Trip During COVID

[Sugar-Magnolia]

We are big Disney fans and have visited ALOT over the years. We were scheduled to visit last summer, but the parks were closed due to COVID. We are scheduled to visit early this summer, but I am now getting cold feet. My primary concerns: no fast passes, no fireworks and masks in the summer. (I am NOT anti-mask, just wondering about how the masks in the heat will effect the overall experience.) The other issues I am running into is that while dining is NOT huge to us, I am finding it difficult to get dining reservations for even a couple of meals. I am going with an extended group of friends and family, so that presents a unique opportunity that we may not present itself again. In short, I guess I am concerned about spending thousands of dollars to be disappointed in comparison to past trips. Any thoughts, tips or encouragement for those who have visited during COVID would be appreciated.

 

[FCDub]

Start here, moving backward through the pages: https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...g-park-hopping.3807247/page-440#post-62847096

Lots of first-hand reports.

 

[Elle :)]

My husband and I had a trip planned for last May...and we all know how that turned out. We rescheduled for early September and had a great time! Like you, we’ve been many times and, yes, this was different. I missed the fireworks, and the late night hours,...and the chili cheese dogs at Casey’s Corner. Still, we had a great time! We rope dropped every day and without fast passes in play that was a good decision for us. I don’t do hour long lines. We also had a trip to Universal in July and had an awesome time there as well. Masks in that heat are tough...there’s no getting around that fact. I don’t understand the people who say they forgot they were wearing it after a while. I couldn’t wait to rip that baby off during meals or when we got back to our room. I brought a lot of different masks and found the disposable blue ones were the least suffocating.

Covid restrictions or not, I’d go back. In fact, we’re going in about 4 weeks. Disney is my happy place!

PS. I’ve had a harder time with ADRs this trip too. Keep trying. Maybe use a reservation finder. I’ve grabbed Homecoming with that.

 

[Heather07438]

Right before the virus hit we planned a trip. It was our well thought out big splurge trip, 9 days between Poly & Beach Club. 2 days per park meant 6 FPs and plenty of nights to enjoy watching fireworks/night shows and getting back to the room quickly. ADRs, boat rentals, on and on.

Everything changed. Our best laid plans not to happen. But we still went and didn’t regret it. Came down to compromising. We would never choose to miss out on all that stuff. For sure. But life can quickly pass us by. There still was a lot we could do so we focused on that. And it was enough to fill 9 happy days. Different but worthwhile.

Might be harder to decide as the end is hopefully getting closer. A few months postponement might mean a bunch more stuff available. But that could also mean crazy crowds again. Depends on what is more important to someone.

 

[2minny]

We were going last June and rescheduled for early May. This will be our first time back since Covid. I just keep reminding myself that it won't be the same as it's always been, BUT, it is Disney and I'd rather be there than home! I've booked a few different restaurant ADR's, staying at a resort we've never stayed before, and plan to make this trip different all around. I know it won't be the same, but I'm preparing myself with a new attitude, to go enjoy, slow the pace, see things I don't usually make time for and just enjoy being at Disney after so much time in quarantine!

 

[kylenne]

I haven't been back yet since re-opening, but in preparing & researching for my own trip at the end of next month (postponed from last May), my big takeaway from everything I'm reading and watching is that flexibility is the name of the game. Dining is limited so you may not be able to get those favorite ADRs you're used to, especially with a large group. Wait times can fluctuate heavily it seems. So being able to go with the flow and change things up on the fly is key. Now is not the time to go if you absolutely have to do specific things or your vacation will be ruined.

 

[Heather07438]

We were going last June and rescheduled for early May. This will be our first time back since Covid. I just keep reminding myself that it won't be the same as it's always been, BUT, it is Disney and I'd rather be there than home! I've booked a few different restaurant ADR's, staying at a resort we've never stayed before, and plan to make this trip different all around. I know it won't be the same, but I'm preparing myself with a new attitude, to go enjoy, slow the pace, see things I don't usually make time for and just enjoy being at Disney after so much time in quarantine!

Have a great trip! The slower pace and more time to look around felt awesome for us.

 

[Heather07438]

I haven't been back yet since re-opening, but in preparing & researching for my own trip at the end of next month (postponed from last May), my big takeaway from everything I'm reading and watching is that flexibility is the name of the game. Dining is limited so you may not be able to get those favorite ADRs you're used to, especially with a large group. Wait times can fluctuate heavily it seems. So being able to go with the flow and change things up on the fly is key. Now is not the time to go if you absolutely have to do specific things or your vacation will be ruined.

Good advice.
And some of that can be an advantage too. Now there’s no need to make sure you end up by SDD at 5pm. Or run across the park because FPS were in 2 different lands. Current operations have some perks.

Enjoy that trip So close!

 

[nkereina]

We visited in October. We visit annually and had to push our trip to October from April, due to the parks being closed. I went with low expectations knowing it wouldn't be our normal experience, but thought any kind of experience is still better than nothing. Covid is obviously affecting life for over a year now with not much of an end in sight in terms of being fully back to normal. Since none of us know what will happen tomorrow, we decided to go and make the best of it.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed the trip, regardless of the restrictions. We enjoyed not being glued to our phone for fast passes. We liked the limited park hours because we didn't have to be up at the crack of dawn and it allowed us to stay in the parks most of the day and have flexible night time plans, since we weren't doing mid-day breaks and returning to a park for the evening. We used the pool more than ever and we visited Disney Springs more than ever. The masks were definitely uncomfortable to us as we had unseasonably hot temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s with high humidity. I couldn't wear sunglasses due to them fogging up from the masks, and we had to change our masks frequently since they got gross from perspiration quickly. Inevitably, my face broke out like a teenager from "maskne" by the end of the trip, so just something to beware of. We were able to make the ADRs we wanted and I would suggest taking what you can get. We were not fans of the mobile order-only system right now and even found it difficult to get spots during busy lunch times (i.e. we had to book a time slot for 45 minutes out from the time we were searching, we couldn't order instantaneously because all spots were filled). Menus are also limited at QS. Because of these things, its a great time to try any TS you can get - and also because seating at TS restaurants are well spaced which makes for a better atmosphere, IMO, not being on top of your neighbor.

DH and I agreed that we'd go again this year in late Fall/early winter, when hopefully the weather is a little cooler so the masks aren't as big of an issue for us. I'm not sure I'd advise a first timer to go now as they will not get the full experience. But if its now or never, I say go.

 

[fly girl]

We are big Disney fans and have visited ALOT over the years. We were scheduled to visit last summer, but the parks were closed due to COVID. We are scheduled to visit early this summer, but I am now getting cold feet. My primary concerns: no fast passes, no fireworks and masks in the summer. (I am NOT anti-mask, just wondering about how the masks in the heat will effect the overall experience.) The other issues I am running into is that while dining is NOT huge to us, I am finding it difficult to get dining reservations for even a couple of meals. I am going with an extended group of friends and family, so that presents a unique opportunity that we may not present itself again. In short, I guess I am concerned about spending thousands of dollars to be disappointed in comparison to past trips. Any thoughts, tips or encouragement for those who have visited during COVID would be appreciated.

I am not going to sugar coat it.

Yes, masks suck in the heat. They are horrible. Paper is better than fabric when it is really hot. If you don't wear masks everyday at work you will feel it behind your ears. There is no way to say you won't feel the mask ... you will. My advice, go to the pool in the afternoon for a break with masks. Or schedule your sit down meal for lunch when wait times are high and the heat is sweltering too.

Back in 2020 when parks reopened it was dead. That is not the case now. August 2020 is a totally different than April 2021. A LOT BUSIER. A LOT!!! Mask compliance is fine, there are sanitizer stations everywhere, but the hand washing stations are now gone. I missed those portable stations as I prefer a good hand wash over sanitizer. Not a make or break deal, but just something I noticed I did miss. (esp the one coming out of TSMM)

FP's, that all depends on how you plan. Are you typically only going on rides you have FP's for? Do you ever wait standby? We don't ride without FP unless it was Figment or Little Mermaid with no wait -- 90% of the time our rides were FP's, so we absolutely missed FP's. It all depends on your personal preference. You may love it, you may hate it. We are in the later category. We do not like waiting in line for more than 10 minutes, and that just isn't possible right now with crowd levels. E ticket rides even early morning before park opening or last 2 hours is still typically 30+ minutes. The nice thing I will say is that since lines are socially distanced, you are moving constantly so the wait isn't as bad as pre-covid just standing stationery for long stretches at a time. But you will have a different experience this time around if you are a family that typically only goes on rides with FP's.

Use TP's reservation finder to help with your hard to get reservations. Be willing to try something new. We did, definitely had some some misses, but had a few good hits too. And since you are debating a summer trip, I say book lunch for your sit down meal. You will escape the heat with the masks and the longer wait time for rides. Win-win.

You know going in that the trip will not be the same as before. Your expectations are already set that it not the same, so a good time is definitely attainable.

And I will say, I do like the cavalcades. Our family has outgrown meet and greets, and we aren't parade people but the cavalcades are fun to us!

 

[kylenne]

Re: “maskne”, best advice I can give is to use a face wash with 2% salicylic acid or a liquid exfoliant with the same. Even drugstore ones like Neutrogena. I still wear a full face of makeup even masked when I go out most days because I’m extra like that, and I don’t ever break out even though I double mask all day long at work barring lunch. But when I skip that skin care I do even if I had a bare face under the mask.

 

[Heather07438]

Re: “maskne”, best advice I can give is to use a face wash with 2% salicylic acid or a liquid exfoliant with the same. Even drugstore ones like Neutrogena. I still wear a full face of makeup even masked when I go out most days because I’m extra like that, and I don’t ever break out. But when I skip that skin care I do even if I had a bare face under the mask.

2% salicylic acid
I always battled break outs and Aveeno bar soap was the only thing I’d found that helped. Then I found Stridex pads. Learned using them every other day made me never need to hassle with my skin again. The few times I stopped using for a couple weeks the bumps or break outs returned. When DS was 14 it worked like a charm for him too after he got pretty bad hormone acne. He stopped resisting help once he finally tried it and got great results. He still uses for occasional breakout too.

 

[auntlynne]

edited