Honest Review: Planning a Disneymoon During a Pandemic

2020 has been a year of unexpected events — we had a worldwide pandemic, an economic shutdown, quarantining, and more. We have all had to readjust and learn to adapt to the “new normal.”

The pandemic had put several weddings on hold, as well as honeymoons postponed and other celebrations that were not able to occur the way we all had hoped. Well, I was one of those people who has been affected by the unprecedented events of 2020.

Luckily, our big day isn’t until October 2021 and so, we did not have to postpone our wedding or rebook a honeymoon. However, with all of the new protocols and booking procedures, while still trying to work with the unknown, it’s safe to say that trying to plan a Disneymoon has been a struggle in and of itself.

Related: Disney Parks Bride and Groom Ears

My fiance and I are huge Disney World fans and we visit the theme parks in Florida twice a year. For our honeymoon, we couldn’t picture visiting anywhere else, but we also wanted to do something special since it is our honeymoon. So, we decided we wanted to do a  split Disneymoon, a “land and sea” vacation combining both a Disney Cruise and a Disney World vacation.

We got engaged back in October 2019 prior to the pandemic, but it wasn’t until spring 2020 when we really started to think about what we wanted to do for our honeymoon — and, by that time, the pandemic was really affecting the United States. The Disney Parks were already shut down, cruising had been put on pause, and we were all quarantined inside our homes with no signs of “normalcy” in sight.

We were sort of at a standstill, unable to predict when we would be able to book anything for our honeymoon that we hoped would happen in late 2021. Luckily, we decided to work with a travel agent who has been in contact with us every step of the way. Not too much time passed before Disney Cruise Line allowed us to book a sailing for November 2021, which we took advantage of right away. One half of our honeymoon was secured — check!

However, it’s the second half of our honeymoon that we are currently having a lot of trouble with — the Walt Disney World Resort. In case you aren’t aware. when Disney World reopened to the public in July, they reopened in phases, meaning only a handful of Resorts on property reopened at first while others didn’t have any sort of reopening date announced yet.

We really want to stay at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, being huge outdoorsy people and loving the wilderness feel. Plus, we really want to splurge considering it’s our honeymoon, so my fiance and I really have our hearts set on this hotel.

Related: How to Have an Amazing and Magical Honeymoon, Even During a Pandemic

However, this was one of the Disney World Resorts that did not have a reopening date announced in the beginning. As many months passed, and many days of constant checking of the official Disney World website, the Resort finally announced a reopening date. But this time, we hit another roadblock.

As I mentioned earlier, we are working with a travel agency who was able to book part of our Land and Sea package earlier in the year. However, when Disney announced the opening date of Wilderness Lodge, this was not part of the Land and Sea package we had booked. In fact, there were only three hotels we could choose from — and only one of which was a Deluxe Resort hotel.

Our options are Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, or Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. Now don’t get me wrong, Disney’s Grand Floridian is absolutely beautiful, but it’s just not mine or my fiance’s style. Disney’s Coronado Springs is also stunning, but we have stayed there together before and we wanted to stay somewhere we haven’t stayed yet. And Disney’s Art of Animation is just not honeymoon material, in our opinion.

We are currently working with our travel agent to navigate all of our options to try and book the most magical Disney World honeymoon ever. However, trying to plan a honeymoon during the pandemic is not glamorous or easy.

So, why am I sharing this with you all? Well, it’s simple — you are not alone.

2020 has been a year filled with unprecedented events. We have been thrown so many curveballs which have affected us all in different ways. You may be trying to plan a wedding. You may be trying to start a family. You might be trying to buy your very first home. You may be trying to travel the world and take in new sights and experiences. You may want to go back to school and start a new career. Whatever your goals are, whatever path you have been put on because of 2020, just know you are not alone. We are all struggling in our own ways and we will get through this, together.