How do I turn a special trip into a magical one?

[1KidandaHalf]

Only downside for the train is it may still be closed during the OPs visit. But they can access the train and the Lilly Belle at NOS, and if he is partially mobile, he can see the train station on the other side of the tracks.

We will be there 4/30-5/8, so the trains probably will be still closed. Obviously, all those days won't be in the park since they only let us get a max of 5 day tickets, but we had to build in a lot of rest time for him inbetween and are hoping to also get to see some other places in the area like SM Pier and US.
I've never seen Lilly Belle, so that would be cool. Would also be neat to see the buildings on the other side of the tracks. He's very unstable on his feet now, so if it's not stroller/WC accessible at all, then we can carry him some but not very far as he is getting too heavy.

This is something for the future - Have you looked at Make A Wish?

We did a Make-A-Wish trip back in 2014 and stayed at Give Kids the World to go to WDW. It was an amazing trip and we have some great pictures and memories from that. It's one of the reasons why we want to take them to see Mickey again now. I do prefer DLR better because it's smaller and easier for us to get around. WDW was overwhelming with getting to and from each park; The time that takes would really exhaust him now. He fatigues quickly. Although I know his excitement at being in the parks will give him a little more energy, we don't want him to over do it either.
Our previous visits to DLR have just been magical. This is part of the challenge of making this trip extra magical. We've had such wonderful experiences previously that I don't want the boys or me to be disappointed. It's been several years and I know our situation and his energy level has changed. My head says I need to reset my expectations, but my heart hasn't quite bought into that yet.

Any ideas how crowded it will be when we go (4/30-5/8)? I've been watching the crowd calendars and have tried to pick a "low crowd" week, but have also heard there's no such thing as "low crowds" at DLR anymore.

 

[SMD]

One thing you could do is order a cake to be delivered to a TS restaurant. Even if it's not a birthday or anniversary they may be able to fit all of your names in an acrostic to spell magic. Having a cake appear after lunch or dinner sounds pretty cool, I should start dropping hints to see if I can get one.

 

[avalovesminnie]

While not a whole family activity, some of my favorite memories are when we have split our family up and I've had one on one time, like riding Pooh five times with my youngest while the others rode Splash! Or using up our stroller passes at night with my oldest. Also just relaxing and having a snack somewhere away from the crowds. Have a great trip!

 

[Nevada Jen]

First. WOC over frozen. No question. We have found US to be a very bad experience for my dd. Their rules for for rides usually require that you can grip and hold yourself steady. They actually tested my dd in front of everyone to determine if the ride was safe for her. She failed. It was humiliating. And then we rode the ride and she would have been more than fine. We had an exceptionally bad experience in our wish trip with dd in Florida at US. Not sure about the one in CA but it is worth checking around before you take ds8 Since you are there for so long you might want to try a beach day. CA beaches have beach wheel chairs that can go in the water and easily over the sand. It gave my dd access she had never had before. It opened up a whole new world for her. Check the beach you are thinking of to confirm. Also free beach parking with your hang tag! Last tip. The front seat in the wheel chair car on tsmm has a button on the gun instead of the pull thing. Dd can't do the pull thing so learning that made a big difference. Final last thought. We have always avoided water parks because the slides aren't accessible and its obvious they would rather we not be there but we had an amazing family time at great wolf lodge. They were beyond kind and seriously excited to help make it amazing for my dd. She still couldn't do the slides but they had a water wheelchair and she could definitely participate. Plus there are a bunch of other things for her to do there. We actually ubered to the park everyday for 5 bucks and they dropped us off right in the pull through at the end of the esplanade walkway. Only thing closer is gch. We had a Groupon for ridiculously cheap. We will honestly choose that over anything walking distance in the future. I was really pleasantly surprised. I expected to use it as a cheap hotel option but we ended up enjoying it so much we added on a day. If you can get the Groupon consider that. We ended up doing some medical tourism that trip. I can tell you where NOT to go! Anaheim Urgent Care.

 

[1KidandaHalf]

Having a cake appear after lunch or dinner sounds pretty cool, I should start dropping hints to see if I can get one.

This made me lol! Great idea.

Or using up our stroller passes at night with my oldest.

Excuse my ignorance, but what are stroller passes?

Nevada Jen- I'm so sorry you had a poor experience at US. We actually had a lot of fun there and DS8 rode his very first roller coaster on the Flight of the Hippograff. The beach chair sounds wonderful. Do you call a rental company in advance or is it available at the beach? I will have to look into it. There is a Great Wolf Lodge near where we live and they boys have all really enjoyed our "stay-cations" there. However, nothing like the accommodations you mention. I'm glad she was able to enjoy herself!

 

[SMD]

If your son uses a stroller instead of a wheelchair, you can get your stroller tagged as a wheelchair. Otherwise, you can just access the accessible entrances with a wheelchair. In DCA most queues are accessible. Beach wheelchairs are provided by the CA Coastal Commission: https://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/beach-wheelchairs. They are not at every beach. Also, be careful with not paying for parking with a placard. That is true at meters and some municipal lots, but some beaches have private lots. And, for example, free parking only applies in Santa Monica at the lots with attendants and no entry gates and the ticket for getting it wrong (at a pay as you enter lot) is several hundred dollars.

 

[avalovesminnie]

A stroller pass or a rider switch pass, if your youngest isn't tall enough for a ride then they just give you a slip of paper for the second adult who has to sit with the stroller(plus two people) to ride later. If your 4 year old is over 42 in there won't be many rides you get them on tho. When we went with a baby we tended to have a stack at the end of the night, so one adult would take the littlest kids off to bed while the other used the passes (you go in the fast pass line).

 

[lcp9]

My kids' favorite part of DL is the parade, honestly - it sounds like Soundsational might be back in the afternoon and MSEP is at night? If he/all of them would be interested in the parade, I would try to plan to have someone hold a spot for you so that you have plenty of room and a spot where your son in the wheelchair can see...maybe they have special viewing areas for wheelchairs? I'm not sure. Catching the earliest nighttime parade is a good way for my kids to wind down (they're 5, 3, and 1), and like I said, it's probably their favorite part.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[junecleaver83]

I hope you have a beautiful trip with your boys! I would say the most magical part of the trip for me is usually the fireworks. In that moment we all slow down, watch the magic unfold & I look over at my boys faces and realize how precious they are to me. Disney has a great way of bringing a tear to my eye during the "wishes" fireworks show. I hope you guys will make some great family memories.

 

[1KidandaHalf]

SMD - Thanks for all the great info. Really appreciate it! We used the stroller as WC tag previously and it was great.

A stroller pass or a rider switch pass

Thanks for the clarification. Our youngest is over 40", so can ride most things. The bigger riders are probably too intense for him. I'm assuming we can still do a switch if one of the younger ones can't/don't want to ride.

lcp9 and junecleaver83 - Thanks so much! We all enjoy the parades and fireworks. I'm hoping we will get to see the fireworks since we are going during a non-peak week and right now only plan to have one weekend day (Fri 5/5) in the park. I think they only do fireworks on the Fri/Sat/Sun and it can get canceled due to wind.
DS8's vision has gotten much worse (big decline this past fall). I was worried he couldn't see the parade but my husband is a genius and has rigged a GoPro up to his iPad!! He tested that out yesterday and it's pretty cool. Hoping we can point the GoPro at the parade and he can see it on his iPad! As long as we can point it towards a good view, we should be great!
This year I will ask a CM if there's a good spot to view from his WC. The last time we went, we had been waiting for a while and had a decent spot. Then at the last minute, some man stood up right in front of my DS8's chair and blocked his whole view! Then he put his daughter up on his shoulder which blocked the rest of our group's view. Oh well, can't control other people so we try not to let it ruin our happy.

One of my favorite magical memories was from our very first visit back in 2007! It was Dec, so they had the holiday overlay and the fireworks followed by the "snow" was amazing. My oldest was just 4 then and his look of wonder is unforgettable. Makes me smile just thinking about it now.

 

[SMD]

Disney has descriptive audio devices. They work with rides and shows. In WDW they also describe the park, I'm not sure if the DL devices describe the park. They usually don't do a height check for rider swap. It's only available on rides with a height requirement, but since you can't leave a kid under 14 alone in the park anyway, it should still be offered for non-riders who otherwise meet the height requirement. If you get turned down for one on a ride that offers it, I'd definitely push back and ask for a lead if necessary.

 

[1KidandaHalf]

Just wanted to follow up and say thanks for all the suggestions!
I've been able to pick up a few little things to surprise the boys the first day there. Picked up some Mickey robes on clearance that they are going to love too!!
I did get some glow bracelets for the kids to pass out at night too. Thanks, @707MickyGirl for the suggestion! They are going to love that.
I just gotta remember where I hid stuff when I pack and make sure they don't get into it beforehand.

Only two weeks away!!!