What is your WDW vacation alternative?

[maxiesmom]

We pushed our May Disney trip to October, and are now pushing that to next year sometime.

We just booked a lovely cabin near Gatlinburg Tennessee for 6 nights. The first week of October should be beautiful in the mountains. Plus, my niece and her husband, who live in Charlotte NC are driving up for a few days.

 

[java]

We pushed our May Disney trip to October, and are now pushing that to next year sometime.

We just booked a lovely cabin near Gatlinburg Tennessee for 6 nights. The first week of October should be beautiful in the mountains.

us too. We canceled our expensive July trip. And booked a cabin in Gatlinburg too. It has plenty to do just at the house, but I’m hoping we can do some hiking and maybe Dollywood depending on how they are handling it then. I was a bit alarmed seeing everyone there not wearing masks. If that’s the case we will be staying mostly at the Cabin. This trip is saving us $5000 vs Disney.

 

[maxiesmom]

us too. We canceled our expensive July trip. And booked a cabin in Gatlinburg too. It has plenty to do just at the house, but I’m hoping we can do some hiking and maybe Dollywood depending on how they are handling it then. I was a bit alarmed seeing everyone there not wearing masks. If that’s the case we will be staying mostly at the Cabin. This trip is saving us $5000 vs Disney.

Most of the videos I have found show people wearing masks at Dollywood. They are also doing temperature checks, and asking a few questions before allowing you into the park. Along with social distancing, and having added handwashing stations. I've watched quite a few youtube videos on Dollywood and I'm hoping they stick to their mask policy.

 

[SteveH]

We have a motorhome, boat and our Jeep. So we'll take them out to the high mountain lakes in Oregon & Washington, then hit up the Coast. Great social distancing. First trip is to Montana taking the motorhome and Jeep.

 

[java]

Most of the videos I have found show people wearing masks at Dollywood. They are also doing temperature checks, and asking a few questions before allowing you into the park. Along with social distancing, and having added handwashing stations. I've watched quite a few youtube videos on Dollywood and I'm hoping they stick to their mask policy.

I should have been more clear I was talking about the Gatlinburg snap chats I’ve seen. Those out and about in town don’t seem to be wearing masks.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We cancelled two trips - Poly and OKW. We are DVC members and went to RCI and rented a cash week at a studio condo in the White Mountains for $238! We'll pack a cooler, a couple camp chairs and we're off...lots of fresh air and sunshine. We're planning on two weeks in October 2021 split between OKW and BRV with our son and DIL.

 

[Mango7100]

us too. We canceled our expensive July trip. And booked a cabin in Gatlinburg too. It has plenty to do just at the house, but I’m hoping we can do some hiking and maybe Dollywood depending on how they are handling it then. I was a bit alarmed seeing everyone there not wearing masks. If that’s the case we will be staying mostly at the Cabin. This trip is saving us $5000 vs Disney.

We live in the county next to Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is awful right now—that county is in the top 5 in the nation right now in percent increase. They have increased 300% in cases over the last two weeks and it’s not due to more testing or a result dump from a lab. Aside from Dollywood, businesses are not following any rules. They seem to be attracting all the tourists who don’t want to have any changes such as masks/social distancing/ etc. residents of the county are pleading pleading with people to wear masks and distance, but it’s too much of an inconvenience. Stay at the cabin. It avoid the downtown. I would 1000% go to Disney before I would go to Gatlinburg right now.

 

[Monykalyn]

We live in the county next to Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is awful right now—that county is in the top 5 in the nation right now in percent increase. They have increased 300% in cases over the last two weeks and it’s not due to more testing or a result dump from a lab. Aside from Dollywood, businesses are not following any rules. They seem to be attracting all the tourists who don’t want to have any changes such as masks/social distancing/ etc. residents of the county are pleading pleading with people to wear masks and distance, but it’s too much of an inconvenience. Stay at the cabin. It avoid the downtown. I would 1000% go to Disney before I would go to Gatlinburg right now.

Yes they went from 12 cases to 45 —a 275% increase, with total cases (may be a day or two behind) 387 cases- in a county population of over 98k.
While I don’t disagree that precautions should be tawaken it IS important to remember perspective. I’d hardly call 0.0039% of the population currently identified as positive as a horrible hotbed of virus everywhere. The news is designed for fear and for clicks that sells. Telling the numbers and asking for common sense to keep numbers of actual cases low would obviously be way too much to ask of our population.

 

[Mango7100]

Yes they went from 12 cases to 45 —a 275% increase, with total cases (may be a day or two behind) 387 cases- in a county population of over 98k.
While I don’t disagree that precautions should be tawaken it IS important to remember perspective. I’d hardly call 0.0039% of the population currently identified as positive as a horrible hotbed of virus everywhere. The news is designed for fear and for clicks that sells. Telling the numbers and asking for common sense to keep numbers of actual cases low would obviously be way too much to ask of our population.

It’s the general trend that is concerning and the fact that people can’t be bothered to take precautionary steps. While the population percent is very low, it is a increase that is significant and could become a bigger issue if the trend continues. And of course this does not take into account tourists who may test positive once they return home...

 

[java]

We live in the county next to Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is awful right now—that county is in the top 5 in the nation right now in percent increase. They have increased 300% in cases over the last two weeks and it’s not due to more testing or a result dump from a lab. Aside from Dollywood, businesses are not following any rules. They seem to be attracting all the tourists who don’t want to have any changes such as masks/social distancing/ etc. residents of the county are pleading pleading with people to wear masks and distance, but it’s too much of an inconvenience. Stay at the cabin. It avoid the downtown. I would 1000% go to Disney before I would go to Gatlinburg right now.

any suggestions on good takeout or delivery options?

 

[fla4fun]

I had to cancel a trip to the beach in March, and then two Disney trips in May and June. When the June Disney trip was cancelled, I booked a trip to the beach to make up for what I missed in March. I just got back yesterday, and it was a great, relaxing trip, even with mask requirements and social distancing. If for any reason my August Disney trip is cancelled, I will go to the beach again. Normally I wouldn’t be going back to the beach until October, but I am done sitting in my living room for days and certainly wouldn’t use vacation time to do that. We can’t carry over vacation days, so I already have an extra week to work in somewhere before the end of the year.

 

[Kestryl]

DH's workplace was, but it only applied to travel out of state and they announced that the rule will expire at the end of the month. It was nonsense anyway - while it was in effect, the city where the plant is had some of the highest rates anywhere in the country. He was far more likely to catch it at work than anywhere we'd travel to! But mostly we haven't worried about it because he doesn't usually travel with us - he can take off for maybe one trip out of every three or four that my girls and I take - and I work from home even in ordinary times, so we don't have anyone to answer to about most trips.

It will be interesting to see if schools attempt to impose some sort of restrictions about kids who travel over breaks. DD18's university has eliminated all breaks in the fall semester and students will move out of their dorms Thanksgiving week and do the last week of classes and their finals online, so they won't have students leaving for where ever and then coming back to campus, but I haven't heard anything about K-12 schools considering imposing quarantines on students who travel during the school year.

I’m glad his work lifted it! Yes, there’s going to be open revolt soon if they don’t lift ours, or people will start lying. I’m by Gatlinburg- we can supposedly go there, but I’ve seen the photos and I’ve seen the behavior of people around here. No thanks. Getting on a plane and flying anywhere would be lower risk.

 

[Kestryl]

We live in the county next to Gatlinburg. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is awful right now—that county is in the top 5 in the nation right now in percent increase. They have increased 300% in cases over the last two weeks and it’s not due to more testing or a result dump from a lab. Aside from Dollywood, businesses are not following any rules. They seem to be attracting all the tourists who don’t want to have any changes such as masks/social distancing/ etc. residents of the county are pleading pleading with people to wear masks and distance, but it’s too much of an inconvenience. Stay at the cabin. It avoid the downtown. I would 1000% go to Disney before I would go to Gatlinburg right now.

THIS. There are a huge lack of rules and lack of enforcement, so of course there’s a big draw to people who think the coronavirus is a hoax or people who don’t want to wear masks as an alternate to other vacation spots that are enforcing rules.

The numbers sound low, but here’s the untold fact- the real number of cases in that county are HIGHER than the official number. Only residents are counted. If you are a visitor and you test positive while there, you are not counted towards the Sevier County number, you are counted in the “out of state” category. And if you come here then test positive if your home state, you are no where in the database.

The Tennessee Department of Health is not releasing any data tested to clusters outside of nursing homes. So if there is an outbreak tied to a specific attraction or restaurant, you won’t hear any official notice.

That said, I would trust Dollywood. For one, the enforcement and cleaning seems solid. For another, there was so much vitriol towards them from those who had bought season passes or tickets or vacation packages due to the mask wearing. So many people cancelled or threatened to cancel. These people self-selected themselves out of going, leaving mainly people who were willing to go along with Dollywood’s mask and social distancing policy.

 

[Kay7979]

We’re in Massanutten Virginia at the moment in a one bedroom timeshare condo. The resort has a fair number of onsite activities despite following government regulations and taking social distancing very seriously.

We took a chair lift up into the mountains and hiked a bit this morning, then had lunch at a nice onsite restaurant that has indoor and outdoor seating. You only need to wear masks when in close proximity to others such as in shops and coming and going to your seats in a restaurant. Tomorrow there’s a resort cookout. They’re having a drive-in movie Tuesday up near the ski slopes. We’re not into doing crafts, but I think they have some activities of that kind as well. It’s nice to be around people in a resort setting after three months of sitting at home.

We plan to take a scenic drive through Shenandoah National Park, and also spend some time in the lawn chairs we brought from home, getting some sun while listening to audiobooks. There are grills and picnic tables outside our building, and we have a full kitchen, so we don’t have to eat out unless we want to. I’m glad we came.

 

[Mango7100]

any suggestions on good takeout or delivery options?

Unfortunately I don’t know how many places are doing takeout there...

 

[Mango7100]

THIS. There are a huge lack of rules and lack of enforcement, so of course there’s a big draw to people who think the coronavirus is a hoax or people who don’t want to wear masks as an alternate to other vacation spots that are enforcing rules.

The numbers sound low, but here’s the untold fact- the real number of cases in that county are HIGHER than the official number. Only residents are counted. If you are a visitor and you test positive while there, you are not counted towards the Sevier County number, you are counted in the “out of state” category. And if you come here then test positive if your home state, you are no where in the database.

The Tennessee Department of Health is not releasing any data tested to clusters outside of nursing homes. So if there is an outbreak tied to a specific attraction or restaurant, you won’t hear any official notice.

That said, I would trust Dollywood. For one, the enforcement and cleaning seems solid. For another, there was so much vitriol towards them from those who had bought season passes or tickets or vacation packages due to the mask wearing. So many people cancelled or threatened to cancel. These people self-selected themselves out of going, leaving mainly people who were willing to go along with Dollywood’s mask and social distancing policy.

100% agree. You would have thought Dollywood asked for your firstborn the way people were acting.

 

[Kestryl]

100% agree. You would have thought Dollywood asked for your firstborn the way people were acting.

The comments on every news story KILLED me (with laughter, obviously).

If l had to pick somewhere in the Gatlinburg area to go to right now, I’d definitely pick Dollywood! Based on the comments, they must be completely empty and on the edge of financial ruin! Ha.

 

[Disney Frenhines]

Treating myself to a Brother SDX Disney Cutting machine and planning a trip to Disneyland Paris for next February or March and binge watching Disney+

 

[monkeydawn]

The Tennessee Department of Health is not releasing any data tested to clusters outside of nursing homes. So if there is an outbreak tied to a specific attraction or restaurant, you won’t hear any official notice.

I'm going to guess you are from the area. Any idea if either Hungry Bear is a problem? We usually stop in during the day and are often the only customer or maybe one of two sets of customers. Going to be by there in a few weeks and its my husbands favorite BBQ so would like to make that our lunch stop.

Also, if you are from there, do you mind if I PM you closer to our trip to see if there is any undated intel?

 

[AlohaNow]

We are going no where. Work will ban me from returning to on site if I leave the area.

I’m surprised more people aren’t under these kinds of restrictions.

Every morning we have to self-attest our health situation on an app before entering the workplace. The question regarding recent travel is vague and poorly worded. A part of the question asks if you've been under any type of travel quarantine in the past 14 days and it is combined with another topic entirely.