snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Thank you! A solid night's sleep will do her well! I think of hardcore park touring in the FL heat and humidity did her in!
UPDATED: Ultimate park hop - 6 parks in one day - WE DID IT!
- Thread starter snuggly duckling
- Start date
Thank you! A solid night's sleep will do her well! I think of hardcore park touring in the FL heat and humidity did her in!
mamamelody2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2016
That is amazing that you were able to pull it off. Great job!
Ariel-Rocks
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2016
Congrats on making it !!! Enjoy the rest of your time in CA.
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Thank you! I love going to the west coast, because we got a ton of sleep and still were up in time for a 7:00 ADR at Storytellers and now we're first in line to get into DCA for EMH
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Thank you!! I still can't believe it!!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Thank you! We will!! Ready to do the parks for real now!!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Got home from our epic adventure yesterday and realized I didn't post a recap of the CA side of the park hop!
Our flight to LAX was actually able to get off the ground a few minutes early from MCO and we made great time, landing more than 30 minutes early. We had shipped our luggage to CA in advance so we didn't have to wait at baggage claim. We were in our private Super Shuttle van en route to Disneyland before our flight was even scheduled to land!!
Amazingly, LA traffic was not so bad that day. The driver even commented that it was lighter than usual! It slowed often and there was a lot of volume, but we never stopped moving! It took just over an hour to get from LAX to the Grand Californian. Given that we had 2+ hours before DCA closed and 3+ hours before DL closed, we checked in to the hotel and ditched our carry-ons in the room. We were headed down the the GCH DCA entrance by 6:00 pm.
And that's where we hit our first, and only snafu...
The kids' prepurchased park hopper tickets worked just fine. But my husband and my APs were not set up correctly and would not work. We had to go around to the main entrance and go to the ticket window. The castmember at the ticket window told us that our APs were not set up correctly (and that this was quite common with Premier APs bought in FL.) She brought in a supervisor to help, and he told us us that it was not an easy fix, unfortunately. I started freaking out, because everything had gone so well all day, and this was what was going to prevent us from completing our mission. I was worried that we would be spending our whole night at the ticket window. The supervisor explained that he had to open a ticket to go to IT to get our APs set up right. He said it has previously taken up to a few days in order to get done, depending on how backed up IT was. There was no way it was getting fixed that night. BUT thankfully, it is Disney, and service matters. So he made it right. He gave both of us complimentary 3-day hoppers and some vouchers for food (since we likely wouldn't be able to use our AP discounts either.) After a 45 minute detour, we were on our way into DCA, still with plenty of time!
One kid wanted to ride Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters and the other wanted to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. So we did both!
By 7:30 pm we were walking across the plaza to Disneyland! It was really going to happen!
The wonderful @Lesley Wake met us at the entrance. It was so nice to see a friendly face after the hours of travel and the AP issue!
We all walked over to Fanstasyland and rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride together. WE DID IT!!!
Lesley made THE CUTEST medals for us and presented them to us. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
We took a photo in front of the Disnleyland castle (which came out awful, but whatever!) We were exhausted and realized that we really hadn't eaten, so we decided to head back to the hotel and crash. My husband grabbed some take-out from Downtown Disney on the way. My daughter, who still wasn't feeling well, crashed before he even got back. After inhaling our food, the rest of us crashed too!
Still can't believe we pulled it off!
So a summary of our day... a unique attraction and a photo in each of the 6 US parks:
Thank you all for following along. It was so much fun to plan and strategize with you!!
Our flight to LAX was actually able to get off the ground a few minutes early from MCO and we made great time, landing more than 30 minutes early. We had shipped our luggage to CA in advance so we didn't have to wait at baggage claim. We were in our private Super Shuttle van en route to Disneyland before our flight was even scheduled to land!!
Amazingly, LA traffic was not so bad that day. The driver even commented that it was lighter than usual! It slowed often and there was a lot of volume, but we never stopped moving! It took just over an hour to get from LAX to the Grand Californian. Given that we had 2+ hours before DCA closed and 3+ hours before DL closed, we checked in to the hotel and ditched our carry-ons in the room. We were headed down the the GCH DCA entrance by 6:00 pm.
And that's where we hit our first, and only snafu...
The kids' prepurchased park hopper tickets worked just fine. But my husband and my APs were not set up correctly and would not work. We had to go around to the main entrance and go to the ticket window. The castmember at the ticket window told us that our APs were not set up correctly (and that this was quite common with Premier APs bought in FL.) She brought in a supervisor to help, and he told us us that it was not an easy fix, unfortunately. I started freaking out, because everything had gone so well all day, and this was what was going to prevent us from completing our mission. I was worried that we would be spending our whole night at the ticket window. The supervisor explained that he had to open a ticket to go to IT to get our APs set up right. He said it has previously taken up to a few days in order to get done, depending on how backed up IT was. There was no way it was getting fixed that night. BUT thankfully, it is Disney, and service matters. So he made it right. He gave both of us complimentary 3-day hoppers and some vouchers for food (since we likely wouldn't be able to use our AP discounts either.) After a 45 minute detour, we were on our way into DCA, still with plenty of time!
One kid wanted to ride Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters and the other wanted to ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. So we did both!
By 7:30 pm we were walking across the plaza to Disneyland! It was really going to happen!
The wonderful @Lesley Wake met us at the entrance. It was so nice to see a friendly face after the hours of travel and the AP issue!
We all walked over to Fanstasyland and rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride together. WE DID IT!!!
Lesley made THE CUTEST medals for us and presented them to us. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
We took a photo in front of the Disnleyland castle (which came out awful, but whatever!) We were exhausted and realized that we really hadn't eaten, so we decided to head back to the hotel and crash. My husband grabbed some take-out from Downtown Disney on the way. My daughter, who still wasn't feeling well, crashed before he even got back. After inhaling our food, the rest of us crashed too!
Still can't believe we pulled it off!
So a summary of our day... a unique attraction and a photo in each of the 6 US parks:
- Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Early Morning Magic) and a photo in front of Cinderella Castle
- Animal Kingdom: Na'vi River Journey (standby at rope drop) and a photo in front of the Tree of Life
- Hollywood Studios: Rock n Roller Coaster (with same-day FP and rider swap) and a photo in front of the Chinese Theater
- EPCOT: Spaceship Earth (with same-day FP) and a photo in front of it
- California Adventure: Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters (and Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, both standby) and a photo in Cars Land
- Disneyland: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (standby) and a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle
Thank you all for following along. It was so much fun to plan and strategize with you!!
missangelalexis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2012
That's amazing- congrats! 
Mopedmom1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2017
LOVE IT! What a great memory for your family, and thankfully a little pixie dust was sprinkled upon you at Disneyland. Have you started planning your next adventure yet? 
Clare Voince
In Spiritual Repose
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2009
I'm impressed by your stamina. I love how you took photos at the park Icons too!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
That's amazing- congrats!
Thank you!!! We had a blast!!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
LOVE IT! What a great memory for your family, and thankfully a little pixie dust was sprinkled upon you at Disneyland. Have you started planning your next adventure yet?
I wish I could remember that supervisor's name! Between the exhaustion and the stress it just didn't register in my brain. But he saved the day!!
We've got 5 more trips in our MDE already, though 4 of them are me solo for runDisney events. The whole family will be back for 10 nights in December, our 5th annual Christmas at WDW! My husband and son really want to try the Parkeology WDW47 Challenge, where you try to ride all the rides in WDW in a single day. The extended hours at Christmas would certainly help, though the crowds would not! I don't know if they will seriously go for it or not. It would mean them bailing on the ADRs we have for that day (free dining, upgraded to Deluxe!)
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Thank you! The plane ride across the country definitely helped restore our energy!! My daughter and I napped the whole way!!
Mopedmom1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2017
Nice!
I would love to do a solo trip but my husband would have a fit, and my running days have long passed. And no way would we be able to get 47 rides in, even if the Express Bus was still running!
ilovecraigandcooper
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2009
LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
My husband has come on a few of my runDisney trips, but it becomes tough finding someone to take care of the kids back at home, so he's decided it's easier to just let me go myself!
Express Bus would definitely be clutch for the WDW47 challenge... quicker travel, dropped off right in the parks, no extra visits through security or bag check! Such a time saver! I'm hoping that they bring it back for the busy seasons. We would definitely do it at Christmas!!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
Thank you!
snuggly duckling
Well… I do like ducklings!
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2012
We did!! Thank you! I'm still tired. But I want to go back to Disney already!!! 55 days to go!
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