 Tanya's Scoop Covering the West Coast & the World CURRENTLY IN: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA |  Elisa's Scoop Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs CURRENTLY IN: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK |
| Hello and Happy Hump Day to all you peeps out there! Thanks to the long weekend, we are already midway into the week. I love that! You not only get an extra weekend day, but then you also get a shortened upcoming week. Sweet! Well I'm home at the moment. But not for long... I'm actually heading out early this evening and heading up to Fairfield, CA. It's up north between San Francisco and Sacramento. I'm only going up for the night and the day tomorrow. Cosette is coming along for the ride, along with Dave Y. who will be continuing on and making his way all the way up to Southern Washington after we part ways. Meanwhile down here in SoCal the skies are weird and full of smoke. I woke up with a but of a headache since we are experiencing absolutely terrible air quality, not to mention ash falling from above. We have recently been hit by a couple of fires, as I'm sure you know...AND which were completely avoidable. One of the fires was started when two homeless men were fighting over a stolen bicycle and one fella set the other's tent on fire! That got out of control and that has now expanded to an over 11,456-acre blaze that is raging in Angeles National Forest. The other was a firework that was set off at a gender reveal party! This one has since burned 11,259 acres and was only 19% contained as of Tuesday night, according to Cal Fire. Come on people...Can we try to be a bit smarter??? So this is what the sky/atmospehe looks like in my neighborhood... No wonder I have a headache.  In full color (c)travelicousins.com As you also may or may not know California has been one of the slowest states to reopen businesses. Which meant that since March, and until yesterday I've had to get my hair done while traveling outside of California. Yesterday I was finally able to visit my regular salon for some much needed pampering...  Under the dryer (c)travelincousins.com  The final product posted on Instagram  Not too shabby! The remainder of my day was spent being all domestic and taking care of things at home. After dinner, the family was treated to a delicious treat of Blueberry Crisp that was made by Chaplin, my 9 year old niece (who loves to cook).  Blueberry crisp that was so very yummy (c)travelincousins.com While Elisa discusses Walt Disney World To Visit or Not To Visit in 2021, my gang is heading to Disney World and taking the plunge next month! Yup in 5 short weeks we are heading to Florida. Wow it is literally right around the corner. I better start packing! Of course I'll be keeping you posted on my first hand experiences from all the parks and all the other fun things on our itinerary. I know that a lot of people are questioning if it is a good idea to go to Walt Disney World right now. And until we go, I just don't know. What I do know is that I've heard a lot of first hand accounts that have been shared as to how this is the BEST time to go and how it's going to be very difficult once things go back to normal and the parks are crowded once again. I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough! Okay got a bunch to do before heading out of town. See ya back here on Friday, -Travelin' Tanya | Hey There!! Hump Day already - can you believe it? It also happens to be the first day of school for my new high schooler, Kelsey!! Where did the time go? You guys remember that I started this blog when my girl was only 8 years old, and now she is 14 and a freshman! Wow! Gianna started 11th grade yesterday and well, it was a bit of an adventure with all the changes due to the ongoing health crisis. So, I guess this is as good a time as any to have a little vent sesh!  My two high schoolers the first week of school (c) travelincousins.com Listen, I'm all in favor of safety and doing the right and responsible thing here at school....but, I have got to tell you, for kids going back in person, things are super stressful and just plain weird. Again, I get the reasons but the wearing a mask all day long; not being able to truly understand the teachers because they are wearing masks; electronics set up for at-home/remote students to be part of the class and teachers trying to address both in-person and online students, and the overall anti-social/socially distanced set up is enough to make anyone flip out. I did not get great feedback from Gianna, She said it was hot and annoying with the mask and had a headache when she got home. Also, with the constant, obsessive focus on Covid-19, these kids just can't get away from the idea of it. I'm holding the kids' feet to the fire to push through the first two weeks, and then we'll see where we are in terms of switching to remote learning. But honestly, that will be no walk in the park either. Kids have to show up in front of the computer at 8am, fully dressed in uniform for the entire school day. These are totally strange times we are living in. I can't wait to hear Kelsey's impressions when she gets home. Not to mention, how it was to start a brand new school WITHOUT her big sister. I'll let you guys know!  November 2019 Disney Trip (c) travelincousins.com Moving right along... Let's jump right into our topic for today's Walt Disney World Wednesday: To Visit or Not to Visit Disney World in 2021. Yes, I know, as you will discover below, I'm not getting away from the topic of Covid-19 from my "vent sesh" above, but I'm really having a dilemma. Our little trio was supposed to go to Disney World this Spring, for our annual trip. This was our plan before the pandemic, the quarantine and the shut down of most businesses around the country - Disney World included. Considering that the theme park only just began its phased reopening in July after four months of being closed, it begs the question - will there be enough experiences opened by the Spring for a truly magical trip for my gang? Per my article a few weeks ago, Know Before You Go - Guide to Walt Disney World Experiences That Are Currently Closed, most of the rides and attractions have reopened with the exception of a few. However, the same cannot be said about the dining locations. Now, I love the rides just as much as the next Disney guest and so do my Disney-loving offspring. But, truth be told, we are total foodies and equally important to hitting our favorite rollercoasters, themed rides and experiences, are the tasty food encounters that are synonymous with the happiest place on earth. Of course, 2021 was also going to be ushering in some new attractions, so their being open at the time of our trip is another factor to our decision. At this point, the way I see it, we have three choices: * Visit in April 2021 as planned pre-Covid-19 pandemic * Visit in November 2021 in hopes that more Disney Dining options will be opened. * Visit in 2022  Artist Sketch of Guardians of the Galaxy - Cosmic Rewind - coming in 2021 (photo credit: Disney Park Blog) 50th Anniversary of Disney World - 2021 The year 2021 marks the 50th Anniversary of Orlando's Disney World and was one important factor in our wanting to visit during this time. Actually, if we are getting specific, October 1, 1971 marks the opening of Magic Kingdom, since it was the first theme park. In celebration of this milestone event the folks at Disney had some wonderful openings planned between 2020 and 2021 to ring in the park's half century birthday. My trio was pretty stoked to experience these new openings during a 2021 visit. Scheduled Openings for 2020 and 2021
Considering that four of the attractions we want to experience - Awesome Planet, Micky & Minnie's Runaway Railway, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind and Journey into the Water will all be open in 2021, this is a good news for making a trip next year. Additionally, all of our other favorite rides and experiences are also re-opened as of now, adding to the argument for planning a trip in 2021.  At The Crystal Palace in December 2017 (c) travelincousins.com Status of Our Fave Disney Dining Destinations As I mentioned earlier, food is a MAJOR part of our Disney trips. Therefore, if we cannot enjoy serious eating at our favorite and new dining experiences we've yet to try, it would dramatically impact our trip plans. I checked with Disney's official parks website today and saw that several of our favorite restaurants and eateries are still "temporarily unavailable." These include: * The Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) * Hollywood & Vine (Hollywood Studios) * Tusker House (Animal Kingdom) * Chefs de France (Epcot/France) * Tangierine Cafe (Epcot/Morocco) Now, while it would be disappointing not to dine at the above favorites, I think it would give us an opportunity to try restaurants we have yet to eat at. Well folks, here's my conclusion - I think we are going to definitely travel to Disney World in 2021, however, we are going to postpone our trip from the Spring to the Fall of 2021. This would allow more time for some of the restaurants we like to re-open, but more importantly, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind and Journey into Water will more than likely be opened by that time. So, me and my gang have a new trip on our calendar!! That's a wrap for today! Till Friday, -Travelin' Elisa xoxo |
