Cast:
Me (45 turning 46 on this trip) Disneyland freak. Visited WDW 1 time in 1985, so I consider this my first trip.
M: Hubby 49, kinda hates Disney
Je: Child 16, loves Disney (trips to DLR in 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Ja: Son 12, loves Disney (trips to DLR in 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019)
This trip was originally planned for March 24-31, as a celebration of us selling our microbrewery in late November 2019. Turns out NOT owning a service-industry business during a pandemic was really all the celebration we needed! ;-)
Anyhoo, we rescheduled for November way back in April, not knowing what the future would hold. As our dates got closer and closer, I kept checking in with the fam. If they were in anyway uncomfortable with traveling during A) Covid, and B) Election, I'd cancel. They assured me they were on board (well, the kids anyway... M would have been perfectly fine never stepping foot in a Disney park again in his lifetime!)
I, however, began really freaking out as we got closer! Didn't sleep through the night for about a 2 weeks before we left! But, the money had changed hands, so we were going!
Monday, November 2 - Prep day
I had to work (I work from home these days, yay!), but was able to do laundry and begin some packing. Everyone showered today so we wouldn't have to deal with it in the morning. It was a weird day, really. Decided to try to get a few hours of sleep, as we needed to leave the house by 3:15 AM the next morning. Surprisingly, I was able to fall asleep and got about 4 hrs.
Tuesday, November 3 - Travel Day: EUG/DEN/MCO/Art of Animation
Woke up at 2AM. Last minute packing. Left the house at 3:25. 45 minute drive to the airport for our 5:20 flight. Thankfully, it's a tiny airport and security was super quick. Plane to Denver was about half full. We all had good masks and safety glasses, though I was the only one wearing the glasses. Made me feel a little safer.
After an hour layover in Denver, boarded VERY full flight to Orlando. Was wishing United did the open middle seat like Southwest!
Arrived at MCO on time (3:15 local time) and boarded the Magical Express. Not quite as magical now that you have to do your own luggage, but oh well. The bus ride was awesome, but marred by the fact that our Instacart grocery delivery was showing up 1/2 hr earlier than scheduled, and we weren't at our resort yet, and because there was alcohol in the order, the shopper couldn't just leave the groceries with Bell Services. She was nice enough to wait and we tipped her on top of what we'd already included. Also, I realized we didn't have any scheduled plans for dinner (our flight had been changed and we ended up in Orlando 3 hrs earlier than originally scheduled when I made the ADRs). Tried to get into anywhere, nothing was available via the WDW website. Bummer. Hangry hubby is NOT a good thing!
So we gathered up all our luggage and several bags of groceries (plastic bags, yeesh, come one FLA, get with the environmental program!!) and checked into our room (directly, do not pass go, do not collect $200). The room was cute (Family Suite, Finding Nemo, building 4), but sparse. We don't get to travel much, but when we do, we use our timeshare, so we're a bit spoiled. The only reason we didn't stay in our timeshare this time was because of the benefits of staying on property, like magic morning hours, advanced fast passes, etc... all the things that went buhbye with Covid (but, wouldnt have been able to get park reservations without being on property, right?). So yeah, at least M and I had our own room, but the kiddos shared the hide-a-bed in the middle of the main living space all week. Good thing we didn't end up being in our room very much! We spread out a little, then I went back down to the check-in desk to ask about possibilities/hints to get a restaurant reservation. They said to actually CALL a place and see if they had walk-up space available. ("Call??" What is that witchcraft??) We called Raglan Road Irish Pub in DS and got a reservation for 6pm. After hanging up, we realized we had no idea how to get there, so called back immediately and moved the reservation to 6:45.
The bus from AoA to DS took a long time to arrive, but we got to DS, got through the temp screenings quickly (no real security checks anymore, which is kind of nice) and were seated (by the bathrooms... this becomes a theme) in the pub very quickly. We ordered the Shepherd's Pie, Fish n Chips, OMG Burger, and a Shrimp appetizer. Plan was to share all items between us in order to try more stuff. WOW! Fantastic food... the Shepherd's pie was easily the best I've ever had. And the Fish n Chips??? Crazy-huge slab of fish! The burger and shrimp were also very good. The entertainment was fabulous as well.
After dinner, planned to check out World of Disney, but the line to get in was a block long. This is with only 25% capacity?? Yikes!
Getting back to AoA took a loooong time. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
Hung out with the family, watched a little bit of TV, had a beer or two, then went to bed around 10:30. Election still undecided.
Wednesday, November 4 - Animal Kingdom
Woke up at 1:30 AM FREAKING THE EFF OUT. Long lines, bad transportation, covid, election, putting my family at risk for what?
(ohmygodwhathaveIdonewerecatchingthefirstplaneback tooregoninthemorningdontcarehowmuchmoneywespenttog ethere!)
Got out of bed at 6:50, took a shower. Felt marginally better (except for the bags under my eyes that could have held ALL of our luggage). Didn't book flights back home.
Woke everyone up at 7:15, ate some yogurt and granola bars in the room, and were in line for the bus at 7:45 for a 9:00 AM opening.
Arrived at AK at about 8:20. Again, no security to speak of, just temperature screenings. We were in line for Flight of Passage at 8:35! Whoo hoo! LOVED IT! (Might almost make M a Disney fan!)
List of attractions we hit:
FoP
Expedition Everest (whole fam)
Expedition Everest (sans M who doesn't like roller coasters in the dark!)
Dinosaur (me only, scouting for rest of fam, who were still a bit shaken from EE!)
Dinosaur (me and Ja)
Dinosaur (whole family)
Shared a burger and chicken nuggets at Restaurantosaurus (mobile order)
Train to Conservation Station and back
Kilamanjaro Safari (2 times)
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
Lunch at Yak and Yeti.
FoP
Back to room. M and Ja went to pool, then we chilled and watched some TV, ate some sandwiches and snacks for dinner, then bed.
Thursday, November 5 - Hollywood Studios
I woke up at 6:50 to get boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance. Boarding group 69, dude! Showered, then went to guest services to get coffee (someone's sick idea of a joke - there were 4 packets of coffee in the room to use with the coffee maker, 3 of them were DECAF!!)
Woke up the rest of the family at 8. We were going to take the Skyliner, but the cast members strongly urged us to take the bus, so we did. Arrived at HS at around 9:30 for 10AM opening.
List of attractions we hit:
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (not as good as DCA's ToT and DEFINITELY not as good as Guardians!)
Rockin Rollercoaster (pretty awesome, though my kids had no idea who Aerosmith is, and we broke M.)
Big pretzel and Churros from Anaheim Produce
Toy Story Mania
Slinky Dog Dash (70 minute wait!! Longest line we stood in!)
Ronto Roasters (4 ronto wraps)
Oga's (Fuzzy Tauntaun for Me, Blue Milk for Je, Carbon freeze for Ja, IPA and Outer Rim for M) I left early to get in line for Smugglers Run.
Smuggler's Run
TSM
Star Tours
Rise of the Resistance (was amazingly done, but I could have used a few more thrills)
50's Prime Time Cafe.
Back to hotel via Skyliner. A bit of time at the pool, then bed.
Friday, November 6 - EPCOT
Got to sleep in... yay! Snacks, cereal, yogurt in room. Bus to park, in park at 10:30.
List of attractions we hit:
Test Track (thrill-wise, better than Radiator Springs, but not nearly as sweet theme-wise)
Donut holes and Corned Beef Corner Route from Flavors from Fire for midmorning snack
Mission:Space (orange side) M bowed out at the last moment, which was a good decision they have barf bags!!
Soarin' (M's previous favorite, until he rode FoP)
Beaches 'n Cream for lunch.
Headed back to the hotel (Skyliner) for some naps and pool time.
Kids and I headed back to EPCOT (Skyliner) at around 6:30. M's feet hurt too bad, which was a shame because this was supposed to be THE food day, for him!!
Hit Mission:Space (orange) one more time
Spaceship Earth
A bit of shopping
World Showcase
o Funnel Cake
o Crepes
o White wine sangria
o Filet Mignon and Cheese Soup to go (precariously!!) for M.
Bed.
Saturday, November 7 - Hollywood Studios
Up at 6:50 to try to get boarding pass for RotR... DENIED! Oh well.
No one else wanted to get up for rope drop, so I took the bus by myself to HS. In the park at 9:30.
Runaway Railway (Awesome little ride... very technical so I hope it holds up well!)
Rocking Roller coaster
Alien Saucers (comparable to Mater's Junkyard Jamboree)
TSM (Finally broke 200k! - Because I had the car and targets to myself!)
Iced mocha and breakfast sandwich at The Trolley Car Cafe while waiting for family to come meet me.
TSM
BAM!! Family surprised me with a trip to the Droid Depot for my birthday!! I built myself an R2 unit with a Resistance/Hyper personality chip. SQUEEEEEE! He's so cute!
Pretzels and Beer on Sunset Boulevard
Back to AoA for a spell. Returned a couple of hours later
Runaway Railway
Smuggler's Run
Sci-Fi Dine In (Guess what? Closest row to screen, alllll the way to the right... BY. THE. BATHROOMS. Seriously?? I made these ADRs as soon as they were available!! Did they seat us based on the fact that we were staying in a "value" resort???)
Back to the "Pleb" hotel and chilling with TV. Then bed.
Sunday, November 8 - Magic Kingdom
In the park by 8:40.
Seven Dwarves Mine Train (fun!)
Peter Pan (think it's shorter than the one in DLR?)
BTMRR (Awesome - better queue than in DLR, but ride is comparable)
Sleepy Hollow for waffles. M had to look for other stuff as he doesn't like sweets (Chicken and waffles aren't served until 11) and he was getting hangry! He missed the next 2 rides. He finally got a couple of hot dogs at the Lunching Pad)
Haunted Mansion (comparable to DLR, except that the portraits and moving busts are in the walk-up part in DLR)
Space Mountain (Not sure if it was better than DLR or not... wilder as far as twists and drops, but it seems like DLR is faster. Either way, both are awesome!! The queue in WDW is better tho!)
The Barnstormer
Pirates (not anywhere close to as good as DLR)
Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen (BATHROOMS, again??!!)
Back to hotel for naps and pool, then back to park with kids only.
Space Mountain 2 times
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (not even in the same realm as Astroblasters in DLR)
Met up with M, then:
Splash Mountain 2 times
BTMRR (at night, in the back... may be the best coaster in the parks!)
Dole Whips!
Jungle Cruise (or rather, Jingle Cruise!)
Monday, November 9 - Animal Kingdom, and my actual B-day (and super rainy day!!)
Had a bit of trouble rallying the troops, and M insisted we get food (Landscape of Flavors in AoA) BEFORE going to the park, so we weren't as early for park entry as we should have been. Still in the park before "technical" opening, but had a much longer wait on our first ride than we should have.
FoP
EE x 2 again (again, without M!)
Kali River Rapids (wayyyy shorter than Grizzly River Run)
Safari
Maharaja Trek
Flame Tree BBQ - Shared the St. Louis Ribs, Fries, and Kid's Chicken drumstick meal, with a couple of beers
FoP 2 times
Shopping
Na'vi RJ
FoP 2 times
Back to hotel. Family surprised me with gifts! A couple of mugs I had been eyeing, a T-Shirt, and a beautiful statue of the Partners!! All that, combined with the R2 unit at the Droid depot.... I felt very, VERY spoiled!!
Ordered Dominos pizza to be delivered, that we ate as we all crowded into the tub to soak our aching feet! (Value resort don't have hot tubs. Booo.)
Tuesday, November 10 - Travel day: MOC/DEN/EUG (boooooo!)
We had to leave our hotel room by 11, but the Magic Express didn't leave until 1:15, so we decided to burn some time travelling around on the Skyliner. We traveled from AoA to HS and back to the Caribbean Beach Resort, with the plan of getting back on and going to Epcot, but the line to Epcot was super long, so we visited Joffrey's Coffee kiosk. Got the kiddos some enormous donuts and us some iced coffees. We hung out in the Internal Bus stop for a bit to relax and eat, and, it turns out, to hide from the nasty thundershower that moved in really quickly. Which shut down the Skyliner, leaving us stranded! Thankfully, a cast member braved the rain to check on us and ordered a resort bus to pick us up and take us to AoA so we wouldn't miss the bus to MCO!
Boarded the (disturbingly full) plane at MCO at 4:35. Watched Kingsman - The Secret Service and part of Inside Out on the plane TV system. Had an hour layover in DEN again, boarded a much quieter, less-populated plane to EUG and arrived home at around 11:30 PST. Even though it was 2:30 AM in my mind (wayyyyyy past turning-into-a-pumpkin-time for me!) I couldn't go to sleep! Thankfully, Wednesday was a holiday, so I could try to get back on west coast time before jumping back into work!
All-in-all, a wonderful, MAGICAL time with my family! The consensus is that Animal Kingdom was our favorite park.
I was bummed that Covid shut down some things, but glad the parks were only at 25%....
The character cavalcades (and flotillas in AK) were pretty cool, but I miss hugging my favorite characters! (Tiana and Tigger did wish me a happy bday, tho, which was awesome!)
Glad I only got one pimple due to wearing a mask 16hrs a day in 1000% humidity!
But honestly. I don't think I could have handled normal crowds even without a pandemic! Very glad to be home, though, and very much looking forward to DLR re-opening.
Also want to give a shout-out to Rosanna, our travel agent with Creating Magic Vacations. She was super awesome to work with and kept me informed of all the changes that happened between March and the day we left.