Fri 9/25, Day 6.
Slept in a little and let DD skip her 8 am zoom meeting. SAB open 10 am to 10 pm so we got all packed up and took most of our luggage down to bell services and a subset with swimsuits/toys and dry airport clothes to SAB at 10 am and tossed this in a chair. We were almost immediately approached by cast members to ask if the kids wanted to help them on a scavenger hunt, but we were off to Epcot. There was a line outside of IG entrance but temp checks started at 10:10 and we were in the park by 10:15 and headed to FEA.
We were off this ride by 10:40 then kids wanted to ride 3C. After this, we stopped by a store to exchange the Figment water bottle that had been one of the Remy scavenger hunt prize because my son had dropped it earlier in the week and the cap cracked. Then headed to Soarinā and this was basically a walk on for DD, Grammy and me, and serendipitously got B1. DH rode āthe tomato rideā (LwtL) with DS as he is still too scared to ride Soarinā. He did fine riding Dinosaur per his request 2 days ago. DD wanted to ride Figment next but son still reports being afraid of this as well, so he and I went on a popcorn mission. I was really wanting to try the special flavored popcorn and so braved a journey over to future world east to try to locate this special popcorn cart. Never did find it. Met back up with the others under SE for one last pin trade. Fun fact, my kids refer to SE as āthe giant meatball.ā Iām not sure what that says about my cooking. Headed back toward IG and noticed the maple popcorn cart in Canada so tried that and liked itānot too sweet. Headed back to pool and played for two hours before our 3:05 ME pick-up, which I am riding as typing. Iāll probably post a few wrap up comments later (mainly about Beach Club) but suffice to say, I agree with all wrap up comments of
@TarHeelTiff and
@DumboRunner. Iām glad we made the decision to do the last minute trip at the end of July even though I knew this trip was coming because that was a unique experience and it is definitely busier now but we still had a great time. Thanks everyone for following along and your comments and advice!
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Thank you so much for the great intel! Mulan is one of my sonās favorites! Cannot wait!
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Did EP open extra early today? 9:15? Or was it 10:15 since open was at 11?
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Thanks. 10:15. I will correct
Dang, I was hoping the were opening early. Have a good day!
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Just wanted to post some final thoughts but will say again that I agree with the recent wrap up thoughts posted by @TarHeelTiff and @DumboRunner, so I will try not to repeat too much.
The crowds are definately heavier than they were during our trip two months ago which we had planned last minute to take advantage of the low crowds. So for those of you whoād gone in July-early August and planning to return in the next month like @Julianne_fki and @Wahoohokie (might remember @DisneyDayDreamin mentioning a return trip too), just prepare for a more normal feeling crowd. (@vcka I did not include you above because Iām starting to think you might just live there.) We still had a great time despite the increased crowds but without FP+, being toward the front of the rope drop crowd is even more important than ever to be able to ride with lower wait times. Also, the last 1-2 hours of the day were pretty good for wait times/lower crowds. It also helped to have been in the socially distanced lines previously to make my own guesses about wait times because the lines app wait times were less useful/accurate than usual.
I will also agree that the reduced park hours are not so much an issue for those with small children. Weāve only made it park open to park close once and that was our AK day this trip.
Staying at BCV was lovely. It was our first DVC rental and we will be doing more. Pool time is a number one priority for my kids and I donāt think I will be able to top this resort for that reason. Also loved the easy access to EPCOT and HS. While it would have been even nicer for the adults if there were longer park hours and park hopping, we were all pretty worn out by the end of the day, so the absence of these things did not make much of a difference.
I agree with whoever had mentioned that this is the first time after a Disney trip that they did not feel the immediate need to return. I get funds and time off work for conferences as part of my compensation package for my job (CME money) and it is a āuse it or lose itā per calendar year kind of benefit. I had originally been planning to attend a conference in WDW in June but this got cancelled. I toyed with the idea of going to a conference at the Contemporary at the end of next month but it is scheduled over a weekend and, even though we had a great time, the idea of repeating this all in a month, over a weekend, sounds completely exhausting. So this morning,I cancelled the reservation and flights that I had booked and will find a conference elsewhere so as not to lose this benefit for this year.
I need a little time away from Disney to be able to fully enjoy it again. But not too longā¦
I had gone a little crazy back in January after getting the annual passes and while perusing the dedicated reservations on Davidās, had jumped on a BWV reservation for December for 200$/night, so Iāll be back then. I am excited to see what else opens up and how things change between now and then. (
for park hopping). Again thank you all for reading and sharing. Iāve learned so much from this forum and feel like you all are a pretty outstanding group of people.
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I have been going a little crazy now, only I donāt have an annual pass! Iām going in October, short trip with a friend. And then Iāve booked late January for just me! Also, dedicated DVC rentals. AKL split with BWV. I need to stop looking at those listings ā¦
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Thanks for the recap. I will be there in 2.5 weeks and am preparing for a totally different trip than we had in late July/early August. I am sad the low/no wait lines seem to be gone, but happy to see that so many are comfortable with travel again (makes me not feel so weird for traveling this summer and wanting to travel again during a pandemic). Safe travels!
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My sister checks RCI every morning. (She has points with some timeshare and exchanges thru RCI. )
Iāve been following these trip reports as time allows. The evolution of crowd levels at the World continues to intrigue. Since weāre 80 days away and with the Governorās recent announcement, itās apparent what to expect in December is going to evolve more.
Thanks to @srentmee and all the others whoāve traveled and reported. 
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We just got back (sept 23-today). Iāll be doing a trip report but, boy was it a very different experience from our 2 July trips. Your final thoughts very much match up with our experience. We have another trip scheduled for December but I am really on the fence with canceling it.
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One final thought I wanted to share. Generally, I find the paper loop behind the ear masks to be the most comfortable and wore these for most of the July trip. However, this trip I mostly wore the Disney masks because they are also comfortable and make for way better pictures. Call me vain.
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I will be interested in your thinking on December. I have a trip booked Dec 10-18, about half of which is on points I will lose. Iām thinking of paring it down to just the use-them-or-lose them points. Or putting the whole reservation up for rent since it is a pretty hard-to-get WL/CC one-bedroom. But, I so want to be at WDW for a little bit of Christmasā¦
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That trip is scheduled for BWV 12/13-12/18. My basic thoughts are that we will go and we will have fun regardless of the crowds or what is or isnāt available at that point in time, because we always do. My thoughts can turn morbid pretty quickly and I tend to regret the things that I donāt do rather than the things I do. However, if it wasnāt a DVC rental and/or if not everyone going had annual passes and/or if we hadnāt already booked the flights on points back when they were the equivalent of $76 a piece each way. Basically, if it wasnāt already paid for (minus food and shopping) and if I wouldnāt be losing money/value if I didnāt go, I might have reconsidered.
Seems like you have a number of options. And while I fully admit that I do not understand the intricacies of DVC point banking and use years and have no knowledge of your specificsā¦If possible and it were me, Iād probably pare my trip down to 3-4 nights of mid-week days to get my fix using the points that that would otherwise be lost and rent or bank the rest. Now that I put my ignorance of how the DVC system works on full display, Iāll shut my mouth.
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No, you are exactly right on the DVC procedures. My reservation is 238 points, 120 of which are 2019 points that I banked into 2020 use year and so which expire February 2021. I could pare the stay down to those points, and bank the 118 of 2020 use year points into 2021. But I have to decide by the end of October, so Iām thinking and watching how things are going at WDW in the coming weeks.
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Good luck with your deliberations. I know weāll all be eager to hear what you decide to do!
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This will be the main reason we keep the trip. I am scheduled to go with my mom for 5 days then DH will come down and stay for another 4. My mom is older so a lot of that will depend on the status of COVID. Knowing me, DH and I will still go (unless Disney really increases capacity or relaxes some of the safety requirements).
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Hope, and Dreams over experience, and cold reason. So it shall beā¦
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I work hard for my money, so hard for it honey. I work hard for my money so Iād better treat me right 