Two New Promotions from the Walt Disney World® Resort!

This morning, two great new offers became available for your next Walt Disney World® Resort vacation!

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Starting today, you can get 2 extra days added to your ticket when you buy a non-discounted 4-night/3-day room and ticket package! The amount of rooms available with this offer is limited. Other lengths of stay are also valid with this offer, so make sure you take advantage by contacting your Upon A Star Agent!

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Also released today is a room promotion! You can get up to 30% off on rooms at select Disney Resorts for stays most nights April 18-July 10, 2021. This is yet another great option for savings! There are rooms available at many Value, Moderate, Deluxe, and Deluxe Villa Resorts!

Not sure which promotion is most beneficial? We would love to help! And existing clients, not to worry! We are working diligently to apply these to your existing reservations! That’s the value of using a Travel Expert!

Two Cents Tuesday for November 24, 2020

Here is the transcript from our latest Two-Cents Tuesday video on YouTube!


Hey everyone this is Kelly, and I’m here with your Two-cents Tuesday: Travel News in 2 minutes!

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First up, All-Inclusive Travel! Karisma Resorts are having AMAZING Black Friday sales! Save up to 80% off on these amazing resorts!! Check out our Facebook pages this week for these &  more Black Friday Specials!

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Walt Disney World announced the return of its popular Park Hopper option as of January 1! Guests visiting the resort should make their park pass for the first park they plan to visit on a given day. Then beginning at 2pm, guests will be able to hop over to a park of their choosing. Transportation between theme parks will also be resuming January 1 for the convenience of guests.

Although we are eagerly anticipating the day when Disneyland can reopen, we are happy to report that the Grand Californian Hotel has reopened.

The pool area, shops, and eateries will not be open initially, but families wanting a beautiful hotel stay in the midst of the Downtown Disney area can take advantage of the reopening.

Buena Vista Street in California Adventure has also partially re-opened for shopping and dining. Capacity controls are in place, so wait times are to be expected for entry.

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Universal Orlando has more sales and Black Friday specials coming! In addition to great prices, guests visiting next year may be able to experience the brand new Jurassic World themed “Velocicoaster”! Tentative opening date is summer of 2021. We can’t wait to see this new attraction in action!

Pennsylvania Residents are now facing some changes to travel due to Covid. 

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  • The Secretary of Health issued an order requiring anyone who visits from another state to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to entering the commonwealth. 

  • If someone cannot get a test or chooses not to, they must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Pennsylvania.

  • Click here for the full order, or you can contact your Upon A Star Travel Expert for more info.

That’s it for your Two-cents Tuesday! I’ll see you next week.

Two Cents Tuesday Vol. 1

Here is the transcript of your Two-cents Tuesday: Travel News in 2 minutes!

Great news for NY residents! Governor Cuomo has changed the travel restrictions! Now residents can test out of quarantine on day 4 after returning home from out-of-state locations! Once negative results have been received, you are set! This replaces the mandatory two-week quarantine that was formerly in place. Get those suitcases ready!

Hawaii re-opened its doors for travel on Oct. 15. There are stringent travel requirements, including a negative covid test 72 hours prior to arrival from an approved testing site and the use of the Hawaii Safe Travels app. Masks are required in public spaces on the islands. But we are excited that paradise is open once again!

Within the US, many states, including FL, do not require a negative covid test to travel. Theme parks including Walt Disney World in FL and Universal Orlando are open for business, and there are many protocols in place to protect health and safety. Physical distancing, mandatory masks, and temperature checks are just some of the ways safety is being put first.

Mexico is proving to be a popular destination amongst travelers, with no covid testing required! There are lots of great deals at beautiful resorts. With much of the country open and operational, this is a great international destination.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is welcoming visitors with no testing required, although they are randomly selecting arriving guests for onsite testing. Jamaica is permitting travel with a negative test dated 7 days prior to arrival. 

Recently, the CDC lifted the no sail ban for cruise ships. Although they are still not permitted to sail with passengers during the initial phase, this allows cruise lines to test out their new protocols with crew members first. This is a big step in the right direction! We will keep you updated as things progress.


That’s it for your Two-Cents Tuesday - for more information, contact your Upon A Star Agent!


What it's REALLY like in Walt Disney World right now!

So if you are a Disney fan, or someone planning a trip to Walt Disney World soon, you’ve probably seen lot of information about the reopening procedures. Let me add my take - and I’ll just be real! There are no sponsors who pay for this blog, and I was not hosted. This is just the honest-to-goodness experience I had opening weekend. And honestly? I think they knocked it out of the park. Why you ask? Well grab a snack and read on…

First let’s talk about cleanliness. So being in Disney frequently, I’ve never had cause to complain about cleanliness. They do better than pretty much any other theme park. But what impressed me was how they plussed the cleaning. This started for me with the resort. First of all, I totally bypassed check in. I did online check-in ahead of time, and when I arrived, my room number was texted to me. There are signs stating that you can bypass the front desk and go straight to the room; once there, additional signs highlighting the cleaning procedures are present.

Since the day I checked in was also the day of the AP preview, I decided to head straight to the Magic Kingdom after dropping my things in the room. The resort monorail wasn’t running until official opening day, so I opted to walk to the Ticket & Transportation Center (via the Polynesian) and catch the Express Monorail there. This also gave me the option to see the procedures and things being implemented there. Imagine my surprise though when I walked outside to see this:

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There was a Cast Member literally SOAPING DOWN the outdoor signage! Now to me, that is impressive. Never in my imagination did I think of doing something like this. After snapping a pic, I continued the journey.

Arrival at the TTC was smooth. There is still a security check, but before you even get there, there was a temperature screening (I didn’t take photos here to protect the workers). It was super easy though, and the Advent Health workers were using an instant read thermometer to scan each individual.

Next I got to see what the queue looked like for the monorail. Now, if you’ve been in the past, you’re probably wondering how on earth they could make this area safe.

Below are three pics. The first is a close up then you can click to second to get a better idea of the actual distancing. Now of course the stanchions weren’t up, as there wasn’t a queue, but they are prepared for long lines. In the third pic, you can see the distance markers on the ramp.

On the monorail itself, they’ve installed barriers between the sections, and I was pleased to see that they’ve also re-covered some of the seats that were damaged/cracked.

So how about within the parks? What are they doing there? Well for starters, there are hand sanitizing stations before/after every ride. I swear I took pictures of those, but alas, I cannot find them. They are there though! What I DID get pictures of would be some of the sanitization, and the distancing! Let’s start with the queues themselves.

In most attractions, there is a FastPass queue and a regular queue. Those run parallel, and in the days of old, both would be full of people. In July, those people would be hot and sweaty. And in some cases, stinky. So I was NOT sad that those distancing markers were in place! In fact, at many points, you’re actually 12 feet from the person in front of, or behind you! That is because it’s staggered against the FastPass queue, which is also spaced 12 feet. So you are 6 feet apart from the people in the opposite lane, and 12 feet apart from people in your lane. The first pic below shows my foot and then the legs of the party ahead of me, the second shows the staggered spacing (this is in Splash Mountain).

In terms of the ride vehicles themselves, they are being sanitized frequently. The longest span I heard was 2 hours, but in some cases, that is happening more frequently. Here are a few pictures of what I saw:

You can see the teacups being sanitized in the left two pictures. As I was waiting, I noticed that there was a section of cups (about a quarter of them) not in use. When the ride stopped, Cast Members cleared the guests, and then took a different segment (one that was previously full), and sprayed it down, being careful to hit the touch points. This only took a couple of minutes. They then loaded the rest of the ride, leaving the most recently sanitized vehicle quadrant empty to spin dry.

The second two pictures highlight “it’s a small world”. As you may know, there are two loading bays to get guests into the boats. In this picture, the first bay was being sanitized, while the second bay loaded guests into the boats. The newly sanitized boats were sent through empty to dry and disinfect.

In another case, I headed to the Haunted Mansion. As I got in line, the Cast Member warned me that I would likely be standing for about 7-10 minutes with no movement, as they were getting ready to sanitize the vehicles. I understood her to mean that they sanitize all of the Doombuggies, then run them through empty. Although I didn’t witness this, we did stop for a bit during the sanitization process. She said this was happening every 2 hours. Speaking of Haunted Mansion, this one has a ‘pre-show’ room (the Stretch Room). For the time being, the stretch room is not being used. The distancing markers extend from the foyer area into the stretch room, then through to the switchbacks to board the ride vehicles.

So as a Haunted Mansion devotee, I admit to really missing the Stretch Room spiel. Don’t worry, I said it in my head since it’s memorized. What I didn’t miss was the crush of people jostling for position in line so… WINNING! The line was very well spaced (6’). With the dim lighting, my camera took a while to snap the shot, so I actually caught everyone in motion - excuse the blurriness. The line moves quickly as you might imagine, so although people stayed spaced, you don’t end up standing in place for too long unless the ride is being sanitized. You can see that people are for the most part doing a nice job adhering to their marker. It’s worth noting that other attractions with pre-shows are also doing the same walk through without stopping for the show. Specifically, this was the case with Dinosaur and Flight of Passage. I imagine this will be the same for Epcot and Hollywood Studios pre-shows as well (I was not there for the opening of those parks).

The only time I noticed it not being as spaced is when it was a large party. They still tried, but with multiple bodies it was tough for them all to stand right on the marker. To me that wasn’t a big deal though - I just stood back one extra marker to allow for spacing. That’s no one’s fault and not a criticism, but more of an observation. So if a large party is in front of you, I recommend walking a bit on the slow side so you can make a decision on which marker is best for you, especially if you’re getting close to a corner, as seeing around the bend is sometimes tricky on switchbacks.

Now you may also be thinking “well what about the rides that are more indoors with switchbacks?” Things like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad come to mind. Although there are open air elements, parts of the queue are so close together with switchbacks that the spacing could become an issue. In those cases, plexiglass or other barriers have been installed:

All of these precautions, plus the sanitizer, really impressed me. I also did not encounter any empty sanitizer dispensers!

Food wise, mobile ordering is encouraged, and it worked very smoothly for my Dole Whip! Please hold for the gratuitous picture of deliciousness…

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I hear you thinking right now… “but Jenn, what about masks?! Weren’t you ready to pass out? Wasn’t it awful?!” Actually, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought! So my number 1 recommendation is to make sure your mask is breathable. The one I wore I bought from Red Bubble, and it was 2-ply, not too heavy, but had great coverage and was comfortable. That’s key. Please note that masks worn in the parks MUST be secured with ear loops or ties. Masks are required at all times, even on the rides. Cast Members will kindly remind you to make sure it covers your mouth and nose. And if perchance you do not wear it on the ride, your photo will not be shown or linked to Memory Maker. I understand the disappointment of wearing masks in pictures, but hey… it’s possible to make them look cute!

Crowds were light, so I wasn’t needing to rush anywhere. That helps when wearing a mask. Also, there are Relaxation Stations in the parks where you can sit (physically distanced) and remove the mask while sitting. I did take advantage of these areas a bit. This one is at Tomorrowland Terrace:

Cast Members were there watching occupancy and ensuring that guests maintained distancing. In addition, there were frequent park announcements (about every 15 minutes or so) as well as push notifications, reminding people about physical distancing and mask wearing. It may not be “pretty”, but I took photos of the notification on my watch.

So earlier I mentioned the monorail, but what about buses? Well I didn’t forget about those! Each bus is separated into sections, complete with numbers and dividers. They will seat one party per section. Large parties may need to take up two sections. Masks are required on the buses as well. I just so happened to be able to snap pics of the adorable Goofy Bus!

Goofy brings to mind characters. And I know there has been a lot of chatter about the magic of seeing characters, coupled with the concern about that aspect not being a part of the park experience. Knowing Disney, I’ve said from the get-go that they would find a creative way around that. And boy did they ever! In fact, I think I like this even more! In the parks, there are now several Character Cavalcades and other fun interactions, and they actually make it easier to see favorite characters! Here are the ones I experienced:

There is also a Mickey and Minnie Cavalcade that I didn’t grab pics of, and I’m sure others that I didn’t get to experience. I loved seeing the stepsisters do their Schtick on the backside of the Castle! The characters really did a nice job interacting with guests and spreading magic in a new way!

Speaking of, character dining has also changed. Currently most character meal experiences are on hiatus, but there are notable exceptions. The first is Topolino’s Terrace, the newest character dining location. Characters arrive at breakfast only, and I have to say, it has become my new favorite breakfast since dining there in March. Instead of the characters visiting the tables now, they are walking through the restaurant and posing in various locations. If you’re quick, you can snap a distanced selfie, but I love getting a good character shot without me in it! At the end of the experience, you get a pre-signed “post card” with signatures. It’s also worth noting that check in for the restaurants is now done via My Disney Experience, and all of the menus are accessed via QR codes on your smartphone.

So was it worth it? Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY. Now keep in mind, I am a frequent park-goer. For me, I’m not overly concerned about not having my picture with Mickey, or not seeing fireworks. I am a healthy individual with no pre-existing conditions. I visit often enough the the “lack of normalcy” doesn’t bother me. In fact, I absolutely loved walking through my favorite place with the lack of crowds…

I mean short of doing a special event, there is no way I could typically snap photos like this during a normal park day - much less in the middle of a July day! So the trade off was something I was happy with. That being said, traveling right now is something not everyone is comfortable with, and if you are someone who is at risk, it’s not something you should do! But if you are comfortable traveling, if you are low-risk, and if you are willing to follow the guidelines/ok with these temporary changes, you can have a fantastic trip! In my opinion, this is a great time to visit if you are a repeat guest and want a more low-key Disney experience. I never needed to wait more than 20 minutes for any attraction. I even walked on to Flight of Passage and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train! That is unheard of!

Again I will stress - you need to decide for yourself whether this is the right time for you to visit the parks. By relating my experience, my hope is that you have some more information to make the appropriate decision for you and your family. At the time of this post, there are some states that have travel restrictions for Florida, and conversely, Florida is restricting some states. It’s important to make sure you know those restrictions, including any from your employer.

If you’d like to hear me talk about things further, here are links to my podcasts where I discuss the trip, the magic, and the safety. Links will take you to Apple Podcasts, but you can catch these on whichever pod-catcher you choose! You can also check them out on the web. Click here for Divas Dish Diz, and click here for The Main Street Electrical Pocast.

Of course, if you are ready to visit this year, any Upon A Star agent would be happy to help you get there! We can make sure you have the resources you need, we can coordinate a seamless experience, and we can help you to know what to expect when you go! Contact your Star Agent, or if you don’t have one, head over to our “Agent” page to meet our agents and select the one that is right for you!

Whenever you’re ready, the magic will be waiting!