The Log Dog Blog: A Quick Getaway to Florida

Back on March 1, we booked a reservation at Disney's Vero Beach Resort for this week. We once again rented DVC points and were very excited about the trip because we hadn't ever visited Vero Beach before!

Obviously we didn't know that the entire country would come to a screeching halt two weeks later!

We had a few nights both before and after Vero Beach booked at WDW, but we ended up canceling those two legs of the trip once the parks closed. The Vero Beach portion of the trip, though, had been paid in full and came with a no-cancellation policy.

As the weeks wore on, we unsure about what we were going to do about the trip. We were definitely leaning toward not going because my mom's health is always at the forefront of our minds, and things were not looking great in Florida. Then Ginny gave us a scare last weekend and we had pretty much given up the idea of going.

However, with Ginny getting a little better each day, we started to think maybe the trip would happen after all. We were obviously still worried about her; between having to watch her like a hawk, giving her meds, and carrying her everywhere, she is a lot of work and we didn't want to put that on anyone else. But my mom insisted we go so we didn't forfeit the money we'd paid, and by Friday, with Ginny seemingly doing better than expected, we decided to go ahead with a quick trip. The only person that I believe can take better care of Ginny than me is my mom, so I know she's in good hands this week.

We left this morning at 2:00 am and drove straight through to Florida. I say "we," but C drove the entire distance! He is seriously the best! We planned to stay in Orlando for one night and then head over to Vero Beach tomorrow. Unfortunately, WDW was not allowing any new resort reservations, so we got a reservation at the Hilton Garden Inn five minutes from WDW.

We'd read that there was a "checkpoint" for cars entering Florida, and there was a major slowdown that added a big chunk of time to our drive, but it was just lane reductions and countless signs about a checkpoint. No actual cars were being checked. Completely pointless.

We went to Disney Springs this afternoon, and it was fairly deserted (it was also raining, so I think that helped to keep people away). Masks are required for everyone, cast members took guests' temperatures before they were allowed to enter Disney Springs, and I saw constant cleaning happening everywhere we went. Overall, we felt very safe, we wore masks and used lots of hand sanitizer, and we kept our distance from others.

After Disney Springs, we drove all around WDW property and it was like a ghost town. So few people around. Practically no vehicles on the road. A little unsettling, to be honest!

We had a late dinner at Beaches and Cream, which was our first visit back since it was completely renovated. It's much more spacious now, but with social distancing requirements, there were far fewer people in there than we had expected. It remains one of our favorite spots at WDW and we reminisced about all of the great memories we've had there over the past 26+ years. A really fun dinner with great food and excellent service, and our first meal inside a restaurant in almost four months!

We wanted to walk over to the Yacht Club Wedding Gazebo to further our stroll down memory lane, but various resort areas are closed off and we couldn't get over there. We were able to walk down to the water and enjoy the view of Boardwalk, which was a lovely way to end the evening, as there was absolutely no one around and it was so calm and peaceful.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the efforts being made to keep everyone safe. I don't know how things will be once the parks begin opening this weekend, but based on my experiences today, Disney is doing a great job. Every cast member we interacted with was cheerful and friendly and everything seemed clean and well cared for. We've canceled all of our planned WDW and Disneyland trips for the remainder of 2020, so I'll be watching from afar and keeping my fingers crossed that our trip for early next year can happen.

Off to Vero Beach tomorrow!