DL w/ babies and toddlers, help?!

[happyhippy]

This summer, we have to drive right past Disney to get to our new military duty station (we're going from AZ to AK!), and we've decided to stop for a few days and get 3 day park hoppers at DL.

It'll be me, dh, and our kids - 9, 5, 3, 18m and 9m. We've tried unsuccessfully to recruit another adult to help us, so we are on our own.

So far, I've planned our travel days, made a reservation for the Mickey breakfast at PCH grill, have started to look into RV parks nearby (we'll be staying in our travel trailer, and driving to the parks in our Suburban), and have picked up some Disney themed t-shirts and toys for our crew to ward off the gimmes in the park. We plan to use 2 double strollers in the park.

Does anybody have any advice on how we can do this while maintaining our sanity? It is definitely not a "do everything" trip, but we want the kids to have fun. Star Tours is likely the only "must" on the trip. lol

(I did already mention to dh that the little ones and I might go back for naptime while he and our eldest stay and play.)

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[hambirg]

We have been several times when our kids were still very little (my son was 5mos on his first trip). The Disneyland Baby Care Center (on main street) is wonderful! I would nurse and change my son there. It's very peaceful and they have everything you might possibly need, even potties for the toddler set.

My only other piece of advice is to use the babyswap. Your older kids will be able to ride everything twice. . .it worked out very nicely for our oldest.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I'm glad you know you won't be able to do everything.....that's a great attitude to approach it!!!

We have special need toddler twins & found it very important to keep their regular routine. Taking turns back at the motel will allow you or your hubby to take the older kids over to get some good ride time in.

Things for the family: Small World, Alice, Teacups, Storybookland Boats, Casey Jr Train, Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, Train, Monster's Inc, Turtle Talk with Crush, Aladdin the Musical, Bugsland rides, Little Mermaid.

Catch the parades, entertainment like Billy Hill & the Hillbillies.

ToonTown is eye candy for the kids.....one of you could take the smaller ones to Goofy's house/play area for toddlers while the other one takes the older to ride Gadget's Go Coaster & Roger Rabbit.

Basically letting the kids moods lead you thru your day.....you'll end up having a great time.

The character meals are a great way to meet the characters without having to spend time in long lines in the park. I would however suggest going up to Critter Country to meet with the Pooh characters up there. Our kids always look forward to that!!

 

[happyhippy]

Are there any other character meals we should do? We only have one girl and she is too young to care, so I vetoed the Princess one, but if there are others we should consider, I'm open to it. We're going to do enough waiting in line, I don't want to wait in line for characters. lol

 

[DizNee Luver]

Are there any other character meals we should do? We only have one girl and she is too young to care, so I vetoed the Princess one, but if there are others we should consider, I'm open to it. We're going to do enough waiting in line, I don't want to wait in line for characters. lol

I think you'd really enjoy the Minnie & Friends breakfast at the Plaza Inn on Main Street. At this meal you get to see a lot of the "classic" characters, such as: Minnie, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Fairy Godmother, Capt Hook, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Rafiki, Peter Pan, Alice, Max just to name the ones we've seen. We've seen anywhere from 6 characters up to 14 one time!!!!

Sit outside, that way you can people watch as you enjoy your meal.

I know a number of people say they don't like to lose "Park Time" doing these meals, but we look at it as ALL Disney time & it's just another experience. We've found we can skip a lot of the character lines this way.....unless we see someone they haven't seen yet!

 

[DisMike]

It'll be me, dh, and our kids - 9, 5, 3, 18m and 9m.

18 months & 9 months!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!

Didn't wait long.

 

[rmonty02]

I would plan what rides everyone can ride and which ones will need baby swap. Then just follow your little ones lead and be ready to just stop and let them let off some steam in a play area like toon town or Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. It's all about tag teaming and both parents being able to do things with the older and younger kids...your attitude is a great start Have fun!!

 

[rmonty02]

18 months & 9 months!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!

Didn't wait long.

"Ay Dios Mio!!!" as my mom would say. "OMG!" for the rest of us. My hats to you

 

[yesman70]

My only other piece of advice is to use the babyswap. Your older kids will be able to ride everything twice. . .it worked out very nicely for our oldest.

How does that work exactly? When you come out and swap, does the 2nd adult with kids get to get in the shorter FP line? Isnt that like cheating the system just because you have kids??

 

[sonnyjane]

How does that work exactly? When you come out and swap, does the 2nd adult with kids get to get in the shorter FP line? Isnt that like cheating the system just because you have kids??

It's not "cheating the system" if Disneyland has put the Rider Swap system in place! I go to the parks alone a lot and almost always take advantage of the Single Rider Lines to go to the front of the line on some big ticket rides. I view that as a nice perk of traveling alone, not as "cheating the system", again, because Disneyland is the one that created it.

 

[yesman70]

It's not "cheating the system" if Disneyland has put the Rider Swap system in place! I go to the parks alone a lot and almost always take advantage of the Single Rider Lines to go to the front of the line on some big ticket rides. I view that as a nice perk of traveling alone, not as "cheating the system", again, because Disneyland is the one that created it.

Yea, didnt mean it to sound so negative. I have kids myself, so ill take advantage since they put it in place.

Its just strange to me that they would give families an advantage like that. I guess they obviously cater to families, which is great.

 

[Mama Who]

Yea, didnt mean it to sound so negative. I have kids myself, so ill take advantage since they put it in place.

Its just strange to me that they would give families an advantage like that. I guess they obviously cater to families, which is great.

Look at it this way, without the RS...

Parent 1 waits 30 minutes. Parent 2 waits 30 minutes. Wait for both to ride: 60 minutes.

2 adults without kids wait 30 minutes to ride.

With RS:

Parent 1 waits 30 minutes. Parent 2 uses the RS in the FP lane and waits 5 minutes. Wait for both to ride: 35 minutes.

2 adults without kids wait 30 minutes to ride.


The time advantage STILL goes (slightly) to the people not needing the RS. We still took up (2 parents and a teen) two seats on Space Mountain. I still waited while DS and DH were in line. I just waited outside the queue with the baby because they don't let babies in the queue.

 

[happyhippy]

18 months & 9 months!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!

Didn't wait long.

To add even more fun to this equation, throw in the fact that I've been infertile for 6 years, and only used fertility drugs for the 5 yr old.

The 9 month old was 2 months premature, though I'm not sure that makes the situation any better. lol

 

[happyhippy]

Look at it this way, without the RS...

Parent 1 waits 30 minutes. Parent 2 waits 30 minutes. Wait for both to ride: 60 minutes.

2 adults without kids wait 30 minutes to ride.

With RS:

Parent 1 waits 30 minutes. Parent 2 uses the RS in the FP lane and waits 5 minutes. Wait for both to ride: 35 minutes.

2 adults without kids wait 30 minutes to ride.


The time advantage STILL goes (slightly) to the people not needing the RS. We still took up (2 parents and a teen) two seats on Space Mountain. I still waited while DS and DH were in line. I just waited outside the queue with the baby because they don't let babies in the queue.

We do intend to use the rider swap system. We took the kids to legoland last month, and their system was terrible - we all had to wait in line together (which meant removing everyone from the strollers and hand carrying babies), and most of the rides our 3 & 5 yr old were big enough for were designed for 1 adult and 1 child, so dh could take 1 child, and then I could take the other. But we had 2 non walkers, so I literally had to hold both babies while keeping a handle on a special needs 3 yo. Awesome, right? From what I've read, the riderswap at DL is much better, and I won't need to wait in line w/ the babies, and both of my middle boys can go on the rides.

 

[Quinnie]

I definitely recommend the nap plan ... For all of you! The best Disney trip we ever had, we hit the park the sec the doors opened .... No crowds. We stayed til about 1, ate lunch off site (save money), all went back to the hotel and slept for a couple of hours ... Had a substantial dinner snack about 4 and were back in the park about 5. Just as all the other families with young kids were leaving, we were there in fantasyland running on to all the rides with no lines! The little kid areas are abandoned once it starts to get dark. This is definitely the best way to beat the crowds and keep every body well rested (and happy!)