****Official January 2021 thread****

[evlaina]

Reviewing park hours and our park reservations for ADR dining selections later this week. I wish I was more excited about this trip. If SW changes our flights again we may throw in the towel.

I feel you...Usually I'm excited, I have pages of notes on my phone plus in a real notebook, I'm organizing everything 8 or 9 months out. Here I am 74 days out and like meh. I don't want to get my hopes up too much and then have to cancel again. I haven't even been researching yet what restaurants are open and my ADR day is in 2 weeks, and I haven't looked at what time rope drop has been happening at each park either.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Reviewing park hours and our park reservations for ADR dining selections later this week. I wish I was more excited about this trip. If SW changes our flights again we may throw in the towel.

Uggh, stupid airlines changing flights all over the place.

I just completed my dining reservations... really hoping they don't extend park hours, lol. I got ADR's to close out DHS twice and MK once.

Jan 8 - Hollywood & Vine at 6:55. Also doing lunch at Sci-fi at noon.
Jan 9 - Epcot, I booked Garden Grill for 5ish, didn't want to wait til 8 to eat there and didn't want to eat so late there was no time for anything else after,
Jan 10 - 50's Prime Time at 6:50
Jan 11 - 4th night we move to AKV, so booked a dinner at Sanaa at 6:30
Jan 12 - BOG at 6:55 on our final park night
Jan 13 - Topolino breakfast on our way out of town.

 

[JFox]

I feel you...Usually I'm excited, I have pages of notes on my phone plus in a real notebook, I'm organizing everything 8 or 9 months out. Here I am 74 days out and like meh. I don't want to get my hopes up too much and then have to cancel again. I haven't even been researching yet what restaurants are open and my ADR day is in 2 weeks, and I haven't looked at what time rope drop has been happening at each park either.

Same. One of my favorite parts of planning is making my spreadsheet of park hours, ADR's, etc. Seriously all I have written down is our flights, reservation numbers, and park hours with a note that says "same all 10 days".

 

[JFox]

Uggh, stupid airlines changing flights all over the place.

I just completed my dining reservations... really hoping they don't extend park hours, lol. I got ADR's to close out DHS twice and MK once.

Jan 8 - Hollywood & Vine at 6:55. Also doing lunch at Sci-fi at noon.
Jan 9 - Epcot, I booked Garden Grill for 5ish, didn't want to wait til 8 to eat there and didn't want to eat so late there was no time for anything else after,
Jan 10 - 50's Prime Time at 6:50
Jan 11 - 4th night we move to AKV, so booked a dinner at Sanaa at 6:30
Jan 12 - BOG at 6:55 on our final park night
Jan 13 - Topolino breakfast on our way out of town.

Since park hours are limited we don't want to spend a lot of time during the day in restaurants. Our must do ADR's are Oga's on arrival day (I am about ready for a Fuzzy Tauntaun) and BOG for our wedding anniversary. January 2018 we eloped to WDW and were married on the beach next to the Poly. My husband promised that we would celebrate every anniversary in a Castle. Our castle options are limited at home. Other possible ADR's are Sanaa and Topolinos.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Since park hours are limited we don't want to spend a lot of time during the day in restaurants. Our must do ADR's are Oga's on arrival day (I am about ready for a Fuzzy Tauntaun) and BOG for our wedding anniversary. January 2018 we eloped to WDW and were married on the beach next to the Poly. My husband promised that we would celebrate every anniversary in a Castle. Our castle options are limited at home. Other possible ADR's are Sanaa and Topolinos.

Those end of the day ADR's were what I wanted so we can eat, then have a slow walk out of the park with very few people left. Will be interesting. I'm sure some people will still be around, but not as bad as if we were leaving with everyone else.

 

[evlaina]

Those end of the day ADR's were what I wanted so we can eat, then have a slow walk out of the park with very few people left. Will be interesting. I'm sure some people will still be around, but not as bad as if we were leaving with everyone else.

I’m really hoping for some end of night ADRs as well.

 

[JFox]

Learned something new very early this morning after struggling with making ADR's. I started with my most important reservations but kept getting an error for the second half of my trip. Finally called in and explained my situation and the agent asks, "do you have a split stay?" *LIGHT BULB* UGGH. First time split stay, lesson learned. Now I have to do this all over again on Thursday. Definitely a CON for a split stay.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

Learned something new very early this morning after struggling with making ADR's. I started with my most important reservations but kept getting an error for the second half of my trip. Finally called in and explained my situation and the agent asks, "do you have a split stay?" *LIGHT BULB* UGGH. First time split stay, lesson learned. Now I have to do this all over again on Thursday. Definitely a CON for a split stay.

Oh I never thought about this. It's awhile till I have to make my ADR's but I'll keep this in mind.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Learned something new very early this morning after struggling with making ADR's. I started with my most important reservations but kept getting an error for the second half of my trip. Finally called in and explained my situation and the agent asks, "do you have a split stay?" *LIGHT BULB* UGGH. First time split stay, lesson learned. Now I have to do this all over again on Thursday. Definitely a CON for a split stay.

Yeah, I had similar issues with the ADRs.

Now I have the issue of the dumb airline moving my flight up 2 hours for flight home. Unless I can get this changed, I’m not gonna be able to do the Topolinos breakfast I was really trying to do.

 

[JFox]

Yeah, I had similar issues with the ADRs.

Now I have the issue of the dumb airline moving my flight up 2 hours for flight home. Unless I can get this changed, I’m not gonna be able to do the Topolinos breakfast I was really trying to do.

The APP was terrible. I booked everything logged into the site. I have 2 more to book, for our second resort stay, when my next window opens up. I got both BOG & Oga's so anything else is just pixie dust. While a split stay is a nice opportunity to visit other resorts I didn't anticipate the ADR mess.

SW has changed our flight twice citing weather issues they are already aware of in January! My husband and I decided if they do it again we will consider it a sign and cancel the entire trip. I go back and forth depending on the time of day.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

I just made my ADR for Jan 14 - 18. This would be our 6th trip to Disney in January. And everyday I ask myself, should I cancel, am I just delaying the inevitable? For now I am planning what I can. I know the park hours change, especially for MLK weekend, but those short park hours make it hard to do everything. I think even if I end up canceling, I am liking the normalcy of reading the discussion boards and enjoying other's excitement!

 

[GBRforWDW]

New discounts are available for Disney Visa Card holders. I had to call in to get it applied this morning, but for AoA it was double the discount compared to the discount released last month.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/disney-visa-cardmember-room/

 

[JFox]

Uggh. It hapened. We got Southwest flight change number 3. It's time to decide if we go or not.

And I was wrong SW is not offer to allow a cancelation back to the original payment. Just a change. That will leave use with a credit to manage and try to use before expiration.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Yes I also got the dreaded Southwest change a couple of nights ago Now my first flight leaves 1 hour earlier, and my second flight arrives in Orlando an hour later 4 1/2 hour layover in Houston
And with Covid cases spiking, now I'm worried about WDW closing down and my trip being cancelled

 

[GBRforWDW]

Yes I also got the dreaded Southwest change a couple of nights ago Now my first flight leaves 1 hour earlier, and my second flight arrives in Orlando an hour later 4 1/2 hour layover in Houston
And with Covid cases spiking, now I'm worried about WDW closing down and my trip being cancelled

I really feel like the Florida state government and Disney officials are trying to avoid a shut down at all costs. I don't think Biden will implement a nationwide shutdown as well. I feel like, at least with things he's said so far, while he wants nationwide this and that, he's wanting to work with the states. Hopefully that bodes well for Disney and people wanting to go, but guess we'll know more as things progress.

 

[Leigh L]

Hi! Just joining January this week. We've been at least twice in Jan. and it's one of our favorite months to go to WDW.

This is going to mostly be a working/school vacation trip since we were recently in the parks. When the Visa discount dropped, decided to book a Jan week with a split stay on impulse (well I sat on my hands for two days ). Figured it'll be a nice change of scenery in the cold months and I was very happy with Disney's COVID-19 protocols so one of the few destinations I'm comfortable with right now.

DD is off 2.5 days the week we're going (MLK, inauguration, and end of quarter) and figured we can cancel if DD goes back to in-person school on Jan. 26 as scheduled. I have my doubts it'll happen since our district keeps pushing reopening back for all students.

So thrilled to hear hoppers are back!
(Of course, I just literally burned out the remaining days on my hoppers and the announcement comes - figures, lol. I'll likely splurge for 2-3 days of base tickets).

Learned something new very early this morning after struggling with making ADR's. I started with my most important reservations but kept getting an error for the second half of my trip. Finally called in and explained my situation and the agent asks, "do you have a split stay?" *LIGHT BULB* UGGH. First time split stay, lesson learned. Now I have to do this all over again on Thursday. Definitely a CON for a split stay.

When I booked, I started to do the dining since the window was open and on our recent trip I didn't book until way late in the game and it was tough to get ADRs so I jumped right on it.

We almost always do split stays and I forget the danged split stay ADR thing every.single.time!
My window reopens tomorrow.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have been debating if we will keep our January trip but now that they have brought back park hoppers, it looks a lot more likely we will be there. Now I have to go back and change some of my park reservations.

Edited; Our SW flight home changed from a direct flight that was 2 hours long to a flight that made three stops and took four hours. We have never had a SWA flight that switched us from a direct flight to multiple stop flight before this. I didn't even notice for a few days that they had done this. We use Chicago-Midway which has many flights to Orlando every day. I found a direct flight but not at my preferred time.

 

[evlaina]

I'm also super happy about the hoppers. We're staying at yacht club and was a little disappointed we could only go to Epcot 2 days and HS 1 day during out shortish 5-day trip. Now I think we might do a different park each morning and hop to Epcot each night. OMG maybe they'll extend hours more now!

Next up - Fastpass!! I know some people hate it, but we don't.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Called Delta this morning and explained that my flight got moved up earlier and I wanted a later flight out. They were able to book us on a noon departure at no additional cost, so that means we'll be able to keep the Topolino breakfast reservation I had planned as a last hurrah for the trip.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Yes I also got the dreaded Southwest change a couple of nights ago Now my first flight leaves 1 hour earlier, and my second flight arrives in Orlando an hour later 4 1/2 hour layover in Houston
And with Covid cases spiking, now I'm worried about WDW closing down and my trip being cancelled

My first change had a layover I looked online and found a flight that did not and it was only $12 more. Make sure you look and dont take thier word for it. We were at WDW in March when it shut down. The hotels stayed open and we had a really nice time.... and we got a really really good discount for coming back.