This trip was originally supposed to take place April 19-26 to celebrate my retirement after 22 years at JCPenney (and the journey from part time sales associate to assistant store manager) on April 20 and DH's birthday on April 25. I had been planning it for a year once I made the decision to officially retire. This would be the second trip for just DH and I as all but one of our many trips have also included our two boys and twice their girlfriends too. Then COVID-19 hit and changed everything. We were originally booked at Yacht Club, then when I had to pick new dates we switched to Coronado Destino Towers (told nothing available at YC), then Beach Club (told nothing available at YC), then back to Yacht Club when those other resorts announced they wouldn't be open. After working the entire time during the pandemic (my current job is office/sales manager at a place that makes cotton candy and candy apples, and our grocery demand skyrocketed during all of this) I was so looking forward to a break, even if it meant limited offerings, things being closed, and having to wear masks I wear them at work anyway and have been since April).
Our new dates were Sept. 13-20. We originally had FP picks for the trip, had to re-make ones for the new dates, then had those cancelled when they stated there would be no FP or park hopping, and had to make park reservations for specific days. I ended up doing dining reservations four different times as well when Disney would cancel them due to changes. DH and I love pin trading and had bought a bunch back in Feb. that we were eagerly awaiting to see if we could even use. We had some new Disney shirts we were waiting to wear. The departure day finally came and I was excited, but also a little apprehensive about how everything would work out, especially since the first thing that happened did not look like a good omen...