the LEAST busy time to visit?

[specialks]

We went last year for our first visit Sept 13-20. We have 2 girls (they were 4 and 22 months old for that trip. We had almost NO crowds except for one day when they were filming helicopter shots for the new DVD and I think they offered deals locally to help "pack" the park for the footage. We walked onto most all of the rides and had very little wait times. CONS about visiting then:
-- the park hours are shorter
-- some rides and shows are closed (Haunted Mansion, no Light Parade, and no Fantasmic.
-- they close the FASTPASS on some rides during slow times. I was told that the lineups are actually planned and help keep the main walkways more open. During less busy times they try to artificially create lineups in order to control the crowds in the park.

About flying with the 2 year old -- pack lots of things and rotate them (crayons, paper, mini-etch a sketch, small magnadoodle, crayola color wonder is great because you don't have to worry the little one will drop the marker on your clothes and 2 year olds love to see the colors "appear" on the paper). We flew with our 22 month old on our lap (only seattle-orange county) and had no problems. Of course both of our kids have been on a plane over a dozen times (we took our oldest to England when she was 2 and she did awesome on the 9 hr flight). I think it is all in how you prepare and how you look at it. Get on the plane thinking this is going to be the worst 3 hours of my life and you will probably be surprised at how easy it goes. Pack a sippy cup because the airplane drinks don't have lids.

 

[ashpinoza]

We went last year for our first visit Sept 13-20. We have 2 girls (they were 4 and 22 months old for that trip. We had almost NO crowds except for one day when they were filming helicopter shots for the new DVD and I think they offered deals locally to help "pack" the park for the footage. We walked onto most all of the rides and had very little wait times. CONS about visiting then:
-- the park hours are shorter
-- some rides and shows are closed (Haunted Mansion, no Light Parade, and no Fantasmic.
-- they close the FASTPASS on some rides during slow times. I was told that the lineups are actually planned and help keep the main walkways more open. During less busy times they try to artificially create lineups in order to control the crowds in the park.

About flying with the 2 year old -- pack lots of things and rotate them (crayons, paper, mini-etch a sketch, small magnadoodle, crayola color wonder is great because you don't have to worry the little one will drop the marker on your clothes and 2 year olds love to see the colors "appear" on the paper). We flew with our 22 month old on our lap (only seattle-orange county) and had no problems. Of course both of our kids have been on a plane over a dozen times (we took our oldest to England when she was 2 and she did awesome on the 9 hr flight). I think it is all in how you prepare and how you look at it. Get on the plane thinking this is going to be the worst 3 hours of my life and you will probably be surprised at how easy it goes. Pack a sippy cup because the airplane drinks don't have lids.

thankyou for the positive stuff about flying with the babe! i really honestly think it will be fine. we went on a 7 hour trip, each way, and he got a little fussy in his car seat but did pretty well. i was really worried, but surprised at how well it went. its a 5 hour flight total, BUT... we have a lay over, so there will be a break for us in between which also makes it better for him i think. im soooo excited, i cant wait to see his face when we get there! yayyyy. lol.