1st Family Trip to Disneyland

[ABell]

We did it...we bought the tickets for our son's for christmas and we are going to Disneyland. We won't be going until April but I am so excited.
And we are going with my dad and my in-laws. How fun is that?

Does anyone have any advice for a trip with 5 adults and 2 kids (ages 6&4)?

Thanks in advance.
Andrea

 

[disney-super-mom]

When are you going in April?

I would advise going very LATE April (if at all possible) because through mid-April is peak spring-break season, with some spring-break stragglers staying around towards the end of the month.

I've been during spring break, and it was sooooo crowded that we were pretty miserable.

Congrats on your first family visit! Sounds like some exciting planning!

 

[pixiewings71]

Have fun, use fastpass and try to relax. It's Spring Break in April so you may have crowds but if you use FP and just go with the flow you'll be OK.

 

[disney-super-mom]

I would still try avoiding spring-break time if at all possible.

Even though I'm a seasoned Disneyland vet who uses the best touring strategies and fastpasses, it wasn't a fun time to be there. Of course our kids were young then. My youngest at the time was still a babe in a stroller, and trying to manuever through the masses with a stroller and a five year old in tow was horrible.

 

[princessnicchia]

We went last year in March with my DH and his parents, and our 2 kids (2 & 5) at the time. And in February, I am going again with my dad, his wife, and our 2 kids (now 3 & 6). Although spring break is busy, and the crowds were pretty nuts, we managed by doing the following:

Trying to get there as early as possible to get to all the slow-loading FL rides (see the sticky Hydroguy thread, it's awesome for planning rides to maximize your time).
Picking one or two "must dos" for each day and then being willing to go with the flow in case something crazy happened (like the day the Alice ride broke down with us in the belly of the ride)
Having one special meeting place per day where everyone knew what it was (not grammatically correct, but I think you can get the jist) in case when we seperated we could find each other
Making sure that we had enough light snacks in my bag and saying to heck with it and buying all the $4 waters we needed to keep the grumpies (from all parties, not just the kids) at bay
Going back to the room for swimming/napping, depending on what was needed each day during the peak times (2-4ish)
Splitting up when needed so our older child could do some slightly more adventurous rides
Making sure that everyone got some "down time"---my FIL & I love the thrill rides, so we snuck off twice for those, MIL & FIL had a romantic evening out one night, and another night they took the kids and we had an evening out.

Hope you have an awesome time! Planning is almost (well, okay, not almost but a lot) as much fun as the trip.

 

[millerpjm]

We did it...we bought the tickets for our son's for christmas and we are going to Disneyland. We won't be going until April but I am so excited.
And we are going with my dad and my in-laws. How fun is that?

Does anyone have any advice for a trip with 5 adults and 2 kids (ages 6&4)?

Thanks in advance.
Andrea

We just got back from 2 days at DL with our 5 1/2 year old DS. Things he thought were really fun:

-Just about everything in Toontown - we saw Mickey, Pluto, and Goofy while we were there, looked through Minnie's house, Chip & Dale's Treehouse, and did the Gadget Go-Coaster and Roger Rabbit Spin thing.

-Fantasyland - we did Peter Pan's Flight (awesome), Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the King Arthur Carousel. All of these were fun and not too scary for a little guy.

- If you go over to California Adventure and your kids watch Playhouse Disney, then go see the Playhouse Disney Live show. It's cute, and you get to sit for a while

My DS is also a huge Star Wars fan, so he also really liked Star Tours and the Jedi Training Academy, but didn't care for Space Mountain too much.

Have fun!

 

[Disney Dreams]

You mentioned 5 adults. I am an adult with no kids and adore Disneyland. I think there are parts of Disneyland that I enjoy that my friends with kids have never experienced. make sure you take some time to enjoy things that the kids don't care so much about. Wander through the winding streets in New Orleans Square, take time to enjoy the theming, the shows, there is so much taht is wonderful for adults at Disneyland. If you want more, let me know.

- Dreams

 

[ABell]

Thanks so much to everyone for the great advice.
We will be getting there on April 30 and staying until May 7th.
At this point I am more excited than the kids. My husband laughs at me whenever I talk about the trip.

The hardest thing for me is that I originally started planning this trip back in September with my mom and she suddenly passed away in October. She was looking forward to taking her boys (grandkids) on some of the rides.

But if anyone has any more advice on where to get planning information, good, cheap places to eat etc. it will be greatly appreciated.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Thanks so much to everyone for the great advice.
We will be getting there on April 30 and staying until May 7th.
At this point I am more excited than the kids. My husband laughs at me whenever I talk about the trip.

The hardest thing for me is that I originally started planning this trip back in September with my mom and she suddenly passed away in October. She was looking forward to taking her boys (grandkids) on some of the rides.

But if anyone has any more advice on where to get planning information, good, cheap places to eat etc. it will be greatly appreciated.

My deepest condolences to you for the loss of your mom. (hug)

You already found the best place to get planning info, find cheaper places to eat, get advice, etc. RIGHT HERE!

What would you like to know? Ask away! There's lots of very experienced people here who know all the ins and outs of a Disneyland vacation......the best hotels.....the cheapest rates......touring plans......fastpasses......everything you could ever want to know.