Trip Report It was the best of times in the worst of times...

Hello All!
We're back from our October 2020 Disney trip, and a crazy time it was!

Like so many others whose trips were cancelled/delayed and changed, ours was too. A year ago before the world collapsed my husband wanted to have a big family blowout trip in November 2020. Our usual companions are my son 20, occasionally daughter 32 and her new husband. He also wanted (for whatever reason) to invite my mother and husband who profess to despise Disney, despite never having been there. His brother and wife, who live in NC and are so reluctant to travel they don't know the restaurants in their own town. He wanted to invite my sister, her husband and son, that he doesn't really spend any time with.🤷‍♀️ I said, "whatever dude" you invite and I'll figure it out.

Invitations went out and 2020 arrived. Our 2020 like many others has been a big pile of 💩 with one shining exception. So, I'm going to list from January to now in a purposely run-on sentence (paragraph) to get the years crap mentioned here and out of the way. It's meant to read fast and forget. The reason I'm going to go into our family's woes is some of this impacted our trip planning/scheduling.

January Scooby (our crazy loving dog) had to be put down and it was very traumatic February Gary's cancer worsened (those of you that have read my other reports know he is fighting stage 4 colon cancer) and they had to increase his chemo Gary gets both cataracts out right before Covid hits February I schedule the Poly for a crap ton of people that of course aren't coming March Seth gets kicked out of his college dorm in Savannah with the Covid shut down and in 48 hours finds an apartment we drive down 12 hours with a Uhaul trailer with donated furniture to help set him up looking like the Beverly hillbillies Aleisha my oldest gets laid off from her job as an interior designer in California due to Covid April we start volunteering at the local food bank because increasing volumes of people are hungry May Aleisha gets her job back and then looses it again due to Covid July I fall in the yard fracturing in multiple pieces my right (dominant) wrist requiring surgery September the day my daughter and her husband are getting ready to put a down payment on a house in California he gets laid off from his job as a lawyer due to Covid.

What, you say, could possibly be the shining exception? In the middle of that mess in April Aleisha and Julio called to tell us that we will be first time grandparents mid December! We're going to have a baby girl!

So, all of that crazy above resulted in my daughter and husband bailing on us for the November trip, and of course none of those in-laws, outlaws etc. were ever going to come, so we rearranged dates around my sons school schedule and planned for a trip in October, and said pooh to the rest of the invitees!

The people who actually ended up going were: Myself-Cindy, Husband-Gary, Son-Seth, Seth's friend from school-John
When: October 21-26th
Where: 1 night Rivera 1 bedroom Villa, and 4 nights at the Polynesian in a Bungalow
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MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Arrival day continued-

Our flight had been changed 3 times by Southwest so my fingers were crossed we wouldn't end up with some issues. But, we not only took off on time, it was a 12 pm fight, but we got in a little early!
It's not much but isn't this a wonderful site?!
But, as the luggage delivery service has been (temporarily suspended they say), we had to head to baggage claim to collect our luggage before we get on the bus.
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@riverside I saw this at the gate, you might want to avoid it if eagle eye J is around! Unless you have to pay off another bribe! 🤣
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Next transport method for the day is the tram. I miss the Star Wars wraps from last year.
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Isn't this nice! :D
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And look, it's Gary's namesake!
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Magic bands are ready! (My selfie skills not so ready)! We indulged in these as I don't know how long they will continue with the bands as they are phasing out "free" ones. I really find them convenient to use. Seth didn't want a new one, he has an old one he likes.
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As we headed towards the buses this is the line we came to. The first of many. This line was long due to a combination of the social distance markers as well as there were only 2 CM's working the line. And there was a woman blocking one of lines who could not find any of her documentation to get on the bus and it took them awhile to pull her over and let the rest of the line proceed.
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I want one of these for my house!
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Up next, we're off to Disney's Riviera Resort!!!
 

MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Eye shields & masks are perfectly fine as long as you don’t request an evacuation of all the rows around you!!🤣🤣🤣

And I’m here & looking forward to this—now that I’ve finally made it to shelter!!😉🤣
Yeah, that was a little crazy!
And I'm glad you weren't swept away with the monsoon!
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Pittsburgher here! Why can’t they ever just blow out the team? I need every game to be like the Browns game this year. Let me enjoy it. No - I stress for 4 quarters! We will be in Disney next Sunday so hopefully Dallas doesn’t cause any stress! But you know our Steelers love to play to our opponents level! 🙃

I’m so in for this report! 🖤💛
 

MegRuss626

Well-Known Member
Sorry, I had to take a little break to watch my Steelers play the Ravens. That was a nail biter!
Anyway, on to day 1.

October 21st-Arrival day!

I'm a late packer, so didn't really start till the day before. But one thing I did do was bling up some masks! I figured if we had to wear them may as well try to have some sort of celebration thing going on. So with my trusty glue gun and some craft stuff I had around, made these.
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We grabbed our gear and headed for the Pittsburgh Airport. It's only about 20 minutes from our home.
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The long walk to fun!
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We got through security with no wait at all and rode the tram to the air side. There was only one other passenger.
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A Pittsburgh type safety reminder.
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The airside was fairly empty!
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I got Chick-fil-A nuggets for lunch, and while it doesn't look like Gary ate, he had a chicken sandwich. It was pretty good. They are working with a fairly limited menu. There were no kids meals, etc. Oh yeah, and the candy man there, brought some mini chocolates for dessert!
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As we prepared to board we changed into N95's and nice light eye shields for the flight. No space goggles for us @riverside!
Everyone has their own opinions and risk tolerance for traveling right now, and our thought is let's be careful but still try to get a little enjoyment during this mess. We talked to Gary's doctors first as I didn't want to be on the national news as the idiot doctor who took her cancer'd up husband to Disney and got Covid! They all felt it was reasonable to go with these precautions. So, here's our snazzy flight wear!
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Up next, we're in Orlando!!!

Seeing your pictures of the airport made me super excited!! 3 more days until I get to make the 20 minute drive! And I think you may have DEFINITELY needed your trip after this stupid year!
 

Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
For a Walt Disney World fanatic, even Orlando Airport is an exciting part of the magic. Thanks for including part of the journey in your trip report. It really helps with the feeling that I'm going along with you.
 

MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I love 💕 how you have blinged up your masks.
Thanks, I was trying to figure out a way to have a little Disney without the cloth masks. I have read on this site, that they are uncomfortable with the heat and humidity and people were preferring the surgical masks. It was funny how quite a few people including cast members commented on them.
 

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