So this is my first attempt at a trip report. I so admire those of you who report live during the trip. I knew that wasn’t possible for me but still would like to share thoughts to hopefully help others with their planning. I’ve learned so much from all of your reports and tips.
My DH and I have been talking about this trip for 5 years and made reservations over a year ago. We spent our honeymoon at Disney and wanted to go back for our anniversary. We have a DS18 and DD14 so have been every few years as a family. We were actually scheduled to go this past June to celebrate our DS HS graduation but that was postponed until June 2021. For this trip, we were originally booked at the Polynesian but had to move since it didn’t reopen. I’ve always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian so when discounts were released, we were able to switch!
Preparing for this trip was so different than any other. Over the last few months I went back and forth between excitement and anxiousness. Are we crazy to plan a trip during a pandemic? What if we get sick during the trip? What if the kids or grandparents get sick? I’ve never worried about sickness before a trip. I really couldn’t get truly excited until a couple of days before we left. I think I was afraid to get too excited in case we had to cancel. Everyone was healthy so we decided to go. Spoiler alert, I have no regrets and glad we went!
So, we traveled and arrived on Saturday, 12/5. I had requested a room with a king and an upper floor. We received 2 queens and the 4th floor of Boca Chica, room 8402. The room turned out great. It actually had a cathedral type ceiling since we were on the top floor in that section which was beautiful. I thought I took a picture but can’t find one. Quiet location next to the stairs.
After getting settled we walked around the resort and then had a dinner reservation at the Grand Floridan Café. We enjoyed our food but were seated right behind the check in desk which was less than ideal since constant traffic by our table. I had the buttermilk fried chicken. It wasn’t what I expected but was very good. DH had the mizo-glazed salmon which he loved. We had our celebration buttons on so they brought a treat at the end.
Sunday, 12/6 we headed to MK. We were first in the GF lobby before 8:00 to board the monorail. Had to wait until 8:00 for them to start temp checks. It was convenient to get that and security out of the way. They do have the old security scanners. We had issues almost every time there and at the parks. We couldn’t figure out what was triggering them. We took out cameras, battery packs and water bottles but no consistent item seemed to be the offender. We were on the monorail at 7:08 and waiting to tap in at 7:13. They opened soon after and we were off to 7DMT.
We were held at 7DMT until at least 7:30. By 7:50 we had also done Peter Pan. We decided to wait for HM which didn’t open until 8:00. Then was BTM, JC and Swiss Family. Needed a break so originally went to Gaston’s for a cinnamon roll. The line was too long so we went to Lunching Pad for pretzels. They were a little tough so disappointed. We did go back to Gaston’s later but found a less than fresh cinnamon roll. Another disappointment since we’ve always loved these. I’m guessing they are best early in the morning.
Next we decided to wander around and do some shopping. I wasn’t expecting to stand in line to enter a shop. We went to pick up Christmas ornaments. I was thrilled we could still get them personalized. They just take them somewhere else instead of working in front of the store. Since there’s no package delivery, you have to make sure you order in time to come back by later in the day to pick up. Lines were really long everywhere. Thank goodness for those line starts here signs or you’d have no idea what you were in line for.
It was time for more food so we tried the chicken waffle at Sleepy Hollow. Such a pleasant surprise! While we ate the Muppets came out. It’s so strange that they don’t talk. Later we tried the cheeseburger spring rolls which were also great. We left and took a boat to WL to explore. Such a beautiful resort! I love their tree and fireplace. We enjoy the boat rides so much. Came back to MK and took the monorail to The Wave for dinner. We’d never eaten their before but really enjoyed the food and service. Would definitely eat their again. Tomorrow EP!
I am slightly obsessed with the waffles at Sleepy Hollow. Are they that good in other places? I’ve only eaten Mickey waffles there - no where else. But I find myself thinking about them at odd times. I could really go for one now, actually.
I’ve only had Mickey waffles too so not sure. I fresh warm waffle is the best. What I surprisingly would like more of is the sweet potato funnel cake from the American Pavilion. I’m not really a sweet potato person but my DH is. He wanted to try it so I had a taste and then a few more. Really tasted like a sweet potato casserole but much better.
Back to trying to finish this trip report! Monday, 12/7 we headed to EP. It didn’t open until 12 so we wondered around GF. We saw characters in the lobby! Such a nice surprise.
We arrived to EP and went to Soarin. They didn’t start the ride until about 11:45 so we were off at 12. I don’t recommend doing Soarin first. Go to Frozen or TT since they are much busier. While we were there we did LWTL, Nemo and explored the Seas.
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Next was lunch at Le Cellier. First time for us. It is very dark but nice atmosphere. We ordered the Artisan cheese plate, cheddar cheese soup and then split a Filet Mignon. Since we were celebrating our anniversary they brought us a chocolate mousse.
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We looked around WS for a while and eventually tried some snacks. I wasn’t sure about this but the sweet potato casserole funnel cake was surprisingly good.
Later we had dinner at Tutto Italia which was probably our favorite meal of the trip. We both had caesar salads which were so good. I’m not a huge caesar dressing fan but this was great. Then we split their parmigiana. One person could not eat all that chicken! Great day.
Tuesday, 12/8 was AK! We were there early and went straight to FOP. We were at AK 3 years ago and the line was 4 hours long so we had never ridden. Wasn’t sure what to expect but we both enjoyed it and were off at 8:03. Rode Na’vi and Safari then Dinosaur.
Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a great day. I am wrapping up this trip report with a few thoughts and observations.
Lines/rides - We were always at the park before opening which made a huge difference in wait times. We were usually able to ride 1-2 before park open and then another couple in the first hour. We were able to do all the big rides we really wanted to do and then pick and choose the rest of the day based on waits. The Disney wait times were always high but a good estimate of worst case scenario. Although I love this site, I rarely used the app. The one time I tried to record a wait time I couldn’t figure it out.
Attraction Queue - My DH had a great analogy for what waiting in the queue lines was like. Have you ever watched kids in a cake walk? Some are not paying attention and keep walking right into the kid in front of them. Some are careful and don’t leave their spot until the next one is open. Others are looking at a bug (phone) instead of the line and don’t notice 3 spots are open in front of them. People are frustrating whether or not we’re in a pandemic so we just tried to be like Elsa and let it go.
Masks - I still despise a mask, especially with glasses. Every morning I had issues with them fogging up. Once it warmed up it was better. I will be glad to burn all my masks one day.
Rise of the Resistance - This was one of my favorite rides. Such a unique experience. We were able to get boarding groups both days we went to HS. Here’s what worked for us. The day before our first HS day we were going to AK so at the bus stop before 7. I did a test run on Disney wifi. My DH counted down on time.gov. Right at 7 I clicked join from the main page. I then had to select my party. Then all groups were gone. Next day we were in our room to try. I used my data plan and he counted down from time.gov. I clicked join at 3 seconds until 7. I wasn’t presented with the select party page. Just went straight through to confirmation and received boarding group 59. Our group was called about 1:00pm. Second DH day we did the same thing. I was a little too quick and had to refresh. Received BG 20 and was called at 10:00am. We did have one hiccup on the second ride. We were in the room just before you actually sit on the ride. The holograms did their prisoner speech and then the doors didn’t open. We waited and waited but nothing. Interestingly they had only loaded us and one other group with a mother and daughter. They had been on the ride before too so we both knew we weren’t supposed to stay in this room so long. I started getting slightly claustrophobic. I found a button you could press which was supposed to open the doors. Knowing I had a way out helped and I didn’t press. Eventually they did open and bring us out of the room. We waited for the next room and continued with the ride without any more issues.
HS - Our second day at HS we didn’t have any TS reservations. Park closed at 7. Around 5 we started looking at options to mobile order. I was shocked to only find 2 or 3 options. Earlier in the day there had been a lot. Realized several of the places closed at 5 and one closed at 4:30. So strange to me that there were so few options close to park close. We also had planned to watch the Mickey and Minnie short. At 6 they closed and we just missed it.
Overall we had a great trip. So glad we went. Was great to have time with just my DH and I to enjoy time together. Looking forward to a family trip in June with DS19 and DD15 so will continue to enjoy reading your reports to prepare. Happy planning!
