White House Easter Egg Roll Lottery opens TODAY

[Seitvonzu]

at 10am eastern-- you have until the 25th (monday) to put your name in. they'll announce results on march 1st :)

GOOD LUCK TO ALL! we went two years ago, so if anyone gets in and wants "tips" let me know! (i put our name in last year and it was a no-go, but i'll continue to try :) )

[Seitvonzu]

http://www.recreation.gov/welcome.do

[janine]

Thanks - was just thinking of this! I'll take any tips! :)

Also is it unusual to have it on a Monday?

[newnana]

Tips pretty please!

ETA, well duh, I was hoping you had tips to be picked. I'll just hold my breath for the lottery first. Sorry to jump the gun!

[Tinkerbell313]

Thanks - was just thinking of this! I'll take any tips! :)

Also is it unusual to have it on a Monday?

Yes, the White House Easter Egg Roll is always on Easter Monday.

[minnie-zb]

Thanks for the reminder! We've never been and I would love to go once. :)

Yep, it is always on Easter Monday.

[sunshine873]

Is it a great, not to be missed, experience? It would be kind of a scheduling hassle for us, but it's the closest we'll be to DC for quite awhile and I think it would be fun for DD (although we are not the biggest Obama fans here.) ;)

[janine]

Is it a great, not to be missed, experience? It would be kind of a scheduling hassle for us, but it's the closest we'll be to DC for quite awhile and I think it would be fun for DD (although we are not the biggest Obama fans here.) ;)

We aren't eithr but I do think it would be well worth it - it's the White House egg roll!

But honestly the chances are so low, it's not something you have to think out too much.

[larig]

thanks OP, and for those worried about scheduling, I agree with PP, you'll likely not have to worry about it. If I got lucky enough to win tickets, we'd drop everything and make it happen.

[ZeeBaby]

Thanks OP! Just applied.

[barkley1]

Thanks for posting!

[AbbysMom]

Thanks - I'm trying again! Have any of us ever been picked? I apply every year but have never heard of anyone actually going.

[Tinkerbell313]

One of my colleagues went two years ago when their son was 3. They were in the first group and were very glad that they were chosen for that group. She said the later it got, the more chaotic it got.

They are very happy that they had the opportunity to participate however they have said one opportunity was enough for them.

[Corie]

I've never applied but I decided to give it a try!

Thanks!

[cilantromapuche]

I don't know why we havent applied before but what the heck! Is there an age limit on the kids?

[buttercup]

Thanks - I'm trying again! Have any of us ever been picked? I apply every year but have never heard of anyone actually going.

I won last year, which was the very first year I tried for. Friends of ours won the previous year (which is how I learned about this in the first place). I don;t know how long they had entered before they won.

We also won Group 1, and the there was a bit of a wait outside to enter bright and early, but otherwise it was a really great and fun experience! I do not understand the earlier vs later group preference though because they empty out one group before letting the next group in (we had colored handbands).

[Seitvonzu]

YES- we got in the first year we tried, that was 2 years ago. Tried last year and did not, but we'll keep trying :)

this time we did go for the earliest time -- because of the entrance/exiting issue. we live north of baltimore , but i'd just get a hotel if we got in. i think it's definitely worthwhile, no matter what your political leanings. but then, i'm an unabashed EASTER LOVER :)

[OKKiddo]

at 10am eastern-- you have until the 25th (monday) to put your name in. they'll announce results on march 1st :)

GOOD LUCK TO ALL! we went two years ago, so if anyone gets in and wants "tips" let me know! (i put our name in last year and it was a no-go, but i'll continue to try :) )

I signed us up for the lottery and I know they have a list of items that aren't permitted for the White House Tours but are they also banned for the Egg Roll? (ie stroller?)

[Seitvonzu]

if you get into the easter egg roll you'll be able to look up all sorts of information about what you can have. you CAN (or could in 2011) have a stroller (we brought ours)

you can't have LIQUID SUNSCREEN-- this doesn't seem like a big deal , but the waiting area has NO SHADE. the year we went it was in the upper 80s (easter was late that year) and the sun was merciless. you CAN have "stick" sunscreen (someone we were near at the gates had that-- it's not a liquid so it can't be confiscated) we lost our sunscreen (a nearly full bottle) -- next time, if there is one STICK :)

[buttercup]

I brought stroller last year. And, it was very chilly that morning, FYI.

[ZeeBaby]

I know of three families who have gotten in as well.

[kaharris83]

Results are in ladies!! WE GOT IN!! Hope you're all as lucky!!

[LD92599]

Didn't get in!

[TwinFoxes]

Congrats to those who got in. Unfortunately we won't be joining you. :(

There's always next year! ;)

[LBW]

Holy smokes! We got in! I've entered every year since my youngest was a baby, and have never won before. Guess we'll be in DC on 4/1!

Good luck everyone!

[sunshine873]

Congrats to those who got in, We didn't. That's OK though.mWe have other plans the weekend before and would have had to rush through them to get to DC, so it's probably for the best...

[OKKiddo]

We didn't get in. :( I'm sure we'll still have lots of fun on Easter and love to hear your stories.

[Momit]

We didn't get in. Can't wait to hear about it from those who did.

[AbbysMom]

We didn't get in either. Have fun those of you who attend!

[jgenie]

Congrats to those that got in!!

[janine]

wow great to hear a few were successful - i wonder if it has to do with which order of preference.

We were unsuccessful again...been 3yrs in a role, boo.

[minnie-zb]

We didn't get tickets either. It's not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but I think it would be fun to go once.

[Smillow]

wow great to hear a few were successful - i wonder if it has to do with which order of preference.

We were unsuccessful again...been 3yrs in a role, boo.

I was wondering the same thing... 3 years in a row not getting in for us as well. Next year!?

[Seitvonzu]

We got in! i was pretty shocked (wasn't expecting it AT ALL)

we'll be there in the 4:45-6:45 group-- is that the last one??? i'm sure it was pretty low down on my "priority" list, because i started with the morning and went straight down. so my first choice was 7:30am. i had this idea that we'd get a room the night before and make it a bit of a thing. now i'm wondering if i should get a room for monday night instead....hrm. time to check into that.

i'm so glad so many people are "in" and sorry to those who aren't :) i suppose this means we'll keep both of the easter dress options i bought :) good thing we have a couple spring/summer events to go to as well. (i was glad 2 years ago that i went to the bother to dress my kid up a bit...i felt that most people did. our dress was just from target (yellow with white polkdots -- i thought it looked like an "easter egg" *eyeroll*), but i splurged on the most adorable hat at wooden soldier....there are a MILLION picture opportunities...so -- dress cute! mommies too!)

[janine]

We got in! i was pretty shocked (wasn't expecting it AT ALL)

we'll be there in the 4:45-6:45 group-- is that the last one??? i'm sure it was pretty low down on my "priority" list, because i started with the morning and went straight down. so my first choice was 7:30am. i had this idea that we'd get a room the night before and make it a bit of a thing. now i'm wondering if i should get a room for monday night instead....hrm. time to check into that.

i'm so glad so many people are "in" and sorry to those who aren't :) i suppose this means we'll keep both of the easter dress options i bought :) good thing we have a couple spring/summer events to go to as well. (i was glad 2 years ago that i went to the bother to dress my kid up a bit...i felt that most people did. our dress was just from target (yellow with white polkdots -- i thought it looked like an "easter egg" *eyeroll*), but i splurged on the most adorable hat at wooden soldier....there are a MILLION picture opportunities...so -- dress cute! mommies too!)

you got in 2x in 3 years? Time to buy a lotto ticket!

[Seitvonzu]

yes, we are 2 for 3. again, i can't imagine it's "preference" for times...because we got our last choice?

they DO have preference for military & local people-- but i think that's done separate from the lottery. it's something to look into if you fit these catagories (i read something about them directly giving tickets to schools in the surrounding counties , for example)

i think i have some serious Easter mojo-- culled from years and years of extreme LOVE for the holiday ;)

DD was 3 last time, so i thought we'd try again until she could "remember" it... i was seriously shocked when i saw a reservation pop up on the recreation site.

[Hawkeyewife]

This is my fifth time trying and we did not get in! Hubby is deployed and with his military service (work ups/dets/deployments) has missed about half of our kid's Easters over the years. I was really hoping we were going to go this year :shake:

I called the USO and wrote a comment on the White House Facebook page. The USO did not have any they could share with me. Last year, I wrote my local congressional reps but never got a response (DH was on a work up last year and missed Easter.) Oh well.

Everyone that did get tickets, YAY! Have a great time!

[SkyrMommy]

We'll be going!!! This will be our first time, we're in the 9:45, group B slot!

So excited! :yay:

[Cam&Clay]

We didn't get in.

Congrats to those who did! Have fun!

[wellyes]

Didn't get in. Oh well! I wouldn't have ever thought to try except for the BBB. Hope all who got in have great fun!!

[Seitvonzu]

a friend just posted on facebook that they got in too (for the slot before ours)

i feel like i'm hearing about more "successes" this year than usual. maybe cause easter is early?

when i signed up for the early time as my preference, i had a little fantasy about staying in DC the night before. we're skipping that now, and making brunch reservations at our garden instead ( i estimate that will cost half as much as the DC hotel room ;))

[Seitvonzu]

oh-- and i wanted to mention-- i did NOT get an email that we got in, but i have heard from people on facebook who got emails that they were "unsuccessful"

if you haven't heard, it's worth checking the us dept of recreation site... (the one where you sign up for the lottery). i think this might be a "no news is good news" situation

[kaharris83]

oh-- and i wanted to mention-- i did NOT get an email that we got in, but i have heard from people on facebook who got emails that they were "unsuccessful"

if you haven't heard, it's worth checking the us dept of recreation site... (the one where you sign up for the lottery). i think this might be a "no news is good news" situation

Yeah I didn't get an amail saying we were in either. Thanks for sharing about dressing up. I wasn't sure. Its hard to know how the weather will be though so I guess I better get options. Boys are tough since I can't pop 'em in a cute Easter dress and hat. :)

[Corie]

How do you know if you got in? Did they send you an email?

[kaharris83]

How do you know if you got in? Did they send you an email?

Seems like those who got in did not get an email. I logged into recreation.gov to check my status first thing this morning.

[Corie]

Oh My Gosh!!! I just checked the recreation.gov website and

WE GOT IN!! This is the first time that I've done the lottery and
I got in on the first try!

Yay! I got my second choice of time. 12:15 - 2:15pm

[kaharris83]

Oh My Gosh!!! I just checked the recreation.gov website and

WE GOT IN!! This is the first time that I've done the lottery and
I got in on the first try!

Yay! I got my second choice of time. 12:15 - 2:15pm

Congrats!! See ya there. :)

[larig]

Congrats!!!

We did not. :crying:

[Seitvonzu]

wow corie cool-- i was hoping i'd come back and see people say they got in after checking the rec.gov site :) coolcoolcool :)

[Corie]

Congrats!! See ya there. :)

Are you also the 12:15-2:15pm time slot? We are in Group C.

[kaharris83]

Are you also the 12:15-2:15pm time slot? We are in Group C.

Yep. That was my first choice. It takes a while for us to get moving around here. But I'm thinking we'll try to do brunch before.

Seitvonzu do you remember how much before your time slot they want you there?

[Corie]

We've got an 8 hour drive from Cincinnati, Ohio!

Does anyone have any hotel recommendations for Washington D.C.?

[Seitvonzu]

i feel like we needed to be there pretty early-- -you want to be in the front of the crowd. it's really quite alot of people and moving in and out of the south lawn takes a long time :)

we got our 5th choice of time slots.... i really wanted to stay over night but DH thinks it's too much money if we can make it a day trip (which given our late time slot we can) i actually asked about hotels on facebook and my friend who used live locally (but is currently living in london), didn't really have anything to say on it except "it's going to be expensive" i got a recommendation for a hotel in leesburg (by the outlets) but honestly, we might as well just come from home if we're going to do that :)

[kaharris83]

Anyone else who got tickets nervous that it will get cancelled thanks to the sequester? I just read on NBC News that White House tours are cancelled starting this weekend due to the sequester. I know several times during the ticket process they mentioned it could be cancelled due to budget uncertainty. I will be so sad if it is cancelled.

ETA I found a few articles saying it isn't going to be affected. Hoping they turn out to be true.

[LBW]

Is anyone who is going on Monday able to find the list of restricted items? I've gone to both the NPS site and the White House site for the Egg Roll, and I can't find it. I was able to find the restricted items for the WH tours...and it lists cameras and backpacks. I was planning on bringing both, and now I'm just not sure.

[Seitvonzu]

i can't imagine not being able to take a camera to the easter egg roll...
the things that were most confiscated when we went were food (i was allowed food though as a diabetic, and i had like... whole sandwiches, etc. enough for a whole family,not just a diabetic mom ;)) and sunscreen.

which reminds me -- i need to call DH and tell him to get some STICK sunscreen while doing errands. they won't take that-- because it's not a liquid or gel.

it's really similar to going on an airplane. i didn't feel like there were any surprises. have fun!

[kaharris83]

I can't find a list either. The tickets just say no food/drinks, o large bags, and no weapons. I