Pre-Trip So...I guess I booked a Spring Break trip? UPDATING LIVE-ish

Hello my Disney friends!

I'm Ali (rhymes with Sally)
Here I am with my husband Jim, our daughter Gwen, and our son Ethan at Disneyland back in June 2019

Nobody needs me to tell them what 2020 was like.
We all lived it.

My family and I have been among the lucky ones. We've endured disappointments, cabin fever and cancelled plans, but nothing more serious than that.
Lucky. Seriously.

Among the many things that were cancelled was our Disney vacation. We were planning to spend nine days at WDW and the beach with our two kids and my mother. Obviously, we had to "float" those plans.

When the parks reopened, we were still thinking optimistically, hoping COVID numbers would improve, and tentatively booked Park Pass reservations for the first week of December.
As the months passed, we felt it was more important to enjoy the holiday season with family (we have kept our parents and siblings "in the bubble") than to go on vacation, so once again, we "floated" our plans.
I rebooked our Park Passes for early May, fully prepared to keep floating

Once the holidays were behind us, we decided to get serious about our Disney plans and started looking at flights. Jim quickly nixed my May dates, as he is not in favor of pulling the kids out of school. We are lucky enough to have full-time in person learning available in our school district, so I had to agree with him. One last float.

We decided on March 17 - 25 off-site at Blue Heron Beach Resort

So...I guess I booked a Spring Break trip!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Safe travels!

 

[cgersic]

I think we are as excited as you! Probably due to the fabulous countdown! Have a magical trip!

 

[MissViv]

Finally caught up and following along. Would like to see photos of the Blue Heron, sounds interesting!

 

[Darstarr]

You're saying all the right things!
It snowed here in Chicagoland yesterday
So ready for the FL weather!

When I landed in NY there were light flurries
Have fun!!!

 

[MerMom1981]

Made it!

Headed to Disney Springs and grabbed dinner from Cooks of Dublin and Chicken Guy. DS was medium busy overall, but crowds were extra thick around Raglan Road.
Also got some gelato for the kids, because I believe in starting vacation strong.

Settling in at Blue Heron now.
A few room pics:

Entry

King bedroom (there's a balcony to the right)

One of two bathrooms

2nd bedroom

Living/dining

It's not fancy, and the furnishings are pretty dated, but it's clean, spacious and affordable

Epcot in the morning!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Made it!
View attachment 540325
Headed to Disney Springs and grabbed dinner from Cooks of Dublin and Chicken Guy. DS was medium busy overall, but crowds were extra thick around Raglan Road.
Also got some gelato for the kids, because I believe in starting vacation strong.

Settling in at Blue Heron now.
A few room pics:
View attachment 540322
Entry
View attachment 540323
King bedroom (there's a balcony to the right)
View attachment 540324
One of two bathrooms
View attachment 540326
2nd bedroom
View attachment 540327
Living/dining

It's not fancy, and the furnishings are pretty dated, but it's clean, spacious and affordable

Epcot in the morning!

So jealous!! Have a great time!

 

[MissViv]

Made it!
View attachment 540325
Headed to Disney Springs and grabbed dinner from Cooks of Dublin and Chicken Guy. DS was medium busy overall, but crowds were extra thick around Raglan Road.
Also got some gelato for the kids, because I believe in starting vacation strong.

Settling in at Blue Heron now.
A few room pics:
View attachment 540322
Entry
View attachment 540323
King bedroom (there's a balcony to the right)
View attachment 540324
One of two bathrooms
View attachment 540326
2nd bedroom
View attachment 540327
Living/dining

It's not fancy, and the furnishings are pretty dated, but it's clean, spacious and affordable

Epcot in the morning!

Made it!
View attachment 540325
Headed to Disney Springs and grabbed dinner from Cooks of Dublin and Chicken Guy. DS was medium busy overall, but crowds were extra thick around Raglan Road.
Also got some gelato for the kids, because I believe in starting vacation strong.

Settling in at Blue Heron now.
A few room pics:
View attachment 540322
Entry
View attachment 540323
King bedroom (there's a balcony to the right)
View attachment 540324
One of two bathrooms
View attachment 540326
2nd bedroom
View attachment 540327
Living/dining

It's not fancy, and the furnishings are pretty dated, but it's clean, spacious and affordable

Epcot in the morning!

 

[MissViv]

Are u driving to Epcot or taking the shuttle from your resort? I saw where they offered a free shuttle ... wondering about the times.

 

[MerMom1981]

I think we are as excited as you! Probably due to the fabulous countdown! Have a magical trip!

Thank you so much!
We're having a great time so far!

 

[MerMom1981]

Are u driving to Epcot or taking the shuttle from your resort? I saw where they offered a free shuttle ... wondering about the times.

We drove. We like the flexibility of being on our own schedule.

 

[MerMom1981]

So jealous!! Have a great time!

Thank you!

 

[MerMom1981]

Excellent day at Epcot!

We rode SOARIN'and LWTL before lunch, (park opened at 11) then took our time enjoying the butterfly garden and flowerbeds before heading to World Showcase.
Crowds were very manageable. It was busy, but far from overwhelming.
We strolled and shopped at an easy pace. We made time to see Canada Far & Wide, did a tea garden scavenger hunt in the UK, and caught a Voices of Liberty performance before dinner.

I was able to grab an ADR for Via Napoli yesterday before our flight. It was fantastic! My mom & I shared the house salad and white pizza with artichoke & truffle oil. AMAZING!

There was steady drizzle as we exited, and it looked like more rain was on the way, so we decided to head out. But not before a walk-on at SSE.

We're off to a pretty good start!
AK tomorrow

 

[cgersic]

Yay!!! It's spring break for the Florida county I live in (southwest) so I was wondering how crowds are. I was surprised to see lightning in the night sky at my house last night as we haven't had rain in a long time. Enjoying tagging along!

 

[MissViv]

We drove. We like the flexibility of being on our own schedule.

I have always stayed inside the "bubble" but ...

I am seriously thinking about booking this resort for October. My 2 nieces, who live in Tampa, will be joining me - 3 adults, so we need the room. They will be driving in so we will have a car and I will be flying in from TN.

We can save a lot of $$$ staying here and the extra room will be like a home away from home instead of a hotel room!

 

[littleroo]

I am glad you are having a great time! I am throughly enjoying your updates!!

 

[MerMom1981]

I have always stayed inside the "bubble" but ...

I am seriously thinking about booking this resort for October. My 2 nieces, who live in Tampa, will be joining me - 3 adults, so we need the room. They will be driving in so we will have a car and I will be flying in from TN.

We can save a lot of $$$ staying here and the extra room will be like a home away from home instead of a hotel room!

October will be wonderful! All the 50th celebrations, plus Ratatouille will be open! Jealous!
I totally understand wanting to stay in the bubble. Can't deny the magic.
Still, we have been happy with fewer amenities and more space for less (way less) money.

 

[MerMom1981]

I am glad you are having a great time! I am throughly enjoying your updates!!

Glad to have you along!

 

[MerMom1981]

Yay!!! It's spring break for the Florida county I live in (southwest) so I was wondering how crowds are. I was surprised to see lightning in the night sky at my house last night as we haven't had rain in a long time. Enjoying tagging along!

Thanks for following!

 

[MerMom1981]

Yesterday at AK

We didn't even try to arrive before park opening at 8am. We're on vacation, plus lockdown makes you lazy. We don't have the stamina to Disney that way.

We sailed through temp check, and security, and the tapstyles well before 9am.
Fight of Passage was already up to 105 minutes, so we started our day with a safari ride. The animals were super active, but the plastic dividers really ruin the views. Everything in my forward vision was distorted, and I ended up feeling a little motion sick as a result.

The queue for Everest was bananas! It was only about 20 minutes, but it stretched all the way past the Nemo theater, and snaked through the ROL bleachers.

FOP dropped to 60 minutes, so we got in a ride before lunch.
Dinosaur was up next. The wait was 45 uncomfortable minutes. This was the first time I felt that other guests were not distancing properly.
We noticed several parties using FP+. How? I know VIP access is still available for $$$$, but are that many people really dropping that much money?

We shared an ice cream sandwich from Dino Bites, which gave my tounge freezer burn, then headed out for an afternoon break.

 

[mpaulam]

Sounds like things are going well
I also saw people using FP+ return areas and we were asked if we had a return time while entering a queue once. I'm thinking these are rider swap, assistance passes, etc???
Looking forward to more!