“Rise” to the Challenge, FREAK!! Done and new trip report started 5/2/21

Sorry you had to cancel this years trip. The park reservation system sounds horrendous!
You have a wonderful year of Disney trips coming up in 2021. I’m more than a wee bit jealous 😁 :thumbsup2
It is so weird not to have an August trip this year, we love the heat and lower crowds. I just don’t feel good about right now so I think this is the best decision for us. I am so excited for next year!
It is such a mess to do any Disney planning right now! It’s somewhat freeing to just accept that 2020 will not go as planned.
Once I made my decision I do feel better about now, still sad 😢 Disney in August is a tradition for us dating back at least 5 years.
I’m glad Disney opened up 2021 bookings, it gives us something to look forward to! This AP stuff is a fiasco, this is my first time having an AP and what a time to have one lol!
I agree! The AP situation is unfair in my opinion. We pay for park hopping and going often. Disney is not allowing this so I do think people should be able to keep current AP longer. They should give extension for AP’s through a full phased opening!
I know that once we can safely go back, it will feel even more special than ever!!!
It will be so wonderful. I miss the sounds, music, ambience, and the bubble feeling for sure!
Caroline, I`m so sorry to hear of your decision to cancel this years trips. I think you are doing the right thing, but of course that doesn`t make it any easier......I know how much you and Andi enjoy all those trips together...it really shows in your reports
Thank you Carole! It really is a bummer, we love our steamy hot August trips, 😔 Things will be better eventually.
But, exciting to read about your new plans for next year!!!! And it means we get brand new TR`s from you.
We will be making the most of next year and the money we saved from this year! Andi is sad about missing time in Epcot on her 21st Birthday 🍰 We will celebrate next year.
Sending many good wishes to you and the lovely Andi..
Same to you and you family! I hope we can meet up someday!
I am on the same page as you, Caroline. Our border remains closed and the government asks all Canadians to avoid all non essential travel.
It just wasn’t worth it for us and I want to be as responsible as I can and follow the CDC guideline. This means leisure/fun travel with crowds is not for us this year. I wear a mask all day and I can’t imagine doing this in the parks now. It is necessary and important but not for me at this time.
Disney next August with Jack to celebrate his 21st! Maybe our dates will overlap! :) Hope you are doing well and staying safe. Thanks for all you do. :goodvibes
How fun would that be to meet up and have a “legal” drink with our kids! Love it 😊
I have been considering this resort for a large family stay / haven’t seen many reviews so thank you for this!!
It is lovely in some ways and not the best in others. The long bus rides and noisy neighbors was our biggest problems.
 
I tried to make park reservations right at 6am central time and that was awful! I was met with the pink castle for hours and finally about 6-7 hours later I got in.
I've heard so many horror stories about this... but yours is one of the worst.
It said all the parks were full through September 2021!
Yikes!
The planner in me wasn’t going to be defeated! I randomly tried Wednesday and boom I was in. I was able to make all my park reservations for August. 😉
Yay... temporarily.
I can’t be responsible for possibly spreading this virus by traveling for leisure. WDW will always be there and we have been many times and will be many more! My work has also implemented 14 day quarantines for travel to Florida.
Totally get that.
 
We will be canceling our August and November trip this year. Andi will have to drink around the world next year! I was still proud of myself for getting those darn reservations 😂
I'm so sorry Caroline. At least you have 2021 to look forward to.

2021 will be the year for us!! I was also done with trying to do this myself. I decided to use the services of an excellent TA, many of you know her, she is awesome 😎 I told her my dates and she got us booked.
Yep, I think I'm going to be doing the same thing going forward. Sitting on hold with Disney is NOT for me anymore. Planning a vacation shouldn't be this difficult.
 


I am sorry about having to cancel this years travel plans, but I am totally with you. Even if I could go, I would not at this time.

I am hoping that by the end of next year things will be a little more settled. I would really like to go for the 50th celebration, but I will wait and see what the beginning of next year brings.

And glad you have made plans for next year...and I am sure your fabulous TA will keep an eye out for discounts for you!
 
Can't wait to read about your exciting 2021! If we end up cancelling this trip, I am definitely going to plan the next one with the aid of a travel agent!
I am excited for 2021! I hope the park situation improves by next year.
The busy signal and hold times are ridiculous and I don’t think this will improve for awhile
 
I've heard so many horror stories about this... but yours is one of the worst.
It was awful, Disney did not think this through and the plan was bad! The IT glitches and inability to get through to Disney was ridiculous!
Totally get that.
It is so much work to go now. Takes the fun right out of it! Left a very bad taste in my mouth. The cost to go is crazy and with so much removed, it seems in poor taste to be charging guests so much for 1/4 of the experience.

The whole AP thing is also a joke.

Giving out of state passholders 3 days of park time when normally you would have 365 days with park hopping is just a bad decision.

Disney should just wait to open in my opinion.
 
Last edited:


I'm so sorry Caroline. At least you have 2021 to look forward to.
Hopefully 2021 will be better.
Yep, I think I'm going to be doing the same thing going forward. Sitting on hold with Disney is NOT for me anymore. Planning a vacation shouldn't be this difficult.
Exactly, sucks the fun right out of it! I watched your vlog about Park
Reservation day and my was so similar except I couldn’t get anything resolved until Wednesday. By that time I was just done with it all!
 
I am sorry about having to cancel this years travel plans, but I am totally with you. Even if I could go, I would not at this time.
Way to much to worry about and the parks are so limited. I feel better about waiting
I am hoping that by the end of next year things will be a little more settled. I would really like to go for the 50th celebration, but I will wait and see what the beginning of next year brings.
I have 3 trips and if 1 works out I will be glad! I’m thinking the end of November 2021 maybe a good time for us to enjoy the 50th and Christmas.
And glad you have made plans for next year...and I am sure your fabulous TA will keep an eye out for discounts for you!
Yes, wonderful to have someone else do it especially now! The ability to get a hold of Disney on your own just stinks! Fingers crossed for discounts because Disney sure hasn’t off set the shrinking experiences with lower prices!
 
I was met with the pink castle for hours and finally about 6-7 hours later I got in. Yay! No not really, it wouldn’t work for me. I was able to make 1 reservation for Epcot and that was it.

Uggghhh! How frustrating! I was thinking of all of you trying to get your park reservations in all that mess!

I tried a few times to call IT, oh my goodness, that was useless. I got so use to the saying “all circuits are busy now try again later”.

Oh dear. Disney IT is a mess even in good times, and this is far from good times. Again, frustrating!

I randomly tried Wednesday and boom I was in. I was able to make all my park reservations for August. 😉

Wooooh! ....oh wait.... now you can't even use them :(

One main reason is COVID-19 cases are high and this virus isn’t going anywhere for awhile

Agreed! We're not allowed to cross the border for leisure right now anyway, but even if we could I'd be staying home for a while. Couldn't agree with you more. I don't want to put myself or my family at risk, and I also don't want to be a vector who could either bring the virus in or take it back out with me.

Andi will have to drink around the world next year!

There's always time for drinking around the world when things finally settle down! But it's too bad that she'll have to wait a while -- this would have been fun!

I was still proud of myself for getting those darn reservations 😂

Still very impressive!

I decided to use the services of an excellent TA, many of you know her, she is awesome 😎

I believe I DO know her, and she IS awesome! :)

I am on the same page as you, Caroline. Our border remains closed and the government asks all Canadians to avoid all non essential travel. So until that advisory lifts, I won't be going anywhere.

I'm with you, Sue! We have the same issue with the borders, and the governmental advice not to travel, but even if those things weren't in place I'd still be staying home for a while. We're making this summer a staycation summer, planning to mostly stay at home and enjoy each other's company, and maybe take a few little socially-distanced day trips within the Maritimes to enjoy what our local area has to offer.
 
I’m so sorry about your 2020 plans, Caroline! I’m still holding out hope for October since it’s more than three months away, but if we can’t go, we can’t go. I have already accepted it.

Your 2021 plans look great, except that none of them line up with mine! But it sounds like it will be an awesome year for all of us, and don’t we just need that?!!
 
I am sorry you had to cancel 2020 . So hard to do ! I moved this sept to next sept. but so far keeping my early dec WDW/ UO trip . Hoping that works.
It took me about three hours to get my park reservations on Monday for the December trip. . My September 2021 trip wasn’t confirmed until late Friday night and I didn’t want to deal with reservations that night plus who is motivated to plan park days over a year in advance ??? I made the, very easily mid morning on Saturday and even switched a day on the December trip with out any problem. I am hoping in the long run it will be less stressful but who knows. This week was stressful with passes taking forever and waiting for my TA to get next year worked out. She did a great job getting me price protection for next year. Not sure how she did it but happy with how it turned out .
 
It was awful, Disney did not think this through and the plan was bad! The IT glitches and inability to get through to Disney was ridiculous!
Yikes.
The cost to go is crazy and with so much removed, it seems in poor taste to be charging guests so much for 1/4 of the experience.
Yeah, that just doesn't seem right.
Giving out of state passholders 3 days of park time when normally you would have 365 days with park hopping is just a bad decision.

Disney should just wait to open in my opinion.
And yet... thinking they can't afford to keep the parks closed for too long either?
 
I'm sorry you cancelled for 2020 :( But I am sure you are making the right decision.

Exciting plans for 2021 though! I'm glad you have those on the calendar to look forward to!
 
I'm excited about your 2021 plans, but I'm sorry you cancelled for 2020, even though it was probably the right move. I got park passes for our Oct/Nov trip, but it was such a nightmare. Not 6-7 hours of waiting, thank goodness. And I can't book for our Jan/Feb trip yet because my AP hasn't been extended. Oy!
 
Uggghhh! How frustrating! I was thinking of all of you trying to get your park reservations in all that mess
It was so frustrating. I was so sure it would be easy peasy since I jumped on right at 6 am. :sad2:
Oh dear. Disney IT is a mess even in good times, and this is far from good times. Again, frustrating!
I can’t believe Disney doesn’t have a callback system, most large companies do, pretty common. The busy signal and all circuits busy is not a way to handle large call volumes, not cool Disney!
Wooooh! ....oh wait.... now you can't even use them :(
I had to get these it was a challenge that wasn’t going to beat me, haha 🤣
Agreed! We're not allowed to cross the border for leisure right now anyway, but even if we could I'd be staying home for a while. Couldn't agree with you more. I don't want to put myself or my family at risk, and I also don't want to be a vector who could either bring the virus in or take it back out with me.
Just not a good time to travel for fun! To many factors involved! I sure hope things improve with a safe and effective vaccine
There's always time for drinking around the world when things finally settle down! But it's too bad that she'll have to wait a while -- this would have been fun!
Yes definitely. She would be with mom so it will be a very modest drinking around the world anyway haha 😆
I believe I DO know her, and she IS awesome! :)
Yes, this job is made for her, she is very organized and informative!
I’m so sorry about your 2020 plans, Caroline! I’m still holding out hope for October since it’s more than three months away, but if we can’t go, we can’t go. I have already accepted it.
Kelly, it makes me so sad. I was really looking forward to our August and November trips. :sad:
I miss Disney so much. I sure hope your October trip works out!
Your 2021 plans look great, except that none of them line up with mine! But it sounds like it will be an awesome year for all of us, and don’t we just need that?!!
We sure do. I am also open to an Epic trip in the fall if we do that!
I am sorry you had to cancel 2020 . So hard to do ! I moved this sept to next sept. but so far keeping my early dec WDW/ UO trip . Hoping that works.
I sure hope your December trip works out. I thought about UO only this fall if things improve!
took me about three hours to get my park reservations on Monday for the December trip.
Way better than me!
My September 2021 trip wasn’t confirmed until late Friday night and I didn’t want to deal with reservations that night plus who is motivated to plan park days over a year in advance ???
I think it’s crazy to plan the parks so early. I just went for it based on the way we have done parks on our last few trips. We park hop so much I hope that comes back.
This week was stressful with passes taking forever and waiting for my TA to get next year worked out. She did a great job getting me price protection for next year. Not sure how she did it but happy with how it turned out .
I’m so glad I went with a TA for my early 2021 trips. Nice you were able to get your trip moved with the price protection. I can’t believe how much money it costs without discounts, yikes!
Yeah, that just doesn't seem right
I think some discounts should all be in our future! I hope so. I’m surprised the price for everything remains incredibly high for less fun! My opinion of course!
I'm sorry you cancelled for 2020 :( But I am sure you are making the right decision.
It just was to much to keep worrying about.
Exciting plans for 2021 though! I'm glad you have those on the calendar to look forward to!
I am happy with our plans and hope all the trips happen!
I'm excited about your 2021 plans, but I'm sorry you cancelled for 2020, even though it was probably the right move. I got park passes for our Oct/Nov trip, but it was such a nightmare. Not 6-7 hours of waiting, thank goodness. And I can't book for our Jan/Feb trip yet because my AP hasn't been extended. Oy!
Thank you. I am excited for 2021! I don’t know if I should renew my pass at the end of August or wait until the January trip to buy AP’s again with our 7 day PH tickets. I had to get park tickets for all the trips in 2021 just so I could make the park reservations! Good luck with all your planning!
 
Last edited:
Good call! I will do this at some point if I can ever get through to a CM, blows my mind how poor the call system is right now, crazy 😜
It's totally ridiculous. I cannot believe all the stories I've been hearing. :sad2: Disney is better than this!

Thank you Tracy, as you read on in my next post, it was challenging to say the least!
Wow, and that's an understatement! I'm sorry for all the frustration you went through!

Yay! Well not really. I had decided by this time 2020 wasn’t going to work for us. One main reason is COVID-19 cases are high and this virus isn’t going anywhere for awhile and I need to do my part.
I am with you 100%. My AP is still good through next month even after I refunded part of it with the extension of dates, but I don't see myself going back at all through 2020 either :sad: It's so sad to me, but at this point, I just want all this to calm down before I travel again. Going to Disney under these circumstances just doesn't seem like a ton of fun :(

Your 2021 plans sound amazing though!!! So at least there's lots of Disney next year to look forward to :goodvibes
 
The planner in me wasn’t going to be defeated! I randomly tried Wednesday and boom I was in. I was able to make all my park reservations for August. 😉

Good for you! Your tenacity is inspiring!

My work has also implemented 14 day quarantines for travel to Florida.

yeah... that. I will still likely go to Italy if we can, and use the quarnatine time to finish up my BSN.

We will be canceling our August and November trip this year. Andi will have to drink around the world next year! I was still proud of myself for getting those darn reservations 😂

Ugh. This whole situation is just abysmal. For the first time in my life, I am glad I don't/can't deal with that. I'd just as soon go to US or just go and stay off property and make dining reservations and enjoy the food. Just seems like it's not worth it really. Then again, just being in the bubble is so nice. Maybe a trip this year would work out, but not for a while.

If Disney doesn’t come out with some discounts in the future, we won’t be able to do all these trips! Expensive!!

:laughing: I can totally hear ya on this one!

It is so much work to go now. Takes the fun right out of it! Left a very bad taste in my mouth. The cost to go is crazy and with so much removed, it seems in poor taste to be charging guests so much for 1/4 of the experience.

Yes, very poor decision making and even worse execution of what they did try to do. 😠
 
It's totally ridiculous. I cannot believe all the stories I've been hearing. :sad2: Disney is better than this!
It really was bad! I think the whole phone situation is such a joke. Disney should have planned better.
Wow, and that's an understatement! I'm sorry for all the frustration you went through!
It pretty much sealed the deal for me, to cancel the August trip!
I am with you 100%. My AP is still good through next month even after I refunded part of it with the extension of dates, but I don't see myself going back at all through 2020 either
My AP is good until the end of August, I don’t know if I should renew or wait until January. I’m a little nervous AP’s won’t be an option in January if I don’t renew!
It's so sad to me, but at this point, I just want all this to calm down before I travel again. Going to Disney under these circumstances just doesn't seem like a ton of fun
I agree totally on that. It sure is not getting any better in many states! I’m so tired of being on edge all the time!
Your 2021 plans sound amazing though!!! So at least there's lots of Disney next year to look forward to
Thank you, I sure hope 2021 is better for all of us.
I'm so glad you were able to finally get your park reservations for all of the trips you have planned next year! And that you have a TA you can count on
Thank you Jackie! I am so happy to have “our” favorite TA working for us! Have fun on your trip!
Good for you! Your tenacity is inspiring!
Haha I just had to get those passes.
yeah... that. I will still likely go to Italy if we can, and use the quarnatine time to finish up my BSN.
Good luck with everything I truly wish you the best with the BSN and travel! We have great paying jobs in Minnesota, come on up here! Oh by the way it is freezing 6 months out of the year!!
Ugh. This whole situation is just abysmal. For the first time in my life, I am glad I don't/can't deal with that. I'd just as soon go to US or just go and stay off property and make dining reservations and enjoy the food. Just seems like it's not worth it really. Then again, just being in the bubble is so nice. Maybe a trip this year would work out, but not for a while.
I didn’t want to deal with it anymore. It was nice to give my dates to “our” favorite TA and let her handle it!
can totally hear ya on this one!
I can’t believe how expensive Disney is with so many less Attractions available. If there aren’t some nice discounts I will need to cut a few trips and probably just go once.
Yes, very poor decision making and even worse execution of what they did try to do
Exactly! USO sounds so much better and less stressful!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top