Should we stay or should we go? Formerly a Nov 2020, now Sept 2020 WDW/DCL Planning TR! Updated 8/31!

Andrea464

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
My little space to type out my plans and thoughts, including my back and forth and emotions on how COVID-19 might impact this long awaited vacation!

To quote The Clash:
"Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
This indecision's bugging me"

Who: I'm Andrea, wife to Leonard, and Mom to Anna (14) and Charlotte (3, she'll be 4 on the trip). I'm older than I am mentally, and frequently forget that I cannot recover like I could when I was 19. We live in eastern NC. Our first family trip was in 2010, when it was just me and Leonard with Anna (she was 4). That sparked out love of Disney. We've been to WDW a few times since then, managed to hit DL once, and have had two trips on the Disney Dream. This pic is of us in January 2019, when we surprised my oldest with a Universal trip, Ohana breakfast, and cruise. Her birthday does fall right around MLK Day, so we had several days out of school that made it an easy choice!

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When: Our current plans are to vacation from Wednesday, November 11th - Saturday, November 21st, 2020. Current plans are to fly (via Southwest) WAY too early on 11/11. Southwest hasn't released their dates yet, but if they keep their historical times they have a first flight in the morning from Raleigh (RDU) to MCO. It'd leave at 0530 and arrive at MCO around 0710. We've never flown there before, so this will be new for us but I'm excited about only having to load one vehicle and not dealing with I-95. This is by far the cheapest flight of the day, and one of the few direct flights they do (probably also why it's cheap). Here's the kicker- we're about an hour and a half east of RDU. We'll have to leave our house by 0300 to make it to the airport and through everything on time. I'm pretty good and making sure everything but a few toiletries and chargers are packed the night before, but I will sleep like crud because I'll be so excited (and worried about oversleeping and ending up running out of the house "Home Alone" style).

Where: (are we staying, where are we going) We'll fly in on 11/11 and check-in at Pop Century. I've read enough to know to go ahead and bring our swimsuits in a carry on since our room won't be ready until alter in the day. We've stayed at Pop Century twice before (our first two trips to WDW), and it's one of our favorites. I don't know if that's because it was the first place we stayed and we had some pretty magical memories, or if it's just that great of a resort. We've stayed at AKL once and POFQ once and both were good, but Pop fits our budget the most right now. We'll have a lot of non-park time this trip, so we plan on doing some exploring using the Sky Liner since it's so close!
When we check out on Saturday the 14th we'll take some form of transportation to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Fantasy (Lord willing). We haven't nailed down HOW we're getting to PC. I'm open to taking Disney's bus, but I like getting there early and getting lunch at Cabanas and then getting a good poolside seat. We've looked into a few different other transport companies and are keeping an open mind.

What: This will be a trip with little park time and a lot of time to explore. If all goes as planned, we'll land around 0710 and be in line or on the bus by 0800 to get to Pop. We're planning on doing the Quick Service meal plan. We've done that plan once, and I think we can do a lot of meal sharing. I don't have a large stomach (sleeve gastrectomy) so I can't eat a ton at once (snacking and drinking my calories keeps me in the obese category though).
Wednesday 11/11: Arrive, grab a quick/small breakfast to prevent a hangry pre-schooler meltdown, play. Depending on weather, that may mean pool, skyliner tour, arcade, or Disney Springs. We'll do Hoop-Dee-Doo (paying OOP) that night. I'm thinking we may have some nap time during the day (if our room is ready) and then we'll try to do the middle show, hoping to catch fireworks when it's time to leave.
Thursday 11/12: Hollywood Studios. Len is a Star Wars guy all the way. I'd like to make sure we get some time in HS to explore the expansion. No other plans that day, since we have no idea when any boarding would occur for ROTR.
Friday 11/13: We'll continue to explore and play during the day, hitting up the areas we may have missed on Wednesday (Skyliner, Disney Springs, pools). We'll try to get the wee one to do a nap post-lunch, and then we'll do MVMCP that night.
Saturday 11/14: Breakfast, then whatever form of transportation we'll end up doing to PC. Lunch at Cabanas (if they're open) and then playing all day until the muster drill. Sailing away on the 7 night cruise on the Disney Fantasy Merrytime Eastern Caribbean.
Sunday 11/15: Day at Sea.
Monday 11/16: Day at Sea. We're hoping to get a Palo brunch and Disney Jr. meet and greet (brunch?) during the sea days. We haven't been able to get a Palo brunch on our other cruises (it's only on sea days and we only had one sea day the other cruises), and the Disney Jr. stuff isn't done on the shorter cruises.
Tuesday 11/17: Tortola- No idea what excursions we want yet. I have until sometime in August to figure this out.
Wednesday 11/18: St. Thomas. Again, no idea.
Thursday 11/19: Say at sea.
Friday 11/20: Castaway Cay. My favorite. Not sure if I'm doing the 5k or not. We had a hard time docking the last time and the race didn't start until after 10. I'm slow. Like a turtle in peanut butter. I stopped after the first mile and came back.
Saturday 11/21: Disembark, cry, board the bus and head to MCO. We'll probably use the Disney bus for this transfer since we aren't worried about time. No idea on what time we'd leave yet. I'm not sure how flights will be impacted with it being the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I know not to book the flight too early but don't want a ton of downtime in the airport either.

Why: Why not? Well, COVID-19 continuing to be a major issue might be a big "why not". So much of this trip is dependent on what health is like by then (and hoping this summer doesn't bring massive hurricanes, who knows with how 2020 is rolling so far).
 
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I’d say - go for it! At this point plan to go. Just keep in mind - plans may change. There may be extra precautions Disney may make you take that you may not have planned for or be used to. And you have to roll with it. Depending on how the reopening goes, how the summer goes & subsequently how the beginning of fall goes - will determine how your trip pans out. But at this moment - I would still plan on going & I would still get excited - knowing I may have to sanitize & wear a mask along the way or even have my temp taken numerous times/places. Have fun! Stay safe & healthy! 💕
 
I’d say - go for it! At this point plan to go. Just keep in mind - plans may change. There may be extra precautions Disney may make you take that you may not have planned for or be used to. And you have to roll with it. Depending on how the reopening goes, how the summer goes & subsequently how the beginning of fall goes - will determine how your trip pans out. But at this moment - I would still plan on going & I would still get excited - knowing I may have to sanitize & wear a mask along the way or even have my temp taken numerous times/places. Have fun! Stay safe & healthy! 💕
Thank you! We're still moving ahead as if everything is happening, but that little anxiety filled part of me can't help but worry. We're both nurses, so we're used to wearing masks all day- the 3 year old not so much!
 
Upcoming this week:
  • I stalk Southwest Airlines 400 times (need to check in the evening too, just in case something changed) to see if flights have been released (only out until 10/30 as of today). I've read late May but I'll still check, just in case.
  • 0700 Friday is our dining reservation booking for HDDR. I only have one since we're doing QS. I have the time blocked on my calendar so I can get that done before leaving for work.
 


According to Southwest's website, they open up their flight schedule through early January on May 28th.
 
Following! It's definitely a great time to go and also a great time to do a PTR to stay in the Disney "feels" mood :) I am still being optimistic (and realistic) about our June, July and Sept. trips! We had to cancel our Disney cruise in April that was supposed to be for DS's 18th birthday and then our back up Memorial Day WDW trip. The June trip is a back up back up lol but July has been planned for awhile. Looking forward to reading your plans!
 


Following! It's definitely a great time to go and also a great time to do a PTR to stay in the Disney "feels" mood :) I am still being optimistic (and realistic) about our June, July and Sept. trips! We had to cancel our Disney cruise in April that was supposed to be for DS's 18th birthday and then our back up Memorial Day WDW trip. The June trip is a back up back up lol but July has been planned for awhile. Looking forward to reading your plans!
Ariane, I'm sorry about the disruptions to the June trip. :( I know I would have taken that pretty hard, even with anticipating it coming. Crossing my crossables that the July trip is on!
 
I am so excited to see your plans! We are doing the same thing, except arriving on Tuesday afternoon. We are taking a Florida Tours shuttle which will pick us up at the Disney resort and bring us to Port Canaveral on Saturday morning. It is much less expensive than Disney transportation, and they are also picking us up from the Cruise port and bringing us to MCO. The shuttle will even stop at a store on the way to the port, which will be awesome for us since we need to pick up diapers, wipes, sunscreen, and a couple bottles of wine! LOL! We will have a four year old boy with our group, so hope to see you board! :sail:

I booked our ADR's on Thursday morning. I hope you got HDDR! party:
 
Yall... 2020 can go the heck on. I have stronger words, but I don't think they are allowed!

When we last left off, I was eagerly awaiting May 28, 2020 to book our Southwest flights. I was successful and got my tickets that morning! And then that afternoon WDW announced they were doing park reservations and it was only for those with an existing park ticket. We had not yet purchased our tickets (only discussed) but we had a room reservation (which counted for nothing).
We were finally able to get park tickets and reservations a while later (I don't even know when it was, it's all blurred together). We had planned on flying in super early on Southwest and having a chill day, having a day at DHS and hopefully get to ride ROTR, and a day at MK before boarding the ship. We paid our cruise off so if it did get cancelled (still pending as of 8/31/2020) we'd get the credit to move the cruise (should be 125% if they are consistent).
I'm a nurse, and have been heavily involved this summer in planning and running COVID pop-up testing sites throughout our region. It was some seriously long days in eastern NC heat. If I can do that (in FULL PPE- mask, long sleeve gown, gloves, and face shield) then I can wear a mask at Disney! That did provide some comfort.
During these sites the nagging pain I had in my left should became more pronounced. About two weeks ago I noticed a marked decrease in my range of motion and a big increase in pain. I made an appointment with my ortho doc and my x-ray hinted and the ultrasound confirmed I have a rotator cuff tear. I loudly said a bunch of four letter words and printed off calendars to write all of my important stuff to figure out when I could have surgery. I had my date (in my mind)- September 30th. That'd be six weeks to the day from when we'd fly to MCO, giving me the six weeks to do PT and at least get out of a sling. The office calls to schedule surgery and I'm told it could be 9/16 or 10/8, and that my surgeon was out of the office for two weeks in between. Repeat a lot of four letter words and then reassess the plan. I have a girls weekend in Savannah/Tybee Island on 9/23, and had already paid for my part of the room. I opted for 10/8 for my surgery date- that gives me past my daughter's 4th birthday, my birthday, the Savannah trip, and an EHR upgrade at one of our big clinics.
However, that puts my surgery about four weeks out from our original trip date and I knew that wouldn't work. I will still be in a sling/swath, won't be able to raise or move my arm, and will still be healing and can't risk damaging the progress I make with PT/OT. We decided to move the WDW part of the trip up to September. When I bought our plane tickets I did the cheapest option, which means I can't cancel them (but can move them around so long as I use them by next May). My boss approved my time off, so I got to moving things as soon as I could! My TA is working now to reschedule park days and add on an extra day.

Thursday 9/17- We'll fly to MCO, arriving around 10:30. We'll take the bus to Pop, drop stuff at the desk or room, and then hit the Skyliner to Epcot. We made reservations for Biergarten for that evening, but may cancel as we get closer since I have a feeling we'll stuff ourselves at the Food and Wine booths. I cannot wait- this is one of my favorites! We have always done a dining plan, so we'll probably play our meals a little differently than we normally do.

Friday 9/18- DHS. We still hope to get to do ROTR but I'm starting to read about people not getting to ride. I'm a little nervous about that. We have evening dining reservations at Raglan Road (we've eaten there once before and loved it). My 14 year old has already made it clear that she will not ride ToT with me, but that's ok!

Saturday 9/19- MK. I'm excited to see the fall decorations again! I'm already in the fall mood and saw that they'll start fall activities a few days before we arrive. YAY! We have late afternoon reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. I'm not sure if we'll keep these or not. I'm torn on spending so much time in a restaurant when our time in the parks is limited but I know the food options at Pop are really limited.

Sunday 9/20- Lazy morning and then we take the bus to MCO to fly home and do laundry.

Tuesday 9/22- My little ones 4th birthday! I'm excited that we can do Disney so close to her birthday and hope it's magical for her!
 
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9/10/2020 update: We are flying Southwest. I went and added the early bird check-in for myself earlier. We have less than an hour layover time in our airport. We should stay in the same terminal but I don't like having a short window of time to switch flights. I booked it so I could go ahead and get on the plane and get us a decent set of seats near the front so we can hopefully scoot out quickly when we arrive at BWI (Baltimore). Since we transfer, it sounds like I'll also be able to check in early for the flight from BWI to MCO. I seriously dislike how the system works sometimes- we'll fly an hour north, only to fly south again.
I'm now scoping out Topolino breakfast reservations. I keep stalking and crossing my fingers that someone will cancel a Sunday morning reservation (9/20). Our outgoing flight isn't until 2, so we could easily swing a breakfast!
 

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