Are we all NUTS!

[asmidir]

We love Florida and have been lucky enough to go 5 years running up till this year.

This year we had those cheap Thomas Cook direct flights from Manchester for Aug 2020 - we've never flown direct before as the cost was always so prohibitive and the indirect prices saved so much it paid for most of the accommodation or tickets!

Obviously we all know what happened - they went and then the pandemic.

We've been looking for 2021 and just got those cheap directs from Man - Air France/Virgin code shares.

But, and here's the rub, are we all nuts?

Even in 2021, the holiday experience is unlikely to be the same or even close to what we've remembered and experienced before.

12 hours of mask wearing just for the travelling
Fighting with kids to keep it on
Masks in hotels, parks, most public places
The worry of contracting just before and during the holiday
Some things are still closed or have restricted hours
Possible flight cancellations
Waiting months for money back or travel voucher to rebook

Is this really worth it given the expense and expected enjoyment we all want from a Florida Holiday?

...or maybe I'm just ..Grumpy

[munmun]

Originally Posted by asmidir

We love Florida and have been lucky enough to go 5 years running up till this year.

This year we had those cheap Thomas Cook direct flights from Manchester for Aug 2020 - we've never flown direct before as the cost was always so prohibitive and the indirect prices saved so much it paid for most of the accommodation or tickets!

Obviously we all know what happened - they went and then the pandemic.

We've been looking for 2021 and just got those cheap directs from Man - Air France/Virgin code shares.

But, and here's the rub, are we all nuts?

Even in 2021, the holiday experience is unlikely to be the same or even close to what we've remembered and experienced before.

12 hours of mask wearing just for the travelling
Fighting with kids to keep it on
Masks in hotels, parks, most public places
The worry of contracting just before and during the holiday
Some things are still closed or have restricted hours
Possible flight cancellations
Waiting months for money back or travel voucher to rebook

Is this really worth it given the expense and expected enjoyment we all want from a Florida Holiday?

...or maybe I'm just ..Grumpy

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I actually do think it's a lot of money and you need to balance cost and enjoyment

[Donaldfan]

No one knows what it will be like next year. I'm waiting and seeing rather than assumimg what it will be like. But if you feel strongly about it would you consider cancelling 2021 and going in 2022 instead?

[Moorlandman]

I am guessing most people booking Florida holidays at the moment are hoping that the majority of restrictions will be lifted before they arrive.

We have just come back from Rhodes. We had a great time but it was still painful having to wear masks at the airport, on the plane, on the coach, at the hotel reception and at the restaurants. It was half price and five star which made the experience better. Not sure I would pay £7-£10k to go to Disney with similar restrictions

[duchy]

My Florida holiday plans for 2021 don’t include any theme parks at all , Florida has plenty of other stuff to do and I’d rather wait . If things change our plans are flexible enough we could add them but for now I’d prefer to avoid a “lite” version of the parks.
If parks were absolutely my focus especially with kids I suspect I’d be waiting til 2022 though and making other plans for 2021.

[Guest]

I have booked various trips, including WDW, for next year in the hope that things will have changed by then. My bookings are all easily cancellable, so I don’t think I am taking too much risk but it is nice to have something in place.

[ABZDisney]

As much as we'd love to go back to Florida next year, we just don't see enough of the restrictions being lifted to make it worth our while.
The parades, meet & greets, fireworks etc are some of the things that we enjoy the most so to have them gone or severely reduced is a major sticking point for us.
We also like to park hop, so with no word on when that is coming back as well, we have decided to pin our hopes on 2022.
We'll hopefully make it to DLP in 2021 for our Disney fix.

We understand why people are booking for next year & would not offer up a negative opinion on their choice, it's up to them what they decide to do.

[munmun]

Originally Posted by Claudette

I have booked various trips, including WDW, for next year in the hope that things will have changed by then. My bookings are all easily cancellable, so I don’t think I am taking too much risk but it is nice to have something in place.

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We are exactly the same plans but flexible, all refundable. Cant live without plans and I'm getting used to cancelling things

[Aimee_K]

I don't think you're grumpy. I think your points are very valid. I guess you have to weigh up what sort of experience / holiday you're willing to have. If you don't want to consider even having to put up with one of your points then if it were me i would personally postpone and wait until 2022.
Or potentially book something that you know can be moved, trying to be optimistic, things might improve by then...

[OrlandoNick]

Hi op,
Your post gave me a chuckle because I’ve often questioned my sanity when it comes to the Orlando holidays so from one nut to another nut

I have carried this year’s holiday over to next year (with a few tweaks) so at the moment I have only paid a deposit. I’m hoping that if things improve we get to go on another lovely holiday and I’ll be glad that I booked in advance. If things are still unpredictable I will probably just push the holiday, with still only the deposit having been paid, to another date until I finally get to Disney.

We love the parks but aren’t too fussed as a family on the parades, fireworks and meet and greets anyway so we can compromise if these options aren’t available but for me my worry is that I am not able to book insurance in which case I’ll cancel the holiday.