Trip Report Covid Honeymoon! (11/27 - 12/5)

Not sure I am going to post a whop of pictures, but wanted to offer my review of our days for our Covid stay!

Friday - arrived at 1 PM, at the resort by 2:30, and then did Disney Springs. There were hand sanitizer stations everywhere - every store and random places in the walk ways and entrys. They did temp check you before entry. Nothing exciting there but did get two shirts at the Galactic Outpost! Finished the night at California Grill and we got so lucky to sit next to the window to see Magic Kingdom. It was really special to see them change the castle projections with fireworks every 15 minutes while enjoying our first honeymoon dinner.

Saturday - Epcot day - this was our only day at Epcot. We went around to a few different holiday pavilions and tried 5 out of the 6 cookies (we were so tired later, we skipped the peppermint cookie in Canada). We ate dinner at Le Cellier that night and boy was that ribeye something special. Probably one of the best steaks I have had and I am from Nebraska ;D I would say 95% of the time people obeyed the 6 ft markings on the ground. It didn't really bother me a whole bunch or my fiance, but it clearly bothered others. Some times the line would just speed up and so you kept walking to catch up, only to get caught between the queue markings, so you ended up 3 ft away from parties. It happens. You would also occasionally run into a hand sanitizer station that was empty, but it was uncommon/rare. Overall, I was QUITE pleased with how Disney was doing this.

Sunday - Animal Kingdom Pt. 1 - as far as sanitation goes, no change here. The Affection Section made you sanitize before entry and then made you wash up before you could get out. Still about 95% queue marking success with people. The holiday flotillas were cute. We did dinner at Tiffins and this was not my favorite. The food was good but I enjoyed the others in hindsight.

Monday - Magic Kingdom Pt. 1 - no change in sanitation feelings. Still 95% queue marking success with people. The little holiday parades they did, while I am sure doesn't compare to previous, still added a little touch. The projections at night actually was pretty neat, and they changed every 15 minutes and did so with one launch of fireworks. Pretty awesome to see :) We did dinner at Be Our Guest and that was an enjoyable experience!

Tuesday - Hollywood Studios Pt. 1 - still no change in queue marking success with people or sanitation feelings. We were unlucky with getting onto Rise of the Resistance that morning (it filled in a few seconds, probably 5) but we got really lucky and got boarding group 78 in the afternoon and I believe 79 or 80 was the last boarding group that night. Runaway Railroad was okay, but disappointed it and Rise had similarities.

Wednesday - Animal Kingdom Pt. 2 - my grandparents from Ft Meyers actually met us up here. We had a very slow day. Did lunch at Yak and Yeti then did Dinner later at Planet Hollywood in DS.

Thursday - Hollywood Studios Pt. 2 - still no change in sanitation feelings. Got real lucky and got boarding group 9! However, Rise was down until about 12:15 today. We did lunch at 50's Prime Time and while the whole theme was cute, I wouldn't go back. My wife loved it and this waitress was giving one of our tables a reallll hard time, but it is just not my cup of tea. We actually cancelled our dinner res at Hollywood and Vine because we were beat and wanted to go back to Pop and rest as tomorrow we were doing MK all day for our last day.

Tomorrow we do MK (leave Saturday) and as far as Sanitation goes, I really felt safe at Disney. We had our own hand sanitizer with us at all times but really impressed with the frequency of the hand sany stations and how they kept them up in stock. For a delayed honeymoon, we were both quite pleased we decided we stuck with our plans. If anyone has generic concerns, I would say to not be. If you are concerned because you or one of your party is high risk, stay home.

My biggest notice this trip compared to our last trip in August '19 was that with random shops and shows/entertainment closed, it literally pushed everyone to the rides and made all the lines for the main rides 45-60 minute waits for each ride. When we went last August it was half that, except for Flight of Passage and Smugglers Run.

With that aside, this was my now wife's second trip to MK (once during Halloween and now Holidays) and my fourth and we have never seen everything done up for the Holidays. Main Street was truly special to see. We hope to one day come back during a normal time to embrace everything fully. However, we ate at a lot of the more expensive places this trip because it was our honeymoon and we are pretty sure we wont be coming back for 5+ years.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1600.JPG
    IMG_1600.JPG
    119.5 KB · Views: 289
  • IMG_1580.JPG
    IMG_1580.JPG
    77.5 KB · Views: 286
  • IMG_1563.JPG
    IMG_1563.JPG
    99 KB · Views: 283
  • IMG_1553.JPG
    IMG_1553.JPG
    80.6 KB · Views: 252
  • IMG_1546.JPG
    IMG_1546.JPG
    61.7 KB · Views: 250
  • IMG_1483.JPG
    IMG_1483.JPG
    75.1 KB · Views: 237
  • IMG_1479.JPG
    IMG_1479.JPG
    48.4 KB · Views: 242
  • IMG_1432.JPG
    IMG_1432.JPG
    102.1 KB · Views: 244
  • IMG_1405.JPG
    IMG_1405.JPG
    64.5 KB · Views: 263

cgersic

Well-Known Member
Congratulations and I'm happy you were able to make the trip! Your wife's hair is just adorable like that and it looks like you both had a great time. Thanks for sharing and giving an update as things seem to be changing since my summer trip too!
 

Schweino

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Add on - today is our last full day and we did MK. Holy crap - if that was maxed at 35% capacity I don't wanna be here when it is at 50%. Splash, Thunder, Space Mountains and Pirates were at 60+ min waits at around 1 PM. We came back to relax before we go back for dinner at Cinderella's Table.
 

Schweino

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Last day (MK Evening) - so we got back to MK around 4:15 to finish out the night. We hit the Emporium to look around and had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table at 5:05. After dinner, the lines for the rides diminished to about 40-45 minutes for Pirates, Splash and Thunder mountain. So we did Pirates since we had yet to hit that, did Thunder right after, and then finished walking through Swiss and catching the view to the north for a bit. Got some ice cream and sat in the main viewing area watching the castle a bit. Currently in the room while we get everything cleaned up.

Overall Thoughts

We had planned this trip once, cancelled when Covid hit, then changed our minds and rebooked in September. Overall, I am glad we decided to come. Seeing Disney all decorated for the holidays, for our honeymoon, really made this trip special. I imagine if Disney had all rides/shops/experiences open, the lines for the rides may not of been so bad. With all that closed it really pushed people to just rides at the parks. Our trip in August last year was no where near as crowded as it was these past 7 days. I would not recommend coming for people who have never been to Disney before, due to the little magic/experiences that are not there yet, but I am not sure I have seen something as beautiful as Main Street at night decorated for Christmas. It made me even think about being a DVC member for just a moment :p

We are staying away from Disney next year mainly because I feel it will be more crowded than usual with everyone pushing their trips because of Covid + the 50th, but think I am going to hold onto my Disney Premier Visa to see if any cheap'ish '22 rates come out. Though, with the Pop rates I saw, I think I won't hold my breath on that.
 

Schweino

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Few pics..
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1728.JPG
    IMG_1728.JPG
    138.4 KB · Views: 237
  • IMG_1724.JPG
    IMG_1724.JPG
    161.3 KB · Views: 238
  • IMG_1720.JPG
    IMG_1720.JPG
    183.9 KB · Views: 213
  • IMG_1718.JPG
    IMG_1718.JPG
    60.9 KB · Views: 208
  • IMG_1714.JPG
    IMG_1714.JPG
    131.8 KB · Views: 214
  • IMG_1711.JPG
    IMG_1711.JPG
    107.5 KB · Views: 194
  • IMG_1710.JPG
    IMG_1710.JPG
    58.9 KB · Views: 201
  • IMG_1707.JPG
    IMG_1707.JPG
    68.8 KB · Views: 203
  • IMG_1692.JPG
    IMG_1692.JPG
    71.2 KB · Views: 230
  • IMG_1689.JPG
    IMG_1689.JPG
    93.5 KB · Views: 303

Schweino

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Last selections ;D
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1571.JPG
    IMG_1571.JPG
    148.4 KB · Views: 198
  • IMG_1570.JPG
    IMG_1570.JPG
    96 KB · Views: 181
  • IMG_1566.JPG
    IMG_1566.JPG
    75 KB · Views: 193
  • IMG_1563.JPG
    IMG_1563.JPG
    99 KB · Views: 187
  • IMG_1561.JPG
    IMG_1561.JPG
    120.3 KB · Views: 189
  • IMG_1558.JPG
    IMG_1558.JPG
    104 KB · Views: 181
  • IMG_1553.JPG
    IMG_1553.JPG
    80.6 KB · Views: 195
  • IMG_1549.JPG
    IMG_1549.JPG
    169.9 KB · Views: 197
  • IMG_1545.JPG
    IMG_1545.JPG
    60.3 KB · Views: 189
  • IMG_1532.JPG
    IMG_1532.JPG
    51 KB · Views: 195

KellBelle

Well-Known Member
We were there almost the same dates as you and we were surprised at how crowded the parks seemed! I think it was honestly busier than our Dec. 2019 trip. Looks like you guys had a great time, thank you for sharing!
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom