March Check-In Thread!

[mollymcg]

We will be there Feb. 27 through March 7. Myself, DH, DS 8, DD 6, staying at the HoJo. Can't wait!

 

[NSmuppetmom]

We are visiting SoCal from Mar 12 - 22. We are going to spend 5 days in the parks and then spend some time in San Diego and Hollywood / LA. Flying in from Nova Scotia, so we are looking forward to some West Coast sunshine and warmth!

 

[Sbob]

Travelling from Australia, and while in California we will be visiting Disneyland for the firs time.. Have a 4 day park hopper and will be there from 1st - 5th March.. Looks like our 1st day will be Dapper Day so will get to see a very busy Disneyland

My 3.5 year old daughter doesnt know yet, but being Frozen crazy she is going to love it

 

[Neesy228]

We are wrapping up a 10 day California road trip with a (far too brief) two day visit to Disneyland during the second week of March. It's our first time there and I'm so excited!

Still feeling a little overwhelmed by hotel options, but I'm working on it!

 

[vatali]

Quick family trip from March31-April4

We did Easter last year, and I can for sure say that if you do early April the eggs for completion will no longer be available. I think they sold out by day 3 or 4, but they certainly were not available 3 days before when we got there.

Should I be worried about LAUSD being on spring break? We are early people at DL (Thanks 2 hour time change) and got to rope drop last year, and didn't see crowds until 11AM. but LAUSD was in session. I am kind of worried that this year, even at rope drop it will be a circus.

hoping no peter pan keeps the locals away

 

[Sherry E]

Quick family trip from March31-April4

We did Easter last year, and I can for sure say that if you do early April the eggs for completion will no longer be available. I think they sold out by day 3 or 4, but they certainly were not available 3 days before when we got there.

Should I be worried about LAUSD being on spring break? We are early people at DL (Thanks 2 hour time change) and got to rope drop last year, and didn't see crowds until 11AM. but LAUSD was in session. I am kind of worried that this year, even at rope drop it will be a circus.

hoping no peter pan keeps the locals away

The maps for the Easter Egg hunts sold out last year, and the maps were needed to claim the (cheap) prizes -- but 99% of the actual eggs on the hunt could be seen by anyone, without a map.

I did both of the hunts on 4/14 last year -- there were plenty of maps in both parks and plenty of prizes available. The hunt had begun on 4/10/14. The maps for Disneyland sold out by 4/16. The maps for California Adventure had sold out by 4/18. The hunt was over after 4/20.

I would assume that Disney will order more maps this year, assuming that the Egg Hunts return. They didn't realize what a hit they would have on their hands last year, with people buying maps to both parks (in 2013 there had just been a one-week hunt in DCA for Limited Time Magic), and they didn't have enough of them made. I think that this year they will have more -- because some folks will want to hunt the eggs in the parks on Easter Sunday, and it would be nice to get the little prizes at the end.

For the purposes of this March Check-In Thread... if the Egg Hunts return, then they would probably begin sometime in late March (as opposed to last year's strictly April schedule), because Easter is much earlier in April this year. I think that, even if there were to be a shortage of maps at some point, they would probably still be in bountiful supply in the March segment of the Egg Hunts, and then start to dwindle in the first several days of April. That's my guess.

 

[dayvewc]

I'll be there March 21 - March 27, checking in to GC on the 22. Can't wait!

 

[mamarulis]

We're excited to get there on March 1st and spend the 2/3/4 in the parks! Staying at GCH. I'm excited that the castle is scheduled to re-open on the 2nd!

 

[danzma]

We'll be coming for Spring Break from icy Chicago March 31-April 4 staying at DLR. Second trip for us to DL, we are WDW regulars.

We're using a CM discount and I was shocked that the week before Easter wasn't blacked out (that is when it finally dawned on me - now I'm feeling a little guilty that we're on vacation during Holy Week!).

We're planning on taking the "Welcome to Disneyland Tour" - looks fun, can't wait!

 

[ColdNeverBotheredMe]

The maps for the Easter Egg hunts sold out last year, and the maps were needed to claim the (cheap) prizes -- but 99% of the actual eggs on the hunt could be seen by anyone, without a map.

I did both of the hunts on 4/14 last year -- there were plenty of maps in both parks and plenty of prizes available. The hunt had begun on 4/10/14. The maps for Disneyland sold out by 4/16. The maps for California Adventure had sold out by 4/18. The hunt was over after 4/20.

I would assume that Disney will order more maps this year, assuming that the Egg Hunts return. They didn't realize what a hit they would have on their hands last year, with people buying maps to both parks (in 2013 there had just been a one-week hunt in DCA for Limited Time Magic), and they didn't have enough of them made. I think that this year they will have more -- because some folks will want to hunt the eggs in the parks on Easter Sunday, and it would be nice to get the little prizes at the end.

For the purposes of this March Check-In Thread... if the Egg Hunts return, then they would probably begin sometime in late March (as opposed to last year's strictly April schedule), because Easter is much earlier in April this year. I think that, even if there were to be a shortage of maps at some point, they would probably still be in bountiful supply in the March segment of the Egg Hunts, and then start to dwindle in the first several days of April. That's my guess.

So how exactly do the Easter egg hunts work? It sounds like a lot of fun, definitely something my family might want to do!

 

[sarasmom97]

March 16th-20th, staying at The Carousal Inn & Suites for the first time. 64 days and counting!

 

[Sherry E]

So how exactly do the Easter egg hunts work? It sounds like a lot of fun, definitely something my family might want to do!

ColdNeverBotheredMe -

I found it to be a lot of fun, and I didn't even have kids with me! So I think that kids would definitely have fun with the egg hunts.

How the "Egg-stravaganza" worked last year was that there was a map made for DL and a map made for DCA. Each map came with a sheet of stickers with characters on them. The maps were inexpensive -- around $5 each. You could only buy them at certain locations in the parks -- they were not available at every shop.

Once you get your first map, you look at the clues or markers on the map and go about finding your character eggs around the park(s). There was usually at least one egg in each land, and sometimes more than one. The eggs might be hidden up on balconies, or nestled in a bed of flowers, or inside shops, etc. They were in all sorts of clever places.

The character eggs were very easy to find for the most part, as they were large and, in some cases, in very obvious/visible locations. I found the eggs in DCA to be much easier to find than the ones in DL (there was an egg hidden in a tree in DL, and I thought that was fun!).

The maps essentially tell/show you where the eggs will be -- it is a hunt designed for small kids to be able to spot them easily, but I actually kind of hope that Disney expands on the hunt in the future and creates another, more challenging, level as well. In other words, keep the easy hunt for the little ones, but then add in a harder level for those who want more of a challenge.

When you find a character egg, you put the corresponding character sticker (which came with your map) onto the designated spot on the map. So, for example, if you found a White Rabbit egg in Fantasyland, you'd apply the White Rabbit sticker onto the Fantasyland spot on the map.

After you have applied all of the stickers to your map, you go to the location that is giving away the prizes. It will be designated by signs and maybe even on the map itself. You show the CM your map with all the stickers, and they let you pick your prize or they hand you a prize. When they did the egg hunt for a Limited Time Magic thing in 2013, they were giving out miniature Vinylmation keychains as the prize, I believe. Last year, during the 11-day hunt, they gave out little, cheap, colored plastic character eggs as the prize. (Some people were returning maps without all of the stickers applied, though, so they will still give you the prize anyway, as long as you bought a map.) You keep your map as a souvenir!

The whole endeavor -- not counting any stops you make for rides or food or whatever -- took a few hours, but that included hunting in both parks. You are literally walking all around the parks, from land to land, looking for the eggs, so it takes up time. If you choose to skip the map and the prize, you will still encounter the really visible eggs in random places as you go through the parks!

I think that Disney underestimated how popular the egg hunting would be and ran out of maps before Easter. It was a good, low-cost way to do a fun, seasonal activity in both parks, and a lot of people ended up getting maps for each park. Disney probably assumed that people would stick to one park and not do the hunt in both parks. I was all in -- if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it in both parks!!

I could be totally wrong, but I really think that the egg hunt will be back this year -- and it would have to get started in March if it were going to last for another 10 or 11 days and end on Easter. I don't think they would have the egg hunt last beyond Easter, so I think it would have to begin at least 5 days before the end of March -- if not before that. Since it was popular, I have to think that Disney is planning on bringing it back.

The Springtime Roundup, on the other hand, should hopefully begin right around the start of Spring -- and that features some fun character "egg art" and the famous Disney rabbits.



Here is a Parks Blog about the egg hunt from last year (again, remember that it started on April 10th only because Easter didn't take place until April 20th -- this year's schedule would have to be quite different)--

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/03/eggs-istencial-event-returns-to-disney-parks/




Here are some articles about the Springtime Roundup --


http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...nds-at-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

​

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I'm taking DS(7) March 1-5 for our first ever mommy-son trip. We've been on 4 trips with other people (DH or friends), but this year it will be just the 2 of us. I've saved up enough since our last trip that we get to stay at the GCH this time!! We've always stayed off site before (big fans of BWPPI since it's so close), so this is a huge treat. I don't know that we'll ever be able to stay at a resort hotel again, since it's usually out of our price range, but with just the 2 of us I could make it work!

I'm looking forward to catching the end of the Dapper Day festivities on our arrival day, but figure we'll mostly be people-watching and soaking up the atmosphere. I haven't told DS the dates we're going, but he knows I am planning a trip. He loves talking about the plans and likes planning the trip almost as much as I do!

We are bummed by all the closures, especially since DS loves Splash and Pooh and is finally tall enough for Bobsleds and Soarin', but as he said, at least we'll be at Disneyland!

 

[mum2merida]

So excited…7 weeks to go and I don't know how I am going to wait!!! I am checking off some DL bucket list items this trip and one of them is Dapper Day! I had to book almost a year ago to fly on points so we had no idea that this was going to happen when we were there! Hubby has even agreed to participate as well! To put icing on the cake I followed a link to the Dapper Day page from on e of the forum post and found out that we could book on site hotels at a discount to go with Dapper Day. So I get to check off staying at the Grand Californian as well! Squeee!!!!! I never thought we would be able to do that in a million years!

 

[ColdNeverBotheredMe]

ColdNeverBotheredMe -

I found it to be a lot of fun, and I didn't even have kids with me! So I think that kids would definitely have fun with the egg hunts.

How the "Egg-stravaganza" worked last year was that there was a map made for DL and a map made for DCA. Each map came with a sheet of stickers with characters on them. The maps were inexpensive -- around $5 each. You could only buy them at certain locations in the parks -- they were not available at every shop.

Once you get your first map, you look at the clues or markers on the map and go about finding your character eggs around the park(s). There was usually at least one egg in each land, and sometimes more than one. The eggs might be hidden up on balconies, or nestled in a bed of flowers, or inside shops, etc. They were in all sorts of clever places.

The character eggs were very easy to find for the most part, as they were large and, in some cases, in very obvious/visible locations. I found the eggs in DCA to be much easier to find than the ones in DL (there was an egg hidden in a tree in DL, and I thought that was fun!).

The maps essentially tell/show you where the eggs will be -- it is a hunt designed for small kids to be able to spot them easily, but I actually kind of hope that Disney expands on the hunt in the future and creates another, more challenging, level as well. In other words, keep the easy hunt for the little ones, but then add in a harder level for those who want more of a challenge.

When you find a character egg, you put the corresponding character sticker (which came with your map) onto the designated spot on the map. So, for example, if you found a White Rabbit egg in Fantasyland, you'd apply the White Rabbit sticker onto the Fantasyland spot on the map.

After you have applied all of the stickers to your map, you go to the location that is giving away the prizes. It will be designated by signs and maybe even on the map itself. You show the CM your map with all the stickers, and they let you pick your prize or they hand you a prize. When they did the egg hunt for a Limited Time Magic thing in 2013, they were giving out miniature Vinylmation keychains as the prize, I believe. Last year, during the 11-day hunt, they gave out little, cheap, colored plastic character eggs as the prize. (Some people were returning maps without all of the stickers applied, though, so they will still give you the prize anyway, as long as you bought a map.) You keep your map as a souvenir!

The whole endeavor -- not counting any stops you make for rides or food or whatever -- took a few hours, but that included hunting in both parks. You are literally walking all around the parks, from land to land, looking for the eggs, so it takes up time. If you choose to skip the map and the prize, you will still encounter the really visible eggs in random places as you go through the parks!

I think that Disney underestimated how popular the egg hunting would be and ran out of maps before Easter. It was a good, low-cost way to do a fun, seasonal activity in both parks, and a lot of people ended up getting maps for each park. Disney probably assumed that people would stick to one park and not do the hunt in both parks. I was all in -- if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it in both parks!!

I could be totally wrong, but I really think that the egg hunt will be back this year -- and it would have to get started in March if it were going to last for another 10 or 11 days and end on Easter. I don't think they would have the egg hunt last beyond Easter, so I think it would have to begin at least 5 days before the end of March -- if not before that. Since it was popular, I have to think that Disney is planning on bringing it back.

The Springtime Roundup, on the other hand, should hopefully begin right around the start of Spring -- and that features some fun character "egg art" and the famous Disney rabbits.



Here is a Parks Blog about the egg hunt from last year (again, remember that it started on April 10th only because Easter didn't take place until April 20th -- this year's schedule would have to be quite different)--

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/03/eggs-istencial-event-returns-to-disney-parks/




Here are some articles about the Springtime Roundup --


http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...nds-at-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...at-the-springtime-roundup-at-disneyland-park/

​

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[Oomiak]

My son and I are WDW veterans making our first trip to Disneyland 3/21-3/26. We are very excited to walk in Walt's footsteps and see where it all began. I'm bummed that the Matterhorn will be closed while we are there but we will still enjoy ourselves! I currently have a 3 day hopper (military salute) which I hope is enough. If we don't get enough out of that, I will buy 1 day tickets to give us an extra day.

 

[Ratherbeatdisneyland]

Hello fellow March goers! We are going March 7th through 11th! It will be my 3 year old sons first trip. I feel like I don't know what the heck I'm doing taking a kid with me. All the other trips were so easy with just DH and I! Now it's like we have to be majorly prepared and packed up. LOL We are staying the first half at Hojo and then moving over to the desert inn and suites. I wanted to stay a couple of days at the Hojo just to give my son a place to play in the water. We are going to have to drive and park 2 days too, which I hope turns out okay. I was thinking of switching us over to just staying at the Hojo but everything is now BOOKED! I can't find a room hardly any where! It will also be our first time driving out there (from Utah) so I'm hoping that goes ok too.

 

[mickmom728]

We are a group of seven adults and will be there March 18-24! Staying at Tropicana Inn and hoping for some warm weather since most of us are coming in from cold Ohio! It's a family reunion with my DS and DDIL who are coming from Point Richmond, CA!

 

[cbuck85]

Hi all! We're heading to Disney on March 22. We're also using the 3 day military tickets and hoping it'll be sufficient for first timers with a 2 year old. At some point we decided to save a significant wad of cash and make the 13 hour drive, so we might be a little haggard by the time we make it!

We had originally planned to do our 3 days and then head to San Diego for a couple, so we only booked the BW+ across the street for 4 nights. Now that we're wanting to extend and just stay there, they're sold out for the rest of our dates. Go figure. Anyway, we might be looking at different hotels now, though the BW+ seemed the best rated in that little area directly across the street. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Ratherbeatdisneyland]

Anyone made reservations for anything yet? We are reserved for the Minnie and Friends Breakfast. I think my son will love that. I'm also thinking we will do dinner at Rainforest Cafe, haven't made that reservation yet. And debating on Carnation cafe.