Questions about masking? I wore an N95 mask for 7 days in 90 degree heat while pushing a wheelchair - here's what I learned.

daisylovesdisney said:
Oh well, was hoping for some proper personal space on lines now, I guess I will have to prepare myself for getting smushed again.

We enjoy a lot of the WDW counter service restaurants, happy to add some new ones to our list this time around. Just hoping we can find some shady seats nearby.
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I actually found it surprisingly easier than I thought to find spots away from crowds (in most cases). I did have to walk sometimes, but that was fine with me - I'd just grab a tray and scoot through the crowd to my pre-found location. Also, when it's hot, it's actually easier because most people want to be indoors in the AC. For instance, at Pinocchio in MK and at Katsura in Epcot, the inside seating was packed to the gills, while outside seating was sparsely used. (Katsura a bit more, but spacing was pretty good.) Also, obviously, if you avoid peak hours, it gets easier.
 
Do not go to Disney expecting ANY social distancing. It just doesn't work there despite how hard you may try. I would also only go if you are o.k. with getting Covid. I'm not saying you will get Covid, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you are throwing yourself into and very crowded space (inside and out) with an immense amount of people, the vast majority of which are not masked.

I'm perfectly fine with that btw, but we are fully vax'd and boosted.

Dan
 
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My family got back home from WDW on May 12. My daughter is in a wheelchair and doesn’t have stamina for propelling it herself, so we were also pushing a wheelchair in the 90 degree heat.
She and I wore reusable cloth masks that are certified to ASTM F3502, which is the CDC-recognized standard for barrier face coverings. We had them on lanyards so we could take them on and off easily. Our masks were comfortable and didn’t feel too hot. We carried several clean masks with us in case we needed to change.
We wore them on transportation, almost all the time inside (except eating and drinking). We wore them outside in crowded areas.
I noticed there were always other people wherever we went who wearing masks, sometimes only one or 2 and sometimes a lot. No one said anything to us.

My DH wore N95 and KN95 masks; biggest difference is the KN95 have ear loops and N95 have around the head elastic. He found the KN95 more comfortable.
 


please note there is currently NO accommodations at WDW for physical distancing. Everything is at pre-covid status in that regard. If your party wants to maintain physical distance, they will have to be proactive about it. And while there are a few mask-wearers, they are the vast minority.
 
subtchr said:
Sorry, do you mean that some of them are reluctant to be vaccinated? Because it seems availability is wide open for all levels of the shots.
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No, they are ages 4, 2, and 1. They can not be vaccinated. As soon as I can we will be there getting it. My 1 year old also has a very high hard palate meaning smaller nasal passages.

Edit for spelling
 
SueM in MN said:
My family got back home from WDW on May 12. My daughter is in a wheelchair and doesn’t have stamina for propelling it herself, so we were also pushing a wheelchair in the 90 degree heat.
She and I wore reusable cloth masks that are certified to ASTM F3502, which is the CDC-recognized standard for barrier face coverings. We had them on lanyards so we could take them on and off easily. Our masks were comfortable and didn’t feel too hot. We carried several clean masks with us in case we needed to change.
We wore them on transportation, almost all the time inside (except eating and drinking). We wore them outside in crowded areas.
I noticed there were always other people wherever we went who wearing masks, sometimes only one or 2 and sometimes a lot. No one said anything to us.

My DH wore N95 and KN95 masks; biggest difference is the KN95 have ear loops and N95 have around the head elastic. He found the KN95 more comfortable.
Click to expand...
Thank you, the lanyards is a good idea. We plan to also wear masks on transportation/indoors especially given that social distancing isn't being done there so that's a good way to keep them handy.
 
Aside from masks, I'm glad you posted about pushing a wheelchair is doable. Many times when someone starts a thread, my family member needs to help getting around.... Almost everyone says scooter because wheelchairs are horrible. My DH used a wheelchair for about 8 trips. I started pushing about 80% of the time and worked down to about 50%. In April was the first trip with scooter. My knees have hit the level of working ok, but doesn't take much for aching to start.
 
Last month at disney (and a couple of weeks ago at universal) i wore a KN95 mask at all times indoors. unsurprisingly, my friend and i were some of the only people (if not only) people masked in our near vicinity. the only time i didn't mask was if i was outside or i was actively eating in a restaurant (which we tried to limit.)

even with all of those precautions, at disney i caught one of the worst colds of my life that developed into bronchitis and lingered for two weeks. i'm just lucky it wasn't the Big C (and yes i did test for that and luckily was negative!)
 
georgina said:
Congrats. We wore masks last week at airports, on planes, in Disney lines, crowded areas, monorail, etc, however we did eat in some restaurants. Both came home with covid.
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Same here. We were at Disney May 17-20 and also wore KN95s in all indoor areas and did not have any indoor dining. We did not wear them outside. We drove so no airports and flying. I tested positive May 22–managed to avoid it for 2 years and this was our 5th Disney trip since covid. So far DH and DD are testing negative. I have no idea where I got it— there was a guy seated right behind me on the Kilimanjaro Safari who was wearing a mask and coughing a lot through the whole trip—maybe I should have worn my mask then but who knows.
 
jo-jo said:
Aside from masks, I'm glad you posted about pushing a wheelchair is doable. Many times when someone starts a thread, my family member needs to help getting around.... Almost everyone says scooter because wheelchairs are horrible. My DH used a wheelchair for about 8 trips. I started pushing about 80% of the time and worked down to about 50%. In April was the first trip with scooter. My knees have hit the level of working ok, but doesn't take much for aching to start.
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Yeah.
From posts I’ve seen, a lot of the people who say wheelchairs are horrible to push have actually not pushed one.
The one piece of ‘conventional wisdom’ about pushing wheelchairs that my family doesn’t follow is wearing gloves to prevent blisters on your hands. When we tried gloves, they made our hands sweaty and that was actually the only time we DID get blisters. So, worth trying, but be aware it might not be a solution for everyone.

If the push handles are rough or hard, I’d try adding experimenting with something to them to make them softer. Foam made for insulating pipes may work or something called vet wrap tape. Just make sure it’s secure, so it doesn’t shift or come off when you need a good grip to control the chair (down hills, etc.)
 
DisneyFive said:
I would also only go if you are o.k. with getting Covid. I'm not saying you will get Covid, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you are throwing yourself into and very crowded space (inside and out) with an immense amount of people, the vast majority of which are not masked.
Click to expand...

I'm going to slightly disagree with you here. I know where you're coming from, and I absolutely agree that going to Disney is going to be riskier than not going to Disney. I don't think it's slightly realistic to think you can go to Disney and have a 0% Covid risk, regardless of what you do. There are just too many people and too many chances for minor mistakes and such.

But I'd phrase it more like, "Don't go to Disney unless you're OK with taking an increased risk of getting Covid."

I think that distinction matters because being fatalistic about it takes away each person's agency and responsibility. I'd think of it like this - every time I get in my car, I need to be "OK" with the fact that I'm risking my life. But I do have some control - I can take actions to reduce that risk - wear a seat belt, drive sober, drive the speed limit, avoid Friday and Saturday nights.

So going to Disney is going to increase your risks for sure, but we can - if we choose - make choices to make it less risky. How much less? I'm not going to try and get into that here, though I did do a LOT of personal thinking and research ahead of time.

Also, the quality and dedication to masking helps. Not trying to throw shade here, but even most masked people were using pretty shoddy masks or poorly fitted. To each his own, but me personally, I wouldn't have gone to Disney with a cloth mask or a surgical mask or a mask down under my nose. To me, those approaches continue to have too much risk. For me, a well fitted N95 got the risks down to a tolerable level for me. I knew it was a risk. Absolutely. And I had to be OK with that risk. But it was a risk I could reduce down to a tolerable level for my family.

We're about 4 days out from our last plane flight. My wife and I did a PCR yesterday and came up clean. Neither of my sons have symptoms. We still might be incubating something, but it seems unlikely at this point.

So of course, some of it is just pure luck. If you go to Disney, you're taking an increased Covid risk, IMO. No doubt. But you can stack the odds one way or another.
 
tentaguasu said:
I'm going to slightly disagree with you here. I know where you're coming from, and I absolutely agree that going to Disney is going to be riskier than not going to Disney. I don't think it's slightly realistic to think you can go to Disney and have a 0% Covid risk, regardless of what you do. There are just too many people and too many chances for minor mistakes and such.

But I'd phrase it more like, "Don't go to Disney unless you're OK with taking an increased risk of getting Covid."

I think that distinction matters because being fatalistic about it takes away each person's agency and responsibility. I'd think of it like this - every time I get in my car, I need to be "OK" with the fact that I'm risking my life. But I do have some control - I can take actions to reduce that risk - wear a seat belt, drive sober, drive the speed limit, avoid Friday and Saturday nights.

So going to Disney is going to increase your risks for sure, but we can - if we choose - make choices to make it less risky. How much less? I'm not going to try and get into that here, though I did do a LOT of personal thinking and research ahead of time.

Also, the quality and dedication to masking helps. Not trying to throw shade here, but even most masked people were using pretty shoddy masks or poorly fitted. To each his own, but me personally, I wouldn't have gone to Disney with a cloth mask or a surgical mask or a mask down under my nose. To me, those approaches continue to have too much risk. For me, a well fitted N95 got the risks down to a tolerable level for me. I knew it was a risk. Absolutely. And I had to be OK with that risk. But it was a risk I could reduce down to a tolerable level for my family.

We're about 4 days out from our last plane flight. My wife and I did a PCR yesterday and came up clean. Neither of my sons have symptoms. We still might be incubating something, but it seems unlikely at this point.

So of course, some of it is just pure luck. If you go to Disney, you're taking an increased Covid risk, IMO. No doubt. But you can stack the odds one way or another.
Click to expand...
Not going to disagree, and I also totally see where you're coming from, but I'm also standing by my original language.

It's kind of splitting hairs on how you want to say it. Folks should know that N95 masks are not perfect, and they will not be worn all the time. They will reduce your risk. To what extent? Depends on a lot of factors. Indoor spaces are packed with people, most of which are not masked. Outdoor spaces are packed with people most of whom are not masked. You can take efforts to minimize your exposure, especially outdoors, but unless you want to sit on a park bench your entire stay most attractions require heavy close contact. WDW is one of the LAST places to visit if you don't want to significantly increase your risk of getting COVID. It's just the reality of it.

I don't feel that I'm being fatalistic, especially when you consider that folks have had the opportunity be vaccinated for a LONG time now, which all but removes any fatality risk. That's one of the key points of vaccinations, but I don't want to start a debate. Just stating facts.

Kindly,
Dan
 
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