***Official April 2013 thread*** SEE POST # 4028

[TJDisneymama]

there's a spring break poll out there someone and I believe that week was one of the *least* popular weeks out of all of March and April. At least it was the last time I looked

 

[Mousemommy1]

Well, I just looked at something on the first post and realized that more of us are arriving in the third week (April 14 - 20) than any other week in the month. I am hoping that this is because we are DISboarders and know the ins and outs of planning a Disney vacation. We know that crowds go down the week after the week after Easter, right? Somebody tell me I'm right!

Well, there are alot of us New Englanders on this thread, which is when all of our spring breaks appear to be scattered through, so that might explain it.

Our school vacation week is actually 4/22-4/26, but we are taking the girls out for 1.5 days to arrive on 4/18...

 

[trtl6941]

Yeah, I am in CT and our Spring Break is the week of the 15th! We will be there the 15-21!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Well, there are alot of us New Englanders on this thread, which is when all of our spring breaks appear to be scattered through, so that might explain it.

Our school vacation week is actually 4/22-4/26, but we are taking the girls out for 1.5 days to arrive on 4/18...

We do the exact same thing... We have the last week of April and always pull our boys out for two days so we can get a jump start on our vacation by leaving on Thursday.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Just booked the WDW portion of our trip so it feels more real now! Booked the Nemo section. Used my new Southwest Visa so hopefully I'll be able to work something out for flights with the rewards. probably not gonna tell the kids 'til right before again. First trip we went the last week of February so we surprised them on Valentines Day. This year we'll probably do the same on Easter. This past year when just ODS and I went, I didn't tell him 'til that morning as we were about to get in the car.

My official trip dates for the first post are:

4/13-4/18 - AoA
4/18-4/21 - Disney Dream

 

[wdw71]

Just booked the WDW portion of our trip so it feels more real now! Booked the Nemo section. Used my new Southwest Visa so hopefully I'll be able to work something out for flights with the rewards. probably not gonna tell the kids 'til right before again. First trip we went the last week of February so we surprised them on Valentines Day. This year we'll probably do the same on Easter. This past year when just ODS and I went, I didn't tell him 'til that morning as we were about to get in the car.

My official trip dates for the first post are:

4/13-4/18 - AoA
4/18-4/21 - Disney Dream

We are doing the same thing this year not telling the kids. This is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. How am I not going to talk about it? If they ask when we are going to WDW again we keep telling them it will be a long time because we can not afford it. Lying has never been so fun

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[TJDisneymama]

We are doing the same thing this year not telling the kids. This is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. How am I not going to talk about it? s

you have to just come here and talk about it. That's what I do, esp. since DH really couldn't care less to hear about any of it. I always try to show him pics on line or (last time) tell him about the ADR's I made and he's like "nah, just surprise me."

 

[Mousemommy1]

We are doing the same thing this year not telling the kids. This is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. How am I not going to talk about it? If they ask when we are going to WDW again we keep telling them it will be a long time because we can not afford it. Lying has never been so fun

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We kept our Feb 2011 trip a surprise until Christmas 2010 - but we had booked it in August, so between August and December was a long time to keep a secret. We did pretty well, but our youngest DD had her normal physical that November (because that's when her birthday is) and when they measured her and she was 40" tall, I screamed "YAY!!! NOW YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GO ON MORE RIDES AT DISNEY!!!!"...this was followed by the utter look of confusion and I quickly said..."for, you know, the next time we go, which probably won't be for awhile...."

Almost blew that one!

 

[wdw71]

you have to just come here and talk about it. That's what I do, esp. since DH really couldn't care less to hear about any of it. I always try to show him pics on line or (last time) tell him about the ADR's I made and he's like "nah, just surprise me."

I know... thank God for The Disboards. My husband likes WDW but he doesn't want to talk about it like me so I come here.

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[wdw71]

We kept our Feb 2011 trip a surprise until Christmas 2010 - but we had booked it in August, so between August and December was a long time to keep a secret. We did pretty well, but our youngest DD had her normal physical that November (because that's when her birthday is) and when they measured her and she was 40" tall, I screamed "YAY!!! NOW YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GO ON MORE RIDES AT DISNEY!!!!"...this was followed by the utter look of confusion and I quickly said..."for, you know, the next time we go, which probably won't be for awhile...."

Almost blew that one!

OMG! That is hilarious! I can so totally see myself doing that exact same thing.

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[TJDisneymama]

I do/will still talk about with the kids but I just keep it vague like "hey, if we ever go back to WDW we can check out xyz...."

 

[CariAEB]

Well, my kids know, and we're going on Spring Break too, but they have never been before and have NO IDEA what to expect. They just can't fathom it. I am trying to keep my crazy excitment in check too...

So... who's touring plan crowd calendar do you trust most? Looking at Touring Plans and Easy WDW. Seems that there is at least a little conflict. And this will be the first trip that I know we'll have to take a break in the afternoon or at least my younger one (turning 5 on the trip) will never make it to fireworks. So... do you pick one park per day, take a break and go back for that parks evening entertainment or do you different parks in the morning and evening?

 

[TJDisneymama]

So... who's touring plan crowd calendar do you trust most? Looking at Touring Plans and Easy WDW. Seems that there is at least a little conflict. And this will be the first trip that I know we'll have to take a break in the afternoon or at least my younger one (turning 5 on the trip) will never make it to fireworks. So... do you pick one park per day, take a break and go back for that parks evening entertainment or do you different parks in the morning and evening?

we just do 1 park a day since the kids are younger (5&9). We pick 1 park and either barrel through and finish at like 4 and then back to the resort for supper & swimming and early bedtime, OR we'll stop around 12:30-1:00, go back to the resort for rest/swim/whatever, and then back to the park later at like 5-6ish.

 

[gtpoohbear]

Well, my kids know, and we're going on Spring Break too, but they have never been before and have NO IDEA what to expect. They just can't fathom it. I am trying to keep my crazy excitment in check too...

So... who's touring plan crowd calendar do you trust most? Looking at Touring Plans and Easy WDW. Seems that there is at least a little conflict. And this will be the first trip that I know we'll have to take a break in the afternoon or at least my younger one (turning 5 on the trip) will never make it to fireworks. So... do you pick one park per day, take a break and go back for that parks evening entertainment or do you different parks in the morning and evening?

I have a TP subscription, I've heard they're pretty good, but honestly by the time I work with or around EMH's and our own preferences (which park we want first, and spacing out the park days evenly, etc) I don't end up using the crowd predictions much. If there is a case where I could easily switch two days, and the crowd calendar is strongly in favor of one combination over the other, then I'll do it. But mostly we just have to go with what works for us and hope the crowds don't follow, lol!

As for what parks we do - we like to get park hoppers so that we can go to a park in the morning (that's when we do most of our rides), then after lunch we come back for a break at the hotel (swim, nap, etc). In the evening we go back, usually to a different park, for dinner and sometimes fireworks, parade, etc. We would never be able to stay out late enough for the evening entertainment without a long break in the middle.

The reason we usually go to a different park in the evening is just to spread out travel time. Depending on where we are staying, some parks are going to be closer than others. This spring, being at the YC, both MK and AK are going to involve some significant travel time - both on the bus and waiting for it to come. So I'd rather not have to make that round trip twice in one day. If we go to MK for the morning, we will spend the evening at Epcot or DHS, both of which are easy walks. And if we're going to MK for the evening, we'll spend the morning somewhere closer to "home".

The year we stayed at CBR, we didn't get hoppers b/c I figured every park involved a bus ride so it didn't really matter. It did cut down on our flexibility with dinner though - we like to eat at Epcot more than any other park.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We are doing the same thing this year not telling the kids. This is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. How am I not going to talk about it? If they ask when we are going to WDW again we keep telling them it will be a long time because we can not afford it. Lying has never been so fun

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Wow, I'd never be able to not talk about it with the kids for that long! I have to try to limit myself to one Disney "tidbit" at dinner every night, otherwise I would totally overwhelm everyone.

My parents live in south-Florida, and I have some discount tickets to Legoland that I thought we'd use when we go to visit them this Christmas, but i decided to keep it a surprise from DD until right before our trip. That alone is about more than I can handle. I've almost blown it several times and there are still months to go! I figure if I can't even keep a day-trip to LL a surprise, I'd have no hope with a full Disney vacation, ha!

 

[wdw71]

I have a TP subscription, I've heard they're pretty good, but honestly by the time I work with or around EMH's and our own preferences (which park we want first, and spacing out the park days evenly, etc) I don't end up using the crowd predictions much. If there is a case where I could easily switch two days, and the crowd calendar is strongly in favor of one combination over the other, then I'll do it. But mostly we just have to go with what works for us and hope the crowds don't follow, lol!

As for what parks we do - we like to get park hoppers so that we can go to a park in the morning (that's when we do most of our rides), then after lunch we come back for a break at the hotel (swim, nap, etc). In the evening we go back, usually to a different park, for dinner and sometimes fireworks, parade, etc. We would never be able to stay out late enough for the evening entertainment without a long break in the middle.

The reason we usually go to a different park in the evening is just to spread out travel time. Depending on where we are staying, some parks are going to be closer than others. This spring, being at the YC, both MK and AK are going to involve some significant travel time - both on the bus and waiting for it to come. So I'd rather not have to make that round trip twice in one day. If we go to MK for the morning, we will spend the evening at Epcot or DHS, both of which are easy walks. And if we're going to MK for the evening, we'll spend the morning somewhere closer to "home".

The year we stayed at CBR, we didn't get hoppers b/c I figured every park involved a bus ride so it didn't really matter. It did cut down on our flexibility with dinner though - we like to eat at Epcot more than any other park.

We do almost the exact same thing. I have always used TP and love it. We chose our morning park days using the suggested parks and follow a touring plan for the first 4 or 5 attractions then we just go where ever until lunch, return to our resort and go back to a different park either for dinner or right after dinner at the resort. Our Evening choice is based on which place we eat or which fireworks we want to see or just to be different.

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[TJDisneymama]

Wow, I'd never be able to not talk about it with the kids for that long! I have to try to limit myself to one Disney "tidbit" at dinner every night, otherwise I would totally overwhelm everyone.

!

I still talked about it a LOT with the kids....like every single day. We were just talking "hypothetically" though, for when the time came that we got to go.

 

[pwdebbie]

does AK normally have (2) morning EMH ?? And does it usually vary like that? One week its M & S, another it's Weds. & Sat, another it's M & W?
Not that it matters much to me b/c we're probably not even doing AK, but I thought it was weird.

Ok, I found out the reason that the morning EMH hours at AK are changed the week of April 21. There is a cheerleading competition in the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular location on the 27th and 28th. So the Saturday morning EMH for that park was moved to AK's usual Wednesday slot and AK moved to DHS's usual Saturday. easyWDW had the information.

 

[haPevraftr]

we just do 1 park a day since the kids are younger (5&9). We pick 1 park and either barrel through and finish at like 4 and then back to the resort for supper & swimming and early bedtime, OR we'll stop around 12:30-1:00, go back to the resort for rest/swim/whatever, and then back to the park later at like 5-6ish.

Our kids are the same age and this is exactly what we do, also. The key for us is making sure we are at rope drop for the park of choice each day. We get more done in the first few hours than we do all day b/c there are short lines.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Hi April friends!!!
I didn't think we would be going but I just got a job after being laid off for nearly 2 yrs.!!!
This is my celebration trip. We are still not sure on the date yet. I guess it all depends on the flights. I didn't know southwest already opened flights for April!!! We wanted to leave Friday afternoon on the 12th so since the flights are out already they are ridiculous. So maybe early the 13 th if I can get them the day they open up.

Does anybody know the date they open up flights for April 13????

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