Trip Report Just enough

Hello again WDWMagic friends!
It has been a long, hard year since Covid began and for our family we were lucky enough to stay home and stay safe together for the majority of it. I would be lying if I said it hadn’t been rough on us regardless. My kids said goodbye to their school, friends, and teachers one afternoon last March, and never saw any of them again. I have done my best to keep them safe, happy and educated since then. In September I had to explain that a Disney trip we had been planning for years had to be cancelled, and that was not easy.
After the holidays I started to feel like we all needed a break and some Disney magic. I planned a trip for March but didn’t get my hopes up. I watched the days on the calendar tick by and when we were just a few weeks out I realized this might actually be happening and I should probably pack!
I was still not ready to be sure we could actually go until we got on the airplane. Thought that someone would spike a fever or new restrictions would be put into place kept me on my toes, so we kept the entire trip and complete and total secret from the kids. After the heartache of explaining a cancelled Disney trip, this was the only way I could handle it.
The night before the trip, my husband, R, put daughter O (now almost 7) and son Z (now 5) to bed while I packed for the trip. The kids woke up the next morning none the wiser. We had a good breakfast and then went off to a “doctors appointment”. There were about ten times I thought our cover was blown, when we got to the airport they said “Hey isn’t this the airport?” and not wanting to lie but not ready to reveal yet I said “It does look like the airport”. When we parked I got out new Minnie and Mickey backpacks for them loaded with things to keep them busy on the airplane. We finally revealed where we were headed and it took a few moments to sink in. Once they understood what was happening, we were met with squeals of delight.
2BD10F50-FFE3-4E20-9690-0CDA98FD3F23.jpeg

It was a whirlwind getting our luggage, checking in and getting through security. When we finally found a socially distanced seat at the gate and had a few minutes of downtime, the important questions began. Where are we staying, and how long? What parks are we going to? They were very happy with the answers and we soon boarded our flight to the magic.
 

ELeigh

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It makes my heart happy to see so many Disney friends following along with my TR. Thanks everyone for joining!

Now on to travel day part 2...

Some of you may remember from previous TR that we always have something go wrong on travel day (usually something big like narrowly missed flights, actually missing flights, rental car booked in the wrong city etc). I was beyond nervous that there would be something that went wrong with our travel day leading up to the trip, but when we had made it to the gate unscathed and I felt like we might have finally broken the pattern.

Our flight was fully booked so we decided the best approach was to have one parent sit with both children and the other across the aisle and it worked out perfectly. I got to sit with the kids and I’m sure I got the better end of that deal.
D1F25837-4AD1-4490-8F06-3BD943A0B6B5.jpeg
The flight was a bumpy one but we landed almost 30 minutes early. We boarded the “first ride” of the trip and collected our luggage.
A0FAA012-0CB2-4D5E-A337-41E71CFAB415.jpeg
144D519A-EE59-400F-9085-505049E459B4.jpeg

They wanted to show off their new backpacks while we waited for our bags. There was a slight delay at baggage claim, probably because we had gotten in so early and there were other flights ahead of us. R went to check the status of the rental car while I waited for the bags. R returned before the bags and let us know that we needed to go to the parking garage to collect our car.

Our plans for this trip required a car and I was nervous about the other forms transportation so we decided to opt out of magical express. We used Budget rental car-we also used them at San Diego for Disneyland last year and the fastbreak program is a lifesaver. Once we got our bags we headed to the fastbreak area only to discover our first (and only) snag of the day. Their power was out! We ended up waiting about 20-30 minutes for the manager to print out documents and run them over from another location but having signed up for the fastbreak program saved us from the main line which R reported was crazy. Overall it wasn’t a huge delay and I’m calling it our first fully successful travel day.

We got in our new ride and set our GPS to Pop Century. On the way we saw a drugstore and stopped to stock up on water bottles since they are 3$ a pop at the resort and in the parks, and we go through tons of them. We also made a pit stop at Arby’s since we were all in need of a snack and I am always ready for curly fries.
6AC4425A-7D2F-4006-8FD1-F2F2422BD525.jpeg

This wasn’t exactly the magical moment I hoped for...
46812974-59DB-4636-9647-218F4F81032B.jpeg

So I decided to snap a pic of Donald because he was looking great!

We made it to POP with no room ready text, so I left R with the kids to finish up their Arby’s while I ventured into the main lobby. It was 30 minutes past check in time so our room should have been ready, but the CM informed me that we were meant to stay in the 50s section, but the only rooms she currently had were in the 80s. We stayed in the 80s on our May 2019 trip and the kids loved it so I said we would take the 80s and we were soon unloaded in our room. I can never take room pictures because my children are too too anxious do this:
89A5292B-013C-498C-8A79-446A14F971E7.jpeg

It was 70 degrees, I lasted five minutes but these little fish lasted an hour. It has been a particularly rough winter this year in our neck of the woods and being able to swim in March was magical in itself.
 

Attachments

  • 1616164461788.png
    1616164461788.png
    161 bytes · Views: 88

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

Back
Top Bottom