I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.. (NOW A JUNE!) 2021 PTR (new update 5-31)

[kclark9830]

Hi everyone! Welcome to my pre-trip report! I picked a quote from Alice In Wonderland for my title because...well, 2020 has reminded me a little of Alice's "world of my own."



So, with that being established, let me introduce you to, well, me!



I'm Katie, Disney lover and trip planner. I am a teacher (I finally finished my Bachelor's in education in January 2020...see something good did happen this year! LOL). I teach at a small private school, part time. The part time status gives me lots of flexibility, which I need. I am also a writer. I write all kinds of things including magazine and newspaper articles, educational materials, and novels.

My first trip to WDW was as an adult, but my love for all things Disney goes back to my childhood. I have two distinct memories. The first was my parents bringing home a copy of Beauty And The Beast on VHS. I was so excited for it! And it's been my favorite Disney princess movie ever since. The second memory was watching Full House. In particular, the two-part episode where they went to WDW. I was mesmerized by that episode! I still like watching it today.

I love Epcot the best, but all the parks hold places in my heart. I love Belle, eating at Sci-Fi Dine In Theatre, and walking around the World Showcase. My favorite ride is Flights of Passage.

Also pictured here is DD Ashlyn. She's in 5th grade, and she loves WDW, too. Her first trip was at 1 year old, and she's gone a handful of times since then. She loves all the princesses, but Cinderella is her favorite. She loves all the parks and changes her mind about which is her favorite park and ride constantly.



Micheal is my husband of 17 1/2 years. He is a "property management coordinator" for a large pest control company. Something I did not know before the pandemic is that pest control is considered a public health necessity. Boy was I glad about that when businesses started closing down this past spring! He travels for work regularly, and we do occasionally get to tag along on his trips. What does he actually do? IDK. I think he's some type of building inspector. LOL

Micheal doesn't "love" WDW, but his "like" is strong enough that he doesn't mind going back every few years. His favorite park is Hollywood Studios, and his favorite ride is Tower of Terror. He could ride it over and over because he says it's different every time.



Finally, we have Miles. He is a bundle of joy (or terror, depending on the day! LOL). Miles has only been to WDW once as a 1 year old. He adores all the Disney characters, and he regularly talks about going to Disney World, which is cute since he really doesn't have a concept of what it is.

Now we can get on to the details of this trip!

WHEN: November 29-December 4, 2021
(You can read about our switch to a June trip here!!!)
WHERE: Disney's Swan Hotel
HOW & WHY: No reason in particular...sort of. Overall, we like going to WDW. We also know Miles is at the perfect age to go, and we chose November/December because all our other trips have been in August/September. We wanted cooler weather! There are lots of other small details that added up to us choosing this trip the way we did, but I'll get to that in another update. For now?

We're going to Walt Disney World!

 

[kclark9830]

HOW DID THIS TRIP COME ABOUT???

We originally booked a trip for December 2020, back in 2019. But in January we just had a feeling about it, and we canceled the reservation. I can't describe the feeling. We just knew we weren't going to go, so we canceled.

Besides that, we had also booked a May 2021 Alaskan cruise. That was going to be our "big" trip, and we would just do small things until that trip. Technically, that is still the plan. We are keeping our fingers crossed for this plan! This is the main reason we have chosen late 2021 for WDW.



Mid summer, Micheal was told at work he'd be getting a special travel allowance for Marriott brand hotels. My sister (who is an avid WDW fan) reminded me that the Swan & Dolphin were Marriott hotels. I mentioned this to Micheal and left it at that.

Fast forward a few weeks and Micheal surprises me with a weekend trip to Pigeon Forge for my birthday. No kids!!! We have only ever been away without our kids 1 other time, for our 10th anniversary. It was a fantastic weekend!





While we were away, Micheal says he wants to use his Marriott bonus to go to WDW. WHAT?! I was super on board with this, and it was exactly what I'd hoped for when I first mentioned it to him.

I contacted our TA and told her what we were thinking. The only thing left to do was wait for the WDW fall/winter 2021 rates to open up. As soon as they did, we jumped on it!

Hence, we ended up at Disney's Swan Hotel.



We stayed at the Boardwalk in 2018, and we had a room facing the pool. Here we are on the balcony. You can see the Swan behind Micheal.



We were a little iffy about staying at a not-official Disney hotel, but since we had stayed at the Boardwalk and seen the Swan up close and personal, we felt much better about doing it. Historically, it has also received many of the on-site perks.

I will say though, I've heard that just this week Disney has stopped running their busses at the S&D resorts. I'm hoping this is a temporary thing because of cutbacks, and I'll be keeping my ears open about this issue. For now, we are excited and enthusiastic about staying at this resort!!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Following along! Planning for 2021 trips is definitely gonna be interesting and different!

 

[kclark9830]

Following along! Planning for 2021 trips is definitely gonna be interesting and different!

Thanks for joining in! I agree...this should be an adventure (or something like that ). Haha!

 

[CruellaNY]

Oh BOY am I glad I found this! So glad you started it and I am super super happy you have this trip planned Katie!

and his favorite ride is Tower of Terror. He could ride it over and over because he says it's different every time.

Well I did not know this! Michael and I have this in common

Besides that, we had also booked a May 2021 Alaskan cruise. That was going to be our "big" trip, and we would just do small things until that trip. Technically, that is still the plan. We are keeping our fingers crossed for this plan!

Oh please please please! Believe me I'm crossing all my fingers and toes this happens for you too lol.

Fast forward a few weeks and Micheal surprises me with a weekend trip to Pigeon Forge for my birthday.

Awesome! I...know quite a few folks who have gone here especially in the last few months. it's never been on my radar but now it is and I'm seriously considering a trip there in the near future! So what did you do? What did you love?

I contacted our TA and told her what we were thinking. The only thing left to do was wait for the WDW fall/winter 2021 rates to open up. As soon as they did, we jumped on it!

I'm sure she was so happy to hear from you!

I will say though, I've heard that just this week Disney has stopped running their busses at the S&D resorts. I'm hoping this is a temporary thing because of cutbacks, and I'll be keeping my ears open about this issue

Ugh, yeah I believe you are right that it's due to cutbacks and I also feel it won't be forever because nobody is happy about it and nobody will become happy about it. Well, Disney may, as folks might decide to move from these resorts to true Disney resorts. But overall I don't think it'll be a lasting thing. At least you have enough time to see what happens and move if you want although I know you'd rather not. As you say for now just knowing you're going is great!! Looking forward to hearing all the planning!

 

[Bama Mom]

Following along. My sisters and some of our daughters are taking a girls only trip in March and I can't wait.

I hope that you get to take your Alaskan cruise. Hubby and I have decided to do one for our combo 50th birthday gifts which will be in a couple years.

We love Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg but I haven't been in several years (2015 actually-my daughters senior year in high school when her cheer camp was there). We have talked about planning a family trip there maybe next fall when our grand daughter will be a year older (she is just now 6 month).

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your plans.

 

[kclark9830]

Oh BOY am I glad I found this! So glad you started it and I am super super happy you have this trip planned Katie!


Well I did not know this! Michael and I have this in common

Oh please please please! Believe me I'm crossing all my fingers and toes this happens for you too lol.

Awesome! I...know quite a few folks who have gone here especially in the last few months. it's never been on my radar but now it is and I'm seriously considering a trip there in the near future! So what did you do? What did you love?

I'm sure she was so happy to hear from you!

Ugh, yeah I believe you are right that it's due to cutbacks and I also feel it won't be forever because nobody is happy about it and nobody will become happy about it. Well, Disney may, as folks might decide to move from these resorts to true Disney resorts. But overall I don't think it'll be a lasting thing. At least you have enough time to see what happens and move if you want although I know you'd rather not. As you say for now just knowing you're going is great!! Looking forward to hearing all the planning!

Welcome!!! Pigeon Forge is nice. We have gone many times over the years, and it's very...touristy. But Micheal had booked a cabin nestled between the mountains, and it was beautiful! We also went on a hike to a giant waterfall, which was really great. We never do things like that with the kids.

We also went into Dollywood since we bought season passes pre-covid. They've done a pretty good job in their cleanliness guidelines, at least in our opinion. But the park was busy that day, and we didnt want to wait in lines so we didn't ride anything. Ha! We just ate and shopped.

We also did a lot of shopping at the outlet malls .

Besides the outlet malls, though, we do try to avoid the very touristy "main strip."

Following along. My sisters and some of our daughters are taking a girls only trip in March and I can't wait.

I hope that you get to take your Alaskan cruise. Hubby and I have decided to do one for our combo 50th birthday gifts which will be in a couple years.

We love Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg but I haven't been in several years (2015 actually-my daughters senior year in high school when her cheer camp was there). We have talked about planning a family trip there maybe next fall when our grand daughter will be a year older (she is just now 6 month).

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your plans.

Welcome! So glad to "see" you here . A girls trip sounds great! Something I have always wanted to do with Ashlyn and my mom and sisters/nieces. Maybe someday!

 

[kclark9830]

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." ~Cheshire Cat

I'm very sad to report that we've made the decision to postpone our Alaskan cruise until 2022. We just aren't comfortable taking our first cruise under the conditions that seem inevitable for cruising this year. *cue the crying emoji*

We will do something in 2021, in place of the cruise, but we don't know what yet. At least it will be fun making those choices. At least, I think it will be fun. We will probably wait to make any choices until after the current craziness in our country settles a tiny bit.

I thought I'd share about what we're considering, though, since different choices would affect our WDW trip in Nov/Dec.

Option #1
Replace the cruise with a trip to the Grand Canyon, nearly the same dates. We've never been but have always wanted to go. However, I feel a little hesitant planning another "big" trip like this only to have my hopes dashed against the canyon walls...too dramatic? Right. Sorry.




Option #2
Replace the cruise with a trip to Pigeon Forge (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), nearly the same dates. We could use Micheal's Marriott bonus for this trip, and along with our Dollywood season passes (which were extended to June 15, 2021 because of the pandemic), this could be a very budget-friendly trip. This would free up our choices for resorts at WDW when we go, and enable us to most likely take a little bit longer of a trip and add a day at Universal! But we've been to Pigeon Forge dozens of times, including 3 times in 2020 by the time this year is finished (Micheal's family does a long weekend in a great big cabin every November, as the big family holiday get together...we're scheduled to go this weekend). I love Pigeon Forge, but I'm not exactly excited to replace an Alaskan cruise with another trip here.



Option #3
Move our WDW trip to earlier in the year, make it a little bit longer and add on a day at Universal. Honestly, this is the least likely choice, but it's in the running. I really want to go to WDW at Christmas time. However, because of the family trip with Micheal's family we take to Pigeon Forge every November, we could take the earlier trip to WDW then still have this little getaway in the fall.

(Our first ever picture at MK, in 2011. A real winner, isn't it? )

So, what are your thoughts on these ideas? Got any other options you think we should consider? We went to Hilton Head Island in 2019, and we're not keen on another beach trip anytime soon. We go every couple of years, but we aren't great beach lovers.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[CruellaNY]

I'm very sad to report that we've made the decision to postpone our Alaskan cruise until 2022. We just aren't comfortable taking our first cruise under the conditions that seem inevitable for cruising this year. *cue the crying emoji*

I now we've talked about this but; it's a big trip. You all need to be comfortable and excited about it! So it's the best decision; the best decision just isn't always the one that makes us happiest. But it'll happen!

Option #1
Replace the cruise with a trip to the Grand Canyon, nearly the same dates. We've never been but have always wanted to go. However, I feel a little hesitant planning another "big" trip like this only to have my hopes dashed against the canyon walls...too dramatic? Right. Sorry.

I like this and you mentioned it before so I kind of think you should explore this more We all need to plan our trips with the expectation that they WILL happen, but take precautions in that planning in case they can't.

This would free up our choices for resorts at WDW when we go, and enable us to most likely take a little bit longer of a trip and add a day at Universal!

Well this is a good idea too since you've never been to Uni! I guess it depends if you want your alternate to be something "adventurous" new like the Grand Canyon or "theme park" new like Uni.

I think your choices are great options for staying in the country! There's also San Antonio? Or Georgia/SC like Savannah and Charleston. Lots to think about and it can be exciting!

 

[kclark9830]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

So glad to have you here!

 

[kclark9830]

I now we've talked about this but; it's a big trip. You all need to be comfortable and excited about it! So it's the best decision; the best decision just isn't always the one that makes us happiest. But it'll happen!

I needed to be reminded of this yet again . This really does help me feel better. It's OK to postpone. It doesn't mean it won't happen!

Thanks for the suggestions! I actually HAVE been thinking of the Charleston area. It's something I will need to look into more.

 

[kclark9830]

Back from holiday weekend, and cruise change requested

Well, we're back from hubby's family holiday in the mountains. The weather was beautiful, as was the cabin.

We left early Thursday morning to make the 5 hour drive. Micheal had to stop in Knoxville for work, which we didn't mind, and we ended up in the Pigeon Forge area around 3PM.





We squeezed in a brief visit to Dollywood on Saturday to see the Christmas decorations and let the kids ride a few things.







The view from our cabin was fantastic.





We headed home Sunday morning, and all was well. Tbh, we were a little apprehensive traveling so soon after that sorta big political thing we had going on ( ). But everything went smoothly all around.

On to cruise news, we have officially submitted a request to shift our cruise to June 2022. We are no closer to choosing a replacement trip, but as things are still very topsy-turvy we are in no hurry.

 

[kclark9830]

Update!!! Update!!!

I have to admit, I pushed hard for a trip to a) the Grand Canyon OR b) New Orleans. But Micheal kept saying he would rather do something he was familiar with, meaning Disney.

So! We have officially switched our trip to June 2021!


We will be traveling June 7-12 and staying at All Star Movies. I have to say I'm not thrilled with our hotel choice, but having a QS food court was an important deciding factor. We could switch as it gets closer, but it will depend on the eating situation. Also, we really do want to go to Alaska in 2022, so saving money for that is high on our priority list.

I am very excited to be returning to Walt Disney World sooner than expected ☺. I can't wait to really dive into planning as hours are announced and more (hopefully) reopens.

Editing to add:
I hope you all have a good, safe, and healthy holiday season. My sister-in-law had a baby this week, so we are all over the moon about that.

 

[AliceNDinah]

Hi Katie! Just bopped in to say that we'll be there June 7-13!! I like finding people with the same dates, ha ha. SO excited to go back--we were last there in August of 2017. Love your pictures, by the way, that little baby is beyond precious. Hope your day is good Dana

 

[kclark9830]

Hi Katie! Just bopped in to say that we'll be there June 7-13!! I like finding people with the same dates, ha ha. SO excited to go back--we were last there in August of 2017. Love your pictures, by the way, that little baby is beyond precious. Hope your day is good Dana

How exciting! I like finding people with the same dates too . Hope you have a great Christmas and New Year!

 

[kclark9830]

A Few Details...

I'm totally avoiding cleaning up the after-Christmas mess, and I'm dreaming of making plans for our Disney trip. I've made a few plans, I guess, but I actually really hate that I can't make REAL plans because of, well, you know.

First, I'll talk about our hotel. I'm not as ho-hum about staying at All Star Movies as I was previously. With the renovated rooms, I'm sure they'll be much better than when we stayed at Music several years ago. I'm also hoping we might get a room in the Toy Story section (we have a preferred room booked), because Toy Story is Miles's FAVORITE. We have dozens of Toy Story toys around our house, and he plays with them faithfully.



Second, I'm making plans for Tuesday, June 8th. That would be our oldest daughter's 15th birthday and we want to do something extra special to celebrate and remember her. My top two picks are the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise OR the Caring for Giants tour at Animal Kingdom. Emma (our oldest daughter) loved all things Peter Pan so the fireworks cruise would be perfect. She also loved animals, so the tour would be right up her alley. So either of these would be a great way to remember her.


The Caring for Giants tour


(Emma at Animal Kingdom in 2014)

​

(One of her dozens of Peter Pan drawings. We actually have a series of letters she wrote to "Santa" making plans to go to Neverland. I don't remember why she thought Santa was the guy to ask.)​

Obviously, neither of those are currently running. I haven't even told my kids about them because I don't want to get their hopes up. But, I'm keeping an eye out to see if they start running. If they don't we will choose something else. A few other ideas are a hot air balloon ride and the water car rides (what are they called? I have no idea), both at Disney Springs. I am also considering doing horseback riding or a carriage ride at Fort Wilderness, but we do have stuff like that where we live so I'm less likely to go for that. Here's hoping one of my top choices is available!

I've made my park pass reservations but none of that is set in stone yet, so we'll see. Right now I have:

Animal Kingdom on Tuesday
Epcot on Wednesday
Magic Kingdom on Thursday
Hollywood Studios on Friday

That's all for now. I hope you all are having a safe and happy holiday season (or as safe and happy as possible this year).

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Glad you get to go to WDW sooner! The Grand Canyon is also high on my list of places to visit though.

We loved the Caring for Giants tour and it was very affordable by Disney standards. I hope it will return soon!

 

[kclark9830]

Glad you get to go to WDW sooner! The Grand Canyon is also high on my list of places to visit though.

We loved the Caring for Giants tour and it was very affordable by Disney standards. I hope it will return soon!

Thanks! I'm glad to hear you've done Caring for Giants and enjoyed it. That is GREAT to know!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed we might still get out to the Grand Canyon this year. We'll see if I can work my magic .

 

[CruellaNY]

Also, we really do want to go to Alaska in 2022

I am finally replying to reports here for like the first time since Thanksgiving! So glad you're going sooner and for Emma's birthday ❤ All Star Movies is adorable and everyone I know who has stayed in the renovated rooms is happy with them!