Summer 2020 Trips - If WDW Is Open, We're Going! *Update: WDW Open July 11*

[Sandiz08]

Our southwest flights in July quadrupled in price within the last week. So weird amongst all that is going on.

 

[mrsap]

Our southwest flights in July quadrupled in price within the last week. So weird amongst all that is going on.

We rent a car to drive down... prices for a 16 day rental in June/July went from $450 a couple months ago to over $2000 this week!!!!! You’d think prices would go the other way! So crazy. (Just to note, we paid $250 last year for the same amount of time and time of year!)

 

[Sandiz08]

We rent a car to drive down... prices for a 16 day rental in June/July went from $450 a couple months ago to over $2000 this week!!!!! You’d think prices would go the other way! So crazy. (Just to note, we paid $250 last year for the same amount of time and time of year!)

We would so drive down if it were up to me, but DH does not like long car rides with the kids lol. But flight prices going up make no sense to me, very few are booking. We have ours booked, but was just checking on prices.

 

[pangyal]

I’ll join! I’ve been attaching myself to positive threads like a barnacle so here I am .

We are booked June 19-30 for a mom/kiddo trip at AKL club level, moving to Poly on the 27th. In order for us to keep this reservation, a multitude of lucky chips have to fall:
-We must be allowed into the USA from Canada
-We don’t really mind if the parks are open or not as we love resort stays, but we are anxious to see whether these “modified experiences” come to fruition as we would need to have a serious discussion about whether it would still be fun
-We would need to know whether they’ve modified club level lounge and food to an extent where it is too different for us to want to go

I also have my annual girls’ trip with my mom booked in August (last week before Labour Day) and am nervous about that too. If Epcot isn’t open or the parks are too heavily modified for her taste, she might not want to spend the money to go.

October brings a new and exciting anxiety with a cruise booked and also MNSSHP for the last time since we won’t pull the kid out of school in October after this year.

I‘m on a real roller coaster these days with all of the news and conjectures being posted! My mood changes by the millisecond.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

October brings a new and exciting anxiety

Not sure if it was the intent, but just wanted to say this phrasing made me laugh.

I think we can all relate.

 

[pangyal]

Not sure if it was the intent, but just wanted to say this phrasing made me laugh.

I think we can all relate.

It totally was, I was just writing exactly as I feel lol.

 

[e_yerger]

I am so glad that you made this thread!

We (a childless millennial married couple) are fortunate enough to travel to WDW at least 2 (sometimes 3) times a year. When they announced that they would be building StarWars land, we started to plan what we called our "Big Trip." We were due to travel to WDW on March 16th - March 21st, and were pulling out all the stops - Split stay at Contemporary and Yacht Club, DAH at MK on arrival night, Dinner at California Grill during fireworks, booked Wild Africa Trek for my birthday, scheduled massages later in the week, and had ALL the best Fast Passes (SDD, MFSR, MMRR, FOP, Test Track) and then.... the world exploded.

We decided to rebook for mid-July and splurged on Club Level and the YC, hoping we could cross CL off our bucket list and take advantage of the 90 Day Fast Pass window. Unfortunately, DSS is closed and CL loses value with each passing day. Our 90 day mark is today, but I'm hoping DSS will open soon so we can at least make FPs+ at around 75 days out (?) . I went ahead and made a back-up reservation for a regular room at YC, just in case the 90 day FP option doesn't work out. Since everything seems to change day-by-day, I also went ahead and booked an identical room reservation in August, just in case July doesn't happen.

Some days I am *almost positive* that WDW will be open by July (to an enjoyable degree), and other days I'm almost positive that it won't be.

So far, our new plan (with MANY back-up options) is:

July 12 - 18th.

Arrival night at Coronado Springs, followed by 2 nights at Contemporary, before transferring to CL at the Yacht Club for 3 nights.

As of today, I *think* WDW will be operating at 75% by July, which would be good enough for me. *Fingers Crossed*

Hello, yes, hi, also a childless millennial!

Other than the hiccups with the resorts, were you able to rebook your other things like Wild Africa Trek & Cali Grill?

Cali Grill is my all time fav and do it every trip - even if you cant be there during fireworks, it's still amazing!

 

[e_yerger]

I’ll join! I’ve been attaching myself to positive threads like a barnacle so here I am .

This made me LOL like no other - allll the positive threads! You get a positive thread - and you get a positive thread!

 

[e_yerger]

I guess it's a little hopeful about rising costs for summer related travel expenses (flights, car rentals)? This must mean that other industries are hopeful about summer travel.

 

[e_yerger]

Caveat that we have APs and go a few times per year. We like the parks but we’re not necessarily commandos.

For us, summer trips mean rope drop through 11-12’ish, then back to the resort for lots of pool time. With any luck, an afternoon shower will cool things off (and clear out the parks) so after that it’s back out for a bit of night park time or just more pool/resort time and call it a day.

Rinse, cycle, repeat.

Hoping at least some elements of that are available whenever they reopen.

We do a lot more park time during cooler seasons, but summer is more vacation mode for us.

Oooo I like your idea about heavy pool time. I've never been to Disney in July, so I am a bit nervous about the heat. We normally do morning - noon/1ish, back to the hotel to rest, and then back to the parks around 5pm. I just hope the heat isn't too much to handle.

 

[mrsap]

I guess it's a little hopeful about rising costs for summer related travel expenses (flights, car rentals)? This must mean that other industries are hopeful about summer travel.

I hope you’re right!! Thanks for starting this thread! I’m just as hopeful!!

 

[Leigh L]

I'll join too!

Was supposed to take DD26 for a special "mommy and me" trip in May for a long weekend. I recently finished canceling that trip...boo.

Our fam had a tentative August trip (and hoping DS and his GF could join us), but the - not yet planned trip - was shaping up to be a couple of days at Disney and then when DH could join us for a long weekend, we'd go to Universal for 5 days with DS and his GF. Two days ago Frontier shifted our flights by a full day on both ends. That shaved off a full day off Universal so we decided, with so much up in the air these days, to not do Universal.

DD13, DD26, and I will stay 3 nights at ASMo (we'll do 2 park days) and then DH booked Ft Wilderness Cabins for a few days when he can join us and we're going to do a mostly resort stay with a day at DHS for Galaxy's Edge. We've never stayed at Ft Wildnerness before! Pretty excited to have a chill vacation. We're thinking of doing MNNSHP the night before we leave since the new Frontier flight enables us to do this now (silver lining!)

If DS and GF can join us (they live out of state from us), since we're in the cabins, they can decide late in the game about joining us.

(I'm also in the process of rescheduling DD26's trip for November, which is only a few days after her birthday. Hello MVMCP! )

Happy to read about everyone's plans! Here's to a good summer!!

 

[e_yerger]

I'll join too!

Was supposed to take DD26 for a special "mommy and me" trip in May for a long weekend. I recently finished canceling that trip...boo.

Our fam had a tentative August trip (and hoping DS and his GF could join us), but the - not yet planned trip - was shaping up to be a couple of days at Disney and then when DH could join us for a long weekend, we'd go to Universal for 5 days with DS and his GF. Two days ago Frontier shifted our flights by a full day on both ends. That shaved off a full day off Universal so we decided, with so much up in the air these days, to not do Universal.

DD13, DD26, and I will stay 3 nights at ASMo (we'll do 2 park days) and then DH booked Ft Wilderness Cabins for a few days when he can join us and we're going to do a mostly resort stay with a day at DHS for Galaxy's Edge. We've never stayed at Ft Wildnerness before! Pretty excited to have a chill vacation. We're thinking of doing MNNSHP the night before we leave since the new Frontier flight enables us to do this now (silver lining!)

If DS and GF can join us (they live out of state from us), since we're in the cabins, they can decide late in the game about joining us.

(I'm also in the process of rescheduling DD26's trip for November, which is only a few days after her birthday. Hello MVMCP! )

Happy to read about everyone's plans! Here's to a good summer!!

What magical changes!!! The Halloween & X-Mas parties are so sweet and fun. After doing the x-mas party this past year for the first time, I think I prefer it over halloween. I just love the cookies & hot chocolate

 

[Leigh L]

I’ve never been to WDW in July, so I’m nervous for the heat. But guess it’s time for Splash Mountain and Kali River Rapids!

I don't know if July is like August since we've not done July, but if it is, definitely bring ponchos!!


Even with heat, we found summer at WDW to be so much fun.
Edit to add, I just went back and reread the thread after I posted and saw you've been in August .

 

[Leigh L]

What are you guys looking forward to most on your trips?! For us it's that we're doing the dining plan, and have some of our favorite reservations booked (Via Napoli, California Grill) and we're trying to Tapolino Terrace for breakfast! Can't wait to see the characters in their new outfits

All sounds awesome, and SO excited to read you've got the new character breakfast!
(I'm going to be on the prowl for this ADR!)

We rent a car to drive down... prices for a 16 day rental in June/July went from $450 a couple months ago to over $2000 this week!!!!! You’d think prices would go the other way! So crazy. (Just to note, we paid $250 last year for the same amount of time and time of year!)

Wowza! That is so high. I noticed airline prices have been creeping up too in general. Were you able to get the $450 rate?
Are you a Costco member? I noticed their prices are a bit higher right now for August than I like, but usually, I'll rebook several times as the price tends fluctuate and they make it easy to cancel/rebook.

 

[tnolan]

DH and I have a trip planned mid August, and a friend and I rescheduled our late April trip to early Oct. Fingers crossed on both!

 

[mrsap]

All sounds awesome, and SO excited to read you've got the new character breakfast!
(I'm going to be on the prowl for this ADR!)


Wowza! That is so high. I noticed airline prices have been creeping up too in general. Were you able to get the $450 rate?
Are you a Costco member? I noticed their prices are a bit higher right now for August than I like, but usually, I'll rebook several times as the price tends fluctuate and they make it easy to cancel/rebook.

I booked at $500. I completely forgot to book when I saw the $450 price - the next day went to $500. I’m no longer a Costco member, but ‘typically’ the prices go down the closer to the trip, so hopefully they’ll come down a bit more. At this point, it’s worth it - anything to be in Disney!!

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I’ve never been to WDW in July, so I’m nervous for the heat. But guess it’s time for Splash Mountain and Kali River Rapids!

Yes, one of the great things is the heat will dry you off pretty quickly. Here are my tip for summer touring at WDW:

• Plan your outdoor FP+ rides for the morning, and if that is not possible, then for the late evening. It rarely rains before noon, but rain and lightning, both of which can shut down outdoor rides, occur almost every afternoon. It occasionally rains in the evening, but that's a lot less common than the typical 1-2 hour afternoon thunderstorm. So plan all of your park touring with that in mind. People always mention the heat of summer at WDW, but in my experience, it's the daily thunderstorms that cause the most logistical problems if you're unprepared.
• Tour the parks mostly early and/or late in the day, and spend most afternoons at your resort. Trying to push through the entire day nonstop in summer is usually going to be miserable.
• Wear sturdy waterproof sandles that support your feet & don't need socks. Soggy wet non-waterproof shoes & socks are misery, so avoid that at all costs. I wear Tevas sandals and they're great for WDW.
• Avoid wearing denim, which shrinks when wet and takes forever to dry.
• Bring a (waterproof) wide-brimmed hat or a UV umbrella (you can find them online) to use as a parasol midday.
• Bring a bathing suit to enjoy your resort's pool, and maybe spend a day at one of Disney's water parks- they're wonderful.
• Above all, pack light for park touring. Some people will advise you to stuff a day back with bottled water (heavy) and snacks, and spare shoes (not needed if you're wearing waterproof shoes), etc, etc. Lugging all of that stuff will just weigh you down, tire you out & make you feel hotter. Instead, splurge just a tad and buy water at stalls as you need it, rather than carrying the heavy bottles all day. Same for snacks, just buy what you need when you're there. WDW sells food & drinks, and this is one instance where your comfort is more important than saving a dollar or two.

 

[agamble]

We still have our June 17-July 4 trip planned. I'm looking into rebooking for 3 weeks in September if we have to cancel the June trip. I kind of feel like WDW may be open by our trip, but I'm worried it will be a half experience. This is our kids first trip to the World, and it is expensive just to fly the 5 of us (though we did get good airfare deals). So if it is looking like many things will be cancelled then we'll take our early summer trip and reschedule to a late summer trip, hopefully. My mom is travelling with us, and we've all already bought tickets, so I do have to consider her when rebooking. BUT I think that September looks like a great time to visit as we are homeschooling next year.

 

[Leigh L]

I booked at $500. I completely forgot to book when I saw the $450 price - the next day went to $500. I’m no longer a Costco member, but ‘typically’ the prices go down the closer to the trip, so hopefully they’ll come down a bit more. At this point, it’s worth it - anything to be in Disney!!

Very true!!!