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Vacation the last two weeks of August?

N

nycjimster

TUG Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
110
Reaction score
48
Location
New York
Resorts Owned
Marriott Aruba Surf Club, Marriott Ko Olina, Marriott Manor Club Sequel, Marriott Summit Watch
We canceled our trip to Orlando for Easter week but wondering your thoughts on vacation the last two weeks of August. We have a lot of vacation to take from now until the end of the year. We live in NYC. This is an opportunity to take road trip (and avoid airplanes). My thought was to go to Orlando (Grande Visita) the first week and Hilton Head (resort to be determined) the second week. I know you can't predict too far ahead, but I hope that everything would be back to somewhat normal by late August. Since we will stay in timeshares (we have a lot of banked Interval weeks), we can cook in if the restaurants are still closed. What do you think? Start planning or too early to do anything?
 
I live in Sarasota. There have been many discussions on the news that they are not sure when the theme parks will open. They feel that it will be a very long and tedious process. They are totally unsure how they will be social distancing. Therefore I would rethink Orlando!
 
I will reiterate my/our thoughts. We have cancelled all trips we had through the rest of the year. This includes one planned for early October in RI and then NYC. Dh does not want to do any traveling, even by car.

I think even presuming we will be back to "somewhat normal" by August is premature. I don't think we'll ever see the old normal again. We'll have a new normal and no one knows what that will look like.
 
How about the beaches in Florida like the Marriott Ocean Pointe in Palm Beach Shores instead of Grande Vista in Orlando?
 
nycjimster said:
How about the beaches in Florida like the Marriott Ocean Pointe in Palm Beach Shores instead of Grande Vista in Orlando?
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Beaches at Ocean Pointe and BeachPlace Tower are currently closed. No exact indication as to when they will be reopening.



.
 
It all depends on your risk tolerance. I know I will feel comfortable that I can keep my family safe with a driving trip to resort I know will be very well maintained as long as we have this pandemic under control. We plan on spending 2-3 week on HHI in early Sept and still have a good sense of confidence that will occur.
 
I tend to agree about at least the beaches because lots of space and fresh ocean air=small to no risk.
 
Even if Disney reopens, I wouldn't want to go there in August due to the heat and humidity while standing in lines. I agree with the Hilton Head and Singer Island recommendations but there is some risk of hurricanes at that time. We actually prefer mountain vacations that time of year, so usually go to Vail or Park City (I see you own there). Those would require flying, but the airlines are more flexible now so you likely could cancel without penalty if needed.
 
Superchief said:
Even if Disney reopens, I wouldn't want to go there in August due to the heat and humidity while standing in lines. I agree with the Hilton Head and Singer Island recommendations but there is some risk of hurricanes at that time. We actually prefer mountain vacations that time of year, so usually go to Vail or Park City (I see you own there). Those would require flying, but the airlines are more flexible now so you likely could cancel without penalty if needed.
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Disney and the like I doubt will open anytime soon. That and sports and concerts I just can't see it for a while.
 
The end of August is a long time off. I'm planning on heading to HHI the week before Labor Day. I'm also driving, but am fairly confident that things should be mostly open at that point. The beaches are open now. I really hope I can go out to eat a few times, but that may be wishful thinking. I wouldn't go to Grande Vista. There aren't enough pools for the number of people. Remember that most people go to the parks at least every couple of days. It isn't set up for everyone going to the pool every day. It will be worse with social distancing. You may want to think about Williamsburg as another alternative.
 
nycjimster said:
We canceled our trip to Orlando for Easter week but wondering your thoughts on vacation the last two weeks of August. We have a lot of vacation to take from now until the end of the year. We live in NYC. This is an opportunity to take road trip (and avoid airplanes). My thought was to go to Orlando (Grande Visita) the first week and Hilton Head (resort to be determined) the second week. I know you can't predict too far ahead, but I hope that everything would be back to somewhat normal by late August. Since we will stay in timeshares (we have a lot of banked Interval weeks), we can cook in if the restaurants are still closed. What do you think? Start planning or too early to do anything?
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Picking up on Luanne's thoughts earlier in this thread, it occurred to me might you have trouble traveling with New York tags AND will leaving / reentering the state be an issue then?

Certainly, it is hard to know what the future holds but if these plans were to have to be canceled, would you be able to secure other options at a later date? If this is your last good opportunity to vacation this year, I would hold on to these reservations longer (and hope for the best) but if you can make other arrangements for later in the year, that would be my first suggestion. Best of luck with whatever you decide.
 
We were supposed to leave for California this coming Friday. My daughter goes back to college Labor Day weekend so I rescheduled a trip to Marco Island for the end of August with fingers crossed. We have a credit for the canceled airline tickets that we could use to fly to Florida. I was just able to change the canceled airline reservations to a travel certificate that is good for 24 months. Although at this point we are leaning towards driving to Marco Island from Central New Jersey. We've driven to Florida from home before. We get on the road around 6am and stop someplace near Orlando around 10pm. I think Marco Island is around 4 hours farther so we could arrive a decent time on check in day.

We would rather fly but we feel if we drive then we have more control for social distancing. We would rather vacation than not vacation all together. Of course all this planning depends on if they will let us into Florida with our New Jersey plates for vacation and what will be open.

I wish we had a crystal ball to see where this will all be at the end August. If we have to cancel without any penalties the dead line is the middle of June which leaves us time to bank points. Let's all keep hoping for the best.! ;)
 
A road trip from New York to Florida will draw so much attention to your family and you. A rental car would be great if you had Florida tags on the vehicle.

Today, the Governors from Virginia and North Carolina are going to make an announcement. What will be open and closed for their states.

Also, if there is second wave of coronavirus in the next couple of weeks, because of some states opening up to tourists, you may be in big trouble.


The second issue , and that is the airline industry. What will it look liked in the future? Examples: wearing masks, seating accommodations, purchasing round trip tickets; what dates will be available.? IMO.
 
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Actually we are planning on renting a car from home to avoid the wear and tear on our ten year old SUV. I don't know what state's plates will be on the car. As of right now we are not welcome into Florida. If that doesn't change we will have to cancel plans. We plan on driving straight through with meal prepared ahead of time and in car. We will only stop for gas with a quick rest stop and then back on the road. If there is no place to stop because rest rooms are closed then the trip will be canceled as well.

It is still unknown what the future plans will be. At least since our plans include driving, it's one less airline reservation that needs to be canceled. I really would like to make a final decision before the 60 day window so the points don't go into a holding account.
 
bbodb1 said:
Picking up on Luanne's thoughts earlier in this thread, it occurred to me might you have trouble traveling with New York tags AND will leaving / reentering the state be an issue then?

Certainly, it is hard to know what the future holds but if these plans were to have to be canceled, would you be able to secure other options at a later date? If this is your last good opportunity to vacation this year, I would hold on to these reservations longer (and hope for the best) but if you can make other arrangements for later in the year, that would be my first suggestion. Best of luck with whatever you decide.
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Just borrow a plate from another state on your way back to NY.:rolleyes:
 
It seems that things are getting better, and we are optimistic about our summer vacation plan. We decided that the drive to Florida was too long. We are driving from NY and want to avoid staying at a hotel on way back and forth due to covid-19. We confirmed a week at a non-Marriott resort (Owners Club) in Hilton Head for the 2nd week of our vacation in late August. We thought about Marriott Manor Club for the first week of our vacation, but it seems that Virginia is one of the worst state in respect to covid-19 right now. We are still looking for another resort for the 1st week of our vacation. Maybe we will get a trade to Mrytle Beach or Hilton Head. If the second wave hits, we will cancel the trip and do a staycation.
 
I’ve been to Orlando many times the last two weeks of August (as well as every month almost other than July), and it’s lovely to me! Yes, it’s hot and humid, just like home, but afternoon showers really cool things off! Crowds historically were so low at the theme parks, which was nice! My longest trip was 15 nights at Grande Vista and Sabal Palms (which we preferred by far), but I’ve stayed at many Disney resorts as well.

Even if not much is open, having a condo to cook in and relax is nice.
 
Although our beaches are open many people are not social distancing and wearing masks. As a Florida residents we are still mostly sheltering in place- I won’t go to the beach or to restaurants!
 
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