Help finalize our plans ( June 1-7, 2017)

[Jessica Hankins]

We are getting so close, we'll be in southern ca June 1-7th. There will be 2 adults and 7 kids ages 2-11. Our plan is to leave around 11 on the 1st, be to valencia by 4 and visit sfmm (we have season passes) til around 7 and then head for anaheim. We're hoping by doing that the traffic won't be so horrible like if we went through around 5. Would LA traffic be o.k. around 7-8. Ideally we'll be checking into Tropicana by 9 pm.
Then we're going to get up the 2nd and drive to Carlsbad to visit Legoland for one day. Anyone know what the traffic would be like and what time we should leave to make it there by opening?? We figure park closes at 6 then well grab dinner before driving back so hopefully again miss bad traffic.
Saturday the 3rd will be our first day at the Disney parks. Here's where i could really use advice. I've heard that dl is less crowded sundays and dca is less crowded Saturdays. Is that still true? And is it enough of a difference to make our first day at dca? My mom hasn't been there since they added cars land and stuff so she remembered never being to excited and there not being many characters and stuff. I tried explaining the changes. Do you think it would work to do the morning in Disneyland get lunch around 12 and head to disneys ca adventure when crowds are picking up?
We have 4 full days (sat-tues) for dl/dca but no clue which parks we should do when. Any advice would be really appreciated.
We leave on the 7th to drive home. We'd like to do goofys kitchen 1 day but I've only ever done their dinner. Is the breakfast good to? Same character experience? We are considering doing that the day We check out then going to sfmm again for a few hours (2 of the kids are big thrill seekers) before finishing our drive home.
We will be bringing breakfast foods and stuff for sandwiches. Any ideas on inexpensive dinners or can't miss dinners with kids? Any tips on using fast passes and rouser swap since we'll have a 2 year old. I've never used the rouser swap before so that's new to me.

One big thing is We will have a child with us who has a lot of mental health issues. He gets overwhelmed and has some pretty bad meltdowns and due to severity had to be on 2 medications. We have one more about the Same age who has similar issues but not As severe. She's been tested for autism but they said they don't think its that but She has a lot of autistic like characteristics. They thought maybe aspergers or adhd combined with severe anxiety. She does okay for awhile but then lines and crowds get to her and She starts struggling. Any tips on how to make things more manageable for them??

Sorry that was so long just trying to get things put together and as simple as we can. We're very excited because the kids think we're just doing Legoland. They think we couldn't afford Disney so it'll be a huge surprise!

 

[Linkura]

It sounds like you should get DAS for the two children. Sounds like they are perfect candidates and it would help a lot.

 

[Jessica Hankins]

I think I've heard of that is that the disability assistance thing. I just remember when i took my daughter a few years ago she was having a really hard time our last day and this really nice employee stopped and tried to help and he suggested getting some disability thing to help but it was towards the end of our last day. How do you get something like that and what exactly does it do?

 

[Linkura]

Check out this thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/d...-1-update-12-7-14-das-tied-to-ticket.3179460/

 

[Jessica Hankins]

Thank you! Thats a lot of helpful info. I could definitely see that being a lot of help. Takes out some of the worries of the crowds

 

[azdisneylover]

I would make a list of one or two rides each family member want to ride and plan to fit them. (Preferably first thing in the morning so if you all enjoy it, you can get fastpasses to ride again). Since DL has Magic Morning on Saturday, I'd go to DCA first thing, right at opening and grab a fastpass for RSR then ride Mater a couple of times. We really enjoy TSMM so we try to hit that early in the morning too. The Animation Academy Building lists daily the times and characters to draw. Great place to sit, relax and have a nice time learning something! Plus, you create a special souvenir to take home! A place we have found to avoid crowds and grab a bite to eat is Whitewater Snacks in the Grand Californian Hotel. (use the entrance to the hotel that's located across from Grizzly Rapids. We like sitting out on the patio. Food is tasty and enough of a variety everyone finds something they want to eat. Many places have large portion sizes (great to share). There are a few threads that have pictures of food (poster figment always posts great pictures of food regularly) so you can see the food and decide if you want to try a place. Tomorrowland Terrace and Flo's both have a fruit platter we always get and place in the middle of the table so everyone eats some fruit. Disney's fruit seems to be sweeter! Rainforest Cafe in DTD have wonderful aquariums that are very relaxing. Make sure you keep your children on their sleep schedule. If they take a nap at 1 to 3, please, keep that schedule and go back to the room and let them get that much needed nap.