*** May 2017 Disneyland Check-In ***

[georgiesmum]

I've been in a couple check-in threads, and this one seems to be the quietest. I'm going to take that as a good sign that it may be less crowded when we go.

I'm hoping the same thing! Although I timed our weekend badly because the marathon and Mothers Day are happening that weekend so I'm thinking it's going to be busy. I also have 2 grad nights and I'm not sure how they will affect crowds so I have plans away from the park for the first one and possibly the second.

 

[JaeAnnA]

I'll be there May 2-5 with my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids aged 8,6,1. I haven't been with small kids since my son was a child and he turned 32 yesterday. It will be a fun time!

 

[wishwash01]

May 4-7 *one last trip before AP expires

 

[julieheyer]

We're booked at Desert Inn and Suites. I've stayed there before and loved how close it was to the park. I also have a reservation at the new Homewood Suites near the convention centre (there's another one a few blocks further down - I booked that one by accident first - I thought it was the same one ...woops!) It looks like a nice new hotel and the suite looks bigger than DI&S, plus it has a hot breakfast, but it is further away. Although it's next to the Toy Story car park so we can just use the shuttle. We just have to decide which is more important, being super close, or more comfortable.

I'm leaning toward closer lately...BWPPI is the current front runner!! We actually went back to the room last visit and it was nice! I hadn't done that before (love packing it all in!) . Hoping we're all tired enough to fall asleep so close to each other?

I've been in a couple check-in threads, and this one seems to be the quietest. I'm going to take that as a good sign that it may be less crowded when we go.

I've never been in May. I'm hoping its a lull in time for the parks. It's after all the spring breaks, and before the summer when all the beloved attractions under refurb re-open. I know there is a half marathon going on, but it's the week after I go.

Obviously I'm not banking on these, but its giving me a positive feeling. My last few trips were the week before Halloween, the week before the 60th ended, and then the week of Thanksgiving....so I've always been on 9 or 10 out of 10 crowd level days. Should be interesting to see what happens!

96 days!

It'll definitely depend on which part of may you're there. We're going toward the end of the month and I suspect it'll get busier while we're there. The best part of busier seasons is longer park hours. I've gone in February before and it's empty, but the rides are often closed and the hours are short.
The weather should be lovely in May too!!

I'm getting excited...starting to buy Disney shirts, sweatshirts,.,etc. just filed our tax return today...when I get the refund I can buy the tickets!! Woohoo!!

 

[MommyLove]

Just looking at your info below your message. Wow, you've been a lot! Feel free to share any hints and tips you have. What costumes will you be wearing?

I'm happy to share any hints and tips! Feel free to ask me anything (I wouldn't know where to start)! As for our running costumes, my DD17 is going to be Ariel and I will be Ursula. We're both super excited!

 

[gsrieff]

We bought our flights on Tuesday. 130 per person roundtrip after taxes and fees. I was satisfied with that. We fly PDX to LGB on JetBlue. Mid month the rest of my group will be purchasing their PHs to try and avoid the (somewhat historic) possible price increase near the end of February. I'm so glad I have an AP....Saves me 300 bucks on a ticket this trip!

 

[CourtneyM86]

Joining in! DH and I are traveling to SoCal May 20-27 to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Going to start in SD and then drive up to Anaheim early Weds (5/24) morning. We're both WDW vets but neither of us have ever been to Disneyland so we're very excited! The planning has been pretty difficult since I know absolutely NOTHING about DL so any and all suggestions are welcome! We're currently booked at the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate which I chose based off of a combination of reviews, the fact that they have free parking, free breakfast and the price. I know that one is a bit more of a walk than some of the others but we live in Manhattan and don't own a car so we are used to walking literally everywhere so that doesn't bother us haha. Glad I found this thread and look forward to planning with you all!

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

We bought our flights on Tuesday. 130 per person roundtrip after taxes and fees. I was satisfied with that. We fly PDX to LGB on JetBlue. Mid month the rest of my group will be purchasing their PHs to try and avoid the (somewhat historic) possible price increase near the end of February. I'm so glad I have an AP....Saves me 300 bucks on a ticket this trip!

We fly from PDX too, love Jetblue!

 

[tzeitel]

We are so ready! Got flights, hotel (DI&S), APs. I just got a new park bag from Ebay (small Kipling backpack), not sure why since I have tons of park bags that I love but what the heck! Have saved up enough to cover our food (including the BB MSEP package and the WoC dessert party), kennel for our cat, the park and stay hotel at airport, and transportation to/from SNA (not renting a car this time). Think we will try Uber or Lyft for the first time - the sign up incentives would make transportation to/from airport free. if not, then the shuttle comes to 60 for the 3 of us r/t.

I do have to call Disney since my account is not working. This is like the 3rd or 4th time that I have had to call to get my account reset. can't log in to my account at all

 

[futuremrsrowell]

I am taking my daughter and parents for a last trip before I bail until star wars land crowds die down!

Ambassador suite at DLH 5/10
1 BR villa at VGC 5/11-5/16

I am desperate for fantasmic to be back by then! I've literally been checking every day for updates!!

 

[georgiesmum]

Joining in! DH and I are traveling to SoCal May 20-27 to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Going to start in SD and then drive up to Anaheim early Weds (5/24) morning. We're both WDW vets but neither of us have ever been to Disneyland so we're very excited! The planning has been pretty difficult since I know absolutely NOTHING about DL so any and all suggestions are welcome! We're currently booked at the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate which I chose based off of a combination of reviews, the fact that they have free parking, free breakfast and the price. I know that one is a bit more of a walk than some of the others but we live in Manhattan and don't own a car so we are used to walking literally everywhere so that doesn't bother us haha. Glad I found this thread and look forward to planning with you all!

Happy Anniversary! Make sure you get an anniversary button from Town Hall! If you have any questions, just ask, it looks like we have some Disneyland experts coming in May

 

[georgiesmum]

We are so ready! Got flights, hotel (DI&S), APs. I just got a new park bag from Ebay (small Kipling backpack), not sure why since I have tons of park bags that I love but what the heck! Have saved up enough to cover our food (including the BB MSEP package and the WoC dessert party), kennel for our cat, the park and stay hotel at airport, and transportation to/from SNA (not renting a car this time). Think we will try Uber or Lyft for the first time - the sign up incentives would make transportation to/from airport free. if not, then the shuttle comes to 60 for the 3 of us r/t.

I think I have everything ready too. Luckily in Australia we can get a 10 day pass for not much more than a 5 day pass so that's handy. They're getting a bit hard to get so we might have to get AP's when we come back after StarWars Land has opened. I'm not sure if we're going to do the WOC dessert package. I haven't seen much about it so I don't know if it's worth doing - or how much it costs.

 

[xthebowdenx]

We will be there 4/29-5/5

 

[Cptnkirky]

We will be there in VGC 5/20-24 Hoping the pool is done!

 

[Cptnkirky]

Joining in! DH and I are traveling to SoCal May 20-27 to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Going to start in SD and then drive up to Anaheim early Weds (5/24) morning. We're both WDW vets but neither of us have ever been to Disneyland so we're very excited! The planning has been pretty difficult since I know absolutely NOTHING about DL so any and all suggestions are welcome! We're currently booked at the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate which I chose based off of a combination of reviews, the fact that they have free parking, free breakfast and the price. I know that one is a bit more of a walk than some of the others but we live in Manhattan and don't own a car so we are used to walking literally everywhere so that doesn't bother us haha. Glad I found this thread and look forward to planning with you all!

We have exactly the opposite plan then you, lol. We will wave hi on the highway May 24th as we pass you going to SD

 

[CourtneyM86]

Happy Anniversary! Make sure you get an anniversary button from Town Hall! If you have any questions, just ask, it looks like we have some Disneyland experts coming in May

Thank you - I definitely will! Appreciate all the help - I'm sure I'll have lots of questions when it gets closer to ADR time

We have exactly the opposite plan then you, lol. We will wave hi on the highway May 24th as we pass you going to SD

No way! So funny! Maybe we'll pass eachother on the road

 

[CourtneyM86]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (like I said, such a DL newbie!) but when should we expect park hours to be out? I'm so used to WDW park hours being out for months and months ahead of time, and even though they tinker with them all the time they are usually fairly accurate. I feel like I can't even being planning until I know the hours!

Secondly, for all of you who have been before - what restaurants would you recommend for 2 first timers to prioritize? We're two childless adults, 30 years old and not much into character meals but we're both adventurous eaters and are willing to try anything!

Edited to add: another random question I just thought of (sorry to be so annoying!) - we are staying at the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate which is a Good Neighbor resort. I booked our room directly on the hotel's website and then was planning on getting our tickets from Disney. I just priced out our days and the package price for the same room/days of tickets I've already booked is ~$170 more through Disney. Are there any benefits to booking directly through Disney for hotel + tickets versus just tickets?

 

[gsrieff]

Sorry if this is a dumb question (like I said, such a DL newbie!) but when should we expect park hours to be out? I'm so used to WDW park hours being out for months and months ahead of time, and even though they tinker with them all the time they are usually fairly accurate. I feel like I can't even being planning until I know the hours!

Secondly, for all of you who have been before - what restaurants would you recommend for 2 first timers to prioritize? We're two childless adults, 30 years old and not much into character meals but we're both adventurous eaters and are willing to try anything!

Edited to add: another random question I just thought of (sorry to be so annoying!) - we are staying at the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate which is a Good Neighbor resort. I booked our room directly on the hotel's website and then was planning on getting our tickets from Disney. I just priced out our days and the package price for the same room/days of tickets I've already booked is ~$170 more through Disney. Are there any benefits to booking directly through Disney for hotel + tickets versus just tickets?

6 weeks seems to be pretty standard for releasing park hours. Sometimes they are feeling sassy, and wait even longer. ugh.

For food, it just depends on what kind of trip we have planned. A quick trip for us would look like Mickey waffles at Carnation Cafe, and then the typical disney foods around the parks to keep something in the stomach. Turkey legs, dole whips, raspberry macarons, matterhorn macaroons, beignets, mint juleps, corn dogs, churros, and cream cheese filled pretzels. Junk. Pure, delicious junk. If its a longer trip, we will go to Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans as well. We stop into Jolly Holiday almost every trip down Main Street. I am still experiencing different places as an adult, and trying to force myself to try different things while I'm there...I'll probably try out the famous fried chicken at the plaza this trip. My only thing is to not order things that I can get anywhere else, things like cheeseburgers or pizza. I am also making it a point to get to the Cove Bar for the first time this trip...lobster nachos and cotton candy lemonade with blue raspberry vodka on Paradise Pier is calling my name!!

I don't have an answer for the third question. I've never booked it that way, sorry!

 

[WDBRDWLK]

DDH, DD8 and I are coming to Disneyland in May but I can't find a check in thread. I can see every other month but not May!

So this is when everyone on the thread will be here
georgiesmum 8-18 May
Tinkerbell19672 6-10 May *DD birthday*
Belledisney 9-15 May *Birthday*
Tzeitel 7-12 May *Birthday*
juieheyer 21-23 May
klmcleod 9-14 May *Tink*
dec2009moma 9-15 May *Tink*
SplashMtn40inches 11-16 May *Tink*
challer 5-9 May
roxymoma *girls trip and Tink*
oklamomof4boys 15-16 May *choir trip*
ParksPixar&Pizza 14-17 May *graduation present*
JBF1982 11-13 May *Tink*
gsrieff 6-10 May
MerissaAndMomLovesDis 27 May -1 June
Branv 30 April - 5 May
JBF1982 11-13 May *Tink*
Mommylove 11-15 May *Tink*
JaeAnna 2-5 May
wishwash01 4-7 May
CourtneyM86 20-27 May
futuremrsrowell 10-16 May

Wdbrdwlk - May 20-27th

 

[CourtneyM86]

6 weeks seems to be pretty standard for releasing park hours. Sometimes they are feeling sassy, and wait even longer. ugh.

For food, it just depends on what kind of trip we have planned. A quick trip for us would look like Mickey waffles at Carnation Cafe, and then the typical disney foods around the parks to keep something in the stomach. Turkey legs, dole whips, raspberry macarons, matterhorn macaroons, beignets, mint juleps, corn dogs, churros, and cream cheese filled pretzels. Junk. Pure, delicious junk. If its a longer trip, we will go to Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans as well. We stop into Jolly Holiday almost every trip down Main Street. I am still experiencing different places as an adult, and trying to force myself to try different things while I'm there...I'll probably try out the famous fried chicken at the plaza this trip. My only thing is to not order things that I can get anywhere else, things like cheeseburgers or pizza. I am also making it a point to get to the Cove Bar for the first time this trip...lobster nachos and cotton candy lemonade with blue raspberry vodka on Paradise Pier is calling my name!!

I don't have an answer for the third question. I've never booked it that way, sorry!

Thank you so much! I totally agree with trying things I wouldn't normally get at home. Lobster nachos & blue raspberry vodka sounds amazing I will definitely be adding Cove Bar to the list!! Oh and churros - one can never have too many churros.