Feeling worried about 2021

[cornishfrogboy]

Flexibility can be the name of the game on any vacation. The West Coast is very different to Florida in that yes, there are a few theme parks, but no, imho they are not the main purpose of the visit.

In 2018, we visited SFO, Monterey, LA , San Diego and a few other places (see trip report). The main draw was the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). It was closed due to a mudslide from Monterey to Pismo beach and we had to take a 200 mile inland detour. Were we disappointed? Too right. Did it wreck the vacation? No way. We worked around it, fine tuned the vacation and had the most brilliant time.
We visited Disney for 2 days on that vacation. We will not be returning. For us, it was underwhelming.

For this March it was SFO, Monterey, PCH, Pismo, fly to Seattle, Vancouver and home. We obviously were cancelled. Did this worry or distress us. No. We simply got our money back (sorted with 13 of the 14 suppliers and just waiting on a cash back of £144 that is a certainty). We move on and rebook for August.

For August, we took into account likely issues in the event that we can get there. Theme parks are possibly an issue and therefore it is just a single day each in Universal and Warner bros. We cannot be confident of getting into Vancouver to see an old friend of mine, so we have scrubbed it. The route was thus designed to take into account likely areas where Covid may be a factor and avoid them.. PhoeniX, Tucson, Pima, Tombstone, Hollywood, Pismo, Monterey, SFO. If I have to fine tune again, then so be it.

What I am saying is that you have ensured flexibility through sensible, cancellable/changeable bookings. If the plan has to change, then so be it. There are hundreds of things that you will most certainly be able to do on the West Coast and nearby. If theme parks are still an issue, scrub them. Whilst in Orlando, they are pretty much they whole’, On the West Coast they are not.

We had very high expectations of Disneyland. Afterwards we agreed that if we could have scrubbed any two days of that 16 day vacation, then they were the two. For what it’s worth, I would be pretty confident that you will get to Disney in any case.

[jadepansy459]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

Flexibility can be the name of the game on any vacation. The West Coast is very different to Florida in that yes, there are a few theme parks, but no, imho they are not the main purpose of the visit.

In 2018, we visited SFO, Monterey, LA , San Diego and a few other places (see trip report). The main draw was the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). It was closed due to a mudslide from Monterey to Pismo beach and we had to take a 200 mile inland detour. Were we disappointed? Too right. Did it wreck the vacation? No way. We worked around it, fine tuned the vacation and had the most brilliant time.
We visited Disney for 2 days on that vacation. We will not be returning. For us, it was underwhelming.

For this March it was SFO, Monterey, PCH, Pismo, fly to Seattle, Vancouver and home. We obviously were cancelled. Did this worry or distress us. No. We simply got our money back (sorted with 13 of the 14 suppliers and just waiting on a cash back of £144 that is a certainty). We move on and rebook for August.

For August, we took into account likely issues in the event that we can get there. Theme parks are possibly an issue and therefore it is just a single day each in Universal and Warner bros. We cannot be confident of getting into Vancouver to see an old friend of mine, so we have scrubbed it. The route was thus designed to take into account likely areas where Covid may be a factor and avoid them.. PhoeniX, Tucson, Pima, Tombstone, Hollywood, Pismo, Monterey, SFO. If I have to fine tune again, then so be it.

What I am saying is that you have ensured flexibility through sensible, cancellable/changeable bookings. If the plan has to change, then so be it. There are hundreds of things that you will most certainly be able to do on the West Coast and nearby. If theme parks are still an issue, scrub them. Whilst in Orlando, they are pretty much they whole’, On the West Coast they are not.

We had very high expectations of Disneyland. Afterwards we agreed that if we could have scrubbed any two days of that 16 day vacation, then they were the two. For what it’s worth, I would be pretty confident that you will get to Disney in any case.

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My thoughts exactly regarding basing an entire trip around the theme parks (WDW) It seemed silly to do that when everything is full price still. Id rather wait for the full experience to pay full price.
LA/disneyland has always been a dream of mine but I just get caught up in the WDW cog because it feels like home to me and it's addictive ! So I'm really pleased with my decision. I'm an avid Disney parks / Disney in general fan so the fact I haven't done DLC is shocking , so this will be the highlight of the entire trip for me. I will no doubt book a behind the scenes tour (if running) and do a 4 or 5 day ticket to really get to do everything.
I would love to be able to focus on other aspects more but this is really the make or break for me.

[minnie52]

I'm glad I'm not the only one whose heard you should be able to check availability before booking tickets - one of my concerns is booking 5 day tickets and not being able to get in any parks - at least this eliminates that worry.

Good point also about changing the types of tickets if park hopping is not available - I guess it was inevitable they would stop ticket sales while they sorted all this out.

I believe it is normal for them not to have availability after Dec 2020 - I don't think you can book as far in advance as WDW even when things are normal.

Thanks cornishfrogboy, I'm going to reread your trippie as San Diego is definitely one place we want to visit.

I understand what you mean, jadepansy459, seeing Disneyland has always been a dream of mine, just to see the park Walt built and all the little details. Hopefully we get some more answers from Disneyland this week.

I always knew when we changed the flights there may be a chance we might not get there though, and we have family and friends in and around LA so if Disney is not an option, I will be gutted but the trip will still go ahead. I am not ready to give up on it yet and still feel confident that we will be able to get tickets again soon.

[jadepansy459]

That's great you have a back up plan in case Disney doesn't work out so you can still get excited about it deep deep down I can't see it being an issue us being able to go next year so I'm remaining as positive and hopeful as I can.
If they release park hopper / maxpass tickets will you go for that option or are you thinking to go for a base ticket incase these aren't available ?
I have read with the maxpass you can add this on when you arrive so I'm not too worried about that but the park hopper would be very useful if it's up and running then

[jadepansy459]

Also noticed that the wording has changed at the bottom of their update regarding new reservations which is interesting.

Not sure if it's referring to hotel reservations though, still no tickets available.

[magickate]

Similar here, booked for next Easter but no tickets yet. Busy time to get so worried we won't get park reservations.

[Vertigo]

Originally Posted by Sandraoh40

We are booked to go in December this year. We had just the 1 day planned in Disneyland before moving elsewhere, but it’s my 50 th birthday so I’m a bit peed off at the minute with it all. I haven’t got tickets as the 1 day tickets aren’t available to buy yet, and I wasn’t prepared to rush in and buy more expensive ones when we might not be able to travel.
So basically we are just waiting to see what happens. As has been mentioned, it’s a very different park to wdw and they do it differently so we are holding out for the hope of 1 day tickets coming back on and that we should be able to reserve a time slot if that’s what’s happening in December still.
And if not, I will try not to get too upset or annoyed by it all and find something else to do instead. I have a couple of ideas already.

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Just realised you and i will both be doing our 50th's in California this autumn... well, hopefully.

We have bought tickets, we got them through attraction tix and have them downloaded. They expire in Jan 22, so even if we dont go this year we can reschedule. it will be disappointing, but not the end of the world.

[Sandraoh40]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Just realised you and i will both be doing our 50th's in California this autumn... well, hopefully.

We have bought tickets, we got them through attraction tix and have them downloaded. They expire in Jan 22, so even if we dont go this year we can reschedule. it will be disappointing, but not the end of the world.

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Fingers crossed for all of us x

[dozy]

i am sitting back and waiting
flights released in next few weeks - currently €2k direct for 4 adults to LAX from dublin
we will have an aer lingus voucher soon hopefully for €550 so that will go towards it too

not willing to go with current restrictions

[dozy]

i am also reading everyone else's reports :-)