Trip report: Pre & post trip January 2021

[eleven24]

Considering I've been reading these boards to determine whether or not to go, I thought I'd post my thoughts & planning beforehand as well as my experience having been there afterward. ALL of these considerations are being made based on limiting COVID exposure.

Original trip planned for 18 year old son as his HS graduation trip in July 2020 at BLT. Canceled that trip because of COVID concerns 4 weeks prior to check-in date. Rescheduled for January 3rd to 8th, again at BLT.

///// PRE TRIP /////

RESORT: Chose Bay Lake Tower as it is a very short walk from front lobby to MK. That removes a lot of potential travel to/from parks amid COVID and MK is easily our favorite park. The thought here is that around park opening & closing is when the demand is greatest for transportation. Even if considering that the busses are safe, the COVID restrictions will mean less people per bus and more waiting for busses. Being able to walk removes any of those considerations. Our park pass schedule is MK, MK, HS, AK, MK and then MK again the morning we leave. The hope is that after 2pm we can park hop to another park and avoid any long wait for a bus. If not, there are worse things than to be stuck at MK.

AIR TRAVEL: Upgraded our seats to first class from Philadelphia to Orlando as it guarantees we won't be sitting next to anyone we do not know. Total cost to upgrade was $380 total for both, round trip. For the airport/flight it will be N95 masks. Otherwise, we both have UnderArmour sport masks.

PACKING: This is our annual "guys" trip with just me and my son where we typically limit to just a backpack and carryon. While this is something we do every year, this time it will provide a means to avoid exposure as we won't have to deal with checked luggage. Being able to pack this light is only possible with DVC and a room with a washer/dryer. 3 days worth of clothes each, washing something each night. No checked luggage also means all liquids have to be in carryon and subject to restrictions. With COVID, TSA now permits 8oz of sanitizer - so we'll both have that as well as sanitizing wipes.

MEALS: Avoiding inside sit down eating. Will stick to outside and/or "on the run" eating in the parks (where you can find a place to stand and eat). Also ordered a considerable amount of food from gardengrocer.com. This is where having the kitchen at a DVC resort will allow us to eat actual food at our room. Having a MK heavy schedule means that at any point we can be back in our room in 10 minutes to eat, all while avoiding transportation.

PARK GEAR: Typically, when just the 2 of us we don't bring anything to the park with us. Truly, a liberating feeling as opposed to being with the whole family and carting backpacks around all day. This time it's a small backpack with sanitizing wipes, water bottles and food we can eat while moving as our typical dining favorites will be skipped this trip.

RETURN HOME: Quarantine in house (even if that involves just wearing a mask in house) around other family members for 2-3 days, then get tested. Test results should be available 23-36 hours afterward.


Is this an ideal Disney vacation? Hardly. There won't be dining, the park schedule is nowhere near what we'd normally do, and the mask isn't exactly something we want to wear ALL day. Yet that's what is making us want to go. To be able to see (and in some cases document via camera) WDW during this time. Since March we've been listening to the science, wearing the masks, and doing our best to mitigate the risks. All of that has provided me with a better understanding of what it takes to remain safe, and how to stay safe even if around others who are not taking precautions. Is flying to Disney a bigger risk than staying home? Absolutely. Without question.

What I feel though is confident that we can both remain vigilant enough to maintain safe practices - because we've already been doing them for 9 months. Seeing what Disney has done, through YouTube videos as well as other trip reports, has also made me feel more confident in being able to go and be safe.

The other part that has me confident is, well.... it will no longer be 2020. That alone HAS to be worth something, right?

Hopefully others will find this information useful. I will post again when we get back & comment on what we may or may not have planned correctly for.

 

[PAsFab5]

Following along, excited to hear about your trip. We are going the last week of January, staying offsite in Windsor hills and doing Disney a few days out of our vacation as well as some outdoor activities on other days. I hope you guys have a great time!

 

[jbh275]

Following, thanks for sharing.

 

[Splashboat]

Just a heads up, you can't eat or drink on the move. One thing they are very on top of is telling people to put their masks on.

Also, we had several table service meals and it is the best place for social distancing. The restaurants seating is very spread out and we were very happy we made our dining reservations so we could sit, eat and relax for a while without masks.

Have fun.

 

[RatherB@Disney]

Thanks for posting. We are still undecided about whether we will go on a late March BCV trip, 2nd rebooking of original June 2020 trip. I’ve been trying to weigh all the pros, cons, risks, & tips to help make our decision. Appreciate the before/after info!

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Following.

We were scheduled for the same dates. Split stay BCV/ CCV, but cancelled. Try not to make me too jealous! (just kidding!)

 

[eleven24]

UPDATE POST TRIP

Just returned home last night. Arrived Sunday January 3rd, left Friday the 8th.

Since I based this post on a trip report from a COVID perspective, here is what I found:

RESORT: Bay Lake Tower. Typically we arrive via DME around 11am and our room is ready. This is the first time in 10 years of various DVC resorts that our room was NOT ready. We left our backpacks (we had no other luggage) at bell services and headed to MK. We were finally notified at 4pm that our room was ready. Advice: The app check-in does not allow you to specify your arrival time. I assumed that since we were arriving DME they already knew the arrival time and our room would be ready. Might have been better if I made a call beforehand to let them know when we were arriving. Still may not have made a difference with the extra pandemic related room cleaning, but perhaps it may have.

The room itself, surprisingly seemed a little run down. Sofa cushions were worn. Door stopper broken. Table chipped. Dishwasher sounded like something was broken in it. My guess is there are less personnel at the hotel; therefore, smaller things are going left unattended to.

RESORT MUGS! Don't buy them unless you just want them as a souvenir. You do not get to fill them yourself due to the pandemic changes. A CM is standing at the roped off soda machines handing out paper cups full of soda. No, they won't even fill your mug, which presents a problem as you walk down with your mugs and then walk back with your mugs PLUS cups full of soda. More perplexing was they were just handing out cups of soda without having to show you bought a mug (at least at Contempo) so we were kind of left thinking why did we buy the refillable mug? *IF* they do require you to show mug, might be a good idea to try just bringing the lids and telling them you wouldn't be able to carry everything back otherwise.

PACKING HAND SANITIZER: We both brought 8oz bottles (now permitted by TSA) of hand sanitizer and wipes. We didn't use them once outside of flying. There are hand sanitizer stations EVERYWHERE on property and at the resorts. Just bring a small 2oz bottle for on the plane.

DINING - SIT DOWN. We originally planed on no ADR's or sit down dining. Scoped out a few places and was surprised to see the level of distancing between tables. Ended up making reservations at San Angel in Epcot & Liberty Tree in MK. Felt more than safe at both.

DINING - COUNTER SVC. Love the app for ordering. You are unable to enter the building to pick your food up (in the case of Cosmic Rays) until the app notifies you that your food is ready.

PARK EXPERIENCE: Look for the CM holding the sign at the end of the line on your way to the attraction you're interested in. The lines often extend a good distance from the actual ride entrance due to social distancing. DO NOT freak out at the line length, or even the posted times. We kept track of posted times versus wait times... here's what we experienced in terms of what was posted in the app at time of getting in line vs how long we actually waited:

MK
Splash Mtn - rode 5x - Total posted time for all rides combined was 230 min wait. We waited 175 min.
Space Mtn - 3x. Posted 165, waited 95
Thunder Mtn - 2x. Posted 130, waited 60
Haunted Mansion - 4x - Posted 85, waited 70
Pirates - 2x - Posted 65, waited 60
HS
Mickey's Railway - Posted 65, waited 50
Slinky Dog - Posted 70, waited 35
Tower - Posted 75, waited 75
Rock & Roll - Posted 60, waited 35
Toy Story Mania - Posted 30, waited 10
Rise of the Resistance - broke down while halfway through. Walked out by CM and had to return later (they issued FP's)
AK
Everest - 2x - Posted 85, waited 40
Dinosaur - Posted 45, waited 45
Flight of Passage - Posted 75, waited 50
EP
Spaceship Earth - walk on no wait

As you can see, the posted times NEVER exceed the actual wait time. In many cases the wait time is dramatically less than what is posted. This is obviously the ride schedule for a dad and his 18 year old son, but I'd assume the same would apply to rides in Fantasyland and other areas as well.

One thing to note, many rides were down for significant periods of time. R&R at HS was down for 3 days of our trip. Other rides were down frequently, but I suspect it could have to do with disinfecting rides during the day.

Also, gift shops also have line queues to get in. Including those like Mexico in Epcot which are connected to the restaurant. If you have a dining reservation, consider that you may have to wait in a queue to get in the building and plan accordingly!

CONCLUSION: If you're on the fence over safety of you and your family at Disney - like I was - I'd say don't be. That's not saying there is no risk, there is. Just be vigilant about sanitizing, masks and all of the safety protocols. The weather right now is great and makes the mask tolerable. July heat? Probably not.

We're home now and quarantining from the rest of the family. We are going to get tested on Monday or Tuesday to give us a few days post travel so if we have anything it will show on test. I am not worried at all. The entire experience, at least for us, was amazing... and felt safe.

Have fun if you go!


EDIT: Update tip from my son. Bring small snacks into park to use as license to take of the mask and eat while stopped off to the side every now and then. We often didn't want to eat anything, so didn't want to spend $20 on snacks. A granola bar in had while sitting off to side is, what my son called "the mask break ticket".

 

[dez1978]

We have a trip in March and while so many complain about the lack of fp, fireworks, etc I’m actually really looking forward to a trip without all of that.

 

[RanDIZ]

We have a trip in March and while so many complain about the lack of fp, fireworks, etc I’m actually really looking forward to a trip without all of that.

I can honesty say our early Dec trip was one of the best we’ve ever taken. The limited capacity outweighed the missing FP, fireworks, etc.

 

[karen4546]

UPDATE POST TRIP



Also, gift shops also have line queues to get in. Including those like Mexico in Epcot which are connected to the restaurant. If you have a dining reservation, consider that you may have to wait in a queue to get in the building and plan accordingly!

If you have a reservation for the restaurant, they will let you in. When we were there, there was a cast member who checked us in.

 

[Cheburashka]

I can honesty say our early Dec trip was one of the best we’ve ever taken. The limited capacity outweighed the missing FP, fireworks, etc.

We've been twice since reopening, once in July and once in December. December was better at the parks because the heat was merciless this past July (Orlando heat wave), especially since hours were so short and we were wearing masks. We enjoyed the resorts & their pools plenty in July, though.

We're visiting again in March, probably our last trip for years- really maximizing our use of the annual passes that we activated in December 2019 and had extra months added to them due to closure. If we ever return to Disney World after that, it will likely be completely post-pandemic and frankly, I'm not looking forward to what those crowds will be like. I've been relishing the experience of actually having personal space at WDW.

I also never want to deal with FastPasses again in any form. I've learned from our 2020 trips that we enjoy the parks more when we're spontaneous, rather than scheduled as with FP+, or rushed, as with FP-. Fireworks are nice to see from a distance, but I have no desire to ever get in one of those fireworks crowds again, and since they had already taken away our favorite fireworks show, Wishes, it kind of feels like, oh well.

All in all it's been a great year of Disney trips, despite the pandemic. I'm very glad I bought and activated the passes when I did. WDW has been there for us as a place to experience joy during what has otherwise been a rough year.

 

[eleven24]

I also never want to deal with FastPasses again in any form. I've learned from our 2020 trips that we enjoy the parks more when we're spontaneous, rather than scheduled as with FP+

Interesting perspective as I actually hope FP comes back sooner rather than later. A lot less waiting in line for us with FP for the major attractions which allows us to fill in time between FP’s with things we may not normally do.

 

[irazabul]

Thanks for the report. I hadn't realized that FP is suspended, but I think that is a good thing as I think that is added planning stress. I'm planning a trip for my DD 18, but that is in June and things will probably be different then.

 

[Disbug]

It would be nice for FP to return... just not FP+. Don't like having to schedule so far in advance for which park; which rides; specific times. Some spontaneity would be great!

 

[MeridaICR]

Thanks for the report. We cancelled our December trip and I was so sad about it but we didn't feel comfortable with the idea. It sounds like everything worked out fine. I would like to know if your tests came back negative for the virus.

 

[gisele2]

And what was the result of the COVID tests ?