hour lines for everything and will only get to ride a handful of rides

Completely worried on my end!

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

We are there March 12-16. We are staying at the BWPPI. We are planning one meal that reservations are a must to me at the Blue Bayou. The rest are fly by the seat of our pants. Everyone going, have a great time.

Welcome, you are first to go from this group right now! Hoping the early birds will be willing to give us going a little later the heads up on crowds and tips/tricks!

 

[aussiechic]

Hi all, wondering if anyone would want to join in on a Spring Break survival thread! We usually try to avoid crowds like the plague, but this spring it worked out where the only time we can make it happen is Easter week. Would love to share stragies/war stories for survival. I'd be happy to track trips for folks too. Looking forward to it!

denluvsdisney - 3/12-3/16
SweetAlex - 3/17-3/22
carlilekids - 3/18-3/22
oceanrose - 3/22-3/31
Mackie Mouse - 3/24-3/28, HoJo
theworldneedscolor - 3/26-3/28
KFJames - 3/26-4/3, GCH
mommy2mrb - 3/29-4/3
hjgaus - 3/30-4/2, VGC
aroundtheriverbend - 3/30-4/5, VGC
Shegardens - 3/31-4/6
damiel - 3/31-4/3
WendyWhy - 4/4-4/5
T0rrent - 4/6-4/11
Sophies*mom - 4/15-4/18
BryANDJessMom - 4/15-4/19
Julie711 - 4/16-4/19
Daydreamer64 - 4/18-4/25, DLH

I thought i was added to this? maybe its on a later post. We are staying at HOJO 3/4- 3/18

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

I thought i was added to this? maybe its on a later post. We are staying at HOJO 3/4- 3/18

Sorry about that, not sure what happened but you are re-added to the first post (and officially the first one to go!).

 

[Mackie Mouse]

So, I really thank you for this comment! I've been biting my nails thinking I need to block my work calendar/step out of any meetings I'm having right at 11 am Eastern time to ensure we get what we want (every freaking day for 6 days, LOL!). Are you saying that you were able to get everything you wanted, without stress, through a simple daily email (ok, maybe it's not fair to say without stress, as you may have been checking for a confirmation all day )?? You would so make my day if that's true!

It's so true! Disneyland is a *very* different animal than WDW, I've learned. Not only did I not have to worry about getting up at an ungodly hour to make reservations, or clearing my schedule, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting in early on all the times/restaurants I want compared to the general populous. Everything is comfortably booked, and I sent one e-mail a day at my convenience. I always got a reply, with a confirmation number, within a few hours.

In fact, I even booked the Chef's Table at Napa Rose at the exact day and time I wanted nearly one month *after* it was available, because I forgot to set up a reminder in my calendar for it. Lo and behold...still available! Disney World this is not!

FYI - the e-mail is dine@disneyland.com. All you need to send them is the desired restaurant, meal and time; the number of people in your party; and your name and a phone number at which you can be reached. Couldn't be simpler!

 

[sophies*mom]

With HOJO they just take your credit card number and they will charge it or another (or cash) upon arrival. They dont take a deposit or anything which is great

That is great. I guess I should've added they are out of our price range which is why I have decided against it lol.