some advice pleeease..

[TwinsRmyLife]

I've been reading through all your posts and they have been a great help to me. So I decided to join and ask a few of my own! We are going to DLR in May, week prior to memorial day weekend, DH and I went about 9 years ago. this will be our kids DS6 and DD6 first time!!! we are so excited!! just a question on how to space out our days. we arrive early on the sat, I think we will be at our hotel by noon at the latest. We are staying at carousel and have a 5 day hopper and a day at sea world. Origionally I thought we would start the park on sunday, but the thought of wasting all of sat waiting to go on sunday is driving me nuts. I also want a day to go the beach and do some shopping. which days should we do what?? I want to take advantage of all 5 days in the parks. My thoughts were as follows and any input would be greatly appreciated

sat-check in early, have a rest..hit the park. Sun-parks. Mon-sea world, Tues-parks, Wed-beach/shopping, Thur-Fri-Parks. Is this doable or too busy??

Also our kids don't know yet...any ideas on how to surprise them. We want to wait right up to the last possible minute...either night before or morning when we leave. Thanks a bunch!!

 

[Brady's Mom]

I like your idea of breaking up your days. The beach is a really nice way to unwind and relax after doing DLR like a crazy person. We don't live near the beach so my kids really love to go there. They even get in the water in San Francisco and that water is COLD!!
We are surprising our kids with a trip also. They think we are going in Dec. We are flying in Mar. I am having the hardest time keeping it a secret. We are going to wake them (our three younger kids) up early the day we leave, tell them that Grandma and Grandpa need us to drive them to the airport so they don't have to leave their car there. The dead giveaway would be if my little kids saw my oldest son up that early. Then they would definitely know that something was up. We have to keep him hidden so he can't give it away. Then oldest DS and DH will follow us to the airport in G'parents car and meet us at the ticket kiosk. SURPRISE!! We are all going to DLR right now!! At least my kids know we are going this year so we can talk about the rides and check how tall they are and talk about who we want to see. If they didn't know at all, they might find it suspicious that I am always looking at the DLR and DCA maps that we brought home from our last trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well Saturday is going to be the busiest, probably, of your trip. To get there after noon might be a bit overwhelming; you won't have any fast passes yet, you'll be walking into what could be a madhouse.

I might rest that day; go to the beach on Saturday, or look around downtown disney, that sort of thing.

Are you going to use your day of Magical Morning on Sunday? Especially if you waited until that day to go, it would be a great way to start with a bang!


Where do you live, and how are you getting to Anaheim? Hard to figure out fun ways to tell the kids if we don't know that!

 

[HydroGuy]

I agree with Bumber. Saturday would be the best beach day. But be advised the ocean water in early May will be very cold - on the verge of being too cold to tolerate. As you get into late May it will be more tolerable but still pretty cold.

Trying to break up DLR and go to SW midweek seems like a good idea. At first. But it is going to make you more tired with a 90 minute drive (minimum). To avoid traffic to SW you will want to leave early. Even 5:30AM will let you avoid traffic in Orange County but once you get into SD it will be stop and go. If you make it to SW in 2 hours you will be lucky IMO. Driving back in the evening will be a similar challenge unless you leave SW after 7PM.

If it were me, I would do the beach Saturday, SW on Sunday (and avoid weekday traffic) and then DLR M-F straight. But it also depends on exactly when you go as entertainment may only be Fri/Sat/Sun in May which will reduce you chances to see it.

Just something to think about.

 

[nun69]

it is very doable be we went last year with DS{6} and he was a bit overwhelmed when it was all said and done {and we did a 5 day park hopper and a day of SW in between}...we never made it in the park at opening {kids were so exhausted, it was hard to get them up very early in the morning} and we never made it until closing...we took a break in between, and went back maybe 2 of the nights, but that was it...it was just alot for him to take in...that was just my experience though...and he did not really grasp why he had to wait in line so long {even if it was a short wait} to ride something...but he did have fun and we are taking the older 2 {him...who is 7 now and DD who is 15} again the summer and hope he will have a little more fun...and we did not get up early to beat the traffic to Seaworld...left around 8 am and got there around 10-1030 am and stayed until closing and that was more than enough time for us at SW {DD did the swim with the dolphins thing} and the traffic was not too bad....we went on a Sunday to SW...

 

[nunzia]

I would try and do the parks on the least busy days..weekdays. We always did Sea World on our way back home, after we were done with Disney. It just seemed like too much of a hassle to have to drive to SD and then back to Anaheim. Once we got out of the LA area we didn't want to go back into it
I don't remember..what days are early entry? I'd do the beach day on an alternate day, but still, would hate to lose a slower mid week day.
Anyway you do it it will be fun fun fun!

 

[mariezp]

I agree with Hydroguy. I would try the beach Saturday and Seaworld Sunday to avoid the DL weekend crowd and dodge the weekday traffic.

 

[jemilah]

A nice way to ease into Disney mode Saturday is dinner at DTD or Goofy's kitchen. And yes the water at the beach will be cold!