You can chastise me now, but ill be there August 9th as long as all goes well.
Here are my intentions and thoughts.
Sure, the parks will not " be the same" but will they ever really be the same? Maybe I have to wear a mask, maybe i wont by then. But ask yourself this. will it change the wonder in a child's eyes the first time they see Pirates, or the first time you bite into that Churro. Do these memories change? No!
Sure there's no fast pass, something our family has hated, as we want to experience as we feel, not as we planned 6 months ago. Lets throw the clipboard of fun into the lagoon! The teary eyes when i drive under the welcome sign wont change.
There's silver linings in it all. Sure the park hours will be less, but if lines are shorter, and there's less guests, does one really need a 14 hour park day to " be on vacation"?
For us i say no. We are multi timers, and are lucky enough to live around 9 to 10 hours from the parks. We drive. We can be there tomorrow if we needed to be. We go about once a year.
For us Meet and Greets aren't something on our radar, neither is the 3 pm parade, but i will gladly point you there and tell you the time if you ask
we dodge parades to ride our favorite attractions. Most of the time we try to dodge fireworks to grab an illusive ride on Peter Pans flight as we didn't get up early enough to get a fastpass.
We will relish these memories that this trip presents. Sure it wont be"The same" but for my niece and nephew that have never been, its more than a trip to Disney, Its one on one time with their Aunt and Uncle that moved away 6 years ago, and they never get to see. Its their first dolewhip, its their first Mickey pretzel. Its their first Safari. They are teenagers. Seeing the characters from the bridge and saying thats Mickey Mouse, is good enough for them.
Sure i want them to experience the fireworks, and no one does them better, and maybe by august they will, but if not, its more time to spend with them. Maybe we go to the springs, maybe we have a movie night in our room with our Disney Plus. Maybe we get up early and make a special pre day breakfast ( we have a suite this trip kind of exctited) to get charged for what park we have a reservation that day. Lots of personal magic can be made.
Sure the parks "Wont be the same" but they are different every single day. There will still be magic, some you may have to invent yourself, but, that is what Walt intended all those years ago. Its much more than the attractions, or the meet and greets, its the time spent with family that you will remember for ever and ever.
