Thursday, March 19th
It’s both a happy and a sad time. We finally reached our 180-day Advanced Dining Reservation window this past week! But we also saw the announcements of all of the rest of the Disney properties closing indefinitely due to reasonable fears concerning the Coronavirus pandemic. Because I’m solidly within the risk category (I’m 53, have high blood pressure, and a proclivity for contracting bronchitis—I was just in the ER back in November because I feared I had pneumonia), I have legitimate concerns and am taking appropriate precautions. Our vacation isn’t until mid-September, so we are crossing our fingers and proceeding forward with our planning in the hopes that by then things will have settled down and the economy isn’t so bad that I’m afraid to spend this kind of money.
My friends in the UK and I have been conducting Skype voice/video calls to compare notes, review menus, and discuss daily plans.
Fortunately, we for the most part have similar interests and goals and body clocks (no sleeping late for us!). There are a couple of specific restaurants or lounges I want to hit, while they have a couple of different places they want to do, so we've agreed that spending time in the parks together is great, and we'll do it when it works, but that there's no harm or foul in splitting up for the day and then meeting up for a drink or meal or for a special event later. We're adults and veterans of previous long stays at WDW, so we’ve pretty much done everything there is to do attraction-wise. This trip, we’ve all agreed, will be more about memorable experiences. After all, the rides only last a handful of minutes, but it’s what you do in-between that matters—that’s where the memories are made. Plus, all three of us love good food, so this is definitely going to be more about sampling as much as we can, taking advantage of the meal plan.
With 14 Table credits and 14 Quick Serve credits to spend over those 14 days, we had a lot to mull over--which signature restaurants (which take 2 Table credits each) are on our must-do lists, and how to divvy up the remainder on single Table credit places.
We managed to book every single one of the places on our wish list, all but one of them at the exact times we were hoping for. Story Book character meal was the only one that was solidly booked the initial day we wanted, but after reviewing our schedule, we shifted it to a day in which we had no other plans, and it worked out better and we got in, so we’re all set now. I do wonder at the ease with which we were able to
Here’s what we’ve booked:
- 50's Prime (1T) (lunch)
- Story Book Dinner (1T) (dinner)
- Be Our Guest (1QS) (breakfast)
- Spirit of Aloha (2T) (first dinner show)
- Chef Art Smith's (1T) (dinner)
- Monsieur Paul (2T) (dinner & fireworks)
- Rose & Crown (1T) (dinner & fireworks if they let us keep the table)(placeholder for whenever Space 220 opens and if we can book it)
- Yak & Yeti (1T) (lunch)
- Saana (1T) (dinner right before sunset)
- Flying Fish (2T) (dinner)
- Garden Grill (1T) (breakfast)
In addition, I’m doing these solo:
- The Wave (1T) (lunch)
- Skipper Canteen (1T)(out-of-pocket)(lunch)
My friends are doing Teppan Edo on their own without me (it’s a tradition for them so I didn’t want to intrude).
As for Quick Service joints, those will obviously be much more flexible and dependent on Fastpass timing, etc. However, I do have a list of ones I really want to try out.
- Polite Pig (I tried this in 2017 and would like to go back)
- Morimoto's Street Food (the spare ribs)
- Ronto's Roasters (breakfast and dinner at some point for different sausage wraps)
- Woody's Lunchbox (brisket sandwich sounds wonderful, and fruit tart)
- Harambe Market
- Regal Eagle (all about the BBQ!)
- Capt. Cook's (Tonga Toast and Thai coconut meatballs)
- Docking Bay 7 (more curious about atmosphere than menu, I’ll admit)
- Les Halles Patisserie (likely a few breakfasts)
We also are planning one big meal that falls outside the Meal Plan:
- Afternoon Tea @ Grand Floridian (I’ve done before and loved, plus how can I not with my British friends?!)
As for snacks, there are so many to chose from, and we’ll likely be so full, that it’s impossible to plan that. However, here are a few on my Must Try list:
- Eight Spoon Café (the mac & cheese w/ pulled pork)
- Gaston's (cinnamon roll, plus love the Brew—get it every time)
- Kringla Bakeri (school bread, which I love, and something new like Troll Horn)
- Aloha Isle (Kakamora dole whip or Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Dole Whip)
- Woody’s Lunch Box (fruit tart)
- Any sort of boba balls drink (I’ll probably hate it for being too sweet, but still)
- Blue Milk (or Green, whichever sounds better—more about saying I’ve tried it than an expectation that I’ll like it)
Not food related, we’ve also booked:
- Spa treatment at the Grand Floridian,
- Keys to the Kingdom tour
- Mini-golf (planned, unable to book quite yet due to the crazy phone lines thanks to Coronavirus closings)
We also are currently planning to do Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, but because the tickets are non-refundable, we’re holding off on purchasing them until we’re much closer and relatively certain the parks will be open and we’re going.
The rest of our time will no doubt be spent wandering around, enjoying the Food & Wine Festival, and soaking in the pools and lazy rivers.
My friends already have their airline tickets purchased (necessary coming from so far away), but I haven’t yet. They’re expecting to arrive around 2 pm, and at first I was thinking about arranging so that I arrive around the same time and we can ride Magical Express together, but after looking at airfares out of D.C., I’m better off flying earlier and getting in before Noon, in which case I’ll just go ahead on my own and get checked in if they let me. Honestly, though, I’m very nervous to buy this far out—since they’re nonrefundable and who knows if the airlines I pick will still be in business by September, I’m holding off. ☹
It’s a crazy time right now, something this nation has not seen in generations. It’s impossible to anticipate where any of us will be in 6 months. All we can do is take precautions, be prepared, and hope things work out the best for everyone.