4My3KGirls
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2009
Its finally getting real, Spring Break 2020 in finally going to happen . . . in July 2021.
The cast remains the same, but the locations and plans have changed . . . a lot!
Cast: Me (H), Wife (W) and Three Daughters (D18, D14, and D11)
Original Plans: March 21-28, 2020
It was to be our first trip back in 10 years (March 13-20, 2010). We used to go quite often when D18 was little, but life got busier, we discovered beach house rentals, cruises . . .
Anyway, we were booked in to Port Orleans Riverside and had the perfect set up for both FP+ and ADRs. (I still have screenshots of all of them and they still exist in my phone calendar.) We had the dining plan, and we were even surprised shortly before the trip with the opening of MMRR and the addition of MMRR and MFSR to the FP+ system. It was going to be perfect. I don't have to tell you what happened from there . . .
Attempt #2: November 21-28, 2020
We started taking family vacations over Thanksgiving several years ago when our school districts (ones the kids go to and the ones we work at) both changed their calendar to basically give a full week off for Thanksgiving. This has typically been a cruise vacation, but with, well, you know, we decided that moving our Disney trip to this time would be a great option, since it was completely paid off. We were locked in to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Then as November began we started hearing things like "COVID Spike" and "Adaptive Pause." Already knowing the trip wouldn't be normal (No FP+, ADRs hard to find, social distancing, reduced operations, MASKS . . . we pulled the plug one week from departure and went back to the drawing board.
Third Time is a Charm?: July 3-10, 2021
We looked toward the spring, but with the uncertainty of what exactly thatt would look like, and having a senior in HS and going through the whole college decision, end of senior year activities (if there would even be any), kids sports possibly restarting, the spring just wasn't going to work.
So after scouring calendars, realizing that D18 would be heading off to college in the fall, and really needing to make this happen for D14 and D11, we settled on early July. Despite knowing the heat & humidity of July in Orlando from experience, in the words of Clark Griswold, we would still make it the, "hap, hap, happiest (trip) since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f'n Kaye." Besides, we would have a lot to celebrate, a high school graduation, a middle school "graduation", a grade school promotion to middle school, and 20th wedding anniversary (all late May), and we would now be at Disney for my birthday.
With optimism of a "more normal" experience we re-book for the Caribbean Beach Resort, hoping that there would be a chance that masks would be gone, character interactions might return, FP+, Dining Plan, maybe. . . . fireworks on the 4th of July?
So the trip is now just a few days away, it hasn't been without its plot twists along the way.
Having cabin fever, we jumped on an opportunity to make a dry run over Spring Break 2021. Not specifically for Disney, but I have a friend who owns a house in the Orlando area, and we get a good deal renting from him, so a little relaxation by the pool, maybe a day trip or two to visit the beaches on each coast (Clearwater Beach is on of my favorite places on the planet, fond memories of annual spring break trips to my grandparents condo as a kid), and yes just a sprinkle of Disney magic, anything to get away from the house that we had spent far to much time in for the past year.
We were able to get a reservation for dinner at Trattoria al Forno for dinner one night. Decided to take the kids and get to Boardwalk early so that we could take the boat ride to HS, ride the Skyliner back to Epcot, and take a walk around Crescent Lake, just get a feel for what our trip might be like as far as resorts, dining, and transportation. This is also where we dropped the first surprise on the kids . . . I had taken advantage of the Summer 35% off rate to upgrade us from CBR to the Beach Club Resort. The evening went well, and we felt better about our July plans.
The next big surprise came just about a month ago. Typically as a family of 5, it can get pretty expensive to fly on our family trips. I am one of those, "the journey is part of the fun," people and love the sights of a good road trip. The family usually goes along with this because it means we have more money to spend on the actual trip, if we can suffer together for a full day or two in the car. Well, you can probably see where this is going, I found a great airfare sale (thank you Southwest) that essentially made not much more expensive to fly than it would to drive once you factor in gas, hotel stays, and our sanity!
But there was still one more big change coming. D18 has had something come up within the past week that is requiring her to head home early with W. So late last week the plans changed yet again. W and D18 now have to fly home on the morning of the 8th. With three of us remaining at WDW I looked at yet one more change. After all the waiting, could I get just maybe a little more time for D14 and D11 at the Most Magical place on Earth? Our last day in the parks our Park Pass is for MK, and originally that was going to close at 9PM, so we booked a late flight home on that night. Ending our trip with an early dinner at Be Our Guest before having to leave the parks at about 7PM to get back to BC to catch the Magical Express to MCO. It didn't seem like a big deal as we would only be giving up about two hours at the park. With the announcement of the return of Happily Ever After and the extension to an 11PM close, now it seemed like we would miss out on a lot. So, after a little investigation, I was able to change our flight to Saturday and turn our last night at the Beach Club into two nights at Pop Century, just so we can close down the MK on Friday night!
The other bonus is that D18's commitment that is causing her to leave early, it eventually bringing us back to Orlando at the end of July. So not only are we going to spend two weeks in Orlando in July, or as I call it the surface of the sun simulation, but we just might get to check out how the other half lives at (cough, ahem) Universal Orlando.
So now, as we pack, I am back on high alert with all of the PF+ rumors swirling around. Will that announcement come today? Tomorrow? If so will they actually activate them as soon as this weekend? If they do will it be another early AM mad scramble to make FP+ reservations on the day we fly, or will it be a temporary modified version where they can be made only once you arrive to the park for the day? Maybe its all just rumor and nothing will come of it? I am not sure what I prefer at this point. I have fully prepared for what look to be somewhat manageable standby wait times for the most part, at least for those of us that will get up early for rope drop, take the midday break, and come back in the late afternoon/evening. The re-introduction of FP+ at this late stage would certainly change everything, and would likely be chaotic for the first several days of implementation, which could fall during our entire trip.
We shall see, at least we are done worrying about masks, well mostly anyway!
The cast remains the same, but the locations and plans have changed . . . a lot!
Cast: Me (H), Wife (W) and Three Daughters (D18, D14, and D11)
Original Plans: March 21-28, 2020
It was to be our first trip back in 10 years (March 13-20, 2010). We used to go quite often when D18 was little, but life got busier, we discovered beach house rentals, cruises . . .
Anyway, we were booked in to Port Orleans Riverside and had the perfect set up for both FP+ and ADRs. (I still have screenshots of all of them and they still exist in my phone calendar.) We had the dining plan, and we were even surprised shortly before the trip with the opening of MMRR and the addition of MMRR and MFSR to the FP+ system. It was going to be perfect. I don't have to tell you what happened from there . . .
Attempt #2: November 21-28, 2020
We started taking family vacations over Thanksgiving several years ago when our school districts (ones the kids go to and the ones we work at) both changed their calendar to basically give a full week off for Thanksgiving. This has typically been a cruise vacation, but with, well, you know, we decided that moving our Disney trip to this time would be a great option, since it was completely paid off. We were locked in to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Then as November began we started hearing things like "COVID Spike" and "Adaptive Pause." Already knowing the trip wouldn't be normal (No FP+, ADRs hard to find, social distancing, reduced operations, MASKS . . . we pulled the plug one week from departure and went back to the drawing board.
Third Time is a Charm?: July 3-10, 2021
We looked toward the spring, but with the uncertainty of what exactly thatt would look like, and having a senior in HS and going through the whole college decision, end of senior year activities (if there would even be any), kids sports possibly restarting, the spring just wasn't going to work.
So after scouring calendars, realizing that D18 would be heading off to college in the fall, and really needing to make this happen for D14 and D11, we settled on early July. Despite knowing the heat & humidity of July in Orlando from experience, in the words of Clark Griswold, we would still make it the, "hap, hap, happiest (trip) since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f'n Kaye." Besides, we would have a lot to celebrate, a high school graduation, a middle school "graduation", a grade school promotion to middle school, and 20th wedding anniversary (all late May), and we would now be at Disney for my birthday.
With optimism of a "more normal" experience we re-book for the Caribbean Beach Resort, hoping that there would be a chance that masks would be gone, character interactions might return, FP+, Dining Plan, maybe. . . . fireworks on the 4th of July?
So the trip is now just a few days away, it hasn't been without its plot twists along the way.
Having cabin fever, we jumped on an opportunity to make a dry run over Spring Break 2021. Not specifically for Disney, but I have a friend who owns a house in the Orlando area, and we get a good deal renting from him, so a little relaxation by the pool, maybe a day trip or two to visit the beaches on each coast (Clearwater Beach is on of my favorite places on the planet, fond memories of annual spring break trips to my grandparents condo as a kid), and yes just a sprinkle of Disney magic, anything to get away from the house that we had spent far to much time in for the past year.
We were able to get a reservation for dinner at Trattoria al Forno for dinner one night. Decided to take the kids and get to Boardwalk early so that we could take the boat ride to HS, ride the Skyliner back to Epcot, and take a walk around Crescent Lake, just get a feel for what our trip might be like as far as resorts, dining, and transportation. This is also where we dropped the first surprise on the kids . . . I had taken advantage of the Summer 35% off rate to upgrade us from CBR to the Beach Club Resort. The evening went well, and we felt better about our July plans.
The next big surprise came just about a month ago. Typically as a family of 5, it can get pretty expensive to fly on our family trips. I am one of those, "the journey is part of the fun," people and love the sights of a good road trip. The family usually goes along with this because it means we have more money to spend on the actual trip, if we can suffer together for a full day or two in the car. Well, you can probably see where this is going, I found a great airfare sale (thank you Southwest) that essentially made not much more expensive to fly than it would to drive once you factor in gas, hotel stays, and our sanity!
But there was still one more big change coming. D18 has had something come up within the past week that is requiring her to head home early with W. So late last week the plans changed yet again. W and D18 now have to fly home on the morning of the 8th. With three of us remaining at WDW I looked at yet one more change. After all the waiting, could I get just maybe a little more time for D14 and D11 at the Most Magical place on Earth? Our last day in the parks our Park Pass is for MK, and originally that was going to close at 9PM, so we booked a late flight home on that night. Ending our trip with an early dinner at Be Our Guest before having to leave the parks at about 7PM to get back to BC to catch the Magical Express to MCO. It didn't seem like a big deal as we would only be giving up about two hours at the park. With the announcement of the return of Happily Ever After and the extension to an 11PM close, now it seemed like we would miss out on a lot. So, after a little investigation, I was able to change our flight to Saturday and turn our last night at the Beach Club into two nights at Pop Century, just so we can close down the MK on Friday night!
The other bonus is that D18's commitment that is causing her to leave early, it eventually bringing us back to Orlando at the end of July. So not only are we going to spend two weeks in Orlando in July, or as I call it the surface of the sun simulation, but we just might get to check out how the other half lives at (cough, ahem) Universal Orlando.
So now, as we pack, I am back on high alert with all of the PF+ rumors swirling around. Will that announcement come today? Tomorrow? If so will they actually activate them as soon as this weekend? If they do will it be another early AM mad scramble to make FP+ reservations on the day we fly, or will it be a temporary modified version where they can be made only once you arrive to the park for the day? Maybe its all just rumor and nothing will come of it? I am not sure what I prefer at this point. I have fully prepared for what look to be somewhat manageable standby wait times for the most part, at least for those of us that will get up early for rope drop, take the midday break, and come back in the late afternoon/evening. The re-introduction of FP+ at this late stage would certainly change everything, and would likely be chaotic for the first several days of implementation, which could fall during our entire trip.
We shall see, at least we are done worrying about masks, well mostly anyway!
