Dates: Sat 7/25-Wed 7/29
People: myself, husband, DD5, DS3
Resort: Pop century
APRs:
Sat 7/25: Epcot
Sun 7/26: HS
Mon 7/27: MK
Tues 7/28: AK
Weds 7/29: HS
Background: I went to Disney once as a teenager with my family and enjoyed it but was not a convert—did not consider myself a Disney person and just didn’t get get the draw. Then, in 11/2018, knowing that my mom wanted to come to WDW with my children, I planned a trip scheduled around a conference and got hooked. My DD was 3 yo at the time, my DS 18 mo, and it was the first time I actually felt like I’d had a vacation in years. The planning also became one of my favorite stress relief activity after that. We went again with various family factions in 9/2019 and 1/2020 at which time I bought annual passes since I was planning to be back for a conference 6/2020. Since I had the annual passes, I had then also planned a short trip in late 4/2020 and another in 9/2020. Of course…pandemic…and the 4/2020 and 6/2020 trips were cancelled but that did not stop me from hoovering up every little scrap of Disney news I could find each day and stalking this forum in my leisure time…so, when @DisneyDayDreamin recently posted her trip reports and then @jeremy_dmiller posted his, the fomo and need for a break from reality was too much to resist. My husband and I made some last minute (1.5 weeks ago) changes to our work schedules. I already had DVC rental credits and Southwest credits burning holes in my pockets, I struggled a bit with the idea of taking a vacation during a pandemic but decided to proceed with caution. I wanted to wait until this past Mon 7/25 to book anything because I wanted to make sure my family was all still healthy before doing so. Then the DVC rental store dropped the price of the last minute dedicated reservations overnight and when I went to make my requests, I was too late. I also wanted to use this credit up sooner rather than later because, even though it doesn’t expire until 6/2022, I anticipate there will issues with securing reservations once people start traveling again.
Even though one of my favorite parts of WDW trips is the planning, circumstances make that a moot point right now, so why not plan a last minute trip. Realistically, my husband and I are at higher risk of infection with COVID through work than in a vacation. I had been keeping up with the reopening news and knew what to expect. So, once I got the final confirmation that none of the DVC dedicated reservations were going to come through, on Thursday 7/23, about 36 before my flight, I booked a pass holder discount room at Pop Century, my flights, my APRs and filled out the magical express form. The only pertinent info I needed at that point was whether or not the coffee makers were in the rooms at Pop, which @DisneyDayDreamin answered for me: yes.