Trip Report An OG Anniversary Trip - Completed

And we're back!

We'll be spending our anniversary-ish trip at Walt Disney World. You may remember that we've turned into avid Disney cruisers and have pretty much sailabrated (see what I did there) on a cruise ship for the past several years. Much to our dismay, that won't be happening this year, but cruising will be back, so in the meantime, we will get Disney where we can.

If you've followed our past journeys, we may have mentioned that we had a DLR and cruise planned for mid-September. Cruise was cancelled and it's not looking like DLR is going to open the parks any time soon. We hate that Disney waits until THE LAST MINUTE to cancel, so we've taken it upon ourselves to change our plans.

I called up DVC today (less than 5-minute wait) and changed our Grand Californian stay to a Walt Disney World stay.

Here's the rundown. Jim Halpert needs to take notes.

Who:

What: A rescheduled DLR trip.
When: September 22 - 27
Where: Boardwalk Villas Studio

We converted a 3-day ticket for a visit in February to a 6-day in September, no problem. I made park reservations as well. I'm not going to lie...when this park reservation business began, I thought this was going to be a crazy free-for-all and all the dates would be snatched up. I was wrong. I've had positive experiences both times when reserving parks.

We have our room reservation and tickets in place. Now I'm working on flights and dining reservations.

 

[Zipadeelady]

So much this! Less than a week before starting school we get told “oh, BTW, all next week has to be online now so kids can get acclimated to school” . This was on top of “oh you have 38 kids in your course well you can only have 13 kids in your classroom at a time and since you only teach Mon/Wed you need to break your roster into 3 mini rosters and rotate the groups through the semester but make sure they are all learning the same thing at the same time. And, no, you cant teach your course all online “

Serenity Now!

I really hate this for the students. Its so convoluted.

Ugh! That sounds ridiculous! At least here some are allowed to teach online. Some have a modified class where the students switch on and off between coming into class and the other half Zoom. We got professors teaching in gymnasiums, concert halls, the golf course clubhouse just to maintain social distancing. It's crazy. Plexi glass everywhere.

 

[LadyBelle]

So much this! Less than a week before starting school we get told “oh, BTW, all next week has to be online now so kids can get acclimated to school” . This was on top of “oh you have 38 kids in your course well you can only have 13 kids in your classroom at a time and since you only teach Mon/Wed you need to break your roster into 3 mini rosters and rotate the groups through the semester but make sure they are all learning the same thing at the same time. And, no, you cant teach your course all online “

Serenity Now!

I really hate this for the students. Its so convoluted.

Students at my university can elect to take the semester remotely. Only the people in charge of setting their schedule didn’t really tell us who these students were so that they could be charged correctly. We only found out because a parent called. Now, our system charges based on the number of hours each student is enrolled, but Admin wants to charge them based on their candidacy (so that they can also keep their full amount of financial aid).

Our semester started last week - a week earlier so that they can finish before Thanksgiving.

Me after last week.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Our semester started last week - a week earlier so that they can finish before Thanksgiving.

We've started on our regular start date and end right before Thanksgiving. Honestly, even during normal times, I'd rather start a week earlier and end before Thanksgiving.

 

[Trust2deal]

in

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I'm in and happy early anniversary!

 

[imahistorygeek]

No real update to share, but we are strategizing how early to get to the parks. The only one that I feel we need to be there really early is Hollywood Studios. I'm sure by the time we leave, I'll have read everything on the internet about the virtual queue.

What I'm looking forward to doing/seeing/experiencing on this trip:
- lower crowd levels - every time we go it's like 10 crowds, wall-to-wall bodies
- new rides (fingers crossed for landing a spot in the RotR virtual queue)
- spam hash at the Hawaii booth in World Showcase. I'm a huge fan of spam aka spiced ham at Kona Cafe. The actual name of the dish is Teriyaki-glazed SPAM Hash with Potatoes, Peppers, Onions and spicy Mayonnaise. Bring it.
- Passion Rose Sangria: Red Wine, Rum, Rose Petal Liqueur, Passion Fruit Purée and Lime in Mexico. I love anything rose flavored.

I love this stuff.

- Staying at Boardwalk again. I really like having the ability to walk to two parks.
- Trying out the Skyliner
- Abbreviated pre-show at FoP. Even less ''umms."

We did invite our daughter for part of the trip. She has enough Southwest points for a RT flight. She'll just need to pay for a 2-day park ticket and get herself to the airport and to the resort. She declined. That's okay because someone has to feed the two cats...and the 3 geckos and tarantula.

 

[fractal]

tarantula?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I hate to burst your bubble about the Spam hash but it isn't that great this year. The chunks of Spam were really small, both my husband and I commented that it was really tough to tell that it was even in there. And our potatoes were hard. Maybe it was a bad batch but go in for warned. We were pretty bummed about it because we have enjoyed it in the past and we really do like eating Spam at home (fried spam in homemade mac and cheese is awesome!).

 

[imahistorygeek]

tarantula?

Yep, Lady Knuckles

 

[imahistorygeek]

I hate to burst your bubble about the Spam hash but it isn't that great this year. The chunks of Spam were really small, both my husband and I commented that it was really tough to tell that it was even in there. And our potatoes were hard. Maybe it was a bad batch but go in for warned. We were pretty bummed about it because we have enjoyed it in the past and we really do like eating Spam at home (fried spam in homemade mac and cheese is awesome!).

I'll give it a try. I never have high expectation for any of the food at the booths, but sometimes I'm surprised. The only item I've ever ordered and raved about was a rose margarita at Flower and Garden.

I could eat spam on a regular basis and in mac and cheese is delicious.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Yeah, definitely give it a try. I hope we just had a bad batch and it is better for you.

 

[Darstarr]

How about just feeding the geckos to the tarantula and call it a day
🕷

 

[Zipadeelady]

The Passion Rose Sangria sounds fantastic. Lady knuckles kinda freaks me out. I had the Spam last fall. I liked everything in the dish but the Spam but.... I'm not a Spam person, I just wanted to try something new. Loved the Skyliner, so convenient. Why anyone would take a bus now is beyond me if the skyliner is an option.

 

[Ariel_x33]

Im in! Can't wait to read all about your trip!

 

[imahistorygeek]

How about just feeding the geckos to the tarantula and call it a day
🕷

Don't think that thought hasn't crossed my mind.

The Passion Rose Sangria sounds fantastic. Lady knuckles kinda freaks me out. I had the Spam last fall. I liked everything in the dish but the Spam but.... I'm not a Spam person, I just wanted to try something new.

You're not alone, she freaks me out as well. The worst part is when she molts. It is as if there are TWO of her.
Spam has a particular flavor and you either like it or you don't. It's delicious as a fried "meat."

 

[imahistorygeek]

Approximately 2 weeks out

We've pretty much finalized our plans for our trip. We don't have any dinner plans. We plan to mostly wing it with a stop at Il Mulino.

Arrive on the 22nd, head to Epcot. We may get there right when it opens or pretty close. I have a food/drink list. For the most part, we will just graze for food. These are on my list to try.

In no specific order:
- World Showcase Pavilion - Nitro cake pop just because I like cake pops and M&Ms.
- Hawai'i - Spam dish
- Mexico - Passion rose sangria
- Morocco - Hummus fries and chocolate baklava - we had considered Spice Road, but honestly, don't want to eat up the limited park time by sitting in a restaurant.
- Brazil - black beer
- Germany - Hacker beer

I didn't write down exact names for everything, just made simple notes.

23rd is MK day 1 - we have a 7:30 am reservation at The Wave and then will walk over to MK. No firm plans. We will see where the day takes us.
24th is HS - We will walk over from Boardwalk. We will make sure all of our phones are ready for the virtual queue (I honestly expect RotR to not be functioning). I think this will be another day of grazing. We'll probably hit up Base Line Tap House for beer, pretzel, meat, and cheese. We have a 3:30 reservation for Oga's Cantina. I booked for the experience. There's also a meat/cheese plate with spam and pork rinds. So....
25th is AK - This is a whole day of winging in.
26th is MK #2 - We are heading to The Wave again for breakfast. Maybe we'll do something we've never done in MK. Again, this is another day of winging it. Maybe we will do Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom (I think that's the name).
27th is AK before we head back to the airport.

We've been throwing around a December trip as well, IF Disney opens up AP sales. We have a Celebrity cruise during the December break, but there's a super-low chance of that happening, so maybe the AP thing will work out. Cruising seems like such a distant memory. I keep checking to see if DCL prices are going down in 2021. #joke

 

[imahistorygeek]

I feel as though I'm preparing for something major. I've pretty much read everything I can find on successfully obtaining a boarding group for RotR.

Step 1 - Panic
Step 2 - Get to HS early
Step 3 - More panic
Step 4 - open MDE app and get ready for the virtual queue to open
Step 5 - My phone makes you hard refresh. Hard refresh until 10.
Step 6 - Hopefully I'm successful and get a boarding group. They're being snatched up in 10 - 15 seconds.
Step 7 - Hopefully sigh with relief because you are successful. (Think positive thoughts)
Step 8 - Pray the ride doesn't go down.

I've practiced for 10 am. Was able to get through the process (until the names showed up) once and by 10 am, they were all gone. I'll try again at 2.

Nothing we've done at Disney has ever been this stressful, not even the jog/power walk to FoP at AK.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Well, i just read over in the General Discussion board that 84.2% said that Rise of the Resistance is worth the Hype and Stress. So all your planning and stress will be worth it. So they say.....

 

[Cetta]

I'll be at MK the same day as you and also planning on eating breakfast at the Contemporary that morning. We're doing DHS on Friday. Short two park trip for us. I have never done an adult only trip after having kids so I am excited and nervous about it (last time I was out of town I got a call from my son's school nurse saying he ran into a tree on the playgroup lol). I am the only one in our group of 5 that has been recently: me (went in February), my brother (went in 2002), his fiancé (went about 7 years ago), my brother's friend (last went about 10 years ago) and his fiancé (never been) . I have no faith that my brother will actually be up and ready in time for getting a boarding group for ROTR. I am the type of person who wakes up at 6am daily while my brother can sleep til noon. Only time will tell lol I am not 100% sure what my plan is that morning but I know I need to get there early. Maybe we will see each other around

 

[imahistorygeek]

Well, i just read over in the General Discussion board that 84.2% said that Rise of the Resistance is worth the Hype and Stress. So all your planning and stress will be worth it. So they say.....

I read the same. I'm really excited and hope it works out. I also read a thread that pretty much details how to make sure you get the best possible chance for a boarding group and recent experiences.

I'll be at MK the same day as you and also planning on eating breakfast at the Contemporary that morning. We're doing DHS on Friday. Short two park trip for us. I have never done an adult only trip after having kids so I am excited and nervous about it (last time I was out of town I got a call from my son's school nurse saying he ran into a tree on the playgroup lol). I am the only one in our group of 5 that has been recently: me (went in February), my brother (went in 2002), his fiancé (went about 7 years ago), my brother's friend (last went about 10 years ago) and his fiancé (never been) . I have no faith that my brother will actually be up and ready in time for getting a boarding group for ROTR. I am the type of person who wakes up at 6am daily while my brother can sleep til noon. Only time will tell lol I am not 100% sure what my plan is that morning but I know I need to get there early. Maybe we will see each other around

Adult-only trips are the best! We've been doing them for quite a number of years and it's such a completely different experience than with kids.