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- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
Hello again, everyone! I am so excited to post about my latest trip and I can't wait to catch up with you all.
For anyone who I haven't met yet: my name is Kaitlyn, I have been traveling to WDW with my family since 2010 and writing about it here on the DISboards since 2014. I am a 23 year old from New Jersey who has completed two Disney College Program internships, the latest being Spring Advantage 2020, which is kind of where I left off here on the Boards.
At the time, I had just graduated college. I was down there for my dream role, Character Attendant, and ready to start my new life as an adult down in Florida. A year ago to this very date, all of my friends and I had our lives flipped upside down when they announced the closure of the College Program. I was very lucky to hitch a ride home with a friend who had been visiting for the week, and once I got back to New Jersey, I started my 7th trip report, which was about the week before the parks closed: my family surprised me with a week-long visit at POP Century, where I was able to spend some time exploring Galaxy's Edge and Flower & Garden with them. This TR, sadly, was never completed-- the more I thought about Disney, the more sad I became, so I pushed DISboards to the side for a while.
In the interim between then and now, a lot has happened in my life. I found Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I rediscovered Big Time Rush with my friends. More importantly, I learned how to drive again and by the end of 2020, I had purchased my first car:
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, my family has avoided getting sick and we are very grateful for the victories that we have all shared since the world turned upside down last year. My mother, Susan, earned a promotion at work for all of the hard work she does. My dad, Tom, underwent a series of lifestyle changes in the past few months, which included a surgical procedure back in January to help get his weight under control. My younger sister, Grace, is a sophomore in college who joined a sorority and is now on their E-Board-- just like her big sister used to be!
I know that this lengthy life update is not what you all are here for, but the TLDR is that in the past 9 or so months since I ghosted the boards, we have all been happy and healthy. Even though COVID-19 has brought many challenges into our lives, we have had a lot to celebrate in the recent past, and there's only one way my family knows how to celebrate anything...
Spoiler alert... we had an absolutely phenomenal week. It could not have gone any better, and I am here to put any up-and-coming Spring Break travelers minds to ease. That 35% park capacity cap is making "sold out" days look like pre-pandemic level-5 crowds, dramatic photos of long lines are nothing to fear-- everything seemed to run smoother during this COVID-19 trip than it did before COVID-19 impacted park operations. We did everything with time to spare. We did everything we wanted to do and more, absolutely crushed our goals for each day. Buses, particularly to POP, are running on an insanely tight schedule-- we never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus, even at Magic Kingdom park close or in that crazy early-morning line to Magic from the resort. Disney is doing everything they can to make things safe and efficient, and we really enjoyed ourselves.
I can't say everything felt 100% the same: after all, waving to Mickey from the train station simply doesn't replicate the feeling of a hug from the main mouse. Many stores and restaurants are closed, and almost all restaurants that are open are operating on a modified menu. And above all, there is still an inherent risk of COVID-19 exposure at Walt Disney World Resort, so you do need to be careful, adhere by guidelines, and be careful around those who do not adhere by the guidelines... which, sadly, we ran into quite a few this trip
The great news is that I will go into detail about all of the fabulous and not-so-fabulous parts of this spring break trip in this here TR! Now, I do need to warn you: this will be a more condensed TR than I usually write. My phone camera has been broken for a while, and I opted to just relax and enjoy things this trip, so I don't have a lot of photos and didn't take a lot of notes. My plan is to write a little bit about how we "planned this trip," share the photos I have, and talk about all of things I think you need to know before heading down to Disney while the COVID-19 guidelines are in place.
I will talk in great length about...
- Driving to WDW from NJ (and back!)
- COVID-19 impacting park operations
- POP Century Resort "at capacity"
- Touring Galaxy's Edge on a "sold out" DHS day
- All of these huge lines at Disney and what they actually mean
- The current situation at Disney Springs
- My favorite Flower & Garden dishes
- Going way over budget on souvenirs and blaming it on my job
- Visiting a few restaurants outside of Disney
- COVID-19 impacting park operations
- POP Century Resort "at capacity"
- Touring Galaxy's Edge on a "sold out" DHS day
- All of these huge lines at Disney and what they actually mean
- The current situation at Disney Springs
- My favorite Flower & Garden dishes
- Going way over budget on souvenirs and blaming it on my job
- Visiting a few restaurants outside of Disney
So if any of that sounds interesting to you, and if you're still with me, I'll post my first update soon!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
3/05: Planning & Travel Day
3/06: Check-In/Disney Springs
3/07: Magic Kingdom
3/08: Epcot
3/09: Hollywood Studios
3/10: Disney Springs/Magic Kingdom
3/11: Disney's Animal Kingdom
3/12: Epcot/Magic Kingdom
3/13-3/14: Drive Home/Conclusion
JULY MINI PTR UPDATES:
05/16: Update I
07/04: Update II
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Thanks for checking in, pal! I am so happy to be back and glad to have you here with me!
