Well, we got there in the end. It has been the biggest challenge of our travel-writing careers, but the
Brit Guide to Orlando for 2021 is finally complete and off to the printers, with a provisional publication date of Nov 16. We have everything crossed, of course.
Unsurprisingly, everything we've done this year has been predicated on trying to work around, through and in front of the pandemic. Like everyone else here in Orlando, it has been a challenge just to stay in business, and we've seen a lot of places really struggling, while some have gone out of business and others may still do.
I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone here that 2020 has been a miserable year in every sense, but it has been a nightmare for the travel business, and we have had to change tack seemingly every few days to try to keep up. Even with Disney re-opening in July things have not been good and, with news of more lay-offs this week, we hesitate to try to look too far ahead.
With that in mind, the next edition will come with several caveats about the state of play in our attractions. In some cases we have had to assume things will return to normal at some stage next year, while we have also had to reflect the current new health and safety procedures that are now in place, and likely to stay for the foreseeable future.
Where things have definitely changed (or closed), we have reflected that, while we were able to include concrete late announcements like the opening of the VelociCoaster at Universal and Ice Breaker at SeaWorld.
Disney has provided us with the biggest challenges, though. Just when we thought we had a handle on all the changes coming for next year, things have changed, been scaled back, or scrapped altogether. Epcot looked like being a great source of the new and exciting - until the summer's low attendances prompted major cut-backs in the park's ongoing transformation. WDW's 50th anniversary, the major highlight of the year, was originally scheduled to be an extensive programme in all 4 parks. Now things look very different, and we've had to scale back our coverage accordingly.
But we got there in the end, another re-write complete and another year in the bag. We have yet to see the new edition's cover design, and we were still making last-minute changes this month as things changed, but it is definitely finished to the best of our ability.
We know many thousands of holidays have been ruined this year and we can only hope that 2021 will allow everyone back, but Florida still has its own covid challenges, and that may continue for several more months yet. Things WILL revert to normal in due course, though, and one thing you can be absolutely sure of - Florida will be VERY happy to see you back, and the experience will still be magical.
All the best,
Simon & Susan
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