Fabulous Fifty Fall Fun: An October/November 2020 PanTR (Pandemic Trip Report) [COMPLETE]

[CruellaNY]

Now hopefully @CruellaNY won't read this...but we've changed our mind on the Saturday night birthday dinner and for NOW...it's at Shulas.

Well Shula's is a good choice too! We thought about that for this trip last week but didn't get there; will definitely will go at some point.

I have to say I've found for our 2 trips since July that I LOVE having less to plan! Dining is a little challenging simply because so many restaurants are still closed but otherwise I think it's so relaxing just deciding on a park and that's it. We've also still had good luck changing dining day of or day before which is what we've always done so that's a plus!

 

[kittylady1972]

Well Shula's is a good choice too! We thought about that for this trip last week but didn't get there; will definitely will go at some point.

I have to say I've found for our 2 trips since July that I LOVE having less to plan! Dining is a little challenging simply because so many restaurants are still closed but otherwise I think it's so relaxing just deciding on a park and that's it. We've also still had good luck changing dining day of or day before which is what we've always done so that's a plus!

I *REALLY* think I want to try to do Tiffins...even though I'm not sure I want to "waste" a park pass on Saturday at Animal Kingdom since I'm not sure if we can get a lot done there with arriving likely after 11:30am. I think if we can manage FoP, EE and maybe Dinosaur it would be a success. So that's where I am right now.

I'm doing my best not to overthink the dining and park reservation stuff. Honestly.

So our MagicBands arrive yesterday (none for me and DH...we will use ones we already have) and so did the SoG tickets I ordered for our friends. I need to get Disney to fix one of the people before I link the ticket/MagicBand/park reservation for him. So my friend manages her husband's MDE account (I do the same for my DH) but I can't seem to actually "see" him on mine under my friends. He used to be there, we've gone on trips together before, but he's not any longer. So I created a new "him" but now I know it's not correct...so it will require some Disney tech intervention to get the correct "him" linked. Therefore I'm holding off on that until I have the time to call them.

 

[kittylady1972]

This picture just made me smile this morning...and remember our fabulous August trip. I have a Timothy mouse shirt at home...it's one of my favorites.

So was talking to DH last night about the trip...trying to pin him down on a restaurant...just hate that picking a restaurant in a park means we have to spend that day (our first day) in the park as well. He is fine with whatever...at least that is what he says...but he's probably tired of me talking about it. Seriously it shouldn't be this tough. There are just so few non-park restaurants for a nice dinner and that are NOT in Disney Springs. So I'm keeping what I have for now and will just have to decide later. MUST. STOP. LOOKING. AT. PLANS.

I have TWO emails in to Disney...and no responses so far. One is about linking the two resort reservations...that went to DVC Member Services. The other was about the issue with the person on my friends list who isn't the "real" person...and how to fix that. I'll probably end up calling about both of these things soon enough.

I'm sure if anybody looks at my planning spreadsheet they will just shake their heads since it changes SOOO often. My ADRs are just all over the place right now...cannot narrow them down. I'm not stressing about it, because no matter what we'll make the very best of this trip for sure.

In other news, I'm so excited to see that GKTW is opening up for a few weeks to do a special holiday light walkthrough. They are seeking volunteers and my daughter and I are looking for a way to get down there for a night or two in order to volunteer. I hope we can make that happen sometime in December. I really miss volunteering at the Village, we had just started doing that and it was such a wonderful thing.



29 DAYS TO GO!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

In other news, I'm so excited to see that GKTW is opening up for a few weeks to do a special holiday light walkthrough.

This is honestly the BEST news I've heard all week!!!!!!! Thank you! With news that the GFSO has been let go as well as Yeehaw Bob, and all those CM's, I needed some good news.

 

[DLo]

I have volunteered at GKTW the last few trips and enjoyed it. I bought a ticket for the event while I am there. I need to figure out if I can work a shift. I haven’t tried to login yet to see what the shifts are. On my to do list for this weekend .
Whenever I see you have updated , I think I wonder what has changed this time : ) .

 

[DLo]

Had to get my volunteer account reset but now volunteering one night at the concession stand at the Million Lights. Hoping to squeeze in another shift - just need to figure out what I can move around .

 

[kittylady1972]

I have volunteered at GKTW the last few trips and enjoyed it. I bought a ticket for the event while I am there. I need to figure out if I can work a shift. I haven’t tried to login yet to see what the shifts are. On my to do list for this weekend .
Whenever I see you have updated , I think I wonder what has changed this time : ) .

Had to get my volunteer account reset but now volunteering one night at the concession stand at the Million Lights. Hoping to squeeze in another shift - just need to figure out what I can move around .

Awesome that you have a shift booked! I logged in and checked out all of the shifts and there were a LOT left...and we don't yet know if/when we will be back in December. I'm hoping to book DD and I on a shift or two though once we have some idea of what dates we may want to return.

 

[kittylady1972]

This is honestly the BEST news I've heard all week!!!!!!! Thank you! With news that the GFSO has been let go as well as Yeehaw Bob, and all those CM's, I needed some good news.

Yes I'm very excited about GKTW as we really have missed being able to volunteer there. I was very sad about Yeehaw Bob as well, had the chance to go see him ONE time and really enjoyed it, though my family wasn't all that excited about it. It was just another one of those little things that made it extra special.

 

[kittylady1972]

A few updates to share....

Finally received email responses from Disney this week to two of my emails. The first from DVC and they did at least list the birthday celebrations for my family members. While they noted that I had two reservations, they were unable to link them because the second reservation was not made by me as the member, so they require both members on the phone to confirm things and that's just way too much trouble. I think in these current COVID-centric times it won't be an issue if when we arrive I just make sure we don't have to change rooms. I'm sure they don't want to have to clean an extra room if it's not necessary, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Then I got a response to my other email about issues linking one of our friends in MDE. I knew I didn't have the correct person, but they were able to get that all fixed just based on the information I provided. I logged in and checked and I can see him with his real profile photo (R2D2) so it seems like we are good to go there now. I have yet to link the park tickets for him but I'll get there.

In other news, the other thing we learned over the weekend was that a football game for our favorite Ravens NFL team has been moved to the Sunday we are in WDW. This was supposed to be a bye week, but COVID has them changing the schedule of our rival team the Steelers and now we have that game on Nov. 1st instead of October 25th. This is a bit sad for us because we usually have friends over to watch the games, and we have some close friends who are Steelers fans so it's fun to have them over for this game in particular. Now we don't even know if we'll be able to view the game while in WDW because it will take place on one of our park days, right now on our planned day to be at Hollywood Studios. Of course there's the option to watch the game from our villa, but hate to spend vacation doing that when there is so much we want to try to do while there.

Haven't really made any other real modifications to our plans that I recall, but it's a new week so anything can happen. I was debating moving our flights to Friday night instead of Saturday, but I have NOT pulled the trigger on that and it's looking less likely right now.

Just for fun, here is a recap of my weekend.

Friday night: Softball game for the girl...I think the team won...it was cold outside!


Saturday was tennis in the morning, and then 22 year anniversary dinner for me and DH at a lovely restaurant on the water near our house. This has become one of our new favorites. After two visits there (mostly for crabs but we've had other menu items with them) the food and service are great...even though we have waited 30 minutes and an hour to be seated!




OH my goodness the crabs were delicious!

Then Sunday was another softball game for the girl in picture perfect weather:


She is in the middle there (sorta) playing second base and she did awesome. Caught a few fly balls, made some outs on second, and then even got a base hit and then was walked next time, and stole all bases from 2nd to home to score while the batter behind her was still up to bat! It was fun to watch.

Here's to a good week for all!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Wishing you both a very happy anniversary
Your trip planning has me dizzy lol but I’m sure you will settle in your plans / or change them frequently depending on your heart’s desire
In the past I’d make wonderful plans and then my crew would decide they didn’t fancy them usually that morning at which point there was a real danger of me 1) divorcing them all 2) causing actual bodily harm ( ok kidding) 3) shrugging it off and going with the flow. Believe it or not option 3 frequently worked out

 

[kittylady1972]

Wishing you both a very happy anniversary
Your trip planning has me dizzy lol but I’m sure you will settle in your plans / or change them frequently depending on your heart’s desire
In the past I’d make wonderful plans and then my crew would decide they didn’t fancy them usually that morning at which point there was a real danger of me 1) divorcing them all 2) causing actual bodily harm ( ok kidding) 3) shrugging it off and going with the flow. Believe it or not option 3 frequently worked out

Thank you. We had a good day.

Yes I finally put a note on the WDW Google doc that I'm sharing with a few people from our party that bascially said "yeah...I have no idea what the final plan will be so expect it to change a lot!". I'm totally with you on the making of plans that others don't necessarily like and option #3 is nice...but sometimes it's hard not to consider #1 and #2. I know my plan won't be popular with everybody but we'll make the best of them no matter what.

 

[kittylady1972]

For planning purposes...here is my CURRENT schedule which will change many many more times in the next 3.5 weeks:



Random planning thoughts by ME:

Saturday: Do we dare try a park on arrival day? If so, is AK a good idea given that we most likely won't arrive there until 11:30am or so? We would get maybe 4 hours and then have birthday dinner at Tiffins, which I'd really really like to do. Or would we be better off going to EPCOT, with the later opening (11am as of now) we wouldn't be there nearly as late after park opening. We could do some Food and Wine booths for lunch, ride a few things, then have birthday dinner that night at Tutto Italia.

Sunday: I really think I'm okay doing Studios on a weekend from what I keep reading...like it's no better off during the week than on the weekend. The other options would be Monday (then I have to work around crazy kids school schedules though) or Tuesday (but my friend have a flight this day so if we get RoTR they may miss out if we have a late boarding group). Of course DH also wants to return to La Hacienda which we can only do Saturday or Sunday...and I don't think he wants that as his birthday dinner. Yet it's still there in my ADRs as I decide.

Monday: Ok so Ale and Compass is there in case we select Monday as our Studios day...to allow the kids to do schoolwork at Boardwalk or Beach Club Resort and then walk over to the park to join us. This might really be a crazy day to try that though. Maybe we are better off just making this a MK day instead?

Tuesday: I think AK would be a nice last park for our friends...and I think Tiffins here would be a great last night dinner for the rest of us, way to cap off the end (almost) of the birthday trip.

Wednesday: Our final day...I though starting with a nice big breakfast would be nice as I know DH wants to do GF Cafe, then spending the day at MK to end and lunch at Tony's since we really enjoyed that last trip. This is probably the ONLY day that I'm 99% sure will NOT change for us!

So I'd love any thoughts you may have on our plans, even though I'm sure to change my mind a million times.

25 DAYS TO GO!

 

[kittylady1972]

Is it just me, or is everybody else feeling a bit more scared about the new crowds being reported at the parks? I'm sure having released so many discount codes helped bring people back. I was reading reports last night and DH was feeling a bit concerned but as I told him, no matter what, we'll make the best of it but don't expect it to be at all like it was when we went in August. That was just amazing.

So I'm flip-flopping on my plans. I feel like we should do EPCOT on a weekday, and most likley Monday as that's the one park the kids won't mind missing as much and the adults can enjoy Food and Wine there. Plus right now it's open until 7pm so they can join us around 2pm when done with school and still have plenty of time to take advantage of the final hours there to do the stuff they want to do. Anyway...as ALWAYS subject to change, but right now I'm thinking:

SATURDAY: Animal Kingdom; yes we won't even get there until 11:30am MAYBE but hopefuly in the 5 hours we get there we can at least do: Dinosaur, EE, Safari and FoP even if it means gettting in line for FoP at closing time (currently 5pm). Still need to find a birthday dinner location for DH for this day. May have to reconsider a DS location.

SUNDAY: Hollywood Studios. From what I'm reading it makes no difference doing this on the weekend compared to weekdays in terms of crowds. Obviously the main goal here is RoTR. As long as we can go Tower, RnRC, TSM, Star Tours and the other stuff in Galaxy's Edge we will be okay.

MONDAY: I'm thinking EPCOT now. Kids will have school work to do until around 9:30am. I think they will then have to return at 1pm for other work. So they might be able to do a few things, then return to do school stuff, and adults and enjoy doing Food and Wine stuff.

TUESDAY: Magic Kingdom...as the last park for our friends who leave that night.

WEDNESDAY: Another MK day for the rest of us. I kinda don't like doing it two days in a row but we can always switch it up later.

22 DAYS TO GO!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I like your last lot of plans. Totally agree that Epcot is a good choice for the Monday so it’s easy for the kids to join you when they’re finished with school and while you’ve MK twice in a row it’s likely going to feel different with just your own family on the last day so that’ll be nice too

 

[kittylady1972]

I like your last lot of plans. Totally agree that Epcot is a good choice for the Monday so it’s easy for the kids to join you when they’re finished with school and while you’ve MK twice in a row it’s likely going to feel different with just your own family on the last day so that’ll be nice too

Of course you do...and of course I'm changing it again. Coming up next...new day, new plan!

 

[kittylady1972]

New DAY New PLAN

So you may or may not know that, as expected, they have extended park hours for our trip for pretty much every park EXCEPT Hollywood Studios. The more I think about it, the more I have decided to stick with this plan...for REAL this time...maybe. The only days that might change will be Sunday and Monday might be flipped. However for now...here we go:

SATURDAY: Animal Kingdom; EPCOT. We arrive this morning and probably will be able to get to the park fairly soon after the 11am opening. The good news is that now this park is open until 10pm. I'm breaking my rule about EPCOT on the weekend during Food and Wine but we don't intend to hit a ton of food booths as we have TWO reservations for sit down restaurants: La Hacienda and Tutto Italia. Probably won't do full meals at both of these places...but I really liked the food at La Hacienda even though I only had dessert. DH and the rest of the family love Italian food...and I'm not a huge fan...but this will work. Then hopefully we'll spend the last few hours at EPCOT afterwards. Time between lunch/early dinner and dinner 2 is 3 hours between reservation times.

SUNDAY: Hollywood Studios. From what I'm reading it makes no difference doing this on the weekend compared to weekdays in terms of crowds. Obviously the main goal here is RoTR. As long as we can go Tower, RnRC, TSM, Star Tours and the other stuff in Galaxy's Edge we will be okay. I do have a late lunch/early dinner at Mama Melrose but I could only book 6 people and we have 7.

MONDAY: I'm thinking EPCOT Magic Kingdom. Kids can bus to/from the park easily from our resort and back to do schoolwork. Plus we have a second day planned for this park so even if they can't be with us on Monday we will get to return with them for pretty much all of Wednesday.

TUESDAY: Magic Animal Kingdom...as the last park for our friends who leave that night.

WEDNESDAY: Another MK day for the rest of us.

19 DAYS TO GO!

 

[kittylady1972]

16 DAYS TO GO!

Yes I'm a little bit excited about it. Not much has really changed, other than a few additional ADRs.

• SATURDAY: EPCOT; ADRs at Spice Road Table, La Hacienda and Tutto Italia. This is the ONE park day I'm not happy about, wish I could change to Monday, but that would mean moving AK to Saturday instead...and I don't think we'd do much better there. MK is not gonna happen on a Saturday for sure. My concerns here are that we will NOT make it before park opening; crowds will likely be crazy as it's a weekend during Food and Wine when the park is open until 10pm. Part of me says we make the best of the first few hours there, maybe do the Spice Road Table thing as a break/lunch, then back to the resort (cancelling La Hacienda) and just return for dinner at Tutto Italia and then explore the last few hours in the park at night. Problem right now is that we will have already had a LONG day with a 7am flight that we'll likely be at the airport for around 5:45am. I'm still considering flying down the night before, but flight prices have increased for those.
• SUNDAY: Hollywood Studios. ADRs at City Works and Mama Melrose. Plan here is to arrive early, hit MMRR first, then MFSR and try for a boarding pass. Beyond 10am, with no boarding pass for RoTR we would leave and go back to the resort for a while. We would then return close to 1:30pm to try again at 2pm if necessary, or time our return based on any boarding pass if we are lucky. I'm also considering taking a break from this park by hopping on the Skyliner to head over to maybe Beaches and Cream for dessert or, now that @Jenny Sanders has provided an awesome review, maybe checking out Abracadabar. Having just had Tutto Italia the night before, I'm okay skipping Mama Melrose.
• MONDAY: Magic Kingdom day...this remains the same. I actually have ADRs at Sanaa (if we want to take a break from the park) and The Plaza (if we want to stay and/or do a late lunch/early dinner). With a 6pm closing time, I'm hoping we can close down the park this evening.
• TUESDAY: Animal Kingdom day. Nothing changed here. I like the idea of the 5 of us doing our last Disney meal at Tiffins for sure.
• WEDNESDAY: Magic Kingdom. Our last park day. ADRs at Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast and Tony's for dinner.

I think if the flight I want for Friday October 30th drops again, I'll go ahead and book it, then find a cheap-but-nice hotel (that's not been very easy) for us that first night. This means we could be a bit more leisurely about getting up the next day and hitting the parks with an 11am EPCOT opening.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

now that @Jenny Sanders has provided an awesome review, maybe checking out Abracadabar

Great place to hang out!!!

 

[kittylady1972]

You knew this was coming right?

Another change...well probably a few of them.

It took some back and forth with my kids regarding school...but we are now leaving a day earlier...on Friday afternoon. I just booked my flights this morning...and now I have another "credit" to be used in the next 60 days.

I'm still working out where we will be staying, but right now I'm looking to do an early birthday splurge for DH and book a 2BR at Riviera Resort.

That's also going to mean more ADRs, like maybe a breakfast on Saturday morning. The rest of the plans will remain...just might have to either pick my friends up at the airport or book Magical Express for them. Or they can UBER/Lyft if they prefer.

I'm really excited to stay at Riviera even if for one night. With no park plans for Friday, we can at least get the rest of the family on the Skyliner for a little ride around that evening. Plus I should now have time to head over to Shades of Green and upgrade our tickets to add a day to them.

More to come as it all gets fleshed out of course!

 

[RedK]

I love getting to Disney on a Friday. While getting everything ready to leave during the work week is a pain, it's worth it to wake up Saturday morning and go straight to the park. Having the entire weekend at Disney is a wonderful thing.