*o* August Check-In Thread *o*

[shooting4life]

Just locked down our next trip. Heading 8/15 through 8/19 with time at the park Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday,m and Saturday. I might even sneak over Sunday morning. Heading down with my wife. We got AP while on a 3 day trip in April. Have had Disney on the brain ever since. We will be staying at Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites which has a great price right now ($94 a night). Cannot wait!!!

 

[NorthernCalMom]

We’ll be there August 1 to 3. We’ll arrive July 30 & depart August 5 and will be staying at the Disneyland Hotel.

 

[SeiterClan]

We’ll be there August 1 to 3. We’ll arrive July 30 & depart August 5 and will be staying at the Disneyland Hotel.

We will be there some of the same days as you-August 2nd-4th! I see that you have been in August many times & interested to hear from you what it's like crowd wise, etc. & any other tips/advice as we have never been in the summer before but now have teenagers who can't miss school so summer it is!

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Hi SeiterClan/travel day buddy! The nice thing about going in August is rides are rarely closed for refurbishment at that time. The huge issues are crowds & heat. In our case, we accompany my husband who has a conference at the Disneyland Hotel at that time (yeah, conference discounts on Hotel & Park tickets!!!), hence our choice of travel time.

I’m a big Disney prepper, to the point of being compulsive. At this time of year it is even more important than at any other to get to the parks as early as you possibly can. Not only can you get your favorite rides in before the crowds build, but you also do so before the heat really kicks up hard.

By the time the Anaheim sun has burned through the early morning cloud cover and the real crowds pour in, we generally have done all our must-dos and start slowing down.

Another advantage of starting early (and, again, I am super hard-core about this... I actually wake the kids up extra early the week before we leave, so they get used to getting up early) is that we can do an early lunch, which also helps us avoid crowds. We usually bring portable snacks for breakfast, which they eat why we speedwalk to the turnstiles and then are hungry again around 11/11:30am, when most of our favorite eateries start serving lunch.

I also have a precise plan for those first few hours, which the kids & I create in the days leading up to the trip (which will of course have to be shuffled around based on temporary ride closures). Not only does this minimize standing around & wondering what do do next, it’s also a fun thing to do in order to deal with the excitement & anticipation.

It helps that my girls are only 10 & 12. I’m not sure they’ll still be as compliant once puberty hits. They might, though, since they know from experience how much more riding & less waiting there is, when they follow mommy’s crazy master plan.

In the past I was fastpass running for everybody on our first park day (Wednesday), when my husband is in the parks with us, before his lectures start. I am trying to decide about Maxpass or not. Fastpass-running is good exercise & we could use those funds as spending money, but I’m not getting any younger and loved the convenience of it on last year’s trip (we got it on the last day only, when it was just me & the kids).

Whatever you do, remember to hydrate. I like having my own water bottle, but there are fountains all over, and we do have the family rule: See a fountain, drink from it. Most counter service restaurants give you free ice water when you ask for it.

Even though it can get crazy hot during the day, things can cool down rather quickly once the sun has set, so you might have a light jacket or sweater ready if you stay for night entertainment and/or fireworks.

 

[Dizzy4DL]

Great advice NorthernCalMom!! I've only been to DL in August once, but what you say definitely reminds me of my experience. Thanks for sharing!

 

[WillowHaven]

I agree! Great advice!

This will be our first time in Summer. And coming from the Seattle area, we are not used to the heat. I definitely plan to use our early mornings and the evenings as much as possible. I like your idea of getting the kids used to the schedule ahead of time. Mine are usually early risers, but they won't be used to the late nights.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Whatever you do, remember to hydrate. I like having my own water bottle, but there are fountains all over, and we do have the family rule: See a fountain, drink from it. Most counter service restaurants give you free ice water when you ask for it.

Even though it can get crazy hot during the day, things can cool down rather quickly once the sun has set, so you might have a light jacket or sweater ready if you stay for night entertainment and/or fireworks.

All these tips were great, but especially these last two! Hydration is key, and most people don't realized how dehydrating it can be spending so much time outdoors (warm weather is worse, but you can still get dehydrated in cooler weather) being more active than you are normally. Don't wait until you are thirsty, just keep drinking water throughout the day! Just a word of warning about the drinking fountains: we've seen some rather unhealthy behavior from guests at various drinking fountains in both parks, so now we only drink the filtered water at either the CS locations (hey, free cups of ice water? I won't argue with free!) or from the drinking fountain at the First Aid locations (because I know those are clean and it makes the nurses really happy to see guests drinking water!). If we bring a refillable water bottle, we fill it at First Aid or use multiple cups of free ice water to fill it up.
The last tip about having a light jacket for nighttime is a really good one. People forget how quickly you cool off while sitting immobile waiting for a show or parade. It's not like being constantly on the move from ride to ride. Even if you don't need to wear the jacket or hoodie, you will at least have a cushion to make the pavement a little more comfortable while you wait.

 

[gsrieff]

I found a hand pressurized mister for only a couple dollars. It's about the size of a small lotion bottle so it fits in a backpack easily. It would even fit in a fanny pack. It just takes a couple pumps, and its ready to go. It is perfect for standing in line in direct sunlight and staying cool. When I use it, I always get asked if they sell them in the park, but I got it at rite aid. Its lasted a couple years so far!

 

[shooting4life]

All these tips were great, but especially these last two! Hydration is key, and most people don't realized how dehydrating it can be spending so much time outdoors (warm weather is worse, but you can still get dehydrated in cooler weather) being more active than you are normally. Don't wait until you are thirsty, just keep drinking water throughout the day! Just a word of warning about the drinking fountains: we've seen some rather unhealthy behavior from guests at various drinking fountains in both parks, so now we only drink the filtered water at either the CS locations (hey, free cups of ice water? I won't argue with free!) or from the drinking fountain at the First Aid locations (because I know those are clean and it makes the nurses really happy to see guests drinking water!). If we bring a refillable water bottle, we fill it at First Aid or use multiple cups of free ice water to fill it up.
The last tip about having a light jacket for nighttime is a really good one. People forget how quickly you cool off while sitting immobile waiting for a show or parade. It's not like being constantly on the move from ride to ride. Even if you don't need to wear the jacket or hoodie, you will at least have a cushion to make the pavement a little more comfortable while you wait.

The cooling off at night is especially true if you have been sweating all day and your shirt is damp. Most notably is wearing cotton based clothing that doesn’t dry quickly. In the hiking world honey have a saying “cotton kills” because you sweat all day then end up in a damp shirt at night when the temps drop.
I’ll even bring a really light weight Polly blend shirt and change into that in the evening. Often times if you are dry you won’t even need the light jacket in the summer months.

Speaking of heat, having proper footwear and even extra socks can help with the above. Nothing worse than getting a blister on day one of the three day trip because your feat were wet from either sweat or water rides. Your shoes will dry but the lack of air movement will keep your socks wet.

Also it is a good time to get everyone into carrying their own water bottle in a backpack if you don’t have a stroller. One person carrying water for everyone gets old quick and leads to not being enough. I bring a 40oz bottle just for myself and fill it up once during regular months. In summer you should be drinking 120 oz per adult per day once you will be sweating a lot of it out. Be mindful of how much you drink and how often you are going to the bathroom. If you find yourself drinking water and not peeing often then you are not drinking enough for how much you are sweating.

 

[SeansMom]

Hi SeiterClan/travel day buddy! The nice thing about going in August is rides are rarely closed for refurbishment at that time. The huge issues are crowds & heat. In our case, we accompany my husband who has a conference at the Disneyland Hotel at that time (yeah, conference discounts on Hotel & Park tickets!!!), hence our choice of travel time.

I’m a big Disney prepper, to the point of being compulsive. At this time of year it is even more important than at any other to get to the parks as early as you possibly can. Not only can you get your favorite rides in before the crowds build, but you also do so before the heat really kicks up hard.

By the time the Anaheim sun has burned through the early morning cloud cover and the real crowds pour in, we generally have done all our must-dos and start slowing down.

Another advantage of starting early (and, again, I am super hard-core about this... I actually wake the kids up extra early the week before we leave, so they get used to getting up early) is that we can do an early lunch, which also helps us avoid crowds. We usually bring portable snacks for breakfast, which they eat why we speedwalk to the turnstiles and then are hungry again around 11/11:30am, when most of our favorite eateries start serving lunch.

I also have a precise plan for those first few hours, which the kids & I create in the days leading up to the trip (which will of course have to be shuffled around based on temporary ride closures). Not only does this minimize standing around & wondering what do do next, it’s also a fun thing to do in order to deal with the excitement & anticipation.

It helps that my girls are only 10 & 12. I’m not sure they’ll still be as compliant once puberty hits. They might, though, since they know from experience how much more riding & less waiting there is, when they follow mommy’s crazy master plan.

In the past I was fastpass running for everybody on our first park day (Wednesday), when my husband is in the parks with us, before his lectures start. I am trying to decide about Maxpass or not. Fastpass-running is good exercise & we could use those funds as spending money, but I’m not getting any younger and loved the convenience of it on last year’s trip (we got it on the last day only, when it was just me & the kids).

Whatever you do, remember to hydrate. I like having my own water bottle, but there are fountains all over, and we do have the family rule: See a fountain, drink from it. Most counter service restaurants give you free ice water when you ask for it.

Even though it can get crazy hot during the day, things can cool down rather quickly once the sun has set, so you might have a light jacket or sweater ready if you stay for night entertainment and/or fireworks.

 

[SeansMom]

Good to know! We never go in summer...until now. Which conference is your hubby lecturing at?

 

[SeansMom]

We will be staying at DLH either August 5th or 6th for seven days. I have a conference so it’s only part play/part work. I’m wondering if anybody has preferences for hotel towers? Thanks in advance!

 

[maleficent55]

We will be staying at DLH either August 5th or 6th for seven days. I have a conference so it’s only part play/part work. I’m wondering if anybody has preferences for hotel towers? Thanks in advance!

When we stayed we picked the adventure tower because it is closest to the entrance to Downtown Disney, but in all actuality the distances from each is negligible.

 

[gsrieff]

We will be staying at DLH either August 5th or 6th for seven days. I have a conference so it’s only part play/part work. I’m wondering if anybody has preferences for hotel towers? Thanks in advance!

We have requested adventure tower due to the proximity to the monorail before. We used that to go in and out of the park most of the time. During august it might be better to actually get Frontier tower....I'm so concerned for what all the demo and construction right next to adventure is going to be like. I seriously hope we don't lose access to the monorail. It is SUCH a feet saver.

 

[SeiterClan]

Hi SeiterClan/travel day buddy! The nice thing about going in August is rides are rarely closed for refurbishment at that time. The huge issues are crowds & heat. In our case, we accompany my husband who has a conference at the Disneyland Hotel at that time (yeah, conference discounts on Hotel & Park tickets!!!), hence our choice of travel time.

I’m a big Disney prepper, to the point of being compulsive. At this time of year it is even more important than at any other to get to the parks as early as you possibly can. Not only can you get your favorite rides in before the crowds build, but you also do so before the heat really kicks up hard.

By the time the Anaheim sun has burned through the early morning cloud cover and the real crowds pour in, we generally have done all our must-dos and start slowing down.

Another advantage of starting early (and, again, I am super hard-core about this... I actually wake the kids up extra early the week before we leave, so they get used to getting up early) is that we can do an early lunch, which also helps us avoid crowds. We usually bring portable snacks for breakfast, which they eat why we speedwalk to the turnstiles and then are hungry again around 11/11:30am, when most of our favorite eateries start serving lunch.

I also have a precise plan for those first few hours, which the kids & I create in the days leading up to the trip (which will of course have to be shuffled around based on temporary ride closures). Not only does this minimize standing around & wondering what do do next, it’s also a fun thing to do in order to deal with the excitement & anticipation.

It helps that my girls are only 10 & 12. I’m not sure they’ll still be as compliant once puberty hits. They might, though, since they know from experience how much more riding & less waiting there is, when they follow mommy’s crazy master plan.

In the past I was fastpass running for everybody on our first park day (Wednesday), when my husband is in the parks with us, before his lectures start. I am trying to decide about Maxpass or not. Fastpass-running is good exercise & we could use those funds as spending money, but I’m not getting any younger and loved the convenience of it on last year’s trip (we got it on the last day only, when it was just me & the kids).

Whatever you do, remember to hydrate. I like having my own water bottle, but there are fountains all over, and we do have the family rule: See a fountain, drink from it. Most counter service restaurants give you free ice water when you ask for it.

Even though it can get crazy hot during the day, things can cool down rather quickly once the sun has set, so you might have a light jacket or sweater ready if you stay for night entertainment and/or fireworks.

Thank you! So many good tips here. We are staying at the PPH so we definitely plan to take advantage of EMH while we are there! We are from AZ so we know HOT but we have never been to DL in the summer so I like your plan about early lunch. Do you do QS or TS places?

I also am a big advocate of having a good plan in the mornings so I would be interested to hear yours?!? WE will not have PH's but 3 day 1 park/day tickets so our plan it to do Thursday 8/2 at DL, Fri. 8/3 at DCA & Sat. 8/4 at DL to finish up our trip. I'm not an expert but we do plan to use Max Pass if I can convince DH that the extra $80/day for 3 days is worth it! Pretty sure I can convince him as he really disliked me missing out on time with everyone to run get FP's. :/

Thanks again for all your advice!

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Hi again! I love everybody’s answers. It’s fun to share plans & preparations.

Speaking of heat, having proper footwear and even extra socks can help with the above. Nothing worse than getting a blister on day one of the three day trip[...]

So true! Mole skin is definitely a staple in my fanny pack, but avoiding blisters in the first place is of course even better.

Also it is a good time to get everyone into carrying their own water bottle in a backpack if you don’t have a stroller.

Definitely. Both my kids have their own fanny packs for water & snacks (we found that, despite pretty strict written policies, Disney staff is pretty nice about bringing in snacks). That’s the one thing about our stroller I miss—being able to toss and haul whatever you want in the bottom.

Which conference is your hubby lecturing at?

He’s actually not lecturing but listening to lectures. The organization that presents the conference is ACOFP (American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians). As a physician, he needs to attend a certain number of CME (continuing medical education) lectures to keep up with the quickly changing body of knowledge in medicine.

Do you do QS or TS places?

I like the quick in and out of counter service places (especially when you avoid the at peak time). Before it made way for the new Star Wars area, we loved to go to the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ (making advance reservations), otherwise were all about quick & easy.

I also am a big advocate of having a good plan in the mornings so I would be interested to hear yours?!?

I will be happy to share mine with you as it develops. I need to dig through my computer to find last year’s, and I usually adjust & tweak it each year, based on what I hear here on the board.

I'm not an expert but we do plan to use Max Pass if I can convince DH that the extra $80/day for 3 days is worth it!

Tell him Julia said it’s beyond amazing to have Max pass!!! It’s like having your own plaid-clad VIP guide in your pocket, magically opening all the doors for you. The only problem I had using it was my own competitive nature... trying to see if I could break my own personal record as to how many fastpasses to collect. The fact that you only need to wait 1.5 hours between FPs resulted in my scheduling rides rather tightly & the occasional episode of rushing to still make our FP window. Fortunately my kids are good sports about this (& used to their mom being a bit weird & crazy about this...).

That’s actually another thing that’s probably fairly unique to the busy summer days (or new, highly sought after rides): Some FPs run out during the day. Two or three weeks before we leave I tend to spend a lot of time on the Disney-App to look at FP return times for the different weekdays of our trip & to find out which FPs run out (& at which time that happens). I also do use software tools such as Ridemax or Touring Plans but often find their wait time estimates overly optimistic. Still, they’re fun to play around with, just for geeking out...

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Besides, we usually don’t get any of our ride pics, so I kind of enjoyed Maxpass’s Photopass feature.

 

[SeiterClan]

Hi again! I love everybody’s answers. It’s fun to share plans & preparations.
So true! Mole skin is definitely a staple in my fanny pack, but avoiding blisters in the first place is of course even better.


Definitely. Both my kids have their own fanny packs for water & snacks (we found that, despite pretty strict written policies, Disney staff is pretty nice about bringing in snacks). That’s the one thing about our stroller I miss—being able to toss and haul whatever you want in the bottom.


He’s actually not lecturing but listening to lectures. The organization that presents the conference is ACOFP (American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians). As a physician, he needs to attend a certain number of CME (continuing medical education) lectures to keep up with the quickly changing body of knowledge in medicine.

I like the quick in and out of counter service places (especially when you avoid the at peak time). Before it made way for the new Star Wars area, we loved to go to the Big Thunder Ranch BBQ (making advance reservations), otherwise were all about quick & easy.


I will be happy to share mine with you as it develops. I need to dig through my computer to find last year’s, and I usually adjust & tweak it each year, based on what I hear here on the board.

Tell him Julia said it’s beyond amazing to have Max pass!!! It’s like having your own plaid-clad VIP guide in your pocket, magically opening all the doors for you. The only problem I had using it was my own competitive nature... trying to see if I could break my own personal record as to how many fastpasses to collect. The fact that you only need to wait 1.5 hours between FPs resulted in my scheduling rides rather tightly & the occasional episode of rushing to still make our FP window. Fortunately my kids are good sports about this (& used to their mom being a bit weird & crazy about this...).

That’s actually another thing that’s probably fairly unique to the busy summer days (or new, highly sought after rides): Some FPs run out during the day. Two or three weeks before we leave I tend to spend a lot of time on the Disney-App to look at FP return times for the different weekdays of our trip & to find out which FPs run out (& at which time that happens). I also do use software tools such as Ridemax or Touring Plans but often find their wait time estimates overly optimistic. Still, they’re fun to play around with, just for geeking out...

I definitely would be interested in hearing your plans! I have never used Max Pass before but was pretty good at utilizing FP as a runner before but we don't go often & probably won't be back for awhile because hubby is not as big a fan as the kids & I are plus it is alot of $$$ for our family of 8! Curious to know if you guys leave the parks & take breaks or if you just do things like shows, etc. in the afternoon when it's hot??? We will be renting a double stroller for my youngest 2(ages 4 & 6) as last time they did take naps in it & helped keep them from getting grumpy lol.

 

[kyrkea333]

I highly recommend the dollar store hand fans -- not the battery operated ones, but the ones you wave. I've carried them with me for a couple of years now because of hot flashes, but it was indispensable in Disneyland (January heat wave -- go figure). I got asked more than once if I bought it in Disneyland. Doesn't run out of battery and I look very elegant using it, I'm sure!

 

[BriannaRuth]

NorthernCalMom ... you sound like me! I've always uber-planned and drag my kids out of bed EARLY. I'm like you; I definitely think it pays off!

On wondering how they'll do with it when they're older ... my girls are now 18 and nearly 15 and they think it's the ONLY way to to Disney! Both of them are going with other groups this year ... my 18 year-old is taking a senior trip with her best friend and my younger one is going with a scout troop ... and both of them are telling me they want to do DL "our way" rather than going later and wandering aimlessly about, even if I'm not with them.

We did MaxPass last year and definitely thought it was worth it. Especially now that the kids are old enough to stay in the parks on their own in the afternoons, having MaxPass was really helpful in getting those afternoon FPs. I also really appreciated not having to do the FP run all the way to Splash, only to get there and find it temporarily down. We used it every day.