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!

 

[MerMom1981]

You could also try touring plans ADR finder. And bump up the party size to 6. Sometimes we’ve had better luck booking too big a table than too small. Good luck!

I have read that Touring Plans is pretty fail safe. I guess I'll have to finally sign up.
Thank you!

 

[MerMom1981]

A 2 bedroom for $145/night! Sounds like a great deal. I'm very interested on hearing about your experience. I just may have to give it a try unless there is some unfavorable patrons that also had problems with spellcheck.

This will be our third stay at Blue Heron.
Here is the view from our balcony back in 2015

It's 5 minutes from Disney Springs and about 10-15 minutes from the parks.
It's a really great value for a family.

Glad to have you along for the PTR!

 

[MerMom1981]

Itinerary Continued

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios (10am - 7pn)
Hoping I have better luck getting a Rise of the Resistance boarding group than I had finding an in park ADR!
I was hoping for Sci-Fi, but there was NOTHING.

Boarding group or not, Ethan is looking forward to Galaxy's Edge and Smuggler's Run.
Also looking forward to Slinky Dog Dash and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. Lots of new things to experience at DHS!

Day 6 - Epcot (11am - 7pm)
I know Future World is still a mess, but have I mentioned that we love the F&G Festival? I also think the kids will have a great time doing the Easter egg scavenger hunt

5:50 Dinner ADR @ Chefs de France

Day 7 - Magic Kingdom (9am - 6pm)
I love to say farewell from MK.
One last ride on all our favorites to hold us over until our next trip.

6:40 Dinner ADR @ Grand Floridian Cafe

Day 8 - Travel Day
Morning flight back home to begin our post-travel quarantine. IL is harsh, but Disney is worth it

 

[Zipadeelady]

This will be our third stay at Blue Heron.
Here is the view from our balcony back in 2015
View attachment 530990
View attachment 530992
It's 5 minutes from Disney Springs and about 10-15 minutes from the parks.
It's a really great value for a family.

Glad to have you along for the PTR!

Great views. just need a cup of tea....or glass of wine.

 

[RememberWhen]

I have read that Touring Plans is pretty fail safe. I guess I'll have to finally sign up.
Thank you!

You definitely should, I’ve definitely found it valuable. But you can use their ADR finder with a free account if you want to try it out.

 

[Darstarr]

Great views. just need a cup of tea....or glass of wine.

 

[LisaBelle]

So excited to see that you have a trip planned! Your itinerary looks great. Fingers crossed for CRT for Gwen. I will be following along!

 

[MerMom1981]

So excited to see that you have a trip planned! Your itinerary looks great. Fingers crossed for CRT for Gwen. I will be following along!

Thank you! I will take all the crossed fingers!
Glad to have you along!

 

[MerMom1981]

It might be a little extra, but I decided to have a little fun with our trip countdown. We've been counting down with a chain since 60 days out, but this morning, I decided to plus the experience.
Meet Mickey on the Shelf!

We are not elf on the shelf parents. The Christmas season is busy enough for me, but when I found this spin on the concept, I said "We are 100% doing this!"

30 days to go!

 

[RememberWhen]

It might be a little extra, but I decided to have a little fun with our trip countdown. We've been counting down with a chain since 60 days out, but this morning, I decided to plus the experience.
Meet Mickey on the Shelf
View attachment 532355

We are not elf on the shelf parents. The Christmas season is busy enough for me. I found this spin on the concept, and said *We are 100% doing this"

30 days to go!

What a fun idea! Maybe I’ll try this on my kiddos.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Following along!

 

[MerMom1981]

Following along!

Welcome!

 

[MerMom1981]

29 days to go!

 

[MerMom1981]

Exciting news! I found an ADR for Cindarella's Royal Table for Gwen's birthday!!!!

Yes, I still have Valentine's decor up

28 days to go!

 

[DryerLintFan]

We have flown down to Florida once a month since winter for tough, and the flights haven't been bad. Here are my tips, especially with kids...

Don't hang out at your gate. Find a nice quiet corner with not so many people there and sit on the floor if you have to

Let everyone else get on the plane. Seriously, don't board with your section. Just wait. They won't leave without you, and you'll be closed to people for less time

Make sure your vent is open and blowing on you. That's where the fresh air is. It can blow away other people's air

If you must use the restroom (which I recommend with kids) in the terminal, don't wash your hands. Or wait for the handicap stall because those often have their own sinks. People are weird and hang out at the sinks to check their hair and makeup and take off their masks to brush their teeth and all that is whatever. Better to use hand sanitizer and move on

Send only one person in to the baggage claim area. Everyone else wait on an empty bench seat from that area.

Overall, it's been really stress free. The airlines are pretty militant about masks, and it feels safe every time. Except one time when a guy in front of us kept flirting with this poor girl next to him. He took his mask down a good deal of the flight and that made me really aggravated, but the flight start finally threatened the no fly list and he shaped up after that. And he didn't get her number, either

 

[DryerLintFan]

Exciting news! I found an ADR for Cindarella's Royal Table for Gwen's birthday!!!!

View attachment 532911
Yes, I still have Valentine's decor up

28 days to go!

Be sure to tell them it's her birthday! They have a really cute cupcake decorating tray they bring it for birthdays. It doesn't have ice cream on it though, so you'll have to ask if you want that also. IDK why it doesn't have ice cream.

 

[MerMom1981]

We have flown down to Florida once a month since winter for tough, and the flights haven't been bad. Here are my tips, especially with kids...

Don't hang out at your gate. Find a nice quiet corner with not so many people there and sit on the floor if you have to

Let everyone else get on the plane. Seriously, don't board with your section. Just wait. They won't leave without you, and you'll be closed to people for less time

Make sure your vent is open and blowing on you. That's where the fresh air is. It can blow away other people's air

If you must use the restroom (which I recommend with kids) in the terminal, don't wash your hands. Or wait for the handicap stall because those often have their own sinks. People are weird and hang out at the sinks to check their hair and makeup and take off their masks to brush their teeth and all that is whatever. Better to use hand sanitizer and move on

Send only one person in to the baggage claim area. Everyone else wait on an empty bench seat from that area.

Overall, it's been really stress free. The airlines are pretty militant about masks, and it feels safe every time. Except one time when a guy in front of us kept flirting with this poor girl next to him. He took his mask down a good deal of the flight and that made me really aggravated, but the flight start finally threatened the no fly list and he shaped up after that. And he didn't get her number, either

Thank you for the current travel Intel!
Great point about not rushing to board the plane too.

 

[MerMom1981]

Be sure to tell them it's her birthday! They have a really cute cupcake decorating tray they bring it for birthdays. It doesn't have ice cream on it though, so you'll have to ask if you want that also. IDK why it doesn't have ice cream.

Yes! We absolutely need a special birthday dessert!
I may order a cake, but good to know they have something fun available!

 

[MerMom1981]

27 days to go!

 

[RememberWhen]

View attachment 533157
27 days to go!

Are we calling this “Mouse in the House”?