Logistics of the WH Easter Egg Roll

[Anonymous]

We were offered Easter Egg Roll tix via DH’s work. Has anyone gone who can tell me about the logistics? Are the tickets (I don’t have them in hand) pre-assigned a time slot? If not, how do you select a time slot? How bad is the waiting? Once you get in, are there more lines for activities? What is the actual “roll”- it’s not an egg hunt, right? Like, you roll the eggs across the lawn? Is there any egg hunt?

My obsessive questions are bc I have a SN 4 yo. He does live egg hunts, but he’s a bit rigid and has a huge language delay, so I’ll need to work with him to help him know what he’s supposed to do. Also, he’s really bad at waiting in line, so I have to have my bag of “tricks” to entertain him while we wait. Any tips or info appreciated. [NO POLITICAL DISCUSSION PLEASE]

[Anonymous]

There are many threads on this from past years if you do a search. You may get more info that way. You should have a time slot with your tickets, already chosen. Unless you have special all day passes, which is possible (don’t know what your DH’s work is). There are many activities that you can do, and you wait in line for each one. If you have timed tickets, you need to be there about an hour ahead of time to get through security and get in when your time slot starts.

The actual egg roll is one of the activities, but there are others. When we went (2016), there was an area for an actual egg hunt, but the kids collected eggs looking for a golden one. When time was up, they had to leave the eggs behind for the next group. Things may have changed since Melania supposedly scaled it back, but the basic set up is the same. There are also characters to meet, if your DS would enjoy that. I swear, my kids, who were 4 and 2 at the time, remember that as the day they met Paw Patrol, and pretty much nothing else.

There’s a lot there. And there’s a lot of waiting in line. A lot. If he doesn’t like it, take your pics with the WH in the background and bail.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry few people were giving you a straight answer and instead politicizing this. The Easter egg roll is a great tradition.

There are time slots that begin at 7:30am. You have 2 hours inside the actually event and can line up about an hour before. There are tons of volunteers there to help direct you. In my opinion it’s not worth getting there super early just to wait in line. Once they open the gate everyone gets in pretty quickly. There is a ton of walking too. So even though your Child is older I would consider a Stroller.

Once inside there are lots of things to do. They have the DC pro tennis team on the tennis courts teaching kids how to play, there is story time, card decorating, an egg hunt, the egg roll, a play exhibit on how an egg goes from the farm to the grocery store and other “yard” games. The only food served is hard boiled eggs on a stick, so take a snack if your child may get hungry. You will not interact with an administration people and there is no brainwashing.

There are restrooms to use too if that is a concern. At the exit your child will get a goody bag of sorts that includes the wooden egg.

You can stay as long as you like but can’t reenter. Don’t let these high and mighty people deter you.

[Anonymous]

It's lines, lines and more lines. There was even a line to leave. We went once and will not be going again.

[Anonymous]

When I was there a couple of years ago, you couldn't stay as long as you liked. Once the time slot was up, they announced the people from 11-1 (or whatever it was, I don't remember) should now be exiting. Of course, you could try to stay but it would be pretty obvious that you don't belong when everyone else is leaving.

The activities with the longest lines is the Egg Roll and the Egg Hunt. There isn't enough time to do both. It's great if you have two adults because one adult can stay in line and the other can take the kids to the bathroom, or get snacks (I was there during the Obama administration, and there was a huge stand of fresh fruit and healthy snacks as part of the Let's Move initiative; don't know if they always have snacks) or meet characters.

It's a long line to get in and long lines when you are in, but overall, it was still fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's lines, lines and more lines. There was even a line to leave. We went once and will not be going again.

We went last year with my kids 7&10 -it was freezing and the lines were so long my kids lost interest and we left. It was poorly run and overcrowded.

[Anonymous]

You line up at the ellipse and wait in a long line. Then you move to a new line standing area. Then you walk in a line to get into the grounds. It is a lot of lining up and waiting. There was music and excitement when we went but it was a lot of waiting. As people said, egg roll, vendor booths, egg hunt, dying eggs, coloring, walking the grounds, characters to meet, dancing, book reading. There are lots of stations but it is crowded. Over talk the being patient and having to wait so any short waits will feel amazing.

Be warned. If the first family comes out, they freeze all line movement. So, we ended up waiting extra in the staging area until the first family left. So, it can be delayed too.

Have fun. I love the pictures from when we went. So be flexible. Grab photos. Do one or two things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry few people were giving you a straight answer and instead politicizing this. The Easter egg roll is a great tradition.

There are time slots that begin at 7:30am. You have 2 hours inside the actually event and can line up about an hour before. There are tons of volunteers there to help direct you. In my opinion it’s not worth getting there super early just to wait in line. Once they open the gate everyone gets in pretty quickly. There is a ton of walking too. So even though your Child is older I would consider a Stroller.

Once inside there are lots of things to do. They have the DC pro tennis team on the tennis courts teaching kids how to play, there is story time, card decorating, an egg hunt, the egg roll, a play exhibit on how an egg goes from the farm to the grocery store and other “yard” games. The only food served is hard boiled eggs on a stick, so take a snack if your child may get hungry. You will not interact with an administration people and there is no brainwashing.

There are restrooms to use too if that is a concern. At the exit your child will get a goody bag of sorts that includes the wooden egg.

You can stay as long as you like but can’t reenter. Don’t let these high and mighty people deter you.

These were not true in my recent experience. We had the 9:30 time slot and did not get in until about 45 minutes after. We were held after going through security, and we were there well before our time slot. Also, we had many people alerting us that our time slot was ending (wristbands are color coded). As we were heading to the exit, we saw a character my DS really wanted to meet, so we got in the line and ended up trying to hide our wristbands because it was past the time. Someone in power pointed out our time was up, but allowed us to stay long enough to meet the character. However, that person waited with us in line and directed us to the exit afterward.

Once you leave the "activities" area and get to the exit, there are (or were, not sure if it's changed with new administration) lots of trucks with free snacks and samples. You can linger there as long as you like. And the kids get a commemorative egg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry few people were giving you a straight answer and instead politicizing this. The Easter egg roll is a great tradition.

There are time slots that begin at 7:30am. You have 2 hours inside the actually event and can line up about an hour before. There are tons of volunteers there to help direct you. In my opinion it’s not worth getting there super early just to wait in line. Once they open the gate everyone gets in pretty quickly. There is a ton of walking too. So even though your Child is older I would consider a Stroller.

Once inside there are lots of things to do. They have the DC pro tennis team on the tennis courts teaching kids how to play, there is story time, card decorating, an egg hunt, the egg roll, a play exhibit on how an egg goes from the farm to the grocery store and other “yard” games. The only food served is hard boiled eggs on a stick, so take a snack if your child may get hungry. You will not interact with an administration people and there is no brainwashing.

There are restrooms to use too if that is a concern. At the exit your child will get a goody bag of sorts that includes the wooden egg.

You can stay as long as you like but can’t reenter. Don’t let these high and mighty people deter you.

It was my understanding that no food or drinks are allowed. We've been twice, both under the previous administration, and they confiscated all food at security, even baby food pouches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry few people were giving you a straight answer and instead politicizing this. The Easter egg roll is a great tradition.

There are time slots that begin at 7:30am. You have 2 hours inside the actually event and can line up about an hour before. There are tons of volunteers there to help direct you. In my opinion it’s not worth getting there super early just to wait in line. Once they open the gate everyone gets in pretty quickly. There is a ton of walking too. So even though your Child is older I would consider a Stroller.

Once inside there are lots of things to do. They have the DC pro tennis team on the tennis courts teaching kids how to play, there is story time, card decorating, an egg hunt, the egg roll, a play exhibit on how an egg goes from the farm to the grocery store and other “yard” games. The only food served is hard boiled eggs on a stick, so take a snack if your child may get hungry. You will not interact with an administration people and there is no brainwashing.

There are restrooms to use too if that is a concern. At the exit your child will get a goody bag of sorts that includes the wooden egg.

You can stay as long as you like but can’t reenter. Don’t let these high and mighty people deter you.

It was my understanding that no food or drinks are allowed. We've been twice, both under the previous administration, and they confiscated all food at security, even baby food pouches.

I’ve gone the last two years and they don’t check that throughly, especially if you throw it at the bottom of a diaper bag.

[Anonymous]

Even if you get food confiscated by security, you'd still want to bring snacks for the long line before you even get to security.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were offered Easter Egg Roll tix via DH’s work. Has anyone gone who can tell me about the logistics? Are the tickets (I don’t have them in hand) pre-assigned a time slot? If not, how do you select a time slot? How bad is the waiting? Once you get in, are there more lines for activities? What is the actual “roll”- it’s not an egg hunt, right? Like, you roll the eggs across the lawn? Is there any egg hunt?

My obsessive questions are bc I have a SN 4 yo. He does live egg hunts, but he’s a bit rigid and has a huge language delay, so I’ll need to work with him to help him know what he’s supposed to do. Also, he’s really bad at waiting in line, so I have to have my bag of “tricks” to entertain him while we wait. Any tips or info appreciated. [NO POLITICAL DISCUSSION PLEASE]

You already know that there are stringent rules for the White House egg roll and you know your child will not do bwell so why are you setting him up to fail?!

[Anonymous]

My only tip for you is DON’T go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were offered Easter Egg Roll tix via DH’s work. Has anyone gone who can tell me about the logistics? Are the tickets (I don’t have them in hand) pre-assigned a time slot? If not, how do you select a time slot? How bad is the waiting? Once you get in, are there more lines for activities? What is the actual “roll”- it’s not an egg hunt, right? Like, you roll the eggs across the lawn? Is there any egg hunt?

My obsessive questions are bc I have a SN 4 yo. He does live egg hunts, but he’s a bit rigid and has a huge language delay, so I’ll need to work with him to help him know what he’s supposed to do. Also, he’s really bad at waiting in line, so I have to have my bag of “tricks” to entertain him while we wait. Any tips or info appreciated. [NO POLITICAL DISCUSSION PLEASE]

You already know that there are stringent rules for the White House egg roll and you know your child will not do bwell so why are you setting him up to fail?!

He will be fine if we prepare, which is why I asked the question.

[Anonymous]

I would just go to walk around, see the WH up close, maybe meet a character or do an activity, and get some souvenir eggs. It’s not that fun but it’s a memorable experience and a good photo op.