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Slinky Dog Dash
Although this photo doesn't necessarily show it, Joanna was giggling and squealing during most of the ride! It's such a fun coaster.In January 2020, just before the pandemic hit, my friends and I began planning a girls' weekend at Disney World for October. It was going to be us and our daughters. I was so excited for that trip, but then came COVID-19....
...No one knew how long the pandemic would last. So, we kept our trip booked until the last day for almost-free cancelations. Disney allows people to cancel up to 30 days before a trip, and you get a full refund on your room or package. Unfortunately, we didn't purchase a package. We bought our tickets separately, and those were non-refundable. Disney extended the expiration date by nearly a year, and our tickets are set to expire in September 2021.
I've since rebooked the trip a few times, but I always chickened out and canceled. By the end of February of this year, I was fully vaccinated, but Andrew and the kids weren't. I worried about Joanna bringing something home to Andrew and getting him sick. I almost went in April. Andrew had had his first shot by then, but COVID-19 numbers were still high. I postponed again.
Now we're at the point where Andrew and I
are both fully vaccinated, and COVID-19 numbers are low. I decided to finally take the trip with Joanna so we could go before indoor mask rules were relaxed or eliminated at Disney World. The policies are constantly changing, but, currently, masks are required at all indoor locations at Disney World as well as in any lines or on any attractions. They are not required outdoors when walking around the parks. I'm happy with these rules. To me, it's important masks are still worn indoors since our kiddos can't get their shots yet. So, with those rules, I feel like we can navigate the parks comfortably and safely.
My friends couldn't join us on the trip. Phuong took her family earlier, and Aminta had family plans so a fairly last minute trip didn't work for her. So, it's just Joanna and me. It feels a little strange being here with half our family, but it's also special making memories with my daughter. And, to make things "fair," Andrew had taken Oliver to visit his parents in Montana at the end of last summer. So, the kids each get a special trip with a parent!
Joanna and I had a
long day of travel. After being so nervous about the airplane, the lax enforcement of safety made it extra stressful. At Des Moines International Airport, about 1/4 of people had a mask hanging around their chin. No one enforced it. Joanna and I found a quiet place in the airport and hung out there, away from the rest of the travelers. We were flying Southwest. Our first flight was half empty. Joanna and I sat in the back away from most people, and it worked out well. On our second flight, the plane was full, and the kids in front of us spent the whole flight without a mask (they weren't little kids... maybe 10 years old). After this experience, I would absolutely
not recommend flying with a person under 12 who can't be vaccinated yet.
However, once we arrived, everything changed. I have to say: Disney is doing a great job with safety! I feel safer being at Disney World than I did at the airport and on the airplane. When we arrived at the Disney Magical Express station at Orlando airport, there were still lines marked for families to keep 6 feet of spacing. Everyone had masks on. They directed us to a shuttle and gave us an assigned seat so that every other row was empty. I'm also amazed at how well (almost) all the guests follow the rules. Even in the bathrooms at Disney World, where there aren't cast members to monitor mask use, I haven't seen a single person without a mask.
After two flights, a train, and a bus ride, Joanna and I made it to our resort: Art of Animation! The cast members here are incredible! They have been so unbelievably helpful and kind. Joanna and I were hungry when we arrived. I'd placed an mobile order on the bus for our lunch, and I clicked that we were here as soon as we got in the lobby. Right now, I might have some family and friends wondering how I placed a mobile order when I still have a potato phone (ie., my beloved flip phone). Andrew had gotten me an iPod for the trip! I'd heard that, due to the pandemic, Disney is requiring mobile ordering and check in to get food. So, I now have an iPod for travel! I'm very clumsy with it, and every short task takes me about an hour (I kid, I kid), but it does the job! Twenty minutes after I clicked the button to say we arrived for our lunch, it still said they were preparing our food. I went up to ask a cast member if I did it correctly, and about how long it's supposed to take for our food to be prepared. She told me it shouldn't take 20 minutes, so she went to go ask and actually brought our tray of food to us!
After we ate, it was about 2pm. We really wanted to bring our things to our room and get ready for the parks, but we didn't have a room number yet. I decided to go ask to see if we could drop off our luggage somewhere to go to the park. Instead, a super friendly cast member called Mousekeeping or something and found a room that was ready! We got cleaned up and headed to Hollywood Studios.
I chose Art of Animation because they have a Skyliner (gondola) to take you to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It felt like a safer form of transportation. We discovered that, during slower times, you get your own gondola. During busier times, they are putting 2 groups together if they are small groups, but they require masks to be worn in those circumstances. It takes two Skyliners to get to a park and two to get back. Out of our four trips, only 1 was in a shared gondola, and it was a couple who kept their masks on the whole time (they were also super friendly!).
Once we arrived at Hollywood Studios, the first thing we did was head to Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Currently, Rise of the Resistance is the only ride at Disney World that requires a virtual queue. At 7am, everyone scrambles to get a boarding group for the ride. If you're lucky enough to get one, you get a number like 90. Then they might call your group at noon or something. Anyway, Andrew tried for us from Iowa since Joanna and I were in line for security. Andrew got us boarding group 1! I got a notification on my sleek, new iPod that we should join our boarding group by 10am. Oops.
Anyway, we got to Hollywood Studios around 3pm. I showed a cast member our boarding group, wondering if we could still ride. They didn't even hesitate and welcomed us to the resistance! I'm so glad they let us on because the ride was incredible! I don't think I've ever been on an immersive, themed ride before. OK, that's not true... Expedition Everest has a story to it, and the safari used to. Still, I don't think anything quite compares to this new ride. My only (small) complaint was that it was sometimes difficult to hear everything being said on the ride. I got the gist of what was going on and kept summing it up to Joanna ("Oh no! The First Order is going to board our ship!" That kind of thing). I don't want to give too much away, but I definitely recommend going on this attraction if you can!
Joanna and I had reservations for Oga's Cantina for 8:30pm. I figure we'd go back and explore Galaxy's Edge later. We left that area of the park for Toy Story Land, which has some of Joanna's favorites. We rode on Toy Story Mania. The line said 25 minutes, but we only waited for 10. We then rode on Slinky Dog Dash. The line said 60 minutes, but we waited 40. The lines move much faster without FastPass. After that, we were extremely tired after a long day of travel. Throughout the wait at Slinky Dog, Joanna was complaining about being tired. I told her we'd eat and discuss our plans for the rest of the day. I'd thankfully already submitted a mobile order to Woody's Lunchbox, so we picked up our food and sat at a shaded table. I had vegetarian tater tot nachos that were actually insanely good (the tots were so crispy!), but I was so hot and tired from travel that I couldn't eat. Joanna ate her orange and picked at her turkey sandwich. I think she felt the same way. My head was starting to pound. We talked about the things we still wanted to do: Tower of Terror, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, and Galaxy's Edge & Oga's Cantina. We decided we needed to rest and cool off. We went back to the room. When we left, we still thought we would come back after an hour break or so, but once we got in the room and had our shoes off, Joanna announced we should stay there for the rest of the night. I was relieved! I showered, got on fresh jammies, and collapsed on the bed. Joanna and I were both asleep by 6:30pm (which is 5:30 in Iowa!).
Overall, I'm so glad we're finally here. Disney World still feels magical. I feel like they're doing an amazing job juggling safety while also creating an amazing experience. I'm looking forward to us having more energy tomorrow when we go to Epcot!
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