1st Trip - what should I expect

[HawkeyeMickey77]

We're making our 1st family trip to DL - my husband has been before, but I & my boys ages 5 & 3 have never been. We'll be there on Sun., Jan. 2 & Mon., Jan. 3. (The 2nd is my b-day & I am so excited to be there then!!!)

What should we expect crowd wise? I know it will be a short trip, but we're planning to do a day at DL & a day at DCA. Have schedules been posted for January yet? What is the best plan for viewing WOC? What advise do you all have for 1st timers?? TIA!

 

[skiingfast]

It's hard to say on crowds because of Christmas and New Years falling on the weekend vacation could slide the week before them or after.

The Calendar won't be up for a while I would start checking it to see if it includes your dates in mid November.

WOC requires FPs. Check this thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=37986447

I would highly reccomend knowing the hieght of both children to see what they can and can't ride before you go. Us Fastpasses on lots of rides. Also let them get prepared by watching movies such as Pirate of the Caribbean, Toy Story, Peter Pan, Muppets, and A bugs life.

 

[goldies 5]

What great ages to take your boys. You will have fun. But like skiinfast said, crowds could go either way. The good thing is Monday the 3rd most kids are back to school. You will still be able to enjoy the Holiday theming and entertainment, which is beauitful. I would look at the Christmas thread for fun and insight. Have a great birthday and a fabulous trip.

 

[GrandBob]

They'll likely shut down IASW and HM on Monday, to take down the holiday overlays. They may be down already on Sunday, but I doubt it. So make sure to see these two rides on Sunday before they shut them down.

-Bob

 

[Sherry E]

I would expect Sunday January 2nd to be quite busy, as that is the last day of the holiday season and, if I recall correctly, on the last day of the season this past January, there was a surge of activity. I think that there are many people (possibly locals, possibly not) who will go on 1/2/11 for one last holiday experience before all the decorations come down, not to mention that there will be people who arrived for New Year's who are still there, finishing out the weekend.

Definitely make a point of seeing Haunted Mansion Holiday, Santa's Reindeer Round-Up and It's a Small World Holiday on January 2nd. Don't wait until the 3rd, because at least 2 of those things - if not all 3 - will come down immediately when the season ends the next day. What happened in January of this year was that IASW Holiday stayed up until mid-to-late January (after MLK Day), while the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay was uninstalled. I guess that DLR did not want both rides to be down at the same time, so they chose to leave up IASWH.

But in 2011, we have no clue what will happen. It seems that every time we think we have DLR pegged to certain patterns, they switch things up on us! In January 2011, they may not leave IASWH up past the season ending date at all. They may shut it down when they shut down HMH. There is no telling. So try to get to both of those on 1/2/11 just to be on the safe side.

You can actually get DCA done in less than a full day, so keep the option of Park Hopping between both parks on both days open. You may need to squeeze in some extra things in DL on your dedicated DCA day. Likewise, sometimes DCA can be a welcome escape from the madness of DL.

 

[HawkeyeMickey77]

Thanks for the great tips! I was considering just getting 2 day (no PH option) tickets for each of us, but given that some of the holiday overlays may only be up til the 2nd, we'll probably try to add PH to our tix now (I see lastminutetravel dot com has some pretty decent prices). We may try to hop over to DCA that night too if WOC is scheduled. That would be the best of both worlds - in DL on my bday with my dh & dss and taking in WOC for the 1st time! Woo Hoo!

BTW - I think we're going to surprise the boys with this trip! will be leaving a trip to DL under the tree! They'll be so excited! We went to WDW for their 1st visit last Sept. & they absolutely loved it! They are still talking about it. My youngest, who was just under 2 at the time, still talks about Dumbo & my older son is a mini Disney/Pixar nut! He just started kindergarten & told me the other night he needs to hurry up with school so he can go to college & then go make movies at Pixar! I guess we're raising him right!