Gamble Family's 13 months at Disney

[agamble]

Family:
Myself and DH are both in our early 30s. We have three dwarfs older daughter (Crabby-7 in June), our son (Buddy-4), and our younger daughter (Baby-1.5). We purchased 13 month Deluxe APs that we activated Sunday, May 28 with a short one day trip as part of a Memorial Day camping trip. We have plans to visit for a week this June and again next June as well as to visit several other times for 2-3 days over the 13-month pass time-frame. My mother (Gramma) has also purchased an AP and will visit on occasion with us.

Planned Trips:
May 28: Already completed
June 17-24: Week long vacation with Gramma, staying at Dolphin's Cove
July 29-August 1: Family only 2.5 day trip staying at HOJO with water fun on Saturday blockout day
September 28-October 1: Birthday trip for baby with Gramma staying at Desert Inn
November-May: No definite trips, but there will be at least one at Christmas and one at Spring Break and hopefully one around Buddy's birthday.
June 10-16: Family trip includes Crabby's birthday and our 10th anniversary, Gramma undecided, staying at Peacock Suites

We live about a 5-6 hour drive from Disneyland depending on traffic. It's close enough to drive, too close to fly, but far enough away that a day trip is too difficult. Gramma lives in Washington and will fly to see us first and/or fly to/from John Wayne airport. We probably won't make a visit every month, but we'll get a good 6+ visits in.

Everyone has been to Disneyland before except Baby. Crabby had her first visit the day after her first birthday and Gramma was there too. DH and I had APs that year and visited a half dozen times with and without Crabby. Buddy had his first visit at three weeks old; it was a 4-day non-hopper trip and both kids were free as Crabby was not yet three. We returned the following year and visited with both of my parents as well as their older two grandkids. We purchased APs for DH, myself, and Crabby and visited a total of four times during the year. Baby just had her first visit this Sunday at nearly 20 months. She's a lot older than the other two were, but in some ways this is a good thing as she is at a very fun age and already tall enough for the 32" rides.

 

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May 28
Activation Day

We were camping in Soledad Canyon about a 70 minute drive to the parking garage. We left the campground at 5:45 in the morning and made it to the garage just after 7AM. This was a surprise trip for the kids and Crabby figured out where we were going just before we made it to the parking structure. Boy were they surprised and excited! I also gifted them each with a new shirt, Star Wars themed for the older two and Minnie for Baby. We packed everything into the strollers and walked through DTD to the parks. Security was easy that early.

The gates were already getting full, but DH found a good spot near one of the planters. I noticed that DCA had a much larger line considering that at 8AM they were only opening for EMH and regular opening wasn't until 9AM for them. I guess a lot of people wanted to be sure they got Guardian's FP or rides in. That wasn't important to us today. The parks opened about 15 minutes before 8AM and we took the kids for a restroom break and then grabbed a picture with Minnie before the rope dropped.

Our main goal for the day was riding Hyperspace Mountain since it is returning to regular Space Mountain and we were yet to experience the overlay. We first went to Star Tours and DH took Crabby and Buddy on for Buddy's first trip to space. Buddy was only 2 on our last trip, and now he's tall enough for the 40" and 42" rides. He enjoyed Star Tours. While they did that I walked over to a very crowded Hyperspace Mountain and got FP for Hyperspace Moutain for 9-10AM. Then I took Baby on her first ride, the Astro Orbitor. She wasn't impressed.



We met back up with the rest of the family and went to Fantasyland. Alice was closed so we went on the Mad Tea Party. Everyone had a great time, especially Baby who LOVED the teacups. Alice was still closed, so we took a ride through Monstro into Storybook Land. We headed into Fantaysland proper and saw Peter Pan who offered to have Buddy walk with him. But Buddy wasn't having it! We rode Pinocchio, the Carousel, and Snow White. It was past nine and I was ready to head to Hyperspace Mountain but DH pointed out the line was short for Dumbo. At Dumbo Crabby was saying she wanted her own elephant and I was reminding her she had to wait until her birthday next month to be able to ride solo. Then the CM asked us how many Dumbos and I said she was still 2 weeks to being 7 and he told her she could be 7 for the day and gave her her own ticket for Dumbo. She was thrilled! Unfortunately she did not get to ride her own Dumbo though as the CM loading the ride asked her age and there was some confusion because the other CM had switched posts and wasn't there when Crabby said, "But he said I could." In the end she rode with DH and Baby.



We grabbed FP for Matterhorn and went to Hyperspace. We had been worried about Buddy being afraid of the bigger rides, but he said he wanted to ride Hyperspace. So Buddy, Crabby, and I ventured off into space. It was a fun overlay, but not a huge disappointment that it is being replaced. Buddy did NOT like the ride, but he was good and did not cry or whine at all. DH and Crabby used riderswap and rode Hyperspace while I took Baby and Buddy on Buzz. Then we all headed to Matterhorn and met Burt and Pip the Penguin on the way. Buddy insisted again he wanted to ride too so Crabby and I rode with him. He enjoyed the "Monster Ride."



DH had gone to get FP for Splash and found it was down but grabbed 2 for Indy and 2 for Thunder. We all met up and rode Haunted Mansion before breaking for a lunch of fruits and snacks I had brought from home. We ate behind Harbor Galley and when we finished found that Splash had just reopened, so we grabbed FP before heading to Big Thunder. Buddy said he wanted to ride, so I took him on while DH waited with the girls. Buddy loved the "train" coaster and went again with DH and Crabby with riderswap. I said DH should take Crabby on Indy, but she insisted I take her because brother got to ride with just me and last time (2 years ago) I didn't get to go on Indy (I was pregnant). So we went. That was one of the longest lines we waited in all day. The inside queue was backed up quite a bit. DH bought icecream for the little two while waiting for us.

By this time it was after noon and we decided it was time to buy them their ear hats and go process our APs. We got Buddy and Baby each a pair of Mickey and Minnie ears with their names. Crabby has a pair from when she was a baby and chose a sequined Minnie ear-band instead. Then we processed our APs. I had brought our old cards because I was told they would want to reuse them. But the CM did not reuse them saying something about how I created new accounts by buying them online instead of at the park. It made NO sense as when I purchased them I linked them to my account and clicked on our names from our accounts, but whatever. We got new cards.

 

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Activation Day cont.

The day was extremely light crowd wise. One of those weird everyone is blocked and it's a holiday so peak pricing so the crowds are suddenly light when they should be slammed kind of days.

Around 2:00 we headed over to Splash. Baby had finally fallen asleep in stroller and Buddy was fading too. So I parked in the shade and had Buddy sleep on my lap while DH and Crabby took a ride on Splash. I rode with Crabby after they returned. Again, the FP line was a backed up further than normal, but the ride had been down for a few hours too. We thought we would use some of the riderswap passes we had skipped, but Buddy wanted to go on the "train" ride again (Thunder) and we were thinking that since crowds were so low we would head over to DCA after all. So, DH pulled FP for Thunder and we had a 3:00 dinner at Rancho Del Zocalo. The line for food was longer than I anticipated given low crowds and the odd time. Then DH took the older two on Thunder while Baby and I cleaned things up.

As we were heading out of the parks the Soundsational Parade was just beginning. It was oddly not packed on Main Street and we found a great spot at the beginning of the route and sat to watch the parade. Baby LOVED this parade, probably her favorite part of the day (not that she could tell anyone). I bought an AP popcorn bucket while we watched the parade too.



We made it over to DCA some time before 5:00 and immediately pulled FP for Grizzly River Run. Then we rode Mermaid, Mater's, and Luigi's. That was our first experience with Luigi's. It was alright, but not as much fun as Mater's. Then Crabby and I went to ride GRR while DH took the little ones to get FP for Toy Story and then ride Mermaid again per Buddy's request. We were supposed to meet up outside Mermaid, but they weren't there. The Pixar Play Parade was just finishing and we waited, and waited for them. Turned out they got a great view of the parade and watched it before riding Mermaid again. DH then took Crabby on GRR and I took the little ones to Bugsland to ride Heimlich's. They caught back up with us just in time to join us for Flick's Flyers. Then we watched the Cars 3 Preview. I did not like the poking, etc. and felt a bit violated by those seats. Crabby said she liked that part



We rode Toy Story with our FP, but at that moment the standby was very short. We thought we would go on it again, but then the Pier was shutting down and suddenly Toy Story was not so short of a wait. We headed over to Goofy's and Buddy decided to try it out with Crabby and I. He did NOT like it and only Crabby rode with DH. Buddy and I went in search of popcorn to refill our bucket. Apparently there are not very many carts in DCA, and the one on the Pier was closed. We eventually found some near Soarin. We were pretty much done, but the 9:00 WOC was just starting as we met back up with DH. So we once again grabbed a spot (just in front of Ariel's) at the last minute. We didn't stay for the entire show though as the kids decided they were done when they began to fight. They had been good all day though, and it was a very busy 13 hours. We had to drive back to our campsite still anyway. The kids were all asleep before we hit the freeway.



It was a great day, and I was so glad we went on Sunday instead of Monday. The crowds and weather were beautiful. Altogether we hit about 30 rides and saw two parades. All this with three little ones who walk slow and needed a lot of restroom breaks. The parks are so magical when they are not so crowded.

 

[Frozen2014]

Loving you review. Looks like you had a great time and you lucked out with crowds. Your kids are adorable. So nice you live within driving distance so can return often.

 

[Winnowill]

Hmm. We're going to be there 6/10-6/16 as well, also staying at the Peacock. Perhaps we'll run into one another!

 

[agamble]

Hmm. We're going to be there 6/10-6/16 as well, also staying at the Peacock. Perhaps we'll run into one another!

Next year?

This June we're at the Dolphin's Cove starting the 17th.

 

[Winnowill]

Next year?

This June we're at the Dolphin's Cove starting the 17th.

Ah. No, we'll be there in nine days!

 

[agamble]

Ah. No, we'll be there in nine days!

That's what I thought. Have a great time!

 

[Winnowill]

That's what I thought. Have a great time!

You, too!