Trip Report The Fall Spring Break (Liveish)

I joined these forums back at the beginning of the year (pre-covid) to gear up for our trip over our April spring break. As a pastor, it is very rare for me to be able to use Spring Break for vacation (they typically fall the week before Easter in our area and that is our busy time), but 2020 was to be the year it fell after Easter and we were set to head out. Like everyone with a spring trip however, that quickly changed and we re-scheduled for the last week of September into October. This pre-trip report is a way for me to get some feedback from you Disney Professionals (as we approach our 60 day ADR next week). Here is our plan so far.

Who are we? My family consists of myself, my beautiful bride and our two awesome kids of which my son is 9 and my little girl is 6. I did two big Disney trips growing up and my wife did one. We visited MK for a day on our honeymoon (we were in Siesta Key) 11 years ago and did a small weekend that consisted of Epcot and DHS when they did the free ticket on your birthday promotion. My son got to go with us (thanks grandma) when he was two and my daughter has only been to a character breakfast with Minnie on a pass through stop we did headed to Port Canaveral. On that trip we stayed one night at the All-Star Sports and just the pool and the mickey ice-cream had her saying, "this is my most favorite place ever." The best part, through all of this, the kids still have no clue we have this trip planned and honestly that has been very helpful in all the uncertainty.

All that to say, this trip is set to be our first BIG family Disney trip that we started planning in June of 2019. We opted to go the TA route and everything to make sure it all fell into place. We had every sit down as a character dining (only way to make DDP worth it), an appointment at BBB, and shirts that had arrived for every day of the week. Well.. then you all know what happened next and the only thing that remains from that planning span is the t-shirts! Add in to this that I did the whole pay with gift card thing and so refunds just mean I am rich with Mickey bucks at the moment.

We went back and forth on what to do and how to press forward. We live in SC, so it really is true that Disney at this point seems safer than my local grocery store. (Yes, I know. We HAVE to go to the grocery store, we do not HAVE to go to Disney, but that negativity is not welcome here). We are determined for this trip to happen and get more excited at the opportunity to take our kids to Disney. Yes, some things will look different than we planned (some call it a diminished experience), but we see it as a way to introduce our kids to the Disney of our youth. The less crowded Disney, where you can take your time and take it all in. The biggest let down for us really is the character meet and greet, but knowing my little princess, just seeing a princess in person will light up her life and as long as my little man gets to visit Star Wars Land and see a storm trooper, they will be ecstatic to be in Disney. Oh the things we can learn from children.

Here is the plan:

Monday - Saturday at POP. (currently waiting to see what it will be like to extend to Sunday because - Mickey Bucks that I have to use).

Drive in Monday - Pool time and Disney Springs
Tuesday: MK
Wednesday: DHS
Thursday: Epcot
Friday: AK
Pending Saturday: MK Repeat

Here is where I would like some feedback. Meal Planning. What are your suggestions? We are open to sticking to having a QS and a TS each day, outside of Epcot. The big win? I get to experience Food and Wine and even though it is scaled back, this foodie and lover of craft drinks is really excited for this! We also are open to only having a few TS to really maximize budget and experience.

Follow along with us as we take on Disney!

 

[PacNWTigger]

I'm impressed you guys were able to keep that HUGE secret from the kids! I like the idea of revealing the trip with clues to have them try to figure it out. Definitely following along.

 

[RevRemy]

I'm impressed you guys were able to keep that HUGE secret from the kids! I like the idea of revealing the trip with clues to have them try to figure it out. Definitely following along.

It was not easy and there were a few times we thought we slipped up!

 

[RevRemy]

Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

We were eager and ready to hit the ground running for MK and planned to be in line by 8:20 to rope drop MK. We should have got in the line by 8:00 AM. (We were at PoP). We were on Main Street by 9:10 am. The plus side, is main street was not packed as it would be at rope drop. After a few pictures and taking in that we were finally there, I noticed no action to the left and that most people were headed to the right, as quick glance at the app and off to Jungle Cruise, with no wait.

After Jungle Cruise, my little man wanted to go to Pirates, and we did. Wait time posted was 30 minutes, we were on in 25. One thing my wife and I picked up on, especially those with indoor queues, is they have done all they could to have most of your wait outside. This makes the lines look really long, where in reality, once you get past the main entrance and enter a building, it seemed to pick up. I really think the social distancing could stay. It was so nice to have some space while waiting for rides.

Most waits at MK hovered around 20 - 40 minutes, aside from Seven Dwarfs and Space Mountain. For SM we got in line with a 45 minute posted wait and it took 30. We did not get to Seven Dwarfs. We planned to do this at the very end of the day, but the weather got nasty and changed those plans. We did feel we got so much out of riding everything else that we wanted and I never felt that I overpaid for an lesser experience. To me, it was the Disney of my childhood (minus the character meet and greets).

The quick service lunch ordering is amazing. This gives you something to do while waiting for a ride and then being able to walk up and grab your food when it is ready is great! We hit up Pecos Bill for our QS lunch and it was great.

The nasty weather moved in about 330 or so. Just a tip. Make sure you have enough ponchos for everyone in the family. Dad got to take one for the team and being soaked to the bone was not fun because the rain just kept getting harder and harder. After the rain let up we made the decision to call it a day around 430, did a little shopping on main street and headed back to the resort to clean up for dinner.

We originally planned dinner in MK but when they changed the hours, that reservation was canceled. We decided to utilize DS at this point, because if we are going to pay TS prices, we may as well do it somewhere we want to and took the kids to Rainforest. I am so glad we did this because the food was excellent and the service was even better. One thing we did this trip that I really enjoyed was take full advantage of Disney Springs, and I am glad we did.

After dinner, we called it a night to rest up for Hollywood Studios and trying our luck at the coveted boarding pass.

Some notes:

-I saw 100% mask compliance at MK and everyone did a great job with social distancing. This would not be as good the rest of the trip.
-I wish we would have not done MK on a Monday. Reports show that MK had lower crowds Tuesday and Wednesday. This was our plan at first, but when we extended the trip, this shifted things a little. As weird as it sounds, I wish we would have started with Epcot (more on that later).
-Buses there are a small wait at POP but was very minimal going back. I cannot stress how well I felt the transportation team was doing with everything and keeping things moving. Again, I enjoyed not having a packed bus, I know this will not stay, but I would be fine if it did.
-I wish we would have circled back on Main Street a little more to catch a Cavalcade or two. (we only caught the tail end of one. We did see Tigger, Piglet and Chip and Dale and caught the Dapper Dans a couple times throughout the park).
-Wearing a mask all day was really a none issue for us (even when I got soaked).
-We experienced some Disney Magic at snack stand. We were in line waiting to get two Mickey Bars and there was a gentlemen in front of us complaining about something. (If you choose to go to Disney during this time, I suggest you pack your patience and just go with the flow. Some of the stuff I heard people complain about has been well communicated). Anyway, once they resolved the issue it was our turn and that is when the storm started and they had to shut down immediately by the rules. I told the CM that I just needed two Mickey Bars for the my kids and she handed them to me and said, "Go run for cover." For my kids, that was a special moment.

 

[Zipadeelady]

And?

 

[Darstarr]

And?