To Go or Not To Go

[maryj11]

We ended up cancelling our trip for next week. We are all vaccinated but the situation in FL and flying just didn't feel right. We were anxious and not excited for our trip. Plus we are not used to FL heat and so staying mostly outdoors and eating outdoors in that kind of heat would be tough. Just so sad-this is the 5th cancelled vacation since March 2020. I just can't believe how fast things changed as we booked this the end of June when things were looking good. Everyone who still goes I hope you have a safe and amazing vacation.

We canceled for next week too. I just didn’t think we would have as much fun trying to dodge covid while wearing masks in the heat.

 

[5Tulips]

My husband and I decided to continue with our short 2 day trip in September. We are going to see Happily Ever After before it is gone.
We are not taking our elementary aged children. I have been back and forth on this for awhile, mostly concerned with bringing covid home to the kids, but a few things that factored into our decision

- He and I are are vaccinated and will be wearing masks.
- The fireworks are our only must do. Yes that will be crowded, but we decided not to do any other rides or attractions and will minimize theme park time. We're going for 2 days. Going to enjoy a deluxe room for once and just enjoy the atmosphere. Eat at nice restaurants. See the fireworks. Go home. Yes we can still get covid, but I feel we are taking steps to mitigate the risk.
- The kids are in school now and feel whether DH and I go to Florida or not, the variant is out there and exposure risk is high. We live in a state where schools are not allowed to implement mask mandates.


If we did not have the option to leave our kids at home, we would not go.
If we were planning a typical Disney trip and spending our days at the parks, we would not go.

All this. I could have written this post. Except our must do is F&W. We leave next week.

 

[DisneyOma]

My husband and I decided to continue with our short 2 day trip in September. We are going to see Happily Ever After before it is gone.
We are not taking our elementary aged children. I have been back and forth on this for awhile, mostly concerned with bringing covid home to the kids, but a few things that factored into our decision

- He and I are are vaccinated and will be wearing masks.
- The fireworks are our only must do. Yes that will be crowded, but we decided not to do any other rides or attractions and will minimize theme park time. We're going for 2 days. Going to enjoy a deluxe room for once and just enjoy the atmosphere. Eat at nice restaurants. See the fireworks. Go home. Yes we can still get covid, but I feel we are taking steps to mitigate the risk.
- The kids are in school now and feel whether DH and I go to Florida or not, the variant is out there and exposure risk is high. We live in a state where schools are not allowed to implement mask mandates.


If we did not have the option to leave our kids at home, we would not go.
If we were planning a typical Disney trip and spending our days at the parks, we would not go.

It's the restaurants that are the biggest risk, IMO. The tables are not spaced out like they were earlier, and people are seated right next to each other. I hope you are able to remain safe.

 

[Pyotr]

After much discussion with the wife, I have decided to cancel out late October Boo Bash trip. We were planning on taking our two younger children (3, 9) for the last weekend in October. I've spent the last week quarantining with my 3 year old due to positive cases at daycare. I'm not as afraid of the two catching covid as I am being quarantined at the last minute and being unable to go. We have another trip planned for December so we can punt this one until next summer.

My oldest daughter (17) and I have a Food and Wine trip planned for the last weekend in September. Unless we have the Rona, we are going. We are staying at the Boardwalk Villas and will just walk around Epcot and eat.

 

[blistex]

That, I think, might be my main concern - mask compliance. I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up some things for my college sophomore and on the way out I said to her, "If I feel this skeeved-out at BBB, how am I going to feel at Disney World?" I'm on the fence about cancelling a trip my 15-year old daughter and I have 8/31-9/4. We're both vaxxed and will do the whole N/KN95 mask thing indoors and likely medical masks outdoors, but the fact that the concept of, "your mask protects me, my mask protects you" may not be subscribed to by the masses is frustrating. We'd both love to go and she is pretty much continuously stalking wait times as an indicator of crowds, which appear to be VERY low - something that certainly works in our favor in terms of social distancing and time spent in lines with others. I'm going to have to pull the plug on this trip soon if I'm going to pull it...

Something else I meant to mention, and your post reminded me - trust me, the masses will NOT be subscribing to that. I am not judging those who decide to go but just worried that those who are not coming from the South do not understand the situation down here. "Not being cautious" in NY is, I promise you, more cautious than the average person is down here. I grew up in the Northeast and my family is still there. When they came down this summer they were literally panicked in the grocery store because it was so unlike the atmosphere up there. If you are traveling to any Southern state, you need to do so knowing that 90% of the people around you will not be masking unless forced to by law, 50-75% of the people around you will be unvaccinated, it is and mostly always has been a free-for-all down here. The only time that changes is if the place you're in enforced precautions, and Disney by all reports has largely stopped doing that, so set your expectations.

And FWIW, we had the same thought - we had a Nov 2020 trip we rescheduled for Feb 2021, then June 2021, then Sept 2021, now canceled indefinitely. Before the June trip, we went to a small local restaurant as a test and we were NOT comfortable and said okay, then there's no way we'll feel good at WDW, so we moved it.

 

[Mle8308]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1428785401897050115

The city of Orlando is asking residents to reduce water consumption IMMEDIATELY. Liquid oxygen used to treat water is being diverted to the hospitals to treat COVID patients. They believe if water consumption doesn’t change, water treatment could hit a critical point in a week.



I know WDW has its own system, but this will affect off site hotels, restaurants, airports, gas stations, and CMs.

ET: @DisneyFave beat me to it.

They are asking people to cut back on watering lawns and washing cars.

 

[ginadv]

It's the restaurants that are the biggest risk, IMO. The tables are not spaced out like they were earlier, and people are seated right next to each other. I hope you are able to remain safe.

TS dining at Disney is one of my favorite parts of a trip. That said, we cancelled all of our indoor reservations and will stick to outdoor dining options if we forge ahead. I've never been for F&W, so while I'm sure it may be challenging to find crowd-free seating and it will be hot, that could be a fun alternative to our regular TS traditions, which tend to be primarily in the WS.

 

[Mle8308]

That, I think, might be my main concern - mask compliance. I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up some things for my college sophomore and on the way out I said to her, "If I feel this skeeved-out at BBB, how am I going to feel at Disney World?" I'm on the fence about cancelling a trip my 15-year old daughter and I have 8/31-9/4. We're both vaxxed and will do the whole N/KN95 mask thing indoors and likely medical masks outdoors, but the fact that the concept of, "your mask protects me, my mask protects you" may not be subscribed to by the masses is frustrating. We'd both love to go and she is pretty much continuously stalking wait times as an indicator of crowds, which appear to be VERY low - something that certainly works in our favor in terms of social distancing and time spent in lines with others. I'm going to have to pull the plug on this trip soon if I'm going to pull it...

I’m also here now, masks are no longer required in outside queues or attractions, they made that change on 8/19. Mask compliance indoors is pretty good, about 85%. Outdoors I’d say about 10% of people are wearing masks. Crowds are not bad, but they are filling all seats/ rows and asking people to fill in all space, even if not needed. There’s not a lot of social distancing and even though crowds are low, you are still often shoulder to shoulder with others, especially in queues. If you are sleeved at B,B, & B, you will not feel comfortable at Disney.

 

[disneymom0104]

We got back from our trip a week ago. 4 of us were vaccinated, 2 were too young. We tried to stay very careful with masks, hand washing, etc. I am now currently having a breakthrough covid case. It is no joke. Still thankful for the vaccine, but I just heard on the news that at least in our state, nearly 27% of current positives are breakthrough cases. That is a lot. The vaccine still helps protect from severe disease but it is less effective at preventing covid in general. So far everyone else in my house seems well. I don't regret going, but I was also naive in thinking I was not likely to get covid- especially with the precautions we took.

 

[DisneyOma]

TS dining at Disney is one of my favorite parts of a trip. That said, we cancelled all of our indoor reservations and will stick to outdoor dining options if we forge ahead. I've never been for F&W, so while I'm sure it may be challenging to find crowd-free seating and it will be hot, that could be a fun alternative to our regular TS traditions, which tend to be primarily in the WS.

We loved food and wine this week - go on a weekday, at/around sunset, and it is very nice - not too hot or crowded.

 

[Mango7100]

Something else I meant to mention, and your post reminded me - trust me, the masses will NOT be subscribing to that. I am not judging those who decide to go but just worried that those who are not coming from the South do not understand the situation down here. "Not being cautious" in NY is, I promise you, more cautious than the average person is down here. I grew up in the Northeast and my family is still there. When they came down this summer they were literally panicked in the grocery store because it was so unlike the atmosphere up there. If you are traveling to any Southern state, you need to do so knowing that 90% of the people around you will not be masking unless forced to by law, 50-75% of the people around you will be unvaccinated, it is and mostly always has been a free-for-all down here. The only time that changes is if the place you're in enforced precautions, and Disney by all reports has largely stopped doing that, so set your expectations.

And FWIW, we had the same thought - we had a Nov 2020 trip we rescheduled for Feb 2021, then June 2021, then Sept 2021, now canceled indefinitely. Before the June trip, we went to a small local restaurant as a test and we were NOT comfortable and said okay, then there's no way we'll feel good at WDW, so we moved it.

As someone who lives in the South I 100% agree with your post. It is different than NE entirely. I rarely go inside anywhere than my own house here and we also are avoiding large outdoor crowds. In 2 weeks our college football team will have their home opener with 104,000 in the stadium, and we will watch on a comfy coach at home with a cold beverage.

DH and I were considering an adults only trip end of September to F and W but given the number of breakthrough cases that we know about personally and are reported we are going to wait. We will go back once we get our boosters and DD 8 is vaccinated.

 

[Sarahslay]

Something else I meant to mention, and your post reminded me - trust me, the masses will NOT be subscribing to that. I am not judging those who decide to go but just worried that those who are not coming from the South do not understand the situation down here. "Not being cautious" in NY is, I promise you, more cautious than the average person is down here. I grew up in the Northeast and my family is still there. When they came down this summer they were literally panicked in the grocery store because it was so unlike the atmosphere up there. If you are traveling to any Southern state, you need to do so knowing that 90% of the people around you will not be masking unless forced to by law, 50-75% of the people around you will be unvaccinated, it is and mostly always has been a free-for-all down here. The only time that changes is if the place you're in enforced precautions, and Disney by all reports has largely stopped doing that, so set your expectations.

And FWIW, we had the same thought - we had a Nov 2020 trip we rescheduled for Feb 2021, then June 2021, then Sept 2021, now canceled indefinitely. Before the June trip, we went to a small local restaurant as a test and we were NOT comfortable and said okay, then there's no way we'll feel good at WDW, so we moved it.

Yes! I live outside of Augusta, and we have a lot of military people who have moved here over the last year from the New York/New Jersey area (several in our subdivision as contractors to the army base near us) and they were like "what on earth is going on?! why are is no one taking this seriously?!" I personally wear a mask, I have zero problem doing so (but, I've also worked in the medical industry for a while so I'm used to wearing masks), but you just get used to going in to Kroger or Publix and there only being 1-2 other people with a mask on. I honestly have just as much of a chance getting it going to pick my daughter up at school as I do at WDW right now, was standing there waiting for her to come out and a woman behind me coughed and then told a story about how her husband was waiting on his "stupid covid test to come back, he's such a baby, just get over it *cough cough*" ....then she and her kid weren't at pick up the next two days. I keep telling people, if you don't feel comfortable going to the store you won't feel comfortable at WDW right now, some of the people will drive you nuts in line. I personally am doing zero indoor dining at this point, decided today to cancel my last remaining ADR, I'll eat outdoors (with my little personal fan) or in my room. I arrive on Aug 29 for my 7th trip, I got sick at the end of my 6th trip in June (could have possibly been Covid, I should have taken a test when I got home, but I didn't leave the house so I didn't bother), second trip vaccinated and just have to be as careful as we can be.

 

[StuckInKS]

All this. I could have written this post. Except our must do is F&W. We leave next week.

I moved our mid-September trip to as far back as I could and still do F&W as it is one of the things my kids most look forward to at Disney. DH and I enjoy it OK, but the first thing my kids always ask about a Disney trip is "Will we be there during F&W?!" Of course they can't partake in the wine part (ages 9-17), but they love trying different foods and we end up spending a good 50% of our Epcot days walking around World Showcase evaluating menus lol. We are now scheduled for Nov 8-20 and then Thanksgiving week at the beach. Crossing my fingers that things will be better in FL by then.

 

[DC to Disney]

I feel for everyone who is making decisions about canceling trips. We decided to go to Disneyland instead of WDW. We were there the second week of August. Covid cases are lower, the weather was better, and mask compliance indoors was pretty good. DLR has more outdoor queues and dining compared to WDW, and we ate all of our meals outdoors. It was a great trip. It’s something to consider if you want a Disney fix, but aren’t comfortable going to FL right now.

 

[maryj11]

Something else I meant to mention, and your post reminded me - trust me, the masses will NOT be subscribing to that. I am not judging those who decide to go but just worried that those who are not coming from the South do not understand the situation down here. "Not being cautious" in NY is, I promise you, more cautious than the average person is down here. I grew up in the Northeast and my family is still there. When they came down this summer they were literally panicked in the grocery store because it was so unlike the atmosphere up there. If you are traveling to any Southern state, you need to do so knowing that 90% of the people around you will not be masking unless forced to by law, 50-75% of the people around you will be unvaccinated, it is and mostly always has been a free-for-all down here. The only time that changes is if the place you're in enforced precautions, and Disney by all reports has largely stopped doing that, so set your expectations.

And FWIW, we had the same thought - we had a Nov 2020 trip we rescheduled for Feb 2021, then June 2021, then Sept 2021, now canceled indefinitely. Before the June trip, we went to a small local restaurant as a test and we were NOT comfortable and said okay, then there's no way we'll feel good at WDW, so we moved it.

I watched Disney YouTube videos to make my decision. People waiting in lines and walking through crowded areas to see if I would feel comfortable in their shoes. I also asked myself while walking through stores where we live. I’am in and out of them, with Disney I wouldn’t be able to go in and out. Decided no we would not feel comfortable.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

They are asking people to cut back on watering lawns and washing cars.

Yes, those are some ways to reduce water consumption. Here is the full list that OUC has posted - https://www.ouc.com/water-info .

 

[jar]

Last week, DS and I cancelled our Labor Day weekend trip for the 3rd year in a row (hurricane in '19 then Covid in '20). Both vaxxed, but decided that risk of breakthrough case right before school starts not worth it. And not great to go someplace where ICU's have no room if anything else happens on trip. Painful given how much we keep looking forward to the lack of crowds.

 

[The Iron Giant]

So… I’ll share our experience. We just got back the other day from our trip from August 8 - 18. We are a family of 6, traveled from NJ so we’re used to masks, and we’re all vaccinated except for our 9 year old. We definitely had a lot of trepidation about going due to the situation in Florida and during the week before we left we were close to cancelling a couple of times. We really researched the data and the risks before we decided to go forward. We also considered what activities our 4 kids would be doing if we skipped the trip. Namely… they would have been going to Six Flaggs, the beach, sports practices, summer jobs, and a weekend soccer tournament in Hershey, PA. In other words… we weren’t going to be sitting in the house. We would have been engaging in a lot of activities that could expose them to the risk of getting COVID even if we skipped Disney. It was this realization and the decision by Disney to require masks that really made up our minds. It was a really hard decision, but we decided to go and for us it was the right decision. Despite having to wear masks (which we all are in favor of) and cancelling almost all our ADRs, we had a fantastic trip. At the end of the day, each family has to make their own decision and do what’s best for them.

 

[StuckInKS]

I feel for everyone who is making decisions about canceling trips. We decided to go to Disneyland instead of WDW. We were there the second week of August. Covid cases are lower, the weather was better, and mask compliance indoors was pretty good. DLR has more outdoor queues and dining compared to WDW, and we ate all of our meals outdoors. It was a great trip. It’s something to consider if you want a Disney fix, but aren’t comfortable going to FL right now.

This is what we did. We went to DL July 25-Aug 1 and pushed our Sept WDW trip back to Nov 8-20 and hoping we are comfortable going then. We went to WDW March 6-15 and felt completely safe and didn't catch anything, but of course it is different now. My kids did catch something at DL, but it wasn't COVID.

 

[bravenyc]

We are here now. The adults are all vaccinated and my 10 and 7 year old had COVID about 3 weeks ago (10 year old had mild cold symptoms and 7 yo was asymptomatic). If my kids had not just had COVID (and thus had some natural immunity), we likely would have canceled. We had rented DVC points and chose a 2BR suite so we could mainly eat in the room - so we cancelled all ADR's. We are also spending less time in the parks and avoided crowded areas as much as we can. I can say that the crowds are REALLY low - most rides are walk ons or really low waits. Mask compliance ranges - from 80 - 95% inside. And it seems that mask compliance is the worst in cramped cues when the heat is especially bad - so this has felt unsafe and caused us to leave the line a few times. We watched HEA at a table in front of Casey's - this allowed for ample social distancing. I am happy to answer any questions about current conditions in the parks.