I may arrive in California earlier than expected

[Lasolimu]

Apparently one of my friends is planning a DLR trip for us at the end of the month because it is Spring Break(don't ask) for me. And while I am still not 100% sure that I will be going, there is a good chance of it. We will be there the last week of the month about the 21st- 26th although we won't be in the parks all of those days. We plan to stop in Vegas on the way down and arrive the 22nd giving us 3.5 days in the parks and returning in one day on the 26th. If I do take this trip I will be getting an AP which will pretty much guarantee that I will be down again in June.

[mechurchlady]

I hope to see you if all goes well for me. You will have a blast at the parks. Bring Lara a Buildabear as she loves those.

[Lasolimu]

I am excited to go again, it has been almost a year since my last trip (TSMM was doing a soft open). I would love to bring a buildabear, but I will be strapped for cash after making a tuition payment and paying for this trip and saving for my June trip. I will be ordering my AP after I get paid on Friday, then I have a small paycheck next week and a large paycheck the following week so I will be able to pay for the rest of the trip, if that wasn't the case I couldn't do it.

This also cements that I will be visiting again in June(to justify the AP) and so I need input, in June we will have 2 nights in Vegas, I intend to see Penn and Teller one night, but I don't know what show to watch the other night. I am currently leaning towards Blue Man Group but am wide open to other possibilities. Also, I am thinking of taking a tour in the parks in June, but I am not sure which one to take, I have done the "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour back when it still went through the gallery, but that is the only tour I have done on the west coast. I think I have it split between the DCA segway tour and "Walt's Footsteps" again because I don't think I need to do the "Welcome to Disneyland" tour and the "Behind the Magic" tour has availability issues(won't be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and naturally, the VIP tour is way to expensive.

So, should I take "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps" again or the DCA Segway tour that I have never done before? What show to you recommend I see in Vegas(some of my family is hard core Mormon so keep it family friendly please)?

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I have done the Segway tour at DCA and WDW (twice)

it is well worth the price. The fact that you get in the park early is also a bonus.

[mechurchlady]

Papura loves plushies and would settle for a $3 plushie any day. She is working on cleaning my garage out of plushies, lol. She took all the regular ones it seems. You can move into my house to get the so cal discounts lol.

[Lasolimu]

Well, this trip is getting more entertaining, We are now up to 9 people driving down and having 10 in the parks on at least 1 day. Of course, one of the new recruits is still way to young to do much, but that is the reason for rider swap and he will be donning Mickey ears for the first time. Just a few more people and we will be able to fill our own train on Space Mountain(taking into consideration the rider swap).

BTW, how exactly does rider swap work? We have never had to use it before so it will be a new thing for us.

Also, do you have any tips for visiting the parks with such a large group that will probably stay together the whole day? That is new to us as well.

[mechurchlady]

If you mean child swapping then that is easy. It varies from ride to ride. You can check with city hall for more info.

Babysitter takes the tikes and goes off to eat, play or ride kiddie rides for example. Everyone in the group rides using stand by, GAC, or fastpass. When they get off the babysitter and one or rarely two persons from the group rides with that person. A CM greeter will give the babysitter a cardstock pass that will let them usually use fastpass entrance but it varies from ride to ride.

[Lasolimu]

Thanks for the responses.

Another question, I know I am getting an AP this time, and I am trying to decide the best way to go about doing it. I could buy the ticket know with the email option, I could wait until I got to the parks, or I could get a park hopper for a few days and upgrade at the end of the trip. I am thinking that buying now and waiting until I arrive would be the same because when my Dad got his WDW AP it wasn't activated until he first used it. In this case, if I got the park hopper and upgraded at the end of the trip it would delay the activation further extending the time period I could use it greater, but then I wouldn't have the discounts it would provide. Which method do you think I should use?

[mechurchlady]

ON LINE IS BEST

Calvin the sweet lug was late. We got to the park about 11 am and had to wait in line about 20 minutes to half an hour. That was on a slow day in the off season in the middle of the week. If you are not getting a southern california pass then go for the online method and then run to the bank jut past the train station, where Lincoln was, and turn it in for your pass.

[pattimelt]

Thanks for the responses.

Another question, I know I am getting an AP this time, and I am trying to decide the best way to go about doing it. I could buy the ticket know with the email option, I could wait until I got to the parks, or I could get a park hopper for a few days and upgrade at the end of the trip. I am thinking that buying now and waiting until I arrive would be the same because when my Dad got his WDW AP it wasn't activated until he first used it. In this case, if I got the park hopper and upgraded at the end of the trip it would delay the activation further extending the time period I could use it greater, but then I wouldn't have the discounts it would provide. Which method do you think I should use?

I have to ask-- which pass are you getting??? Deluxe or Premium??

If you're doing the Deluxe, check into going to Costco-- the pass costs the same, but when you activate it at the park, you get a $50 gift card to use in the park on whatever, so the pass itself works out to $219 instead of $269..