So, let’s stop there for a moment. This was right before what we all now know as the Year of March 2020. We didn’t know then what we know now, but we knew enough to have some concerns about buying APs. It was the plan we’d made back when we booked our trip, and I had bought all those discounted (10% off) Disney gift cards at Lowe’s to pay for this transaction (I bought $2K in gift cards…hence why I felt weird and bought Lysol wipes too…) But we really debated if it was smart to do this.
Ultimately, we decided that Disney would likely pause/extend the passes if they did close down for pandemic reasons…and that would work for us because then our passes would extend through Spring Break 2021 and we could do this again! Because, OF COURSE, Covid would be a distant memory by then. Well, you know that I’m sitting here at home writing right now and Izzy’s on Spring Break again. And we don’t have APs anymore. But, to be fair, the Cast Member we verified with was right – Disney did extend them for the closure period, though it turned out to be much longer than the “2 weeks” we chatted about. But it also turned out to be much more iffy to travel within a year of the reopening, as I followed along with the news and re-opening. Too many health risks in our family and we cannot wait to get vaccinated!
All that to say, we successfully upgraded to APs that night. We got all the perks, discounts, parking, Photopass, and park admittance all trip. But we ultimately cancelled our precious APs on Disney’s refund deadline in August 2020. It was kind-of a mess because Disney could not actually tell you what amount they would refund until after you committed to cancelling. We took our chances and it worked out in our favor. We had only used 6 days of our passes and they essentially refunded us for the other 359 days (roughly, the math didn’t actually come out right). This was especially amazing because we had 1.) bought the 6-day PH at a discount on Park Savers, which saved us money upgrading and 2.) paid for the upgrade with discounted gift cards. All to say, we basically had free tickets this trip. Paid for with fret, worry, following the AP cancellation thread, and crossing our fingers we wouldn’t lose thousands on this. But, at this moment of the trip, we were excited to have APs and think about future trips within the year.
Haha, that's funny about being hit by a bird...quite the sign! Izzy and I once attended the similar bird show at the MN Zoo and the star bird flew away right at the beginning and they cancelled. They apparently found the bird, but that was sure something.Holy cow! We were talking about this too - how long until we see a crowd like this at Disney again?
I love queues with lots of stuff to look at! Also, the watch on the Fastpass sign
Dang. If it's not a glitch, what a way to immerse you in the story. I'd have been upset too!
Love a good Disney nap!
So great! What a fun memory to be able to catch up with them on the trip - and to have this photographic evidence.
Several years ago, before meeting my husband, I went on one date with a guy who bragged about getting hit in the face by a bird at this bird show. I should have taken it as a sign
Yay! So glad that Dug was able to join y'all this time. Congrats to him on the weight loss!
That house is beautiful! They really did a great job putting together the decor.
We had this booked on our wedding trip, but naturally things were absolutely crazy and we missed it. I'm sure we'll get there someday!
I almost made a comment about the animal backsides while I was writing, haha.Mandatory number of animals rears in safari photo. Check We always call it the animal bottom safari. Dug looks hilarious in his EE photo. Looks like a great day.
Dug thought she way an awesome Rey too.Wow, I cannot believe how much this friend of Rey resembles Daisy Ridley. Good job, central casting!
Ahh, the days when we thought we were going to shut down for two weeks......little did we know.
The state where I live has been moving through priority groups really quickly, so I got vaccinated last week! I have never felt so joyful to be feeling sort of crappy. Fingers crossed you get to experience that joyful crappy post-vaccine feeling sometime soon!
Yes, give it a try! You might have to wait a couple minutes extra, but it's worth it if so! I don't know why it works for me, but I'm sticking with it.I don't ride ride RnRC because it gives me a headache also. Maybe I should try again in the front seat and see if that works for me.
Thanks! Yes, the house was amazing. I'm not certain if she has it on vrbo, but I know it's on airbnb (and she books direct as well if you contact her through her website or FB page). Just look for Positive Latitude Villa near Disney.Loving your trip report! The house looks so fun!, do you know was it on vrbo?
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Yikes, that would not sit well with me. As you said, it's one thing if most people are vaccinated but this all seems too soon! I can't wait for my vaccine too! Dug just got the first dose yesterday (I don't qualify yet) and we're all excited about it. So glad to have some level of immunity forming in this house, after a year of basically laying low. (This day I'm about to post about was the last day that we've been around big crowds.) Izzy and I have a tentative late August WDW visit planned and it's feeling more and more possible we'll do it with the vaccine rollout picking up."Decontamination" room I hated riding FOP in our July and November trips. In July, the CM asked a large group of people to walk by us in the queue right where they put you into the room. I was crammed up against the wall and holding my breath. On a later ride, they sat someone on the bike next to me I thought it was a mistake, and that they should scoot over and leave a gap. However, there was exactly the same number of bikes as people. In November, they tried to have people scoot by us again, but we were at the front of the line and just moved to the empty queue next to us to let them pass. They did cram someone next to my husband on that trip. It seems they are slowly removing distancing in indoor attractions now, and I really hate that. Can't wait to get vaccinated.