Cheapness In Seattle (A 2019 PNW Trip Report - 2020 update added on 6/25

Well, folks, here's the update: we pulled the plug on the Alaska trip. It was a sad day yesterday, but I think ultimately it was the call we had to make. In the end, there were too many worst-case scenarios that I couldn't rule out. I think the most likely scenario is that we could have traveled and had a great time and been fine. But there was also risk of either getting the virus, or someone else getting it and causing something on the itinerary to be shut down, and that risk was much higher than zero. In the end, it was too high for me to be comfortable spending the money to go.

I kept coming back to the thought that if there's a delay in test results for any reason, or even one person at any place we visit (attractions, hotels, etc.) gets infected, the trip is hosed.

So we'll try again next summer. I hope.

Now I'm just trying to come up with something to do as a plan B.
A friend of mine is going to WDW next week, that might be fun...
 
Sorry you pulled the plug on Alaska but I get it. We have a rising senior this year and we were hoping to have gone to Ireland this summer but then hubby lost his job and you know global pandemic so we're hoping 2021 is better. You can always drive down to Disney for a few days, I hear the crowds are really, really low ;-)
As always, thanks for taking us along on your family's adventures. That pic of the kids at WL from now and 10 years ago :sad: So grown up!!!
 
We had to cancel our trip to England for this year, but are now planning a Disney Alaskan cruise next summer - I hope!

We just did a three day trip to Gettysburg. We had a really great time, and most things are open. Hope you can figure out a fun trip for this summer yet!
 
Apparently a few other people like Disney, too.
What?????
I don't think anybody wants to see my vomit coming out of a tube.
I dunno. Might be funny.
I was telling a friend that I think the entire country (and by extension, the world) is suffering from depression. If you think about it, everything we love--travel, sports, movies, concerts, parties, restaurants, bars, hanging out with friends--was taken away all at once. That's traumatic.
I've heard the term "quarantine fatigue". People are less scared of the virus and just want it to be over.
Well, folks, here's the update: we pulled the plug on the Alaska trip.
Sorry about that, but... for what it's worth, I think you made the best decision, given the circumstances.
 
A friend of mine is going to WDW next week, that might be fun...

Normally I would agree with you, but I've seen Florida's numbers and...yeah, I won't be going there for a while.

Sorry you pulled the plug on Alaska but I get it. We have a rising senior this year and we were hoping to have gone to Ireland this summer but then hubby lost his job and you know global pandemic so we're hoping 2021 is better. You can always drive down to Disney for a few days, I hear the crowds are really, really low ;-)

The problem with going to Disney is that I would have to survive going through the rest of Florida to get there. :laughing:

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. That's much worse than anything we're facing.

As always, thanks for taking us along on your family's adventures. That pic of the kids at WL from now and 10 years ago :sad: So grown up!!!

You're not kidding! That 10 years went by so quickly. Thanks for reading!

We had to cancel our trip to England for this year, but are now planning a Disney Alaskan cruise next summer - I hope!

Another bummer! Sorry to hear that.

We just did a three day trip to Gettysburg. We had a really great time, and most things are open. Hope you can figure out a fun trip for this summer yet!

We're working on possibly renting a cabin near the Smoky Mountains. I feel like holing up there is a decent way to spend a pandemic.

I've heard the term "quarantine fatigue". People are less scared of the virus and just want it to be over.

This is very true. I definitely suffer from that. But I guess I'm still scared of the virus, too. It appears "wishing it would go away" is not an effective strategy. :rolleyes1

Sorry about that, but... for what it's worth, I think you made the best decision, given the circumstances.

Thanks. I do feel at peace about it. When my friends go and start posting photos, I might feel differently. :rotfl2:
 
Not surprised to hear about cancelling the Alaska trip. We were lucky in that we really didn't have much big planned, and all of the things we would've done were planned for going to big events that got cancelled early on, so we didn't have much to agonize over. Heck, we hadn't even made any actual reservations to cancel!

Personally, I just made reservations for dh and I to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden next weekend. This is like, the first actual planned fun outing for us this summer.

I will miss your trip reporting as well. I know I mostly lurk, but I do appreciate your TRs!
 


Not surprised to hear about cancelling the Alaska trip. We were lucky in that we really didn't have much big planned, and all of the things we would've done were planned for going to big events that got cancelled early on, so we didn't have much to agonize over. Heck, we hadn't even made any actual reservations to cancel!

Sounds a lot less stressful! It's still a bummer not to be able to do so much.

Personally, I just made reservations for dh and I to go to the Chicago Botanic Garden next weekend. This is like, the first actual planned fun outing for us this summer.

Hope you get to enjoy it! It's great these days just to get out of the house and see something different.

I will miss your trip reporting as well. I know I mostly lurk, but I do appreciate your TRs!

I appreciate you reading them! I'm sure they'll be back someday. We're setting up a plan B mini-trip to a cabin in Tennessee but I don't know that we'll do enough interesting things to make it work writing up. Mostly we're using it as a break.

It's not???? When did this happen???

:rolleyes1

They're still going?

Yeah, they are. One thing they had planned to do differently was to rent an RV, so they are staying in that and doing most of their meals by themselves. That made for many fewer contact points with other people. i didn't plan it that way because...well, mostly because I didn't want to drive an RV. Hopefully they can pull it off.
 
Why? Too many people in it? Too big to drive? Too expensive?

Cost-wise, it wasn't horrible. Although hotel rates started dropping fast when the pandemic came along, so that was making our trip a lot cheaper. The cost of gas was a worry for me since those things are not exactly fuel-efficient. And we would have been driving probably close to 2,000 miles total. There are some very long, very remote stretches of road without gas or any other services if there was an issue. That was a concern. Driving the equivalent of a big U-Haul truck on those roads didn't sound like a good time, either. I don't know what is involved with dumping waste, re-filling water tanks, etc.
 
Cost-wise, it wasn't horrible. Although hotel rates started dropping fast when the pandemic came along, so that was making our trip a lot cheaper. The cost of gas was a worry for me since those things are not exactly fuel-efficient. And we would have been driving probably close to 2,000 miles total. There are some very long, very remote stretches of road without gas or any other services if there was an issue. That was a concern. Driving the equivalent of a big U-Haul truck on those roads didn't sound like a good time, either. I don't know what is involved with dumping waste, re-filling water tanks, etc.
All pretty good arguments for giving that a pass. I know nothing about them too.
 
Our flight wasn’t until 7 p.m. that evening, so even though we’d accomplished everything we had wanted to do at Universal Studios (i.e. Harry Potter stuff), it was only lunchtime and we had some time to ourselves that afternoon.

So, we did what any reasonable person would do when faced with a free afternoon at Universal Studios.

We hopped in the van and drove to Walt Disney World.

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable plan to me!

A couple of years ago, Disney made a rash decision to cease the fun and noise, apparently in an attempt to appease some entitled guests who were born without a sense of humor. Thankfully, those of us who enjoy things like “fun” eventually won out, and the goofiness has returned to the restaurant, even if it’s a bit more low-key than before.

When was this? I think it was 2016 that I went with Naked Jim and we had a hilarious time. Especially with the ketchup and Fran getting put in jail.

Anyway, for this visit, I finally changed my order. I’ve learned the hard way that at 45 years old, all-you-can-eat is not nearly the value it was when I was younger.

Try when you get to 55. :sad2:

So I ordered a bison burger instead (that’s a fried pickle on top, in case you’re wondering).

:eek: Wow!

Scotty has now taken the Biggest Appetite crown in the family, so he got the BBQ dish.

That's A LOT of food!

Even better, another family in the restaurant wanted some ketchup later, so the dad walked over and asked if he could take a bottle from our table. Our server was standing right there and immediately started giving the guy a hard time. “Hey, what are you doing? No, no, no, no! Get back to your table, sir, we got a certain way of doing things around here!”

It was hilarious just watching the utter confusion on the guy’s face. I love watching newbies there. The man’s own server then informed him of the proper procedure, and soon we were delivering 20 bottles of ketchup for their use.

I love that, and especially not knowing what was coming!

Scotty wanted a “little” more Sprite with his meal. The server obliged him.

That's just perfect!

Mission: SPACE still looks good. I’m interested in the new restaurant they’re building there.

I am too! It was supposed to be open by now, but.....

It’s a different feel than Universal. At Universal, I mostly felt like I was in an amusement park. A very well-made amusement park. At Disney, I felt like I’d escaped the real world. That was the difference, to me.

I agree. Even Disneyland is like that for me. When we stay at the Grand, it's so easy to forgot about home....

We’d fulfilled our long-overdue promise to Sarah, and finally experienced Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

So glad you did it "before". I don't think folks our age will really see normal again in our lifetimes, or we may be too old to enjoy it by the time it rolls around again. Hopefully your kids can raise their kids in something close to the normal that they grew up in.

We were glad to spend the time riding around on boats and monorails, wandering through resorts, and looking at all of the attractions around us. I have a feeling I would have gotten bored trying to do the same around CityWalk.

I've tried to do that, at least at the Royal Pacific. Fran likes to sleep in the afternoons, so I walked around trying to entertain myself and it wasn't nearly as much fun as it would have been at Disney.

Well, folks, here's the update: we pulled the plug on the Alaska trip. It was a sad day yesterday, but I think ultimately it was the call we had to make. In the end, there were too many worst-case scenarios that I couldn't rule out. I think the most likely scenario is that we could have traveled and had a great time and been fine. But there was also risk of either getting the virus, or someone else getting it and causing something on the itinerary to be shut down, and that risk was much higher than zero. In the end, it was too high for me to be comfortable spending the money to go.

I think you made the right decision. Too many variables, especially with delays in testing and all that hooey. Unfortunately, I don't see this ending anytime soon. Too many people who think it's a hoax, or that we are infringing on their rights just keep moving the goal post. Even in California where we had done so well, and then summer came and everyone just said, "Screw it! We're gonna Partay!" :sad2:

Us, we are staying home, not hanging out with anyone but our cats and trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes! :laughing:

I hope your alternate plans work out, and I'd still enjoy hearing about your adventures, even if you think they are boring!
 
Sorry to hear you’ve officially canceled Alaska. I hope you can find a getaway with your family.

I’ll keep reading your adventures because they make me smile and remind me how much fun I have traveling with my kids. (I’m too lazy/paranoid to publish them on the inter webs, though).
 
Sounds like a perfectly reasonable plan to me!

So many of our stories have started with that idea.

When was this? I think it was 2016 that I went with Naked Jim and we had a hilarious time. Especially with the ketchup and Fran getting put in jail.

I think it was a year or two ago. Thankfully, they got rightfully blasted for the decision and quickly reversed it.

Try when you get to 55.

Getting old sucks.

That's A LOT of food!

Scotty is much more equipped to handle that now.

I love that, and especially not knowing what was coming!

Those gags are so much fun. I love watching the newbies.

am too! It was supposed to be open by now, but.....

:sad1:

I agree. Even Disneyland is like that for me. When we stay at the Grand, it's so easy to forgot about home....

I know some of the Imagineers don't like people describing Disney as an escape from the real world. They prefer to think of it as a demonstration of what the real world could be. But...I dunno, I feel like it's an escape.

So glad you did it "before". I don't think folks our age will really see normal again in our lifetimes, or we may be too old to enjoy it by the time it rolls around again. Hopefully your kids can raise their kids in something close to the normal that they grew up in.

Nobody knows. Hopefully the vaccines will work. That would be best. But none of us is ever guaranteed anything.

I've tried to do that, at least at the Royal Pacific. Fran likes to sleep in the afternoons, so I walked around trying to entertain myself and it wasn't nearly as much fun as it would have been at Disney.

I don't see how it could be. The Disney resorts definitely have more magic to them.

I think you made the right decision. Too many variables, especially with delays in testing and all that hooey. Unfortunately, I don't see this ending anytime soon. Too many people who think it's a hoax, or that we are infringing on their rights just keep moving the goal post. Even in California where we had done so well, and then summer came and everyone just said, "Screw it! We're gonna Partay!"

Yeah...this has been very frustrating, for sure. We've tried to take it seriously. I wish everyone did.

Us, we are staying home, not hanging out with anyone but our cats and trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes!

We've seen some friends, but mostly if we are together with anyone we are outdoors. It's been very different, for sure.

I hope your alternate plans work out, and I'd still enjoy hearing about your adventures, even if you think they are boring!

I think we'll have some fun. It just won't have all the crazy driving that we're used to. Maybe that'll be a good thing.

Sorry to hear you’ve officially canceled Alaska. I hope you can find a getaway with your family.

Thanks. I really hated to cancel. I was so excited to finish off the 50-state tour.

’ll keep reading your adventures because they make me smile and remind me how much fun I have traveling with my kids. (I’m too lazy/paranoid to publish them on the inter webs, though).

Thanks for reading them. Sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy for writing it all up here, but it's been very rewarding to share the experiences.
 
It's January 2021 but I wanted to say I have enjoyed your trip reports! I started because we are headed to the Rocky Mountains this summer and I have read most of them since then. I have loved "seeing" your kids grow up! I am especially sad you didn't get to go to Alaska!!

I am sure I will read the rest next week but wanted to post here since it was your most recent report. Thanks so much for sharing!
 
No, I'm afraid not.

<cricket><cricket><cricket>

The country is starting to come back to life. I figured maybe it's time for the TR's to do the same.

I am waiting for some new updates or family frolics.

Well, hello there. We managed to have a little fun during the pandemic year, but it certainly wasn't the same. How did you do?

Hoping you and yours are well!

Thank you, we're doing great! How are you?
 

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