First day conundrum

[agamble]

We arrive on a Saturday in late June; we’re driving my mom’s flying and meeting us at the Dolphins Cove. My mom should arrive at the resort around noon, not sure when we’ll arrive. We’re staying the whole week. Kids will be 7, 4, and 1 ½. Baby’s first visit . We all purchased 13-month Deluxe APs. Although Saturday is a blockout day we could activate them on that day and use them. However, that was not the plan. We figured we would check-in, unpack, do some food prep for the week, take my mom to the store if she needs something, let the kids swim, etc. I also think arriving at DL on Sunday morning when it’s pretty calm would be nice, compared to arriving in the middle of a Saturday on the last grad-night. The kids probably wouldn’t care, but in my mind it just sounds nice. I also want to make sure everyone is well rested for 8AM rope drop Sunday morning.

Someone recently mentioned we could buy ear hats for the kids at the DTD store on Saturday. I thought that was a great idea as I’d love for them to have them on Sunday morning. But then I remembered I’d be giving up my AP discount. So here is the conundrum. I could activate the APs on Saturday so I could have the discount. However, it would be very hard to have them activated and be standing in front of the parks and not go in. I think the two older kids would have a breakdown.

Looking for opinions on this. Should we just wait to buy the hats until Sunday afternoon when we return from our mid-day break? I mean it’s not that big of a deal if they don’t have them that morning. Though it would make for some cute pictures when they’re all still happy and energized, first day and all. Or should we consider changing our plans and going to one of the parks on Saturday for a few hours to buy ear hats and ride a few rides. I would say the earliest we’d make it to the parks is about 2-3PM.

Also, does anyone know if you can get your AP discount after activating them at the turnstile but before going to the ticket booth? Finally, where is the best place with the most options of hats? Main Street? Fantasyland? DTD?

Thanks for your help. This is bugging me. I hate when I think I have it all figured out and then realize I don’t.

 

[pblack]

In my opinion, if you really don't want to activate your AP until Sunday and you want to get the hats on Saturday, i'd just forgo the discount. It pretty much equates to tax, and guaranteed you'll still get "your moneys worth" with the AP discount in other areas. $10-20 is a small amount for you to be able to relax and make sure your kids don't have a breakdown about not going in on Saturday.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Just activate them at the ticket booths on Saturday so you are all set for Sunday AM rope drop and you get the AP discount. You will need to go to the ticket booths anyway at some point.

Simply tell your kids the truth...the AP's you are buying ARE blacked out that Saturday.

Withholding the fact that you CAN use them on that activated day is not necessarily lying!

 

[Winnowill]

When we were there two weeks ago, the World of Disney store was open before DL's rope drop. You could activate your AP at the ticket booth, then run into WoD and buy ear hats. That's what we did - I didn't need to activate my AP, but we did run in there to buy new ear hats before hitting the parks our first day.

 

[Butterfly123]

Here is another thought...you could check the wait times for rides that Saturday afternoon, and see what kind of lines and craziness is happening in the parks. My guess is busy, but it's funny how sometimes some particular random day is not as crowded as expected. The only thing is, you'd have to have a flexible plan, and sometimes (if your like me) flexible is hard!!

By the way, I love Disneyland in June. Have a great time!!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Save the ear hats for later. Sat afternoon chaos + grad nite crowds = no fun, especially with kids that age! I'd avoid the park until Sun, start fresh that morning (when the kids aren't tired and hyped at the same time like they'd be on Sat). Does the Disney store in DtD have all the ear options? I know there are many different Disney ears, is it possible that the kids might find one they like better while in the parks? Because that would be a serious bummer.

 

[Winnowill]

Does the Disney store in DtD have all the ear options? I know there are many different Disney ears, is it possible that the kids might find one they like better while in the parks? Because that would be a serious bummer.

No, but they do carry most of them. They did not have the Jack Skellington ones my friend wanted (may have just been out of stock), and there's a specialty one we found in a shop in NOS that we didn't see anywhere else.

 

[WonkaKid]

Here's a possibility: activate them Sunday but still buy the hats on Saturday. Here's the rub: see if you can find a kindhearted AP holder who'll let you use their discount (they hold their pass while it's scanned). Shouldn't be to difficult once you explain the situation.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Activate your passes at the ticket booth Saturday and then either go in just to get hats or shop in downtown Disney. You don't have to go into the parks very far to hit the hat stores. I would probably choose to go into DCA at that time. It should be less crowded than DL. But either way, activate your passes Saturday for sure so you are ready for rope drop Sunday. Remember, you will have to go through bag check to get into downtown Disney no matter what. With the new security set up, there is not much difference between going to the ticket booths or the world of Disney store or walking into the parks. It makes it much more cohesive.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Here's the rub: see if you can find a kindhearted AP holder who'll let you use their discount (they hold their pass while it's scanned). Shouldn't be to difficult once you explain the situation.

AP holder need to the the one paying to get the discount...they are cracking down on this.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

So I'm guessing you are arriving on Saturday June 24. Do you plan/need to go to the park on Saturday June 24, 2018? If not, then it seems simple to me. The day that will make a difference to you is this end of the pass year. Activate the passes on the day you arrive and get that business over with. It could take up to a half hour for that process, and you won't have to be bothered with it on a busy touring day. Passes in hand, go buy the ear hats taking advantage of the AP discount and getting the early shopping out of the way so you can focus on atmosphere, rides, and shows on your first full day (Sunday). You might find you want to eat at a downtown Disney or Disney hotel restaurant on Saturday if you forgo the parks, and you can take advantage of the AP discount for that too. Just because you have the passes and you're walking by doesn't mean you have to enter the parks. My husband told me that in January. It didn't work on me, but perhaps his wisdom will help you.

 

[robert_j]

I would trust your instinct that the kids need a quiet evening so that they are rested for Sunday in the parks. But it probably does make sense to get your pass activated and the shopping done the night before.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I would go in the evening, activate the passes and then just do a couple quick things in DCA like Monsters, Inc, Little Mermaid or It's Tough to be a Bug. Those things normally don't take a lot of time. Maybe tell the kids that you are only going to buy hats and you have time for one ride/attraction.

It's pretty normal for my group to go to downtown Disney and even walk around DLH (we like the gift shop, Trader Sam's, etc) without going to the parks, but we don't have any kids in our group now. If you can make any of that stuff sound fun, maybe you can get away with skipping the parks, but I'd still prefer just doing one ride and a snack in the park.

 

[agamble]

Thanks for all the advice. A friend of mine told me I should be able to get a 10% discount with my Disney Visa at the WOD store in DTD. So that may be problem solved. That being said, I think I'll ask my mom about it. She mentioned activating the passes on Saturday to "get it over with." My plan was to use the vouchers at the gate Sunday morning and get the passes taken care of when we return from our break Sunday evening. But I suppose we could get them taken care of Saturday afternoon/evening. Like one poster said, the kids don't have to know we can actually go in.

So I'm guessing you are arriving on Saturday June 24. Do you plan/need to go to the park on Saturday June 24, 2018? If not, then it seems simple to me. The day that will make a difference to you is this end of the pass year. Activate the passes on the day you arrive and get that business over with. It could take up to a half hour for that process, and you won't have to be bothered with it on a busy touring day. Passes in hand, go buy the ear hats taking advantage of the AP discount and getting the early shopping out of the way so you can focus on atmosphere, rides, and shows on your first full day (Sunday). You might find you want to eat at a downtown Disney or Disney hotel restaurant on Saturday if you forgo the parks, and you can take advantage of the AP discount for that too. Just because you have the passes and you're walking by doesn't mean you have to enter the parks. My husband told me that in January. It didn't work on me, but perhaps his wisdom will help you.

We're going the week of the 17th, but we have 13 month passes so we're pretty good with return date possibilities the following summer. We'll probably go around the same week in 2018.

Yeah, I'm not so sure how well that would work on me either. The kids may be the ones throwing tantrums, but I'll want to go in too.