Thanks for the info guys. I do appreciate it. I guess it looks like I'm going to have to give in and just buy the 1 day base ticket for 5 ppl, and also buy a 4 (maybe 5) day park hopper through AAA for the 1st part of my stay.
When I first called Disney about this and I was asking a few questions, they asked me if I'd possibly be visiting DisneyQuest and we said probably not. Since they asked me that, does that mean that it could possibly count as buying a 'ticket'? If so, I'd do that. I'm sure we could go to DisneyQuest for awhile at least. It looks like I'll just call Disney back and clarify and ask them about that.
When I first called Disney about this and I was asking a few questions, they asked me if I'd possibly be visiting DisneyQuest and we said probably not. Since they asked me that, does that mean that it could possibly count as buying a 'ticket'? If so, I'd do that. I'm sure we could go to DisneyQuest for awhile at least. It looks like I'll just call Disney back and clarify and ask them about that.
Thanks again everyone for all the help!! 
