***Can't keep us down...OFFICIAL MAY 2021 THREAD...come heck or high water we're going to WDW!!!***

[Farro]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd put here too. I know a lot of us are having anxiety right now about a myriad of things, trips being one of them.
For me, this trip is the least of my worries. I think it's going to be okay!

Here's my "plan" on just looking forward to something...

Staying at Gran Destino (hopefully they open) - so much to do there, so many bars, places to eat, very excited about it! First time at a moderate, but I think Gran Destino is pretty luxe....

Parks may close early, but then we'll just spend evenings over dinner, cocktails, relaxing with a glass of wine by pool. We will make due and enjoy.

Masks - I have bought so many , but my favorite are just a pack of 50 pink surgical masks. It's not my favorite thing to do, but we will go masks or no masks.

I have more confidence than most people that the park hours will be extended by then, some type of night-time activities will happen in some way/shape/form and more restaurants and stores will be open.

(I do think masks will be the last restriction to go though, but maybe they will limit to wearing indoor only by then...who knows)

Things I'm looking forward to eating (assuming these places are open by May, if not, I'm sure I can find something else!)...

From Dahlia or Barcelona Lounge (GDT):
Gran Gin Tonic (hotel specialty)
Cafe Bombon (from Barcelona Lounge)

From Toledo:
savory churros
'Pan con Tomate' Tomato Bread
Bravas potatoes

Three Bridges:
Their signature burger
fried shrimp corn dogs

Ale & Compass Lounge:
Parker House rolls with spreads

Crews Cup:
Prime Rib Sliders

Epcot:
Anything from France!!!
Brat from Germany
Via Napoli
Sparkling Sake from Japan
Peach Moscato from Italy (I buy it at home, but "feels" different at Epcot )

Animal Kingdom:
Cheeseburger pods!
Drinks, appetizers at Nomad!
Mr. Kamal's seasoned fries with dipping sauces
I love most of the food at AK

MK:
I saw something about bacon on a stick??? I will find hat....
Really excited to have a Micky pretzel with cheese

DHS:
Looking forward to trying food at Galaxy's Edge

Disney Springs:
Peanut butter cookie from Gideon's
dinner at Boathouse (I was sick and missed it last trip )
Spare Ribs and the White Lily cocktail from Morimoto (delicious!!!)

 

[hsmamainva]

I’m looking forward to the Flower & Garden displays! We haven’t seen it in years. I was really hoping for an Ohana dinner but now the Poly won’t be open until summer. Planning on Rose & Crown at Epcot - which is my oldest daughter’s favorite - and definitely doing 50’s Prime Time for my oldest son — we will be there on his birthday! Other than that, just planning a chill trip with lots of swimming in the evenings and family time.

 

[Farro]

I’m looking forward to the Flower & Garden displays! We haven’t seen it in years. I was really hoping for an Ohana dinner but now the Poly won’t be open until summer. Planning on Rose & Crown at Epcot - which is my oldest daughter’s favorite - and definitely doing 50’s Prime Time for my oldest son — we will be there on his birthday! Other than that, just planning a chill trip with lots of swimming in the evenings and family time.

I forgot!!! Yes Flower/Garden, very excited for that!

 

[kanerf]

Looking forward to Flower & Garden. Will be at BRV for 3 nights, RR for 3 nights, and OKW for 4 nights starting May 13.

 

[Farro]

Just a bump so we don't fall off front page!

Hello to anyone who want to join the May 2021 group!

 

[Katie1174]

Hi Farro,
Thank you for keeping our May thread alive and kicking.
We were going May 8-17 and staying at the Boardwalk Inn, but we decided to change it to May 9-18 and going to the Contemporary instead.
Since Boardwalk is closed indefinitely and there is no park hopping we would rather stay in the MK loop. The only reason we were staying at the Boardwalk was the ease to walk/park hop between Epcot for eating and HS. And walking thru Epcot to grab the monorail to MK(Which of course is also not running right now) We definitely do not want Disney moving us if the Boardwalk is still closed next May to a DVC studio at Boardwalk(since only the standard view is left now and that doesn't cut it for us) or the Riviera or Yacht Club.
If park hopping comes back, great, we can still do it from the Contemporary. If they have park hopping and open Boardwalk back up, I can always switch back as I check frequently to see what the status is.
We are still excited for May. We are already planning adjustments to our usual vacation style at Disney and will still have lots of fun.

 

[patclairesmom]

Won't park hopping be back in 2021? I thought it would since you can add park hoppers onto your ticket.

 

[Katie1174]

Won't park hopping be back in 2021? I thought it would since you can add park hoppers onto your ticket.

You can buy park hopper tickets for next year, but Disney hasn’t said wether or not park hopping will be back then. Some people that have bought tickets recently and asked about it were told they can buy them but that they dont know when park hopping will return and that they will get a credit if not back when their trip occurs. People who already had them, like us, are told they can get a credit back now or they can let the park hopping ride on their tickets in case in returns.
so who knows.....i hope it will be back by May but there is no guarantee.

 

[Farro]

Hi Farro,
Thank you for keeping our May thread alive and kicking.
We were going May 8-17 and staying at the Boardwalk Inn, but we decided to change it to May 9-18 and going to the Contemporary instead.
Since Boardwalk is closed indefinitely and there is no park hopping we would rather stay in the MK loop. The only reason we were staying at the Boardwalk was the ease to walk/park hop between Epcot for eating and HS. And walking thru Epcot to grab the monorail to MK(Which of course is also not running right now) We definitely do not want Disney moving us if the Boardwalk is still closed next May to a DVC studio at Boardwalk(since only the standard view is left now and that doesn't cut it for us) or the Riviera or Yacht Club.
If park hopping comes back, great, we can still do it from the Contemporary. If they have park hopping and open Boardwalk back up, I can always switch back as I check frequently to see what the status is.
We are still excited for May. We are already planning adjustments to our usual vacation style at Disney and will still have lots of fun.

Updated!

Yep, still planning and we will still have fun. Just to be in Animal Kingdom, sitting outside at Nomad with a glass of wine, listening to the music and sounds of the park - totally worth it.
And I hope they still have the cavalcades, they look so fun!

 

[Katie1174]

Updated!

Yep, still planning and we will still have fun. Just to be in Animal Kingdom, sitting outside at Nomad with a glass of wine, listening to the music and sounds of the park - totally worth it.
And I hope they still have the cavalcades, they look so fun!

So funny!! One of our favorite places is also Nomad Lounge, sitting outside with a glass of wine and the bread service or a cheese board listening the the sounds. We do it every time we are in Animal Kingdom. We miss it and cant wait to be there again.

 

[SMRT-1]

Officially cancelled our December 2020 trip today, so we're all-or-nothing on May now. Weird to think it will be a full year after our cancelled May 2020 trip. Hopefully May 2021 won't be lost trip #3.

 

[Katie1174]

For all of you that have park hoppers like we have, when I called to switch my resort, the nice CM on the phone told me that if park hopping still isnt back for our trip that I should call the ticketing department a couple of days before the trip amd they would take care of the credit for us. He said not to wait until you get there and waste your time at guest services. He said doing it a couple of days before will in no way mess up our current park selections.

 

[Farro]

Yeah, I'm going to wait until the very last second to cancel hoppers, I won't give up hope yet!

 

[disneydreamer781]

Just booked 5/7 - 5/12/21 at Animal Kingdom Jambo in a Savannah view room. Unfortunately, I had to cancel our December trip to do that. Very sad but on the upside, we really enjoyed our last May trip to WDW 3 years ago and I'm also hoping for the 2021 Flower & Garden Festival. It's also our first time staying at AK JH so I'm pretty psyched about that.

 

[MinD]

New to this group. Originally scheduled for Sept 2020 but decided to reschedule for May 21-31. Currently booked into Caribbean Beach Resort but hoping Port Orleans opens so we can make that switch. Fingers crossed it works out this time

 

[SMRT-1]

More MDE weirdness...

A few days ago, I cancelled our December trip, and had been periodically checking to see if it had dropped off of My Plans in MDE. Yesterday when I checked, the December trip was still showing, but our May reservations had disappeared.

I tried re-linking, but it said the reservation was not found. I called reservations CS, and they said it was still in the reservation system, and transferred me to MDE support. The MDE person said the reservation wasn't in the MDE system at all. They got someone else involved who had the Swan re-send the reservation so they could link it. Once they linked it, a new reservation showed up in My Plans, but the dates were 10/6-10/16.

They removed the new reservation, and after digging into what happened, said there was a glitch that should go away in 24 hours, and that I should wait until today after 5pm and try re-linking it then.

The universe seems intent on making this trip as complicated as possible. Maybe it's just my luck balancing out after all the ADRs and FP+ worked out so well for our originally planned May 2020 trip.

 

[Farro]

Just booked 5/7 - 5/12/21 at Animal Kingdom Jambo in a Savannah view room. Unfortunately, I had to cancel our December trip to do that. Very sad but on the upside, we really enjoyed our last May trip to WDW 3 years ago and I'm also hoping for the 2021 Flower & Garden Festival. It's also our first time staying at AK JH so I'm pretty psyched about that.

New to this group. Originally scheduled for Sept 2020 but decided to reschedule for May 21-31. Currently booked into Caribbean Beach Resort but hoping Port Orleans opens so we can make that switch. Fingers crossed it works out this time

Yay, new members! Welcome to the May crew!

You've been added to the front page. Happy planning and we will all get to WDW!

 

[one_cat]

We just returned from our September trip. We had a really good time. Leaving Florida on Sunday i was bound and determined we were going to keep our reservations and return in May. Now 4 days later I’m not so sure. With the heavy crowds, long lines, missing experiences and masks I am seriously reconsidering. I may convince DW to cancel this trip and schedule a longer trip in the fall when maybe things will be less covid. We have until the end of January to decide.

 

[Farro]

We just returned from our September trip. We had a really good time. Leaving Florida on Sunday i was bound and determined we were going to keep our reservations and return in May. Now 4 days later I’m not so sure. With the heavy crowds, long lines, missing experiences and masks I am seriously reconsidering. I may convince DW to cancel this trip and schedule a longer trip in the fall when maybe things will be less covid. We have until the end of January to decide.

Well, you have to do what you are comfortable with!

I'd never go to Disney and not expect crowds, so we're fine with that. I'm okay with no fireworks, I think the cavalcades look like a lot of fun.
I'm also thinking by May some things will have returned.

 

[Katie1174]

We have been re-energized with our excitement ever since moving from BWI to the Contemporary Main Tower Bay Lake view. We deal with crowds fine, we never watched any parades. We will miss the fireworks and After Hours parties most keenly as those were our favorite night time activities. We hope more park hours and hopping are back by next May, but we decided we are going to enjoy it even if it’s different. We will have a couple glasses of wine on our balcony some nights, or go to Disney Springs or walk all the way over to the GF and back(we love to walk and I am assuming the walkway will be done by then) it will be great regardless. It will be different for sure, but that doesn't mean it can't be just as nice. We have dropped all expectations so we will start from scratch and rebuild. We have 5 months to plan where we want to eat which will be fun(my hubby likes to see pictures of the entrees from each restaurant) we are adapting...right now we are trying to decide to A) bring carry on suitcases and go straight to disney magical express and try to stuff as many as possible travel size sunscreen sprays into our quart bags....or use our bigger suitcases, check them, and go to buggage claim then DME or...rent a car service and skip DME so we can get there faster. Decisions decisions.