August 2020 - 9 days of masks - here now

[omniscientmommy]

So we are planning to stay at Saratoga Springs 8/14 - 8/22. We have to get up at 4am our time for our flight from Wisconsin. We leave 6am out time and land at 10am on 8/14 and plan to take ME to the resort. I know there's no luggage service but we'll make it work. Probably better that there isn't since we prefer to have our luggage on hand versus it showing up later. I do have a reservation for HS that day but we'll see how everyone's feeling after travelling. Overall we plan to make this a very relaxed trip with lunches and rests in the middle of the day.
Day 1 - possibly HS
Day 2 - Epcot, Dinner at Biergarten
Day 3 - MK lunch at Skipper Canteen
Day 4 - HS lunch at Mama Melrose's
Day 5 - MK lunch at Liberty Tree
Day 6 - AK lunch at Yak & Yeti
Day 7 - HS
Day 8 - AK lunch at T-REX at DS
Day 9 - leaving late evening no plans yet

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

 

[Duke07]

I'm also planning on going that same week, likely staying at AK. Our concerns are mostly around food (lunch and dinners)...how have you found meal planning with the restricted dining options?

 

[KathyM2]

Following along. So curious to hear more about what it's like now since I probably won't get to experience first hand being Canadian!

Looking forward to hearing all about it!

 

[omniscientmommy]

I'm also planning on going that same week, likely staying at AK. Our concerns are mostly around food (lunch and dinners)...how have you found meal planning with the restricted dining options?

I managed to find reservations for one table service meal everyday. We only have one larger meal and usually try to make it a late breakfast or lunch. Cost wise it's usually less expensive than dinners at a TS restaurant and normally we're ready for a break after 3 hours in a park. We then just do snacks and QS for everything else.

 

[omniscientmommy]

So we are now 8 days out. I haven't started packing like I normally do. We still haven't told the kids. DH thinks we shouldn't tell them at all until we are leaving. Reason 1 being that we still feel it could always get cancelled. Reason 2 ds6 will ask non stop when are we leaving and bug the crap out of us. Reason 3 we are leaving at like 4am next week Friday and fear the kids won't sleep. We have done 1 surprise visit in the past but they didn't really get excited until we were 'at Disney'. That's when it really sunk in and they got EXCITED . So we're waiting. Fingers crossed it works out.

 

[omniscientmommy]

So we told the kids yesterday that we're going to Disney. Now ds6 has been asking nonstop "when are we leaving?!" Exactly why we waited longer, plus possible cancellations. DS6 has already packed his suitcase too and put it by the front door.... oh boy.

 

[omniscientmommy]

So Day 1:
We got up at 3am and didn’t get to sleep until 10:30 the night before so that wasn’t easy. Left at 4am, 1/2 way to the airport we realized we forg to put out the garbage that was inside the house. Messaged the BIL to ask if he could take it out. Flight left at 6:30 and landed at 9:30am(eastern). We took our time going to get our bags and by the time we got them and walked to the ME ther wasn’t anyone really in line. We got in line and waited 5 min for the bus. We got to the hotel at 11:30 and our room was ready. We walked right to our room.

We’re at Saratoga Springs in the Grandstand buildings room 8347. It’s a studio that overlooks the golf course. It’s not a unit that has been updated and it definitely needs it. Doesn’t look like any person has been in the unit in a week or more; there was a layer of dust on the furniture.

I had ordered groceries from instacart while we were on the ME and at 12:30 they showed up. I had headed up to the front expecting to have to bring them back myself but bell services had a guy drive us back to the room in a golf cart which ds9 was thrilled to be in a golf cart! The guy also bought it all up for us. So we unpacked groceries and our bags and then I wanted a nap.

The husband unit and boys went down to the pool at 1, the grandstand pool. I laid down and rested while they were at the pool. They came back and wanted to go to HS since we had a reservation. So we all got ready and left the room to go to HS.
Got to the bus stop around 2ish and the HS bus pulled up 5 min later, and we got to HS at 2:20pm. No one was on the bus with us. There were 8 people walking up to the entrance. We all had our temperature checked and while there someone else was getting screened and they said it was too high. They had the guy go wait in the A/C tent for 5 min to see if his temp would go down. Not sure if it did.
We walked through the new screening for bags. It is GREAT!!So much better then opening up the bags for bag check. No issues and we headed over to guest services since we all forgot our AP cards to get our discount on food/merch. Took 5min to get a new card. We then headed into the parks, everyone’s magic band worked.
We casually walked back to TS land and TSM had a posted wait time of 15min which turned out to be a 5 min wait. Got off the ride went to the bathrooms and then went over to Alien Saucer which had a posted 10 min wait but was a walk on. Afterwards we walked into SWGE.
The boys wanted blue milk so we mobile ordered that, and while dh waited for it we went and got a photo. Since you have to keep the mask on for the pics it’s not as awesome. Probably won’t do too many pics with PhotoPass.
DH came back over with the milk in 2 cups, the kids gulped it down in a shady area. We started to head over to MF but then the boys were complaining about being hungry so we headed over and got 2 plain ronto wraps, which of course the kids ate barely any of. DH is on the keto diet so he finished eating all the meat out of the wraps and we threw away the bread. Of course the. The kids wanted little round sodas so we went over to the vendor cart and bought those. DS9 decided he wanted to get the little Porg that sits on your shoulder so we had to walk around to the “entrance” of the market. The CM counted us and explained only 1 family/group could be in a shop at a time. We found the shop bought the porg and left.
DS6 loves Indiana Jones but we had explained the show wasn’t open but he wanted something from the shop. At this point DH was feeling iffy with the heat and a stomach full of ronto meat so we headed out and told ds6 we’d stop at the shop on the way out. Well we discovered that since Indy isn’t open neither are the shops. Proceed straight to meltdown, thats what ds6 did. So we then walked all the way to the bus with ds6 crying the whole way.
We waited 5 min for the bus to SSR and rode back with 3 other groups of people. Got back to the room at 5:10. After the long day we ate some grocery food and stayed in the room. I did have to request more blankets, wash cloths and soap. Took about 3 min on hold and 10 min of waiting after I hung up the phone for the items to get to the room. We got to sleep around 9pm.

 

[omniscientmommy]

 

[omniscientmommy]

Don’t mind our mess! I wanted to just give a view of what it looks like in the room. The espresso machine is something I brought from home. Yes the husband already gives me crap for packing 1/4 of my suitcase with coffee stuff from home but at $7 a cup at Starbucks aka charbucks I feel it’s worth it to bring my own. Colectivo is a local company in Milwaukee which is great. Only way I get better is if I roast my own but I’ve been kinda lazy so I haven’t roasted my own beans in a few months. Plus dh complains about the smell.

 

[jacksmom]

Great review, we will be there next Friday and we are thinking about bringing some food also.

 

[omniscientmommy]

Day 2 - Sat, got up 8am. Slept good. The bed was comfy. The boys slept on the pull out which is hard and basically a cot. I wouldn’t recommend for an adult. We had rushed our grocery order the day before and realized dh didn’t order any meat or cheese for snacking so we ordered more instacart groceries from Publix. That was at 9am and we waited around in the room and had breakfast at 10am. Dh decided he wanted to go to Epcot by himself so he got ready and left a little after 10.
While waiting I called for someone to get our garbage and then asked for more hand towels. The guy brought me washcloths and I explained I needed hand towels, so he went and got them. I tipped $5. If you need to get your garbage out you call down and set it outside the door instead of putting in a bin somewhere like you used to.
Groceries arrived at Bell Services at 10:45 according to my phone and I called down at 10:46 and they arrived at our room at 11:05. I tipped $5 and then put the groceries away and the kids decided they needed a snack aka second breakfast.
At 12pm I decided let’s go to the pool, just the Grandstand one, since our room is right next to the stairs it’s a short walk. Only one other family was there and we stayed apart from them. Kids played for an hour and decided they wanted to try the main pool. We ran back to the room and got more water and their sandals since they didn’t wear them down to the first pool.
We got down to the main pool and of course now they’re hungry. So I mobile order from Artist Palette, food was ready at 1:15. We sat near the pool on our lounge chairs eating. A hornet appeared and ds6 freaked out and ran off screaming. After that the kids went back in the pool. The main pool is definitely busier but people are spread out and even trying to be socially distant in the pool itself. Of course there were some parents hovering by the water slide end and a lifeguard asked them to move. There was one CM going around and cleaning the chairs and anything people touched, really her only job. We stayed until like 2ish then left and went into the merchandise shop to check out the hats. Didn’t find anything and went to the front desk to get a new AP card since I left mine at home and if I want to buy anything and get a discount I need that. While there I also got buttons for DH and my 10yr anniversary. In October we’ll have been married 10yrs and with the COVID we don’t plan to go anywhere, so I figured this is our trip. They gave the boys I’m Celebrating buttons which I Wrote Mom & Dad on.
We got back to the room and rested for 40mins and then left for Epcot. Ds6 realized he forgot his hat so him and I ran back up to the room and when we got off the elevator we saw the Epcot bus so we booked it.

Hopped on the bus at 3:20 and got to Epcot at 3:40. When we did temp check going in mine was 100.5 so they made me sit in the cool down tent for like 2 min and then did a recheck and I was good. Walked all the way to the back in Germany and checked in for dinner at 4:15 for Biergarten. My family loves this restaurant; personally I feel it’s a waste because live in Milwaukee with all the German food. They did still have music, surprisingly. All the tables were space apart by one table and you only were seated with your party, no table sharing. Dinner was served family style, a limited selection, only the popular dishes.
After stuffing ourselves we hobbled out at 5:15 and headed over to Japan. Dh loves the store there and he found this hoodie for ds9 that he was determined to get along with rice candy. We then got some shaved ice and sat down in the American amphitheater where the JAMMitors were playing. Some guys dressed as chefs played on pots, pans and stoves singing about cooking. The boys enjoyed it.
Then we headed into the American exhibit for the 6pm show, dh enjoyed it but the boys didn’t care for it. Afterward we needed a bathroom break and then walked back toward Japan. When we got to Morocco ds6 saw the boat and we ran to catch it. Got on and it dropped us off by Canada at 6:50.
The boys then wanted ice cream and we got some strawberry soft serve at one of those food and wine stands. Not sure which one. It was with a waffle cone which had white chocolate and sprinkles around the top edge. The cone was stale and gross, even the kids wouldn’t eat it. I walked around Canada and into England and back while they ate on a bench. Then we headed to MouseGears.
MouseGears is a ton smaller due to the construction but after prom ds6 he could pick out his souvenir today we bought Mickey ears and a Mickey lightsaber/staff that does this crazy light thing. Dh was super hot and crabby at this point and we decided to leave. We got to the bus stop at 7:45 and the bus pulled up right away. We left the lot at 7:50 and were back at SSR at 8pm.
I would have liked to stay and do some other stuff but with how the rest of the family was I decided to skip it. Epcot isn’t my favorite park and with all the ways and construction I’m fine not going back this trip.

 

[omniscientmommy]

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[omniscientmommy]

Hoodie

 

[CruellaNY]

Glad you like SSR! We think it's a pretty resort and great for getting to DS. We were at BCV last month and the pool was never crowded which was nice, I know some other resorts like Pop have had the pools closed due to reaching capacity.

Hope you have a good day today!

 

[omniscientmommy]

Day 3 - Sunday, got up at 7:30am and casually started the day. Finally left the room about 9:30 and headed to the busses. Bus pulled up at 9:35 and we spent 15 min driving through the resort. Finally got to MK at 10:02. We were seated at the back of the bus which was hot as Hades! My butt was so hot and the long bus ride triggered my motion sickness and I had to take a Dramamine. Got through gates and security at 10:07.
We had to go stop at sorcerers bc we didn't have our original stuff. I wanted to skip it but kids insisted and she caved. A quick bathroom break and then we saw Tink on the treasure chest cavalcade. Walked back to Adventureland to start sorcerers and did 2 mirrors before stopping to drink something. Dh and I are both wearing backpacks with water, hand sanitizer, chilly pads and snacks.

Get in line for Jungle Cruise at 10:35 with a posted wait time of 35 min. Finally got underneath the shaded part at 10:45. Didn't make it on the ride until 11. Got off at 11:07 and decided to check in early to our reservation for 11:45, Jungle Skipper Canteen.
We were seated at 11:35. I ordered veggie curry soup and the hardy har char siu pork. The soup was good and the pork was ok. I’m not a big fan of meat covered in sauce and the pork had a lot of fat on it. Dh got the steak and he ate 2 of my chops. Ds9 got the kids Mac ‘n cheese with fries and ds9 got chicken nuggets with fries. Of course they already had their entire soda before the food came and then only ate the fries. meal was just over $100 with our AP discount and 20% tip.

We left the restaurant at 12:20pm. We walked in the direction of haunted mansion but the wait time was over 30min and ds9 said he didn’t want to wait. So we headed to Mickey’s Philharmagic, wait time posted 15 min, got in line at 12:32 and on the ride at 12:55. Noticed this lady in front of us who had her mask under her nose along with her two kids. I didn’t say anything but hung back further.

We then walked over to Tomorrow Speedway and posted wait time was 15 min, we got in line at 1:07 and on the ride at 1:20pm. The car seats were HOT!!! I rode with ds9, and when you get out of the car they spray and wipe them down afterwards.
So at this point I’m feeling crappy from having had a bad bus ride, then taking Dramamine and walking around in 90+ degrees with a full stomach. I told dh we needed to leave and as we headed out I remembered that Tomorrowland Terrace has a relaxation area so we stopped there for 10 min and had a bathroom break. Then on the way out of the park they had a marching band going through and we paused because ds6 wanted to see it. Then we continued to the busses. The bus showed up right as we were walking up at 2:03. 4 other families got on the bus and we left at 2:09 and arrived back at SSR at 2:22.

After getting back dh went on this huge rant about this is BS and it’s too hot and the parks are not worth it. I have to say that we haven’t been touring the parks like normal because of wearing a mask and the crowd levels. He was like I want to leave. I told him if he wanted to that’s fine but I’m not just because we need to adjust how we tour the parks. He seemed to calm down after that and decided that would be a rash decision and what kind of thing would that say to our boys.
Going forward I am thinking we need to eat in the room and chill for an hour before going into the heat. The full stomachs didn’t help.

We hung out in the room and watched some tv. At 4:30 we decided to order dinner from Artists Palette. Dh went and picked it up. We ate and then headed to Grandstand pool at 5:30. We swam for an hour, came back to the room, showered and chilled out. Hopefully we can go to bed early.... hahaha.... right.

 

[omniscientmommy]

 

[dachsie]

I can't imagine being in the heat all day with a mask on. I am going in Dec when it will hopefully be cooler

 

[DeeBee3]

Hoping we can still go in November - don't want to wear a mask all day when it's hot out, especially with little kids. Just crossing my fingers we don't get an awful fall/winter like they have mentioned in the news. We are desperate to get out and go somewhere!!!

Thanks for the updates - like to hear about it with kids.

 

[omniscientmommy]

Day 4 - Monday, get up at 8am. Dh and I slept like crap. Ds6 was having bad dreams and then the mattress is junky. Probably didn't realize how bad the mattress was the last couple nights bc we were so tired, but when you don't wear yourself out you can tell.
On the way down we dropped off trash and requested towels and toilet paper for the room Also we have a pile of dirty towels and wash cloths.
We got to the bus stop at 9:20 and bus pulled up at 9:30. A full bus to HS and got to the park at 9:57. No chance of getting a boarding group. Walked through the gates at 10:02.
MMRR posted wait was 90 min so we walked to SWGE and got in line for MF, posted wait 35 min. Got in line at 10:20 and on the ride at 10:50. DS6 freaked out on the ride! So we got off and got 2 sodas for the boys and found some shade to sit down and rest.
We headed over to TSL and AlienSS had 20 min posted wait. Dh took boys and got in line at 11:10. I sat in the Lunchbox area under an umbrella, feeling a little queasy from the heat and MF so I took 1/2 a Dramamine. That's going to limit the day. They got on at 11:30.
Kids are hot and crabby and hungry. Got snacks and had a seat. We left the park at 12:20 bc I stopped for a Starbucks. Bus was at the station and we got on at 12:25 left 12:29, we got back at 12:39.

We got back to the room, ate and chilled. While we were gone they brought more toilet paper and towels. Also I had filled out the Disney survey that they emailed me, and I had complained about the beds. Housekeeping left a voicemail asking if I wanted to get a bed topper or have the bed replaced. Dh said he’ll deal with it but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow morning. While sitting on the couch I realized that the heat plus the mask is really getting the better of me. After some doctor google I realized I had heat exhaustion. So lesson learned.

I'm thinking that we're going to skip parks in the morning so I can eat and process food like normal. If it means that we spend the mornings by the pool and then only go to the parks for a couple hours I’m ok with that.

We spent the rest of the day sitting in the room since it’s been raining. I really need to do some laundry tomorrow morning or the next day. Also we noticed that ds6 has had a runny nose. The allergies here are different but we’re keeping an eye on it. I really hope he didn’t get anything. Just keep the allergy meds going and wait.
Dh just went to go pick up some pizza he ordered through grub hub.