*** Official August 2021 thread ***

[Tomh]

I *think* I am bringing my daughter for her 9th Birthday! We will be *hopefully* be going with some DIS friends. I'll probably bring my 6 year old as well- since the oldest and I are going in April.

Our dates are 8/23-8/28! Staying off site for the first time.

Sounds like a fantastic 9th birthday!

We have stayed offsite numerous times, and to be honest, in many ways, I enjoy the offsite stays more than the onsite stays!

Roll Call has been updated. If there are any changes to you plans, just let me know, and I will update Roll Call as necessary.

 

[hsmamainva]

I agree about off site stays! When we all go (we are a family of 6), it just makes more sense to stay off site. It saves tons of money and, since my hubby is with us, we have a car and it's so easy to drive to the parks. We are staying off site in May and will have our own private pool, a full kitchen, three bathrooms & a washer/dryer. We stayed on site at Universal earlier this month for a weekend -- all 6 of us with one bathroom. Oh what a nightmare that was! lol!

 

[Tomh]

I agree about off site stays! When we all go (we are a family of 6), it just makes more sense to stay off site. It saves tons of money and, since my hubby is with us, we have a car and it's so easy to drive to the parks. We are staying off site in May and will have our own private pool, a full kitchen, three bathrooms & a washer/dryer. We stayed on site at Universal earlier this month for a weekend -- all 6 of us with one bathroom. Oh what a nightmare that was! lol!

Yeah, onsite if you are more than 5 people, the price goes insanely higher. I see a lot of posts claiming that the Disney Transportation is a huge reason to stay onsite. In my experience, it is generally no faster to get from a park to a room at an onsite resort than it is to drive to an offsite house, and often times, with the Disney Transportation, there is a significant amount of walking involved, possibly standing on a bus and hanging on for dear life, and when the buses are super packed, the AC does not keep up with all the body heat. Driving a car yourself, you are guaranteed a seat, the AC will be great, and you won't have a long walk from the bus stop to your room at the end of the ride.

Throw in multiple bathrooms, your own laundry, possibly a private pool, and a full kitchen which allows you to save money by at least making breakfast in the room, and it isn't a bad deal.

 

[cindianne320]

Thanks! My friend owns a gorgeous vacation home, right near Animal Kingdom. We can't wait to check it out!

 

[Tomh]

Thanks! My friend owns a gorgeous vacation home, right near Animal Kingdom. We can't wait to check it out!

Sounds ideal to me. We have stayed twice at houses near the four corners area which is West of the parks (a bit South of the intersection of 192 and 27) which winds up being about 20 - 30 minutes from the parks depending on traffic. We enjoyed both stays there. We then stayed two times just off of 192 a bit East of the parks (closer than Four Corners area) in condo's. It is a bit shorter drive into the parks (well, at least if you are going to MK / Epcot) perhaps 15 - 20 minutes depending on traffic (Animal Kingdom is a bit farther). We quite enjoyed all of the offsite stays.

One thing I noticed when staying offsite, we tended to experience other things offsite, which kind of opened a whole new world we hadn't explored yet. Shopping, dining, entertainment, lots to do outside of the parks. Old Town is a treat, especially if there is a guy in the family that loves old cars. Helicopter tours, and swamp boat tours are fantastic experiences.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I *think* I am bringing my daughter for her 9th Birthday! We will be *hopefully* be going with some DIS friends. I'll probably bring my 6 year old as well- since the oldest and I are going in April.

Our dates are 8/23-8/28! Staying off site for the first time.

We decided to change from Pop to off site at Lake Buena Vista Resort, which is very close to DS. We've stayed there several times in the past, and at $110/night for a two bedroom suite (my parents are coming along, too), we are saving so much money compared to Pop, even with the resort fees.

A vaccine may perhaps mean the return of emh by next August, but I'm happy with our decision now and won't switch back.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Normally, I would be planning my little heart out, looking at parks and restaurants, figuring what we'd want to try so that come February and the 180 day mark, I would be ready! I've done no planning, aside from booking AoA and picking parks. I did put some cooling towels in my Amazon cart. I miss the excitement but feel there isn't much point with so many unknowns, like what restaurants will even be open. Are any of you planning at this point?

We've decided to make this an inexpensive vacation, so mostly QS and easy dinners in our room at our off site resort. My daughter will be a week from turning 3 (doing that one last free admission trip). She's obsessed with Mickey, so the only adr we want, as long as they're doing character meals, is Garden Grill (way better than CM, and we'd rather eat at Satuli than TH) I think we'll plan a nice lunch or dinner at DS, but I haven't even thought of where. My excitement is less in the planning of this trip, and more with just seeing that castle come into view again.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We have decided to go a few days early (assuming we're good to leave Canada / cross border / have vaccines by August). We are renting a car for the first time (just for the first few days). Right now, I just need to plan something! I've been reading your posts re: offsite. If we go a few days early it will be to see Old Town (haven't been in almost 20 years), shop, walk to Disney Springs and maybe do Universal before our 10 night stay on Disney property. We are looking at Double Tree Suites by Hilton. We would want the room with two queen beds and a pull out sofa (two older teen daughters, my 78 year old father and myself). Anyone else stay here before? I believe it includes a breakfast which would also be helpful. Or, would you recommend another resort with three beds in this area / walking distance to Disney Springs? TIA

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

We have decided to go a few days early (assuming we're good to leave Canada / cross border / have vaccines by August). We are renting a car for the first time (just for the first few days). Right now, I just need to plan something! I've been reading your posts re: offsite. If we go a few days early it will be to see Old Town (haven't been in almost 20 years), shop, walk to Disney Springs and maybe do Universal before our 10 night stay on Disney property. We are looking at Double Tree Suites by Hilton. We would want the room with two queen beds and a pull out sofa (two older teen daughters, my 78 year old father and myself). Anyone else stay here before? I believe it includes a breakfast which would also be helpful. Or, would you recommend another resort with three beds in this area / walking distance to Disney Springs? TIA

You can get an amazing deal on Universal tickets right now, buy 2 days get 3 free I believe. I've never stayed at the Hilton, but it's always looked nice. Certainly nice enough for what you want to do I would think.

 

[Tomh]

Planning in advance is so difficult right now, just too hard to know what is going to happen, how things might change before the trip arrives.

 

[Niewoe]

Hi all! We’ll be at BLT from Aug 7-15, and we couldn’t be more excited. SO looking forward to getting back to WDW!! Thanks for this thread!!

 

[Momtothtee]

Hi from Michigan,

19 year old daughter and I will be at Swan, August 3-15th, 2021. Yay!

We went in August this year too. I don’t suppose it will ever be like that again..almost no wait time. Sweet.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

We just had to change our dates to Aug 1-6. My husband's new boss decided to take a vacation the same week as the one we already had booked. Funny how in years past my feathers would have really been ruffled over this. Now we just make it work, hope the vaccine rolls out as planned and keep positive that we'll really be able to go. Plus side is we might be able to sneak in an extra day.

 

[Tomh]

Hi all! We’ll be at BLT from Aug 7-15, and we couldn’t be more excited. SO looking forward to getting back to WDW!! Thanks for this thread!!

Been a little (lot) busy lately, sorry for the delay in responding. You have been added to the Roll Call. You are most welcome for the thread. We didn't visit WDW this past summer, and won't be visiting in 2021 either, so running this thread gives me a way to get my Disney World fix

Hi from Michigan,

19 year old daughter and I will be at Swan, August 3-15th, 2021. Yay!

We went in August this year too. I don’t suppose it will ever be like that again..almost no wait time. Sweet.

Hello from NY. You have been added to the Roll Call. Hope you and your 19 year old daughter have an amazing trip! I don't think it will be as quiet for summer 2021 as it was this year, but I think it will still be quite a bit less crowded than it has been in previous years! Hopefully, with the advent of a vaccine, you will at least start seeing the return of some of the entertainment that has been taken away due to the virus.

We just had to change our dates to Aug 1-6. My husband's new boss decided to take a vacation the same week as the one we already had booked. Funny how in years past my feathers would have really been ruffled over this. Now we just make it work, hope the vaccine rolls out as planned and keep positive that we'll really be able to go. Plus side is we might be able to sneak in an extra day.

Your dates have been changed in the Roll Call. Just gotta roll with the punches, and make the best of it! An extra day sure would be a nice little bonus!

 

[Jaimet]

We switched our resort from Caribbean Beach to Wilderness Lodge. Our dates are still the same. It's a little bit of a splurge right now, especially at the rack rate, but I'm hoping for some type of room discount.

 

[yaya74]

Wishing all of you who have a WDW trip planned will have another wonderful vacation back home.
I had to cancel my August 2021 trip which was rescheduled from August 2020.
My family have only been to WDW in August and we don't mind the humidity.
However, without FP+, I just don't know how we can survive waiting in standby line especially in the summer heat.
DH has a thing about waiting and he does not even like to wait for a table in the restuarnat.
Hopefully Disney will bring back some sort of FP+ system, or even one like Universal Studio's express pass for 2021/2022...

 

[suse66]

Hello fellow August travelers!!

I made a few changes to our August trip and moved the dates up a bit. We are now traveling August 7-15 at BRV. I decided to move it up as I wanted to allow time to quarantine at home if it is still necessary (we're Canadian). I am hoping we will be vaccinated before travel and our federal travel advisory will be downgraded. It looks as though AKL won't be on our list for a split stay as I really don't want to be there until all the restaurants have reopened. So we will see what is available to choose from in other DVC resorts at the 7 month mark.

Happy New Year and happy trip planning all!

 

[alimcn]

Cannot wait! We will be there August 18th through August 27th. Staying at Beach Club and thinking of upgrading to Club Level. Any feedback from those who have stayed on Club Level at BC? TIA!

 

[buzzrelly]

I guess I'm joining in here now!

We just moved our family trip from April to August 8-15th, and we'll be staying at the BCV

This will be our first time in August and I foresee a lot of mid-day breaks by the pool in our future! It'll also be my niece's first trip ever and she turns 6 the day before we leave so we'll also be celebrating her birthday there!

So happy to be here planning with you all!

 

[Disneychoirnerd]

Just booked for Aug. 3-10 at CBR. First time staying there. Very excited for the skyliner and (hopefully) Sebastian's Bistro!