April 2017 check in thread, come in and chat!

[elm6]

We are going April 25th - 28th and will be staying at the Howard Johnson. We got what we hope is a good deal at $143.10 per night Heading to Sequoia national Park after that.

 

[ginger ninja]

We are flying over from Manchester, UK on the 1st April and spending 7 nights at VGC. Doing a few park days, but nothing else planned. We then go to San Diego for 4 nights and hoping to catch a Padres game on the Sunday and then back up to LA for 3 nights near universal to celebrate my DS 8th birthday and take DD to Warner bros studios tour. Still have no clue about most of it as its our first trip to the west coast, so any advice appreciated.

 

[Aladora]

We are flying over from Manchester, UK on the 1st April and spending 7 nights at VGC. Doing a few park days, but nothing else planned. We then go to San Diego for 4 nights and hoping to catch a Padres game on the Sunday and then back up to LA for 3 nights near universal to celebrate my DS 8th birthday and take DD to Warner bros studios tour. Still have no clue about most of it as its our first trip to the west coast, so any advice appreciated.

Welcome to the DIS! Are you planning on going to Universal Studios? Maybe your children would enjoy Legoland? Are you staying in CA or looking to go elsewhere...perhaps come up North to British Columbia!

 

[ginger ninja]

Welcome to the DIS! Are you planning on going to Universal Studios? Maybe your children would enjoy Legoland? Are you staying in CA or looking to go elsewhere...perhaps come up North to British Columbia!

Yes we are doing Universal and hotels booked for each segment just what we are doing whilst there we are unsure of! The kids are not really interested in Legoland as they have done it a few times over here and would rather do Six Flags!! Wish we had more time, there is so much to see and do! would one day love to visit British Columbia and so many other places, my daughter is working on a plan.

 

[Lm3js]

Yes we are doing Universal and hotels booked for each segment just what we are doing whilst there we are unsure of! The kids are not really interested in Legoland as they have done it a few times over here and would rather do Six Flags!! Wish we had more time, there is so much to see and do! would one day love to visit British Columbia and so many other places, my daughter is working on a plan.

You should check out the California Science Center in LA. The space shuttle Endeavor is there and my 2 loved all the hands-on experiments.

 

[kochmd1]

Hello lovely people! We're definitely going on April coming from Vanuatu but haven't finalized the dates yet. We've been here thrice before and we (me, DW and DS 4) are already excited for this trip! This will be a part of a 10 day road trip from LA to Grand Canyon then to Vegas or the other way around. Still deciding if we do Disney from April 2-5 then head out or coming back on April 9 -12 and fly back to Port Vila. Any suggestions

 

[Aladora]

Hello lovely people! We're definitely going on April coming from Vanuatu but haven't finalized the dates yet. We've been here thrice before and we (me, DW and DS 4) are already excited for this trip! This will be a part of a 10 day road trip from LA to Grand Canyon then to Vegas or the other way around. Still deciding if we do Disney from April 2-5 then head out or coming back on April 9 -12 and fly back to Port Vila. Any suggestions

I would probably do April 2-5 because your later dates are just before Easter which might make for higher crowd levels.

When you do pick your dates, let me know and I will add you to the list!

 

[sarasmom97]

Just made our reservations. April 28-May 1, staying at the Best Western Raffles. I've never stayed there, but there's 6 of us and they had an awesome rate of $145 per night for a 2 bedroom,2 bath with full breakfast.
Bummed about no Fantasmic! as it's my favorite, but excited to see the Electric Light Parade again!

 

[kochmd1]

Hello lovely people! We're definitely going on April coming from Vanuatu but haven't finalized the dates yet. We've been here thrice before and we (me, DW and DS 4) are already excited for this trip! This will be a part of a 10 day road trip from LA to Grand Canyon then to Vegas or the other way around. Still deciding if we do Disney from April 2-5 then head out or coming back on April 9 -12 and fly back to Port Vila. Any suggestions

I would probably do April 2-5 because your later dates are just before Easter which might make for higher crowd levels.

When you do pick your dates, let me know and I will add you to the list!

Finally booked at DoubleTree Suites Anaheim Resort - Convention Center from April 2 - 5. Thanks Aladora for the tip

 

[nottellin']

People are starting to ask about closures during April so here is what we know so far. I'll update this post as we get more information. I've put a link to this post in the first post on this thread so people can find it later.

Matterhorn: closed Feb 6 - April 27, 2017


Long term closures related to Star Wars Land, estimated reopening date Summer 2017
Disneyland Railroad
Fantasmic!
Davy Crockett's Canoes
Mark Twain Riverboat
Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island
Sailing Ship Columbia

Tower of Terror refurbishment to GotG: Mission Breakout, estimated reopening date Summer 2017

Thanks for this!

 

[Aladora]

Just made our reservations. April 28-May 1, staying at the Best Western Raffles. I've never stayed there, but there's 6 of us and they had an awesome rate of $145 per night for a 2 bedroom,2 bath with full breakfast.
Bummed about no Fantasmic! as it's my favorite, but excited to see the Electric Light Parade again!

What a great rate! I'm a bit sad about F! but neither DS nor I have seen MSEP so I am pretty excited about it! I think we are going to do the On-The-Go dining at Aladdin's Oasis. We've eaten at Blue Bayou enough times so none of us were really keen to do that dinner. The AO will give us a preferred viewing spot for the parade without having to dedicate a lot of time camping a spot.

Finally booked at DoubleTree Suites Anaheim Resort - Convention Center from April 2 - 5. Thanks Aladora for the tip

My pleasure, I really hope I am right!

 

[Aurora_Australis]

I've switched our booking to the Residence Inn AR/CC, bigger room and less $$$ with the Better Tomorrows promo.

This one has a full kitchen which got me wondering, do most people eat all their meals in the parks or come back out if they have a hotel in walking distance? Last time we had free breakfast too so we had that, took some snacks in and ate lunch and dinner at the parks. This time, I imagine it will be MUCH more busy than Sept so I plan on having a break in the arvo for a swim and rest for the kids but I guess we could even hang back and have an early dinner if I can make something...

 

[Aladora]

I've switched our booking to the Residence Inn AR/CC, bigger room and less $$$ with the Better Tomorrows promo.

This one has a full kitchen which got me wondering, do most people eat all their meals in the parks or come back out if they have a hotel in walking distance? Last time we had free breakfast too so we had that, took some snacks in and ate lunch and dinner at the parks. This time, I imagine it will be MUCH more busy than Sept so I plan on having a break in the arvo for a swim and rest for the kids but I guess we could even hang back and have an early dinner if I can make something...

We always stay within walking distance. If we are staying at a motel that has a free breakfast we usually eat breakfast there every morning with usually one breakfast in the park. If we are not somewhere that has breakfast included then we either stop at Starbucks or if we are at a DLR hotel we typically get an early continental breakfast delivered to our room pre-park opening. We are not big breakfast eaters and in fact we usually eat smaller meals since we all find the portions in the USA to be WAY bigger than we need. We also always go back to the room for an afternoon break since our son is autistic and he needs a bit of down time. For dinner we will either grab something at a CS place but we always do one or two nicer sit down meals. This trip is a late 45th birthday celebration for me so we are going to book Napa Rose. We were considering doing the chefs counter again but I am not sure our 11 year old is quite ready for a 3 hour tasting meal so will likely just do the regular dining room.

If anyone IS considering the Chef's Counter, I highly recommend it! It is pretty pricey but SOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it!

 

[Aurora_Australis]

DH really wanted to do Napa Rose but I think the kids will not handle it after days in the parks! Youngest will be nearly 4 but with severe CAS so break time and easy evenings are on the agenda. I don't think we'd even wait for any of the shows. We ate outside at Cafe Orleans and had enough sight of fireworks to make the kids happy.

We will have 2 nights in DL and one DCA. I was thinking of booking CO again. We also have The Cove, Alfresco tasting terrace, Carnation Cafe, Rancho del Zocalo and River Belle terrace as places we'd like to try so we have some narrowing down to do!

 

[Aladora]

DH really wanted to do Napa Rose but I think the kids will not handle it after days in the parks! Youngest will be nearly 4 but with severe CAS so break time and easy evenings are on the agenda. I don't think we'd even wait for any of the shows. We ate outside at Cafe Orleans and had enough sight of fireworks to make the kids happy.

We will have 2 nights in DL and one DCA. I was thinking of booking CO again. We also have The Cove, Alfresco tasting terrace, Carnation Cafe, Rancho del Zocalo and River Belle terrace as places we'd like to try so we have some narrowing down to do!

CAS: I assume apraxia? DS has dealt with speech delays related to his autism and the early years were rough. There was a point in time when he was around your youngest's age where he was getting so extremely frustrated because he could not communicate with us in a way we understood. At the same time, he was quite advanced with spelling so I would get him to spell the word he was trying to say. Now that he is older, it is much easier but he still sounds like a child a few years younger than he really is. Do you use a visual communication system? We never went that route but I know that PECS boards can be a wonderful tool.

If you do another trip and stay at one of the DLR hotels you can take advantage of the kids club, Pinocchio's Workshop. We have sent our son there twice while the adults went to Napa Rose. Now that DS has almost aged out of PW (it only goes to 12), we gave him the option of going there or coming to dinner with us.

Cove Bar is nice but they don't take reservations and the line can be quite long. We lucked out the time we went and were seated almost immediately. We all love the Alfresco Tasting Terrace, especially the wine flights! It is only open from 2:00-9:00 and it has a very limited menu but we have enjoyed the charcuterie and cheese board as well as the arancini balls (they call them "aged cheddar risotto bites"). On our last trip we did the WoC dessert party and had a late lunch/early supper at the tasting terrace which worked well before the dessert party.

I don't know if it is on your list but it might be worth it to put in the time and wait to get a table at Carthay Circle Lounge. Like Cove Bar, they do not take reservations and you just have to wait in line but it was a lovely break and the food was really good. They do have a kids menu here as well, DS loved the puff pastry wrapped mini hotdogs.

Carnation Cafe is one of our favourites, we like to book a late breakfast there and it is always lovely to meet Chef Oscar. Definitely make reservations!

Another on our "must do" list is the fried chicken at the Plaza Inn, we typically have it for lunch on our first day. One adult portion is more than enough to share between the two adults.

You mentioned 2 nights in DL and one in DCA, have you considered getting park hoppers?

 

[Aurora_Australis]

Yes, we ate at Plaza Inn on our last day in the parks last time and it was awesome. DH had the chicken and I had salmon and it was the nicest meal we had by far.

I wasn't sure about reservations with the lounges so thanks for that. We just had CS or QS most of the time last time. Looked at hoppers but with the $ difference, it is a good chunk of money that could be spent on something else.

Yes, DD3 has apraxia. They tend to call it verbal dyspraxia here. She technically has global dyspraxia but the motor skills are much more on par with her peers than speech. We've had a go with the PECS and will be getting a mini tablet before she hits preschool. She has been making some good progress lately, Disney is one of her favourite words!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I've been waiting for this thread!! April here

 

[Aladora]

I've been waiting for this thread!! April here

Welcome to the thread! If you want me to add you to the list, let me know your dates.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Thanks! 24-28th here!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Ok so obviously everyone wants to know what's going to be closed while they're there. I know the bobsleds probably will be, but I'm super hoping that the earlier closures of HM and PoTC mean they won't be closing again in April. At least aside from any unplanned stuff. *crosses fingers*