Anyone nervous about how they will feel once they get to WDW in COVID-era

[DVCSunDevil]

We have our first trip since the pandemic on April 3rd through April 10th. We couldn't be more excited! We aren't really nervous at all. We are going to be smart about things, such as eating outside for the vast majority of our meals. We are also going to have a couple non-park days, which we really haven't done in the past. Also, my wife is bringing Clorox wipes to wipe down areas of the hotel room "just to be safe". To be honest, I am more nervous about the flight down to Orlando than I am of WDW. Other than that, we are going to have fun and enjoy our time at WDW!

I know everyone's risk tolerance is different, but with the vaccine being administered and infection numbers dropping I think we will start seeing many more people become more comfortable with taking trips. And there will also be people who remain nervous until the virus is almost nonexistent and everyone has had the vaccine. Neither is incorrect, because people have to do what they need to do in order to feel safe.

 

[vinmar4]

We will be at CC next Sunday ( God willing) and I guess we feel a little more comfortable this time around .
Because our APs expiration date was extended ,and we had the points, not to mention the fact that we felt we really needed to go back to our happy place, we went back in August of 2020, after we were there the previous March, when the parks closed the day after we returned home. In August , we drove for the first time from TX and felt kind of nervous when we stopped to get food, or for gas and bathroom breaks, but not really different than how we felt at home when getting groceries, etc. It was my DH and our 2 young adult children. We all knew what we had to do or not , to try to stay safe as much as we could . We stopped for the night after driving for like 12 hours the first day, and had a bunch of sanitizers and Clorox spray and wipes, We sprayed our hotel room and wiped the stuff that we were going to touch in the room, we did the same thing in our DVC rooms at CC and Riviera. I'm a nurse so I was kind of doing some of that stuff already, pre covid. Our experience at that time was good at most parks except for MK, we saw lot of children and parents not wearing the masks properly, but that was expected . So we just left after a couple of hours after riding our favorite rides a couple of times and went back to CC to enjoy the pool and a drink and GP. We did not spend a lot of time at the parks since it was August ,and it was pretty hot to wear a mask for a long period of time, but we would go into an AC area or just get a snack and get under a shade to take a break. I also think that the disposable mask were better for the parks than the clothes ones. We didn't think it was that bad and still enjoyed ourselves, but we did not go to DS or HS, knowing that the crowds were worse there. I just think that if people want to enjoy themselves, there are ways to do it in a way that you will feel the most comfortable.
This time, we are almost all fully vaccinated, except for DD who had her first one a week ago, so we are not as nervous, but we will still not get in a plane, we will wear our masks everywhere and keep our distance, just like we did before. We do have reservations for Raglan Road for St. Patrick's Day (Yay) , and may try a few more TS this time, but will make those decisions once we're there and see how we feel . That time in August, we were celebrating our DD's HS graduation and her 18th Birthday, so it was special and we did only one TS at Riviera. We love the F&G festival and food, so we are very excited to go in one week, plus hopefully it won't be as hot as it was in August, and we will feel more comfortable wearing our masks in the parks for longer than a couple of hours. We haven't really done a rope drop visit in years since we bought DVC, but our plans are to do it this time for MK and AK ,so we can hopefully ride our favorite rides and leave once the crowds get bad.
Good luck to all with your decisions!

 

[Dean Marino]

Not DW & I. We HAVE our first Moderna COVID shots. Round #2 end of March, 2021.
Booked for NOV 2021 via DVC. Got lucky & bought two new Gold Passes (unredeemed), before the lockdown.
Yup, masking anyway in 2021 - just praying for a recognized domestic COVID Vaccination Passport.

Please - this is just a reply to the original post, consisting of our personal opinion. We wish to avoid hate-mail .

 

[kniquy]

I was just curious how others are feeling and handling thoughts like this?

We went in November. We were nervous about flying, nervous about transportation and the crowds in the parks. This is coming from 2 Heath care workers who have been dodging the virus. We had an agreement- if we didn’t feel safe at a certain park we would leave. We honestly had the best trip ever! It was more relaxed because of no FP. Park crowds lightened up in the evening because there are no night time fireworks. We took it slow and said we would see and do what we could. We were very impressed with how well the CMs were about correcting those not wearing masks properly. The only place that was bad was Disney springs - horribly crowded, no capacity limits so no social distancing. We went for our ADR and got the heck out of there. I think if you go you just need a back up plan so that the trip isn’t wasted.

 

[danissmart]

Florida has instances of all 3 variants that have hit the US: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant-cases.html

That’s the not fact I was referring to

 

[Eric Smith]

That’s the not fact I was referring to

That was the only thing listed in the comment that you replied to.

 

[keishashadow]

We were told the parks were at 50% capacity during our trip last week. If true, i’d Hate to see 75%

We had a great time, just made sure to do our best to zig when the crowd zagged. Hours were extended, went back to hitting the parks near rope drop, taking an afternoon break & heading back in those days.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We enjoyed our WDW park time last week as well. We were not nervous, it felt good, even with the masks. I wish it had been warm enough to swim. We have a longer trip coming up in May!

 

[Castillo Mom]

Not DW & I. We HAVE our first Moderna COVID shots. Round #2 end of March, 2021.
Booked for NOV 2021 via DVC. Got lucky & bought two new Gold Passes (unredeemed), before the lockdown.
Yup, masking anyway in 2021 - just praying for a recognized domestic COVID Vaccination Passport.

Please - this is just a reply to the original post, consisting of our personal opinion. We wish to avoid hate-mail .

You shouldn't get any hate, at least you won't from me. Everyone has their own comfort level and we also don't know what someone's personal circumstances are. If I were to go to WDW next month, some may have the perception that we're being reckless not realizing that my family has been fully vaccinated and would be following masking/social distancing guidelines in order to protect others. That being said, our next trip to WDW isn't until September, but we feel ready. As a California local, we'll have the opportunity to finally go to Disneyland sometime in the next few weeks, so in a sense it'll be a practice session for our fall vacation.

Enjoy your trip in November!

 

[fairygagamother]

I am of high risk age & have been beyond cautious since last March. My daughter & I took a very last minute DW trip the end of Jan, first of February. I had stressed about crowds & indoor dining, but went anyway. I can tell you that I felt that Disney did a great job of providing a safe environment. Epcot was a little more crowded than I liked one evening, but other than that, I felt completely safe & comfortable. Proper distancing in restaurants was practiced as was proper masking. I can tell you that we went through gallons & gallons of hand sanitizer, though!

 

[Evita_W]

I am of high risk age & have been beyond cautious since last March. My daughter & I took a very last minute DW trip the end of Jan, first of February. I had stressed about crowds & indoor dining, but went anyway. I can tell you that I felt that Disney did a great job of providing a safe environment. Epcot was a little more crowded than I liked one evening, but other than that, I felt completely safe & comfortable. Proper distancing in restaurants was practiced as was proper masking. I can tell you that we went through gallons & gallons of hand sanitizer, though!

Yeah, we had that with EPCOT one day as well, although for us it isn't COVID that is the issue, we just prefer smaller crowds, so it wouldn't have mattered even if COVID wasn't around, we would have left about the same time as we did. As for hand sanitizer, I think Disney does a good job at keeping enough around that you don't need your own, unless you simply prefer a certain kind for some reason.

 

[LPnerd]

Personally, I'm likely losing 45 points that expire May 31 (banked 2019 points) All of my 2020 and 2021 points plus 19 borrowed 2022 points are being used for a Thanksgiving week trip for an 11 person trip requiring a GV and a two bedroom for as many real beds as we need. As far as being concerned about COVID in November, hopefully everyone in my party will be fully vaccinated by then, even though I'm sure we'll still be under mask restrictions and other theme park restrictions...but as long as we're vaccinated, I think we'll have a good time. I get Moderna shot #2 next week. AS to the 45 points, if I had enough that had to be used that I could book a week at the end of May, I'd probably go. But it isn't worth it to me to fly down for just a day or two.

call DVC and tell them, I hear they have been letting you bank for a longer time if covid is the reason? also, how were you suppose to go when they were closed for months? I would call and ask DVC directly on this one. ( Good for you for getting vaccine. Thank you!)

 

[Bcleary1a1]

We have been watching a ton of Disney blog/YouTube videos. It had been great to be able to see the parks and the safety procedures through the eyes of the bloggers. The AllEars team has done a great job showing the parks and the safety procedures and new rules for rides, food, and park entry.

Watching these videos have made us feel good about heading back....now we just need to be able to purchase an AP.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

We cancelled/pushed several trips over the last year. Too risky for husband and I (we both have several high risk factors) and between the plane, parks, eating, and the $$$ involved we just couldn't make it "worth it". Like spending $5k (between plane fare, park tickets, food, car rental...) to possibly just be stressed about people being too close or whatever just wasn't remotely worth it.

But, we became vaccine eligible earlier than expected and will be through both shots and the following two-week wait on April 14th. We now have a comfort level that our kids will very likely not catch it, and if they do its even more unlikely they get it serious. We were able to move our planned June trip back up (thanks to Delta and their friendly change policies and DVC availability pixie dust). So now we're hopping on a plane to go to Disney April 17th - about as good as I could hope for!

We know this trip will be different. But honestly, getting back to Disney has been one of those too-precious-to-dream type things for us during this long, long quarantine. I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate full vaccination and a return to (mostly) normal than going to our favorite place on earth.

 

[MonaMN]

We cancelled/pushed several trips over the last year. Too risky for husband and I (we both have several high risk factors) and between the plane, parks, eating, and the $$$ involved we just couldn't make it "worth it". Like spending $5k (between plane fare, park tickets, food, car rental...) to possibly just be stressed about people being too close or whatever just wasn't remotely worth it.

But, we became vaccine eligible earlier than expected and will be through both shots and the following two-week wait on April 14th. We now have a comfort level that our kids will very likely not catch it, and if they do its even more unlikely they get it serious. We were able to move our planned June trip back up (thanks to Delta and their friendly change policies and DVC availability pixie dust). So now we're hopping on a plane to go to Disney April 17th - about as good as I could hope for!

We know this trip will be different. But honestly, getting back to Disney has been one of those too-precious-to-dream type things for us during this long, long quarantine. I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate full vaccination and a return to (mostly) normal than going to our favorite place on earth.

Hello, fellow Minnesotan! The need to fly makes it so much more complicated to get anywhere, doesn’t it?!? Enjoy your trip - we are planning for next spring break which seems SO far away!

 

[cedricandsophie]

We are going in mid may. Me my husband and my disabled daughter all have our vaccines so I’m not worried. I worry more about wearing a mask all day because I get very claustrophobic when wearing one too long. I have to pull it down every few min to get some air. But we are looking forward to it. We bought the dvc ticket promotion where you get six days for cost of 4. We usually don’t go to parks that much. But that deal was hard to pass. We are at DW 10 days.

 

[heynowirv]

disease

The only thing that makes me nervous are the masks. They are pointless and make us all less human.

What part of
infectious disease is your background in?

 

[mac_tlc]

My DW and I will be fully vaccinated on April 11th. So, on April 12th we will head south to Orlando for a few weeks. Have three park reservations and renewed our Silver APs in February. I just want to sit on Main Street with a coffee and watch the world go by. We have gone inside a restaurant once since last February. Cant tell you how much my DW is looking forward to that!!!!

mac_tlc

 

[Sandisw]

call DVC and tell them, I hear they have been letting you bank for a longer time if covid is the reason? also, how were you suppose to go when they were closed for months? I would call and ask DVC directly on this one. ( Good for you for getting vaccine. Thank you!)

They are not making exceptions for points now that resorts are open, unless one is an international traveler, and even that is case by case and not something that has been advertised.

They did make exceptions early on and extended banked 2018 points that expired during or shortly after closure so owners got some relief for points directly related to when parks were closed.

But, all Covid exemptions are ending April 30th. No more return of borrowed points and no more waiving of the holding penalty.

 

[TinkB278]

They are not making exceptions for points now that resorts are open, unless one is an international traveler, and even that is case by case and not something that has been advertised.

They did make exceptions early on and extended banked 2018 points that expired during or shortly after closure so owners got some relief for points directly related to when parks were closed.

But, all Covid exemptions are ending April 30th. No more return of borrowed points and no more waiving of the holding penalty.

I’m curious , did they provide any explanation for the 4/30 date. Seems kind of odd since the vaccine won’t be available to everyone still at that point. Seems like it could force sick people to follow through on travel plans.