To Go or Not To Go

[yaya74]

Just want to share a recent "crowd-packing" experience for those who are concerned with the crowds.
We were there in the first week of July. We were in the queue for the Test Track. After the design-your-own-vehicle station, you would go into another room with a ramp to go up to the next section. As soon as we got onto the ramp, we heard the announcement that the ride was temporarily down due to the weather. CMs at TT pushed all guests that were in the design-your-own-vehicle stations into that the next room with the ramp. I would say if not 100 but definitely 50 people were in that area. Back then, masks were not required. There were only 5% of people in that room wearing masks... My family waited for 10 minutes and left through the nearest exit door because the room was just too packed.

TT would be down due to weather. So there is a chance that you might be waiting in that room just like my family.
Be prepared.

 

[Kingoglow]

Our trip is in 30 days. We are vaccinated but I still have to take a serious look at what to do. We were going to take my brother's kids, but the adults all talked about it and they won't be coming; they are too young to get vaccinated. If your children are under 12, consider rebooking for the Spring when cases come back down.

We also changed hotels from one with room access in an interior hallway to a lower-priced hotel with room access from the outside. That will help us avoid unnecessary time indoors with others. We are using that money to rent a car so we can avoid packed busses.

We stress over it a little each day, but we are doing everything we can to mitigate exposure but still visit.

 

[bsmcneil]

Someone in the Here and Now thread just posted they also got Covid from there; so, if you're debating - I'd encourage you to make sure you're reading that thread, too (I've found it helpful)

 

[harleyquinn]

Someone in the Here and Now thread just posted they also got Covid from there; so, if you're debating - I'd encourage you to make sure you're reading that thread, too (I've found it helpful)

Agreed!! This is the third report I've read on here from the last week or so. Plus anecdotes of hearing that similar stories are being posted on reddit and facebook groups.

 

[maryj11]

I have friends who came back Tuesday from WDW. They did WDW only.

The DH tested positive yesterday at work during his required testing (they test every two days). He is vaccinated. He thought he had the post going from humid to dry climate sinus thing many of us get.

My friend, his DW, also vaccinated, is having worse than usual allergy symptoms, which because of our air quality due to fires many of us are having. She is getting today.

Both kids are under 12 and wore masks everywhere, both inside and outside. Neither have any symptoms.

Oh gee I don’t like hearing your DH tested positive after having the vaccine. Did he feel sick or have any bad symptoms? Myself and granddaughter are going at the end of August. We are both vaccinated, but husband and elderly mom who are not going have not been vaccinated. Just worried about bringing it home to them.

 

[bsmcneil]

Agreed!! This is the third report I've read on here from the last week or so. Plus anecdotes of hearing that similar stories are being posted on reddit and facebook groups.

Is this the reddit sub you visit? https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/ I haven't explored Reddit and Disney much

 

[mikerobrewer]

Cancelled our big family trip (20 people) for September in 2020, rescheduled for 4-days starting September 11 of this year. I thought for sure things would be good but recent number of cases in Florida are concerning.

All of us are vaxxed, except for my 3 grandchildren, and I suggested to my son and daughter-in-law that we should considering cancelling. They still want to go saying that we will all wears masks, indoors and out, and use sanitizer both before and after going on an attraction.

I am hoping crowds will be less in mid September and praying the spike in cases begin to trend sharply downward in the next 40 days but if they were my children I think I would cancel.

 

[harleyquinn]

Is this the reddit sub you visit? https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/ I haven't explored Reddit and Disney much

No, I honestly heard it from a Facebook group and have not been able to find it myself through Reddit. So let's take that anecdote out of our equations for now!

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I went July 9th-12 (last month) and literally as I was on the Magical Express heading to the airport when I saw the report of cases increasing in Florida. So I was there when masks were optional (minus Disney transportation) and I am glad I still wore a mask indoors as like I mentioned in other posts, people don't know personal space even with a virus still going on. To be honest, I did feel a little sick during my flight home. Luckily, after some rest, I felt fine that following day after getting home from WDW. But i still stayed away from people for like a day just to be sure even though I am fully vaccinated. So I just tell people to be careful on whatever they do. My next Disney trip isn't until November 2022 and I am hoping things will be better then.

 

[Babynotyoda]

I just canceled my late August getaway stay at Coronado Springs. Thankfully, Hotwire gave me a credit for the non refundable trip I booked. I had to pay a cancellation fee but it’s better than constantly stressing about Covid numbers/mask rules. So if you need to cancel a Hotwire reservation, they seem to be very flexible right now.

 

[cjsmom5]

We went twice, when masks were required all the time, etc. (December). Went again in March. Are going August 2021 and Dec 2021 and again in March 2022. Just like all others said, data attributed specifically to Disney is hard to find. I get it. Just because you were at Disney ... if you went other places ... may not be directly related to Disney. I think you should keep an eye out on the situation - travel restrictions, mandates, etc. If this is the only trip you can take to Disney - I would postphone until things are more "normal" although I am not sure what that will be in the future. The key will be more restaurants open, hotels open, shows brought back, dining plan, and hopefully fast pass. The experience now is a bit different than it has been in the past. Wait times longer. Dining harder to get.

And, the goal of your trip is important. We have been so many times that it doesn't really matter what we do. We enjoy just walking around. Hanging out. Having a drink. Going for a swim. Shopping. Any rides we get on are a bonus. We buy the event tickets ... don't go to the park that day ... and just go to the event at nighty ( Boo Bash coming up) due to lower crowds, shorter lines, etc. So decide what your goal is for your visit - who you are traveling with.

We fly from AZ and are very comfortable on planes. I think air is recycled more often than some of the offices I am in and out of daily. We are ok with wearing our mask on the plane (although we do take them down to eat and drink). I flew on planes when they were only 2 of us and our choice of 143 seats -- so I am a different breed. We always enjoy Disney. That is just who we are. Good luck in making your decision.

 

[Distriv]

I'm scheduled to go down Sept 21st and I still intend to go. I'm fully vaccinated and don't have any family members who are not. My office is also roughly 99% vaccinated. I'm traveling with my best friend for part of the trip who is also fully vaccinated (as is his wife and they have no children). The risk to myself and those around me is low and I am more than comfortable wearing a mask for long periods of time as we were back in the office part time before vaccines were out.

I fully understand people cancelling their trips though, especially those with kids who can't be vaccinated yet.

 

[Nice Work Pal]

Said in another thread but in case you missed. We left July 21st…July 24th my mom starting getting covid symptoms. She tested positive and has been in bed and extremely sick ever since. She’s 62…an absolute health nut…wasnt vaxxed and didn’t mask up. I really think if she didn’t take such good care of herself she’d be hospitalized. She’s 5’7 117 lbs…from Saturday when symptoms first started until Wednesday she dropped 8 lbs. I tried taking her to the hospital but she refused. My daughter and I are fully vaxxed and have had zero issues. Please be smart and safe if you’re planning on going. It’s worse in Florida now than ever with less restrictions

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I have not heard of a single case attributed to WDW.

I have heard of many - and it's not surprising. It's a high crowd location, virtually no one was wearing masks until a few days ago, and half the country (and probably half the park guests) are not vaccinated. I am on multiple facebook groups and people have been posting about testing positive within days after getting home from WDW. Some of those people have breakthrough infections and others were unvaccinated, none were wearing masks.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Is this the reddit sub you visit? https://www.reddit.com/r/WaltDisneyWorld/ I haven't explored Reddit and Disney much

There's also Disney and Disneyland, but stay off of Disney Vacation. It is NOT what you think it is.....

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

My trip is in a week and a half. I am planning to go (as of right now). My teenagers and I are all vaccinated. My youngest is not vaccinated. However, we are all going to be wearing a mask consistent with WDW guidelines AND when we are in crowded areas, whether or not masks are required. We are also planning to limit our indoor dining. We won't eliminate it completely, but we will keep our masks on except when we are eating or drinking - especially my 11 year old. We are also from an area that has had strict mask rules in place until May. When my county relaxed the mask rules, at least locally, most people were still wearing them in stores. Last week it was down to 50/50 but it is not about 70/30 wearing masks, even though we are not a high spread area at the moment. I will tell you, it has been a tough decision. I have done a lot of reading and research to understand the risks as best as I can. We booked this trip in August 2019 and rescheduled it to August 2021. I am loathe to cancel again. If we cancel, we don't get a vacation this year.

 

[tobikaye]

I was at WDW at the end of June when masks were not required. We rarely wore ours as we were all vaccinated and only rode a few attractions a day. So, we were able to keep our distance from others.

I was planning to take my dad to WDW this fall and maybe take my sister back as well, but I have decided to wait until I see how things play out over the coming months. I know it is not as easy to do anymore, but I figure if I do take either or both, it will be more of a last minute trip.

 

[DizKids2]

We went to just Disney 6/26-7/5. This was when non-vaccinated people were "supposed" to wear masks indoors. Next to no one had masks on. Without on-site reports from Universal, I would have to assume it will be like that for the Universal part of your trip, so this may be something to consider.
We still masked indoors, except for my oldest, who felt he didn't need to since we are all vaccinated.
My oldest ended up getting sick - was negative for Covid though. This is not unusual for our family to have someone get sick on vacation.

I would go with the assumption that yes, in such a crowded area, people will pass covid around and it is probably a higher risk than your normal activities (unless normal is going to super crowded places).

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We've decided to cancel our September trip. We were really excited about the trip but are moving across country in mid-August, and with the stress of getting settled in a new city, plus the recent COVID issues, it just made sense to cancel. We'll probably try again next fall.

 

[mousefan73]

I should’ve said yet....My grandson has suddenly developed symptoms of nausea, sounds like he has a cold or sinus infection with a low grade fever. He did accidentally take in a lot of water swimming last night so it may be that, but he ticks a lot of boxes for covid as well. So plans have ground to a halt. No HS tonight to see the fireworks for sure. Unlike a lot of people, we don’t go to the parks sick.


We tried to get him tested locally, but it’s impossible to get in anywhere. The one place we found was a drive through with an over 4 hr wait in the car, no guarantee we’d get the test if we were in line waiting when they close. The line was many miles long. Seriously, how do locals put up with this? If we were home, we could drive less than 10 minutes from home and have 0 wait to be tested, same day, 15 minute results. No wonder numbers are sky high here. We are worried sick, but nothing we can do until morning when we can leave and get him home. So I may regret it after all.



And this was with being as careful as we knew how. No indoor dining, avoided crowded areas, skipped rides with long indoor queues. He wore a mask anytime he was out of the room.

stupid question, aren't antigen hometests available at walgreens etc?? not PCR accurate but if you have symptoms very well.. they only really have a high false pos vs. neg.. Here in germany you can buy then at every grocer/drug store.. At first they were running 5 euros each. now you find for 1 euro.