Pre-Trip "Wanna go to Disney in 2 weeks?" "You're killing me"

Hello All!

I haven't been around much with our trips being continuously scheduled and rescheduled over and over.
Alas! I am back, and this time with the insane idea of heading to WDW child free and with only my best friend in tow!

I didn't think I would be back before next fall when we go for my son's 5th birthday so this spur of the moment decision is both SO exciting and also terrifying.
For anyone that cares about the background, my last trip was a Mommy/Daughter trip in January 2019 with just myself and my then 7 year old. We were supposed to have a trip planned for my son's 3rd birthday in October 2020 however chose to reschedule because of COVID. Just to throw an extra wrench in my plans, my boyfriend's sister and her boyfriend got engaged last summer and they have decided that they're going to get married in Puerto Rico in October of this year, which pushed our trip out again as my daughter can't take that many vacation days from school.

Well a few weeks ago I saw the news that Happily Ever After Fireworks aren't going to come back after the 50th anniversary special and I started daydreaming about getting to see them one last time. I never did any research, just daydreamed because obviously I can't take my kiddos out of school for another trip. Then one day I was scrolling through TikTok and saw someone's post about Happily Ever After and the Food and Wine Festival which got my wheels turning again. I can just dream, right?

So I go onto Google Explore, type in my city and MCO, two-three day trip, and click search.

September 23rd - 25th
Leave home at 5:22am.
Land in MCO at 8:06am.
Leave MCO on Saturday at 10:07pm.
Home by 12:35am.
$38.00 Round Trip.

Um.... What?!

I spend that much money and time to get to the beach for a weekend trip.

Obviously it's from Frontier (though pricing from Spirit was almost identical - they canceled so many flights last month I wasn't risking it) so it doesn't include bags or choosing seats or any nonsense, but for only two days I don't need to do any of that and a backpack is more then sufficient.

But my kids can't go, so I try the next best thing. My best friend.

I screenshot her the flight information and said "Am I crazy for considering this?"
Me: ".... Hey Manda, wanna go to Disney for 3 days?"
Amanda: "... I would consider"
Me: "I know we SHOULDN'T do it..... but I really wanna"
Amanda: "You're literally killing me. Let me see if I can switch my doctor's appointment."

Our conversation continued on for all of Wednesday last week. Yes, 5 days ago.

Questions floated around about flying during COVID, cases being so high in Florida, her (very important) doctor's appointment, making sure the kids were all situated, taking the two days off work, etc.

We can't control what happens on the plane, but we have emergency N95 masks that we can use for the plane to be as safe as possible. We can bring and wear masks as much or as little as we choose to in Disney depending on crowd levels and how we feel. The guys gave us the all clear to go and that they'd happily (more or less) handle the kids so we could go enjoy ourselves. Work had no problem with the time off. Then when Amanda called to find out about her appointment they had a cancelation.... for THIS week.... on a day that she'd already taken off for a dentist appointment in a time that doesn't conflict with it at all.

Needless to say, the stars have aligned and by Wednesday night I was on the phone with my travel agent booking our insanely last minute trip.

As the insane planner who normally has everything in a spreadsheet a year ahead of time with the restaurants we wanna go to, Fast Passes we want to get, snacks we don't want to miss, etc etc etc, this plan has caused me a ton of anxiety.

But I'm also SUPER excited to not only experience Disney with my best friend (who hasn't been since junior year of high school), but to not have a plan and be able to choose on the fly. There's some things that I know we want to do and I've already checked out the menus for the Food and Wine Festival, and the idea of attempting to get a spot for Rise of the Resistance is giving me anxiety, but I'm also excited to just let things come as they may.

So far the stars have all aligned so I'm just hoping the momentum continues!

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get Rise of the Resistance boarding groups please let me know! That's really the one thing that's freaking me out. Hahaha.

 

[Dave B]

I can't believe I am First to hear all about this, it sounds exciting

 

[kimberlymautz]

I can't believe I am First to hear all about this, it sounds exciting

Thank you! I'm very excited. I never plan trips like this so it's definitely out of my comfort zone, but sometimes that's exactly what ya need.

 

[macefamily]

Hey now ! Also a PA resident, and our family is leaving next Wednesday for a long FL weekend at Universal and Disney ! No worries, you got it. 75% of our trips have been planned within three weeks. We have a two hour commute to PHL airport, so when we see flights at $45 we are checking our vacation days at work, and looking for cheap AIRBNB's or calling my friend who has a townhouse in KIssimmee. Or checking our DVC points. My wife and two sons will be joining our daughter who is driving down from Jacksonville with her dog Bean, to spend a nice long weekend together. I am hoping that none of these tropical storms find their way to Orlando; seems like many of them are brewing up. Be safe. Enjoy. And we'll be following along.

 

[macefamily]

As for Rise of the Resistance, I can't tell you much other than be online and ready to go. My daughter has reserved our group the past four times in a row. I think the shiny newness has rubbed off, and you're probably afforded at least a 70% chance that you'll land a group reservation if you're online first thing. Don't forget the second chance 1:00PM.

 

[D Hulk]

Following along!

I’ll be in Orlando at the same time as you. In fact, this will be my first time in Orlando and my first time visiting all the theme parks out there. (I’m a Disneyland local.) Hope you have a safe and successful journey.

 

[BigDis]

Sounds like fun. Can't wait to read more.

 

[kimberlymautz]

Hey now ! Also a PA resident, and our family is leaving next Wednesday for a long FL weekend at Universal and Disney ! No worries, you got it. 75% of our trips have been planned within three weeks. We have a two hour commute to PHL airport, so when we see flights at $45 we are checking our vacation days at work, and looking for cheap AIRBNB's or calling my friend who has a townhouse in KIssimmee. Or checking our DVC points. My wife and two sons will be joining our daughter who is driving down from Jacksonville with her dog Bean, to spend a nice long weekend together. I am hoping that none of these tropical storms find their way to Orlando; seems like many of them are brewing up. Be safe. Enjoy. And we'll be following along.

Oh that's awesome! I'm about an hour from PHL.

I'm keeping an eye on the storms also and already purchased trip insurance JUST incase. I've never gotten it before but between COVID and it being hurricane season I figured it would be a good idea.

I hope we have luck getting a boarding group. We only have that one day to get it so fingers are crossed, but if not I'll be back next year.

Following along!

I’ll be in Orlando at the same time as you. In fact, this will be my first time in Orlando and my first time visiting all the theme parks out there. (I’m a Disneyland local.) Hope you have a safe and successful journey.

That'll be so fun! I've never been to Disneyland, but I'm dying to go. We're trying to wait until my son is a little older because right now the 2.5 hour flight to Orlando is a little much for him.

I also hope you have a safe and fun trip! I've heard Disney World and Disneyland are both so similar and yet so different, I'm excited to hear what you think.

Sounds like fun. Can't wait to read more.

Thank you! I'm very excited! Only 9 days!

 

[Bullseye1967]

Following along!

 

[Katiekitten]

This sounds so exciting! I can't wait to hear more.

 

[macefamily]

Check out Disney's latest update. My daughter said something last night about the boarding groups ending the day we're visiting HS next week. Disney is billing it as "now everyone has an equal chance to ride RotR." BS !!! That will be crazy. The queue is going to snake around to Hollywood Ave ! Good thing is Tower of Terror wait should be 30 minutes or less.

 

[kimberlymautz]

Check out Disney's latest update. My daughter said something last night about the boarding groups ending the day we're visiting HS next week. Disney is billing it as "now everyone has an equal chance to ride RotR." BS !!! That will be crazy. The queue is going to snake around to Hollywood Ave ! Good thing is Tower of Terror wait should be 30 minutes or less.

UGH! I saw it already. I wish they'd have just done a combination of both. I kept hearing people say that their vehicles were almost empty while they were riding so I can totally see needing to add more people to it, but taking it away completely just sounds like it's going to be a S***show. Let's be real though, Bob figured out a way to make people spend more money and he's going to have it cost an insane amount to get the "Lightning Lane" pass for it once they roll out Genie Plus.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Obviously it's from Frontier (though pricing from Spirit was almost identical - they canceled so many flights last month I wasn't risking it) so it doesn't include bags or choosing seats or any nonsense, but for only two days I don't need to do any of that and a backpack is more then sufficient.


If anyone has any suggestions on how to get Rise of the Resistance boarding groups please let me know! That's really the one thing that's freaking me out. Hahaha.

I've been looking at the tempting fares for Frontier for several weeks. I think the thing that finally turned me off that airline was when I did a google search for "frontier airlines reviews". I will just sum it up by saying that 95% of them were not good. Hopefully, your experience will turn out OK and please share a post trip report when you get home.

After browsing some decent vacation deals with Southwest Airlines and a few other options I think I'm going to drive to WDW. It's about 15.5 hours from my home in the St. Louis area and I actually enjoy driving. Sometimes I think half the fun of a vacation is getting there and back. I just ordered a Florida Sunpass and hopefully it will arrive by the time I'm ready to head out on 10/07.

For tips on a boarding pass for ROTR, I thought that thing they're doing on 09/23 was a one-day experiment. Anyway, here's a good video on how the old system works if you'll still be able to get a boarding pass on your phone.

News - Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Standby Line and Boarding Groups at Disney's Hollywood Studios

9:45am - groups have not begun calling for the day yet.

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[RoadiJeff]

So, any problems with Frontier airlines on your trip last week?

 

[macefamily]

We fly Frontier exclusively. The Southwest 'seat grab' does not intrigue me. We've been split up as a family a few times which steered me away from them. I applied for the Frontier Mastercard which usually gets me a free roundtrip flight every four months. I've flown American and Delta for work, and there's really not much more difference. The Frontier fleet is one of the newest in the industry. Although the lower fares usually attract a 'different' crowd. The kind of crowd that brings four bags of Burger King onto the flight, and they're the ones who rush the aisle when you land and try to unsuccessfully push to the front.

 

[RoadiJeff]

We fly Frontier exclusively. The Southwest 'seat grab' does not intrigue me. We've been split up as a family a few times which steered me away from them. I applied for the Frontier Mastercard which usually gets me a free roundtrip flight every four months. I've flown American and Delta for work, and there's really not much more difference. The Frontier fleet is one of the newest in the industry. Although the lower fares usually attract a 'different' crowd. The kind of crowd that brings four bags of Burger King onto the flight, and they're the ones who rush the aisle when you land and try to unsuccessfully push to the front.

Thanks for the Frontier info. I will be traveling to WDW in 4 days from St. Louis. I was originally thinking about driving (15.5 hours each way) and then the attractive rates for Frontier popped up. After reading many google reviews from disgruntled travelers using Frontier, I ending up choosing a decent vacation package via Priceline and flying on American.

 

[macefamily]

Thanks for the Frontier info. I will be traveling to WDW in 4 days from St. Louis. I was originally thinking about driving (15.5 hours each way) and then the attractive rates for Frontier popped up. After reading many google reviews from disgruntled travelers using Frontier, I ending up choosing a decent vacation package via Priceline and flying on American.

Have a safe trip and enjoy ! I've never driven to FL. My daughter did several times. We're about 17 hours. I was there two weeks ago and I'm ready to go back. My wife is heading back down in two weeks on a trip with friends. I have a free round trip ticket from Frontier that I think I'll use sometime in early November when the Christmas decorations are out.