Mickey, Magic and M*sks- July 2020 Contemporary Crashers

[coralietg]

Hello everyone! We’re 10 days out from leaving, and I still have 5 work days to do. Figured I would get this rolling.

My name is Coralie, I’m 32 years old and an RN in Louisiana. I’ve been a long-time lurker of the Disney Boards since our first trip in 2017. I’m married to my partner K, who is an EMT, and we have four children; Neve, 11 years, Ruby, 9 years, Jack, 5 years, and Harriet, 2 years. Reading trip reports was my respite getting through nursing school, then my BSN. This trip was supposed to happen back in May. This year is my mums 60th, and we were flying her in from the UK for her first Disney vacation. You all know how that turned out. After my first year working as a nurse, and several months working in the thick of COVID-19, I was determined to still get our trip. I tentatively rescheduled to arrive at Port Orleans Riverside July 14th to July 25th, figuring that would give us a little time before school started up in the fall (and also trying to get the youngest in before she turns 3).

One “good” thing about all our ADR’s, fast passes, being wiped from existence, was that I could reshuffle our park days. Now my son can spend his 6th birthday at Magic Kingdom, I think that’s pretty special!

Of course, with Port Orleans being closed until further notice, this meant a new resort. As a family of 5.5, this was the last year we could realistically be in a moderate/resort room. We were originally offered the Cabins, but finally managed to be moved to the Contemporary Resort, Garden Wing. We will be staying offsite for a week after Disney, and I just purchased the Universals buy 2 days, get 2 free. We’ve never been to Universal, so that will be fun to check out!

I will try to post frequently, focusing on wait times, getting a two-year-old to wear a mask, and the logistics of this experience with a herd of kids. Our park reservations are in, masks at the ready, handful of ADR’s… now just waiting on travel day!

Where: Contemporary Resort- Garden Wing

When: July 14th to July 25th.

10 Disney Park Days, (Maybe) 4 Universal Days.

Who:

Coralie, dressed how I spend 90% of my life lately



Neve (now 11) and Harriet (now 2)



Jack (5)



Ruby (9)

 

[coralietg]

Reserved for table of contents

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures. I am staying at the contemporary garden wing next sept. ( rescheduled from this Sept at WL )

 

[tundra1]

We will be traveling with four kids in November (7-4-2-8 months). I am excited to see how everything goes for you!

 

[coralietg]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures. I am staying at the contemporary garden wing next sept. ( rescheduled from this Sept at WL )

Thank you for following! I'm looking forward to the Garden Wing, I'm glad that the bed set-up is similar to Port Orleans, and it will be interesting being within walking distance of MK.

We will be traveling with four kids in November (7-4-2-8 months). I am excited to see how everything goes for you!

I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous! We've already decided to have more laid back days. Between the masks and the heat, I don't want to make everyone miserable. Just ordered a stroller fan and some of the light, chiffon masks to keep the youngest more comfortable. Thanks for following

 

[coralietg]

Monday July 13th- Arrival Day​

We decided to head down to Orlando a day early, staying one night offsite before heading to the Contemporary tomorrow morning. Uneventful 12 hour drive with all the kids mostly behaving. Originally, we had planned one of our ten park days after we checked out from Port Orleans. With all the changes, we couldn’t actually make it for that day, so I added arrival day park reservations.

As everyone knows, it is HOT. I’m a little nervous for Magic Kingdom tomorrow, but we are keeping expectations low.



Mask compliance was pretty poor in the panhandle based on the few stops we made, but it’s been good in Orlando so far.



Tomorrow we have check-in at the Contemporary, park reservations for Magic Kingdom, and dinner at The Wave planned.

 

[Sajchinook2015]

Looking forward to reading more. I loved the Contemporary when i stayed there April 2019.

 

[wannabee]

Cant wait to read about your trip.

 

[jpolak]

Have a great trip!

 

[penel3]

Excited to follow along!! Enjoy!

 

[Cotillard]

What a beautiful family. I am really looking forward to your report. Have a great time!

 

[armerida]

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[stitchsnk]

Have a wonderful trip!! I will be following along

 

[becauseimnew]

Hope you are having a blast!! Following along

 

[coralietg]

Tuesday July 14th- First Magic Kingdom Day #1
​

I just want to start this by saying, I'm not sure if we will ever be able to surpass this trip. I'm currently on the morning of day 2, and I'm just in awe.

We checked out of our offsite hotel at 11:00 and started the drive over to our home for the next 11 nights, Contemporary Resort. After the stress of work during the pandemic for both me and my husband, I had already decided this trip was going to be more laid back, more lie-ins, slowed down. I'm pretty bitter that my body is still waking up at 05:00 as if I'm going to work.

I took this picture at 11:51. I was a little teary that everything had come together and we were finally here!



It was still early, but I kept checking the Disney app to see if we had a room assignment yet. No such luck. We checked in with the guard and parked, ready for the walk over to Magic Kingdom. We used Athleta cloth masks today, they were very comfortable and pretty breathable as far as cloth masks go. We used a mosquito net over the stroller while our youngest was in it, and a chiffon masks while she was walking. They all tolerated them pretty well.



This is our first (and likely last) stay at the Contemporary Resort, but wow, I was blown away by how quick the walk was! There was a tent with temperature checks, very quick and easy, followed by a covered area with guards and a walk through security screener. It was very similar to airline screening. I set off the alarms with my bag, and they used a wand to pass over me and asked me to move things around in my bag while they had a look. Didn't take long and we were off.

As others have said, no fingerprints at the park entrance. Just tap your magic band and on your way.

It had rained a little on our walk over, but stopped soon after and stayed dry the rest of the day. We entered the park at 12:45. Crowds were very low, it's just a bizarre situation. My husband was a Florida Pass Holder back in the 1990's, and he said it's how he remembered Disney during the off-season days they would visit.



I'm not sure how I feel about the new castle colour. The old colour was so crisp, clean and cooling. I was probably just too hot. It's very pretty though.



We got to the Mad Tea Party at 13:19 and standby said 15 minutes. It was a walk-on (obviously). I think there was one other group on this rotation. I've had several ear surgeries and can't do spinny rides, my husband takes one for the team.


July 2020 vs May 2018.





Our first trip to Disney was planned for the middle of May in 2018 to take advantage of lower crowds before the summer fully kicked off. We thought it was good then

 

[coralietg]

Tuesday July 14th- First Magic Kingdom Day #2 (With a dump truck full of Pixie Dust)
​

We headed over to Dumbo next at 13:28, this was also a walk-on. Next up the Barnstormer, which Harriet was less than thrilled with. This was also a walk-on. The older kids wanted to ride again, so they went back up with their dad. After a second ride, they pulled in to the station with no-one waiting to board. The ride operator said they could go around again!

Masks can be taken off for private pictures, but not PhotoPass. So far, my one disappointment is PhotoPass, we all look like bank robbers in the pictures. Could pretty much be anyone in them.

​

Under the Sea was a standby of 5 minutes, which was pretty accurate as that was the time it took to walk through the empty queue. Highly recommend this for the break from the heat, it's very cool in there.



Next up we headed to Peter Pan's Flight. Standby time was listed as 15 minutes, it ended up taking about 4 minutes just to walk through the queue and on to the ride. During this time I checked the Disney app again and nearly fell over.



Our Contemporary Resort Garden Wing- Standard View had changed to the Bay Lake Tower. 2 BEDROOM VILLA. Our move from Port Orleans to the Garden Wing was already a bucket of Pixie Dust... I was seriously floored.

After Peter Pan, we headed to It's a Small World. We had our first mask failure of the day, most two year olds just can't be reasoned with. She was hot and that stubborn two year old trait reared its head, we finished out the ride and she let us put it back on. The ride was loading with two rows of seats left empty between parties.



As a side note, mask compliance was excellent. I was very impressed by the number of little kids who were doing great with their masks, and I saw very few noses poking out. One instance of an unmasked guest going to talk to a cast member stuck out, she refused to talk to him until he had put his mask back on. There did seem to be an increased security presence, but for the most part we didn't see any issues.

The littlest sister with a great example of why hand hygiene is paramount. There were plenty of automatic hand sanitizer stations, and we made sure to fully wash hands frequently.



Next up was The Haunted Mansion at 15:20, showing a 15 minute standby. It was a walk-on until the stretching room, then maybe a 5 minute wait before we were on the way.

We caught one of the character parades on the way over to BTMRR, I was glad to see Merida on her horse after the balloon mishap on a previous day.



I was not feeling too well at this point. As a Brit born and raised in England, my heat tolerance is very poor. We stopped and had a couple of Mickey pretzels, soda for me and Powerade for the kids. It helped for a little while.

16:14 and it was time for Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road. Of note, Splash Mountain was down at this point, had been for several hours and wouldn't come back again that day. I left the littlest with her dad, asked the cast member at the entrance about rider switch. He scanned my husbands Magic Band plus two of the older kids. We got through the line, the ride, and back out in 14 minutes. Using rider switch, took my husband 9 minutes.



This. SUCKED. I was already overheated, claustrophobic from the mask, then this barricade happened. I tried to reign back my anxiety and breathe.

After BTMRR I was tapping out. I had to sit in the old smoking area by the ride exit and send my husband for ice cold water. The heat is no joke, especially when it is sustained. I got to the point I didn't feel too dizzy anymore, so we decided to head out. Once I was moving, I felt a little better so we did Pirates of the Caribbean (standby 10 minutes, it was a walk-on), Jungle Cruise (30 minute standby, 15 minutes actual waiting) and Magic Carpets (walk-on) on the way out. Sat and had some Dole Whips at Aloha Aisle before heading out of the park at 18:20.

 

[coralietg]

Tuesday July 14th- First Magic Kingdom Day #3 (with another sprinkle of Pixie Dust)
​

I had previously done online check-in for the room, our room number was showing in the app so we went right on in. Magic Bands opened the door first try without any problem, and wow.



As a mother of 4, you can imagine how thrilled I am about the washer/dryer









It's just so beautiful. I think we are still shell shocked about the upgrade. Never in a million years could we afford to stay here for so long.

We have more bathrooms than the hand soap we brought with us haha. I think my husband is most thrilled about all the toiletries he discovered. We always bring our own as there is a lot of hair around here.



Tonight we had reservations for The Wave at 19:05, but I modified to 20:55 after it became clear we weren't going to have the truck unpacked in time. I don't have any pictures as I'm truly trying to be present and not spend too much time behind my phone, but we signed in at 20:45 and didn't get our text until 21:30. We were tired and hungry, and service was backed up, but the food was great.

The kids all got the build your own ice cream sundae with their meals, and when our host came around to check on us and ask the kids how their ice cream was, my 9 year old bit down on a chocolate chip and popped out a loose tooth right in front of him I swear she is our most eventful child. Our host was amazing and went quickly to get some napkins, and once we got back to the room I found out he had snuck a Tinker Bell trinket to my husband! It lights up and had a little clip on the back, it's waiting under her pillow right now. Thank you to Joseph at The Wave, he was awesome.



Today we are heading back to Magic Kingdom. Reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern, and hoping to hit the rides we missed yesterday.

Thank you for following along!

 

[lovethattink]

Following along! Wow, to go from POR to Bay Lake Tower 2 BR!! Definitely magical. The heat, not so magical. Our feel like temps have been 110 here in central Fl. Be sure to stay hydrated! Looks like mostly a great day at MK.

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

Terrific report! So glad you felt better after the ice water and a rest! We're from Maine and feel your pain with the heat/humidity we hardly ever experience up here....and that tight spot on Big Thunder is already giving me anxiety - and I'm afraid I'm going to need some crisco to squeeze thru ....
That room upgrade! WOW!WOW!WOW!

 

[coralietg]

Looking forward to reading more. I loved the Contemporary when i stayed there April 2019.

It's a beautiful resort and that A frame is just iconic. Thank you for following!

Cant wait to read about your trip.

Thank you!

Have a great trip!

I think we will, we're off to a great start. Thanks!

Excited to follow along!! Enjoy!

Oh we are, I was so ready for a break. Thank you!

What a beautiful family. I am really looking forward to your report. Have a great time!

Thank you so much. They have been troopers through the last few months so I'm glad they get to have this experience.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Thank you!

Have a wonderful trip!! I will be following along

Glad to have you, thanks!

Hope you are having a blast!! Following along

I was hoping to post quick reports each night, but yesterday was a long one! Thank you!