August 2020 - 9 days of masks - here now

[omniscientmommy]

 

[omniscientmommy]

So the rest of the traveling went like this:
Some more people arrived and when we got on the plane, we had to balance the plane so no one could sit past row 21. The plane is still pretty empty, 40 - 45 people, for some reason they all still decided to sit right near the front door of the plane. Of course ds9 asked when will we be home a lot. Like you have an iPad and don't even talk to me in the room but the whole plane ride home with iPad, "when are we going to be there?". I realized 20 min into the plane ride that I forgot to turn on the A/C at home, so I had to pay for WIFI and then do that.
We landed half hour before scheduled, 10pm. Luggage came out quickly and we walked to our car and no traffic and got home 10:50.
The A/C cooled the house so it wasn't 77. I made ramen noodles for kids and I, dh went to go get the basics, eggs, milk, bread from the store. I put the kids in the room with moving art on the tv and hopped in the shower 11:30. got out and kids were passed out. Dh got home just before midnight and he ate something and showered. Then we passed out.

That was how the rest of the trip went. No one here allowed us to sleep in. Ds9 was up at 7 and ds6 was up shortly after. ugh. I have another post I'm going to do to basically summarize my overall thoughts and experience.

 

[omniscientmommy]

There were pros/cons to the trip.
Pros:

• Low crowds, after 2pm at parks
• Resort also had low crowds, which meant pools weren't crowded
• We had crazy good luck with the buses. I don't think we really waited more than 5 most times, and 10 min at the max.
• Ride times after 2pm were 20 min or less
• If you ask for something, like towels or whatever, a CM seems to be there in 20 min or less with it
• Mask compliance was 99%, it will never be 100%, still better than what it is here at home

Cons:

• Heat was brutal, especially with a mask in August
• Lots of restaurants closed, combined with no kitchen, made for a lot of meh quick service
• No park hopping
• Some of the magic feels like it's missing. It's a combo of CMs wearing masks, and also so many things being closed.
• We had an older unit at SSR and the bed was terrible. It wasn't firm enough and they did offer to switch the bed but dh didn't want to go through the trouble.
• Wearing a mask (yes this sucks for everyone!)
• No mousekeeping

Overall Thoughts/Experience:
I love Disney but the magic was missing. We aren't the people that stake out parade spots, or fireworks spots and wait in crazy lines for rides but somehow it felt 'less than'. I know Disney is doing there best but if this was my first visit I would be SUPER disappointed! The no park hopping was really a big downer for us because we always park hop when at Disney! Plus all the CMs wearing a mask made it hard to hear them and even trying to hear each other. Plus the masks would get sweaty and smell bad and then you have to change them. Ugh. Then add the heat. Soo oppressive! Even when in A/C the mask wasn't comfortable. We really aren't meant to be wearing a mask ALL DAY.
Although the resort was nice, we had an older unit and it was a studio. We stopped staying on site because it's cheaper to stay off site and rent a car, typically, and we like having a kitchen. Dh has food allergies and eating out every single day after 2 - 3 days is hard on my stomach. Combine that with we ate a lot of QS because so much was closed, and the kids would only eat like 1/4 of their food at a TS place. We couldn't keep shelling out $100+ a meal for 2 kids who weren't eating all of it! I have motion sickness and those buses, ugh, I really would have preferred to drive myself. We only stayed at a resort this time because of the limit on AP park reservations. If we hadn't been limited to 3 days we would have definitely stayed off-site! I did feel safe in our room but we did have to ask multiple days for housekeeping to bring us extra stuff, like towels, soap, etc.
Flying - ugh. Although the airports were empty and the plane wasn't packed I still question if I would fly. Southwest leaving the middle seat open is great! I wouldn't be comfortable flying in this Pandemic with a stranger sitting right next to me. I mean we had people in front and behind us, closer than 6 ft, but somehow the thought of having someone plopped right next to my elbow makes me more uncomfortable than behind or in front.

The big questions: Would I go again? Flying or driving?
I think the answer is No. The magic is missing! I'm glad we went so that I could judge it for myself. We typically fly Frontier, and they pack them in like cattle. I would NOT fly! I definitely want a vacation with my family again but IF we went somewhere I would have to 1 - drive and 2 - stay somewhere with a kitchen.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

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Enjoying your trip report. The Biergarten food looks so good, and happy to see the band performing.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

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.

I can't imagine you needed to request more blankets when you talk about it being so hot!!! Was the A/C defective and too cold in your room?

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

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That picture of the lake with the fountain in it is so pretty. Could you see that from your room? It sure sounds like you had great bus luck.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Day 5- dh woke up crabby because the bed stinks. He is really like I want to leave now. I don’t really know how to handle that because the room is paid for and at this point it would cost over $500 to change our flights. I also am fine with just sitting by the pool and not going to the parks. I definitely did not drink enough water yesterday. I pushEd the fluids.

We got up about 8am and just sat around and picked up the room. We had to vacuum because the floor was covered with popcorn from last night. I took out the trash and the kids watched NextGen.
About 10 we went down to the pool and while we were swimming I had the laundry going. At 12 we were all hungry so we headed back to the room and had some lunch and relaxed in the room. We were finally getting ready to leave for MK at 3 when it started pouring. We waited 10 min and the worst part passed us, so we headed out.
We got on the bus at 3:23 and landed at MK at 3:40 walked into the park at 3:50.

We walked back to Tomorrowland to get on Buzz with a posted wait of 10 min, got in line at 3:58 and got on at 4:06. When we got off we noticed that Buzz was on a stage over by Space Mountain so we walked over and snapped a pic of the boys in front of him. Tomorrowland Speedway had a 0 min wait so we got in line at 4:15 and on the ride at 4:20. Halfway through the ride it started to sprinkle. Dh ordered food from Cosmic Rays and ordered the kids chicken and fries. Of course they ate the fries and nothing else.
It was lightly raining as we finished eating and headed to teacups, posted wait 5 min. The kids and dh got in line at 4:58 and on the ride at 5:02. They had to wait for the sanitize the ride before letting people on. After we walked over to the bathroom and then ds6 said he wanted to go on Mickey’s Philharmagic, dh took him and I took ds9 to a couple shops. Dh and ds6 got in line at 5:20 and the show started at 5:40.
While they were doing that ds9 and I went on Peter Pan which had a 5 min posted wait got in line at 5:30 and on at 5:37. Then we went over to Small World which had a posted 5 min wait, got in line at 5:45 and on ride at 5:47.
After we all met back up at the exit of Small world ds6 wanted to go on Peter Pan which was a walk on. After we walked over to Pecks Bill’s for dh and I to eat something for dinner. We finished about 6:45 and made our way to the front of the park. We exited the park and got on the bus at 7, which had only pulled up right before we got there. We got back to SSR at 7:20.

A much better day just going in the afternoon!

So after helping ds6 in the shower I walked down to the front to buy Sprite and some shorts that I wanted. Right now the Summer stuff is on sale, 30% off and I also got my 20% off with the AP. Awesome! After I walked to the front desk and asked if they could send some toilet paper up and 2 pillows.
I told dh that housekeeping was coming and I hopped in the shower. When I got out dead fish smell hit me in the face walking out of the bathroom. They gave us the stuff in this black garbage bag and the outside reeked! We took the stuff out and I threw out the bag downstairs.
However when I walked back in the room I was again smacked in the face with dead fish smell. We made popcorn and left the bathroom door open with the fan on hoping that would help. Nope, so dh called down to the front at 8:40 to let them know and ask for a candle or something. Same housekeeper came back and sprayed some odor killer on the floor and left. At this point it’s now 10pm and I’ll worry about the smell tomorrow.

THat is terrible! I wonder what it could have been. I hope the odor killer worked enough for you all to sleep.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

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Nice pictures. The parks look so empty.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Day 7 - Kids woke up at 8 and of course we got up too. I made coffee in the room and the boys watched Disney on the TV. We brought their iPads and those should have got put up on day 1. DS9 is trying to get on his every time we’re in the room to play this stupid game, which he now got dh hooked on. I woke up at 11pm last night and dh was on his iPad playing this game!!
I decided I was going to check out Disney Springs. I figured going when they opened would be the best choice. Dh and ds9 decided to stay behind so it was just me and ds6. We got ready and walked over to the bus stop at the Springs and after no bus for 15 for DS we decided to walk. It was 10:10 at this point when we started walking and we got to Ds at 10:20. We walked through the entrance by Congress Park.

We went into Once Upon A Toy first and just looked. Then we walked over to Pin Traders and got 2 pins. Ds6 had really wanted something from Indiana Jones but since the show isn’t running the shops of theirs had been closed as HS. So we found a Indy pin for him and a Pluto with Chip and Dale pin for ds9. We then headed over to the Star Wars shop where ds6 wanted to buy this Boba Fett arm gun and I told him we didn’t need more plastic stuff, plus it was $30. So then he remember that ds9 had got a shoulder porg at HS and he wanted one. Ds6 keeps calling it an arm chicken... lol. That was $20 down to $17 with the AP discount.
We walked over to the World of Disney, no line, it was 10:40 at this point. Got two items, one a neon Mickey shirt for ds9 and a Zero( nightmare before Christmas) hoodie for ds6. Ds6 LOVES the Nightmare Before Christmas. He was Jack Skellington for Halloween when he was 3 & 4, so he wanted to get all the Halloween stuff while there. Yes they have Halloween stuff out. I wanted this neon women’s cutoff hoodie but they only had it in size XXL . So we checked out and walked over to the bathrooms. After ds6 was hungry and wanted a lemon loaf from Starbucks so I caved and said ok.
It was 11:12 at this point and while we were looking for a place to sit I spotted Ghirardelli and realized they might have some more mocha mix, I’m out of what I brought from home for our trip for my morning mochas. The “store” part didn’t open until 4, but I went into the soda fountain part and asked if they would sell me the chocolate sauce from the store. They said yes!!! Woo hoo!!!
We stopped and ds6 ate outside Ghirardelli and I called dh and asked if they wanted food from Earl of Sandwich. They said yes. On our way to the sandwich shop we walked by the co-op and I saw the hoodie I had wanted earlier and couldn’t find in my size. Ran in and made the purchase, and it was 30% off and I got my AP discount of 20%! Then we walked into Earl of Sandwich and ordered. Food took about 7ish min to come out.
It was about 11:50 as we walked out of DS and headed back. I thought about trying to wait for a bus because ds6 and I were hot but we decided to hoof it. Oh boy that walk back felt like FOREVER! We had both drank a full bottle of water each when we were sitting outside Ghirardelli but with a fuller backpack I was starting to get a headache. We finally got back to the room at 12:20. I grabbed a bottle of water and started drinking along with trying to eat my Earl’s Club. I got dh chicken tortilla soup and he said it was spicy. Now my husband loves spicy 🌶 food and for him to say it was spicy means it’s SPICY! 🌶
Ds6 wanted good wear his new hoodie, which I explained he smelled bad. So of course he decided to shower so he could wear his new hoodie.

Disney Springs wasn’t busy IMO while we were there. We did go right when they opened and only stayed on one side of DS, we didn’t walk past World of Disney. Mask compliance was great and the only time I saw a nose was at Earl of Sandwich by the employee who was getting the sodas for people. We didn’t get any drinks there so I didn’t complain and just stayed far from where she was.

So finally we got it together and left to go to MK. Got to the bus stop at 2:56 and the bus arrived at 2:59. There was only one other family on the bus. We arrived at MK at 3:20, just in time for it to start pouring. ⛈ We ran through temp check and security to the bathrooms next to Guest Relations. Afterwards we booked it through and just tried to walk under as many overhangs as possible. We tried to play the Sorcerers card game but found out that some of the portals are not accessible. Specifically the one across from Pirates of the Caribbean, so we have that up.
We went to the Tiki Room since it was raining and there was an 8 min wait until the next show. So we got in the room about 3:48 and once the show was finished we headed over to the haunted mansion. Ds6 wanted to go on while ds9 was saying he wasn’t going. So it had a 5 min posted wait but was really a walk on, it was 4:20. We got up to the cars and ds9 freaked out and started crying. Ds6 and I were already on the car at that point and we stayed on. Then when ds6 realized it was a dark ride he freaked out and started crying. He then proceeded to cry quietly the whole ride.
After the ride I got him a frozen lemonade and we met up with dh and ds9 by the Tangled bathrooms. We sat there and ordered some dinner from Pinocchio. Once that was ordered up we headed there and sat inside. It was raining on and off still so we figured we’d sit inside while we waited for our food. Food was ready 4:35 and we finished eating at 5:16.
We then walked over to It’s A Small World with a posted 5 min wait but the ride was stopped for cleaning and we didn’t get on until 5:25. So I didn’t notice when we rode it the other day but in the Goodbye room they have signs up that are actually monitors. They actually say Goodbye and then have someone’s name that is in the boat. This time it had ds6’s name which was cool!
So it was now 5:47 and ds6 wanted to go on Mickey’s Philaharmagic, 3rd time this trip. It had a posted 10 min wait and we walked in the show 6:01. So there was a lady in the show who brought a baby in and he/she was crying. Once the show started we couldn’t hear the baby so no big deal. We were at the back of row and noticed during the show some starts filming it on an iPad. Like wth? It’s a 3D show what can you possibly do with a bootleg 3D show filmed on an iPad?!
We asked the kids what they wanted to do before we left and they said cars, so we went over to Tomorrowland Speedway. The wait time was posted 5 min but it was a walk on. It was still drizzling and I didn’t want to ride so dh took the kids. At first the guy had said that are boys could go together since ds9 was tall enough to push the pedal but the lady loading the cars said she had to hear it was ok from one of us.
After the ride we went to Auntie Gravity’s to get some dessert. I got a strawberry smoothie, which is dairy free. I’m lactose intolerant. Ds9 wanted a vanilla shake which they only had chocolate shakes, cue the pouting. So we left there and headed to the exit. Dh found a cart with frozen lemonade which is what ds9 originally wanted and then ds6 asked for a drink. While standing at the cart the ducks were roaming around and a duck decided it was going to just go serve himself. The duck just walked back behind the cart and started eating popcorn from the ground. Lol it was funny to see.
Finally on our way out and we waved goodbye to Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and some friends that were up by the train platform. We walked right up and the bus was there waiting. They were changing drivers so we had to wait a min and there was one family before us. We sat right in front and only had 2 othe families on the bus with us. We left MK at 7:05 and were back at SSR at 7:18.
Everyone showered and we turned on the season finale of Alone! Glad we’re able to catch it. If the dude Roland doesn’t win we’ll be shocked.

What amazing bus luck you are having. Sorry about the tears.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Day 8 - Ds9 and I both woke up at 8:30, dh and ds6 got up at 9. We bummed around the room and I decided it was time to pack some of our stuff so we aren’t rushing tomorrow. All the dirty clothes and things we no longer needed out got put away and I pulled out our travel clothes and other essentials. We had some breakfast and the hobbits had second breakfast. Then we headed down to the pool at 11:50. Dh stayed in the room to watch work/study videos.

We just swam at the Grandstand pool. Really there’s hardly anyone ever there during the day. Which is great! While the kids were playing ds6 tripped and feel into ds9. Ds6 tried to grab onto ds9’s back and instead scratched his back. Ds9 cried a bunch and I made him sit in the cold pool to help it. It’s not terrible but ds9 is VERY sensitive, and a slight hypochondriac. Everything is a BIG Deal to him.
Dh came down to the pool and played for 45 min then headed back up for more studying. He’s trying to get some IT security certifications and there’s like a ton of training videos. He figured while we’re here he’d try and get the training videos in. Not how I want to spend vacation but whatever.
We finally left the pool at 2pm and went back to the room. Ds9 had easy Mac and ds6 had PB&J, while having screen time.

We finally got ready and left the room at 3:40, we got to the bus stop at 3:42 and the bus showed up at 3:49. We arrived at Epcot at 4:09 and walked back to Germany, the long way. We got a pretzel and brat for the kids. It was 4:45, and ds6 refused to eat the brat. So we ate 1/2 of the 2 giant pretzels and then headed to China. We got a beef bun thing, it was good. Ds6 wouldn't try it but ds9 liked it. It was 5:10and then Elsa and Anna came by.
Then we walked back towards Italy where I got in line for tortellini while dh took the kids to the bathroom in American area. I met up with them and he ran and got the kids funnel cake while we sat at a picnic table. It was 5:30 and we walked to Japan to get shaved ice and a teriyaki chicken bun. I didn't care for the bun and the shaved ice was for the kids. They sat and ate the ice while the Jammitors played. Dh went and grabbed a turkey leg.

After the kids made a mess and dh dripped grease on his shirt we got up and left. We had these birds that would not leave us alone while eating and were freaking ds6 out so he was glad to leave.
We walked to Morocco and got chocolate baklava and a beef kefta pocket. I didn't like the baklava, neither did ds9, ds6 wouldn't try it and dh is allergy to nuts. The beef bucket was good and Ds9 liked it.
Ds6 kept trying to get us to leave and we couldn’t figure out why. We stopped by the bathrooms in Morocco and I realized he needed to ‘GO’, in private. So we used the companion bathroom and he felt better. We then walked to France for ice cream and a crepe because it’s Disney why not have two desserts . It was like 6:30 at this point and while we were waiting for the crepe dh walked across to the Brazil stand and got fried pork belly. It had been drizzling before but now it really was just raining, not super hard but enough to start soaking our shoes. We decided to head towards the exit.

On the way out I wanted to have 1 drink so I got an Alunai Sunrise , meh. I’m not a big drinker and honestly I took like 4 sips before we hit the exit and I dumped it. I’ll take my calories in food over drinks.
We were out of the park at 7:05 and at the bus stop at 7:07, with the bus arriving at 7:23. We left at 7:27 and we back at 7:40ish. I wasn’t watching the time at that point.
I don’t feel like it was busy but there’s some definitely some areas that have pinch points. Once the rain in the afternoon comes a lot of people leave.
Everyone showered and had screen time and now it’s sleepy time.

Sounds like your first long bus wait.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

View attachment 520692

I like the drink glass. Did you get to keep it?

 

[omniscientmommy]

@wishicouldgomoreofte With regards to the A/C dh is 'extra large' and requires it to be cold to sleep. I've gotten use to sleeping with like 2 - 3 blankets on. We had the A/C in the room at like 72.
We couldn't see the fountain from our room. We had a view of the golf course.

 

[KathyM2]

Thanks for sharing your trip experience in so much detail!! Sounds like there were ups and downs. I can't go since I'm in Canada, but I think it would be a really tough decision for American Disney fans whether to go or not right now if you have the means.

 

[mnmrmustard]

It sounds like a challenging experience for sure between the heat, the masks, and a bad stomach. Good call in deciding to slow you pace down a bit and enjoy the pool more. Every trip is going to have its speedbumps - glad you didn't give up. Great pictures throughout your journey! I hope that down the road you can think back on the trip and find some magic in it.

 

[mnmrmustard]

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

That's when we're going too - fingers crossed!