February 2021 – The view from the edge of our empty nest.

Walt Disney World Loses Some Of Its Sparkle – Why Some Might Want To Wait For Covid To Pass

The surprising (to us) reasons we will PAUSE on our return to WDW.

In summary: We went to Walt Disney World in January 2021, while our world was entrenched in the Covid pandemic. Despite all our fun (and we did have lots of fun), we felt the impact that Covid has had on the Happiest Place On Earth more than we expected.

Ta Da! This is how we roll in EPCOT – sans kids!

Our original Disney blueprint had been to set up camp for two weeks in January at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground, an early leg on our full-time RVing adventure. We wanted to give our six newly adulting children a really fun reason to visit us! When Covid crushed upon the earth, Disney World closed and we decided that even when it reopened, we would postpone any unnecessary plane travel for our loved ones until we had more answers, safety protocols or even a vaccine. If we were going to visit WDW, this trip would have to be without our long-distance loved ones.

Food and drink was a perpetual, delicious theme of this visit to WDW.

Months later, when we had fully launched our FT RV life, I kept an eye on information coming out of newly reopened Disney. I held off on cancelling the Fort Wilderness Campground reservations. What I read and saw was really positive. It appeared that in addition to establishing strong policies to assure guest and cast member safety, they were also taking that important step and HOLDING THE LINE with enforcement of their safety policies! In true Disney fashion, we found that they were doing what we wished that many other big businesses would do (are you listening Walmart and Sheetz?).

I was convinced. We purchased a four-day park pass and kept our entire two week campground reservations in place for January 2021. At the end of our fourth day in the parks, we felt absolutely comfortable and safe with our experience, and extended our park fun for four more days with another four day park pass that was now even more deeply discounted (FL residents, $199 per person!). From a safety perspective, they have this thing pretty darn well figured out. That safety comes at a price, however.

At the end of this blog post is the detailed break-down of our experiences, but here is the BOTTOM LINE:

If you are “Disney-experienced” and simply looking to fill your Disney-love tank, a trip to Walt Disney World during Covid precautions may be a great option that is more affordable than ever. Go for it! However, if you are a Disney Novice or Disney Virgin, I would advise that patience is important – wait a while for our post-Covid world to emerge before visiting (sorry, Disney) to fully experience the magical world of Walt Disney World.

The magic of PhotoPass was fun, but the masks put a damper on the final product.

To be clear, we are not “Disney Super Fans”, but we are both fairly Disney-experienced. My DH, Andrew, had previously been to WDW on three occasions – a trip for each child in his growing family – the late 90s, and twice in the early 2000s. Each time they stayed in a different hotel on Disney property, and each trip was in the busy summer season.

Walt Disney World in 2002 with Andrew and his familyl – with a character that I am not even sure still “lives” in Disney.

A classic pose that probably every dad and kid has experienced in large WDW crowds…this method of “kid-viewing” is really not needed in “Pandemic Disney”.

Breakfast with the characters, including my DHs fav, Winnie-the-Pooh, does happen in 2021, but it is distant and different – no Pooh hugs, for sure!

I have been blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Disney nine times in my life, spanning a variety of “life phases” – as a child, a teenager, as a young adult, as a parent and now as an empty-nester!

We missed the up close and personal character visits of days gone by.

Christmas morning, 2007 in Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground – by our little tree and stockings hung with care on the RV awning!

We also imssed being able to see the shows in 2021; Here, Lorne starred in the Hoop De Doo Review at Christmas dinner, 2007.

When my husband, Andrew (married five years in August 2020!) and I ventured to the Happiest Place on Earth in Jan 2021, this was going to be a very different trip in several ways. We knew Covid would have an impact on our experience, but we were very excited (perhaps me a bit more than him!) to “do Disney” as empty-nesters – sans ANY kid’s influences or interests! YIPPEE (Sorry kids, it was also great when we took you as little ones to the land of Mickey Mouse, but being in our nearly-mid-fifties now, we were ready to explore it all as just a couple, making all decisions just for our own enjoyment!)!

The coolest character we met this year was Chewbacca, by far! He hung out in Star Wars Land and drew a crowd of fans. We laughed at ourselves as we “nerded out” and waved and called out his name.

There are many things at Disney that are blissfully the same in a Covid world. First among them is that cast members continue to amaze us with their courtesy, kindness and expert guest services. So if you go, know that we observed cast members that checked off all the stellar service boxes that we have come to expect from WDW. We chatted with young and not-so-young, including some that had previously been “separated” from the company (aka laid off) in 2020, and even others that were still separated and hoped to return (we met them off property, of course). They were all pleased to be a part of the organization and focused on doing a good job.

The only difference that we noticed as it relates to cast members, was in EPCOT. The international flair, complete with cast members from around the world and working in their native “EPCOT country” was missing a bit. Missing were the foreign accents and opportunities to chat with cast members from Norway or Italy (we did meet a gentleman in EPCOT Japan that was a native of Japan, and we had one server in EPCOT UK that also must have emigrated to the US, because we noticed her beautiful lilting English accent. Overall, however, the park felt much less international. The reasons are obvious (folks just cannot travel internationally and get work visas like they used to), but we had not anticipated how that would make our visit to EPCOT feel noticeably different.

In EPCOT UK, we sat outdoors on a heated patio with flights of beer and whiskey to enjoy with dinner.

A delicious British feast at Rose and Crown Pub in EPCOT’s World Showcase!

Similarly, the complement of guests in the park was missing so many international guests, that on the rare occasion we overheard another language being spoken, it stood out more than in previous trips. I don’t know the current statistics, but I would imagine that a much larger percentage of guests today are actually residents of central Florida (not a bad thing, just different!).

So what else was missing and different? Here is the quick list: no fireworks, no laser/night shows, no parades, no street performances, no “single rider” lines, no Fastpass, limited Park Hopper hours, no new Annual Passholder sales, no Extra Magic Hours, many closed stores, many closed food options, limited transportation options, no dining plans, no pop-up street performances or entertainment, shorter park hours, no character visits, and many closed live shows (Mermaid, Nemo, Lion King, etc).

Disney has made some good attempts to keep some of the feel of these missing components alive in our visits. They have surprise “cavalcades” that pop up in each park every hour or so, with several characters, music and waving from a distance. They are gone again before any crowds can gather dangerously. Also, there are secret corners where some characters are strategically placed at a distance, while guests stand perhaps 15 feet in the foreground to have their photo taken “with” the Disney princess or character of their dreams.

*Mickey Mouse staying safely distant at Hollywood Studios in January 2021.*

The challenge that is created with all of these missing magical Disney pieces is that the remaining attractions have much longer lines than might be expected for a park that isn’t even 35% filled (Disney’s current park capacity limit during Covid). We were in the parks on weekdays in the middle of January, for a total of eight days. On some of those days, the most popular attractions had 65-95 minute waits! Even some of the less popular attractions on those days also had what seemed longer than they might normally be in January, at 20-30 minutes. We also had some good luck – there was one day in Animal Kingdom where we could walk on to nearly every attraction with hardly any wait at all! We couldn’t figure out the Covid trick to make sure we were in the right park on the right day (I used one of the Disney Crowd Calculators available online to pick “historically least crowded” days and parks, but clearly, those tools are less useful during a pandemic).

“Tinkerbell, how about sprinkling a little good luck Pixie Dust on those Ravens this weekend?” (Well, they lonst, so I think she didn’t)

Disney has started to pivot somewhat on their various requirements, and are getting push-back in every direction. Some reports indicate that they have started loading every row on a ride, something that we saw very little of on our visit (but I did see it on Expedition Everest). These changes are surely to try to reduce wait times for attractions, but may come at the cost of people no longer feeling safe (or worse yet, not ACTUALLY being as safe). It is all part of the delicate balance Disney is trying to find to remain open and mitigate their massive financial losses.

Here is a another quick list of things you may want to note if you decide to visit Mickey during Covid:

Mickey doesn’t wear a mask. It seems that Disney will make sure you will never get within six feet (probably not even within 15 feet) of any Disney star, so don’t worry about any unintended virus sharing with the characters, lol.
Mobile food ordering is the way to go when your stomach starts to growl. If there isn’t a crowd, it seems that at least some of the take-out food kiosks would also take your order in person, but be prepared to order on your mobile phone if you want to have a shorter wait (you can order food for a future time and then just update your order online when you have “arrived” to pick up your food.
You really are not permitted to be moving while eating or drinking (no standing in line for an attraction while eating or drinking either). Don’t bother to try – we saw active enforcement of some of the sneakier guests. Late in our visit, we discovered a little trick – use eating and drinking time as an opportunity to snap a couple of photos without a mask on. Find a pretty place to sit/stand and eat/drink, then also snap some photos while there! Update: In February 2021, WDW further updated their mask requirements to state that while at your table, waiting to order, or waiting for food, you must still wear your mask.
You may not remove your mask for photos (or for any other reason other than while standing still while actively eating or drinking. Not on rides, not for a Disney Photopass photographer, not in front of the castle or anywhere else! We also saw active enforcement of this rule and have also been told that any ride photos without masks will NOT be made available to guests! Each day is a long day with a mask on ALL. DAY. LONG. (I have renewed appreciation for anyone that works every day in a job that requires them to wear a mask). Disney is surely receiving some push-back on this rule, but after living through 14 days on property, I cannot see how this rule could be relaxed any time soon, especially as the parks start to hit their 35% capacity in spring and summer. It is a slippery slope, and there just isn’t enough physical space to assure enough distance between people, be they guests or cast members. As much as I want better photos, masks are unfortunately going to be needed in our everyday lives for quite some time.
If you are part of a group, you may very well be split up for attractions. Many of the theatre seats are set up for parties of four, so if you are a family of five or more, you will need to decide quickly how you want to be split when entering the attraction.
I am not sure if this is accurate, or simply my perception, but it seems that there are more attractions closed for “refurbishment” than I recall from past visits. When we were there, the entire train station at the front of Magic Kingdom was covered in a giant tarp (which was beautifully decorated like the train station it covered). The trains were obviously not running also. Additionally, Tom Sawyer Island and all the surrounding water was under refurbishment. It was jarring to see the previously giant body of water turned into a pit of dirt and construction vehicles. Tom Sawyer Island, the giant paddleboat and the rafts that ferried guests to the island were all missing. Most of the front of EPCOT was covered by construction-hiding walls. This is a huge project and will be gorgeous when complete, but certainly made the first half of EPCOT fairly unimpressive. Refurbishment is a necessary part of life, but it certainly seemed to be easy to spot and had a large visual impact on the luster of Walt Disney World.
The pre-show of many rides was eliminated. Because the queues need to make sure guests do not come within six feet of each other, they need to wind in, out, around and through some unusual places. While waiting in line for Peter Pan’s flight, part of our line weaved through the closed quick-serve restaurant next door. This need for space and distance means that the pre-show of the Haunted Mansion is eliminated. No stopping in the room where the ceiling stretches higher in front of your eyes before getting in your ghostmobile. The line just walks you straight through the room…it’s a bummer. Similarly with the Tower of Terror, Test Track, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and many more – no pre-show. These are some of the details that make WDW stand out as the best amusement park out there. Each attraction has a story to tell and creates a mood and anticipation as you wait in line. We weren’t expecting it, and we really missed it.
The shorter hours and lack of Extra Magic Hours made each day a much longer day. Strategy for a good day at the park for me pre-Covid included an early start to the day in a park, followed by a midday break back at our campsite or hotel for lunch and a rest, and then a 2nd visit to a park (the same one or a hopper to a 2nd location), to enjoy the park as many guests were leaving. With much shorter hours (even for January), and longer lines (for January), our park visits turned into one long trip, more eating out (without a dining plan option to save a bit), and no break in between. We headed home each day, greatly missing the evening “big show” – no fireworks, no laser show, no big finale to give you those magical Disney goosebumps.

Now that Disney is gearing up for their busier and warmer time of the year, I cannot imagine how much more crowded the parks are going to feel, even with their continued limited capacity. It will be tougher to be “safely distant” from others, and it will be really tough wearing a mask for eight or more hours, from hotel door – to hotel door in the humidity and heat of central Florida.

This little package of adorableness might even entice me to start watching the Mandelorian.

Disney is doing it all the right way. They are doing it all very well, in really difficult circumstances. What had been my biggest concern when visiting, SAFETY, was barely a concern at all (although it did get uncomfortably jammed in the Magic Kingdom with the many families with strollers and little ones zigging and zagging all around)!

However, with the aforementioned changes they needed to implement to assure our safety (and be allowed to even open), there was enough missing Pixie Dust for us to say “We REALLY look forward to returning. We hope that our world will bounce back to our next “new normal” quickly…and we will be thrilled to return after Covid no longer has quite as strong of a stronghold on their operations”.

Walt Disney himself was right about what they do – then, now – in a pandemic, and in the future: “We create happiness”. Thanks, Walt!

Whether you find your happiness in a trip to WDW during Covid, or decide to be patient and instead find happiness in the PLANNING of a future trip when some of these limitations can be lifted, we hope you enjoy it all!

Safe travels, to infinity and beyond!

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Please bring back Annual Passes so that we can visit sooner (making the cost more in-line with the value we see in a Covid-impacted WDW).

How Covid and FT RVing Showed Us New Ways To Share The Love

In my family of origin, there were a lot of little details that were “traditions” we cherished during holidays throughout the year. At Easter, we Holmstrom’s took the obligatory photos dressed in our Sunday finest and with our baskets at our feet. At Thanksgiving, the dressing and sauerkraut played just as important a role as the turkey. Finally, Christmas morning gift opening always began with all four of us kids piled in our parent’s king-sized bed, digging through the stockings that Santa left before we explored what he left under the tree. Much of the rest – the bigger components that fill in a holiday experience, would be altered a bit each year to meet changing family member’s needs – varying locations, attendees and menus. We treasured it all, but we weren’t very prone to consistency.

My brother, Steve and me, visiting Granny and Pop-pop (maternal grandparents) in Baltimore, MD in 1970.

Granny (Albertina Heming) and my mom (Diane) in 1968. That mid-century modern silver tree is a holiday detail that has survived and was used for many years through my own parent’s retirement.

My husband’s experience was a bit different. Many aspects of the holidays were a re-creation of the year prior – decorations, menu, guests and celebratory details were a great annual tradition. Change was eschewed, conceding to it only when absolutely necessary. The Schmidt family traditions run deep and long and are equally treasured.

*Every big holiday in the Schmidt family included a visit to Grammy’s house (and many times for my family as well, but that is a blog post for another day).* Here is Andrew at Grammy’s house for Christmas in 1967.

When Andrew and his brother started their own families, the tradition continued. Here is Abby (Andrew’s youngest), Grammy (his paternal grandmother), his neice Elia, and MomMom (his maternal grandmother), all dressed up for a Christmas visit.

As adults, we each continued our “holiday styles” in a similar manner, with my holidays moving with the ebb and flow of family member geography, the growing up of me and my three siblings, the loss of grandparents, the start of marriages and the birth of grandchildren. Andrew’s experience was a bit more steadfast and certain. Despite many of the same family changes over time, his family endeavored each year to keep every holiday the same at its’ core. Each style seemed to work for each of us….and then we got married! Cue the David Bowie music…”Cha-cha-cha-changes!”

When we married in 2015, holidays became a new conglomeration of step-siblings, new step-cousins, and a mix of guests that varied with each holiday and each year. With my family moving form PA to MD, and the sort-of blending of two households, the holiday table looked a little different each year. This photo shows the “kid table” at Thanksgiving, circa 2017.

We always tried to lasso a few of our kiddos each year to celebrate in different ways – this was the day in 2019 we got a small group of us together to pick our Christmas tree – with Ben (Andrew’s son), and Chris (Christy’s best guy).

So when we declared our full-time RVing plans and as Coronavirus descended upon our world, it quickly became apparent that our big holidays were going to be much different for a while. And so far, different they have been! Initially, I had one goal in mind – to make sure our kids all had a place to spend and enjoy each holiday no matter where we were in our RV.

We also intended to find enticing travel locations that might create a holiday option for any of our six children to visit if they wanted. Even though all our kids are now young adults, it was important to me that each of our kids had some holiday options. Despite all the intentions and planning, we realized much of it was beyond our control.

The inability to travel during a pandemic created a quiet heartache as treasured holiday time with our loved ones was relegated to texts, phone, and video calls. I have learned that Covid had a far greater impact on holidays than full-time RVing ever would. I expect to miss seeing most of my loved ones when I travel. But there is an added level of sadness when I know my stationary-living loved ones also cannot see and do most of the things they would like to do to celebrate.

These are the types of holidays that everyone around the world misses – a gathering of generations and households. This was Thanksgiving 2016, the last that we enjoyed celebrating with all of our parents. Fathers and fathers-in-law have since passed, placing another change upon us that we wish we didn’t have to face.

So as we wrap up a year of Covid holidays and six months of living on the road, I am grateful for whatever time I can get with my loved ones. Brief visits with Ella, my college-student-youngest did happen – masks on and hugs withheld, before she had to return to her new “school home” in Gainesville, FL to work her part-time job at Walmart. It has become clear that holiday familiarity is suspended for a while as everyone’s adult responsibilities, Coronavirus, and our geographic distance take their toll on our family, like so many others.

It was our thought that our other children and parents, all currently based out of Maryland and Pennsylvania, would have family members nearby to give them a “holiday home”. Unfortunately, with Covid, that couldn’t always happen. My two older kids both work every day in high-Covid-risk food service environments, so Covid really prevented them from being able to do much holiday visiting at all, in an effort to keep other more Covid-vulnerable relatives safe. Instead, my oldest, Adalie, delivered Thanksgiving dinner from her place of employment to her brother, Lorne, since they both worked through the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Lorne made a pumpkin pie and visited a local friend’s family. They had recently lost their son/brother and it was important to him to help fill their holiday with some happiness.

Andrew’s children each varied their own plans slightly, knowing that we could not all be together this year. Christy was moving into a new apartment and kept busy with her boyfriend and his family. Ben and Abby, still living at their mother’s home, had a place for a more traditional, albeit, smaller Thanksgiving.

Our mothers each had perhaps the most challenging Thanksgiving celebrations of all of us. My mom spent her first Thanksgiving as a widow, having just moved out of her home of 55 years – and into her own adorable in-law suite in my sister and brother-in-law’s home. My mother-in-law spent her first Thanksgiving ever without anyone else at the table. Our moms enjoyed meals provided by our siblings, but the holiday differences most certainly were the dominant theme. We all did our best exchanging calls, texts and special flower deliveries, but watching all these changes unfold was certainly the most difficult part of the holiday to navigate.

Easter 2020 was a Covid-bust – with a full lockdown and stay-at-home order in MD, so we were bound and determined to make Thanksgiving on the road special in whatever way we could. Here, Andrew and I walk the beach with Ella on Thanksgiving Day in Tybee Island, GA.

Our Thanksgiving had some really nice moments despite all the limitations. Andrew and Ella and I enjoyed a pot-luck meal hosted by the campground where we were staying, so I was able to cook our favorite dishes, without having the full load of a turkey and a dozen side dishes. We ate at a picnic table at our campsite, with a tablescape of seashells, pine cones and mini pumpkins. Instead of hosting 15 – 20 guests, our family-of-three walked off our meal on the beach of Tybee Island, GA on a warm afternoon, exchanging “Happy Thanksgiving” greetings with strangers instead of our parents and most of our children, all of whom we missed dearly.

A Thanksgiving 2020 freast for three- safely outdoors, with our feet in the sand, at Rivers End Campground, Tybee Island, GA

Where the Savannah River meets the Atlantic Ocean at sunset. Sometimes different can be great, and at the same time, you miss your people even more.

Christmas was a repeat of a similar scenario. We met Ella at a campground on the gulf panhandle in Carrabelle Beach, FL for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was a treat that included long walks on the pure white sand, collecting seashells and walking the dogs. I made many of Ella’s favorite meals and put all my “Mom efforts” into her, unable to host or dote on any other kids or parents. Facetime and Zoom meetings replaced a trip to someone’s house for a day-long visit. Gifts were mailed, with a hope, but little expectation that the USPS was going to deliver in time. It was quiet. It was relaxing. It was still lovely. But It was very, very different.

Christmas tree hunting was a trip to Goodwill, and decorating took only about an hour in our tiny RV home. But something about the twinkling lights helped give us the warmth of Christmas even when we missed nearly all of our loved ones.

Even a visit by one is better than a visit by none (she still needs to practice her mask-wearing as part of her adulting lessons). What we lacked in wrapping paper for gifts (as shown in photo), we made up for with shipping packages of love to those we missed.

I filled my 2020 “Mom-tank” by cooking special food for Ella and Andrew, and visiting with all of our kids on Facetime or Zoom on Christmas (this was a breakfast casserole).

By the time our second Covid-impacted Easter rolls around and we wrap up a year of traveling-holidays, I am not sure that much will be “back to normal”. We hope the Covid vaccine will be widely available by then so that flights can be booked and larger gatherings of loved ones from different households are once again safe. But if it isn’t, I know it will still be okay, despite the differences. The holidays have to change every year, but the core of every holiday will always be the same. These important days of the year are about sharing love, and we will all find new and different ways to share that love with those we love and miss.

Safe travels – and happy holidays all year-round, wherever you are planted!

The gallery of photos shared below is a walk down memory lane from the 1950s thru the present, showing how our families and our family traditions have evolved over the years. It is a digital family photo album of resilience and love.