To Go or Not To Go

[lilmc]

That’s my big concern. I was vaccinated back in Jan/Feb with Pfizer. I’m suppose to be at Disney next week, but I’m afraid. I wish I could get a booster now

The pharmacies don’t ask too many questions

 

[tinkerhon]

When were they vaccinated? I wonder if this vaccine is only good for a short time.

Not quite sure when they were vaccinated- but it was within last 5 months

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

I know someone whose unvaccinated, extended family members recently went to Disney World and caught covid. After a week long battle with covid, one of them died. I'm not sure how exactly they knew they caught it at Disney World, but that's what I was told. It's just not worth it to me to put my family at risk there now.

 

[wiggy500]

Last night I rescheduled my trip for early September to early November. Even if I'm fully vaccinated and wearing a KN95 mask there's just too much risk right now even for a short trip. There's a University of Florida study projecting this wave to calm down by the time we get to November and December if there isn't a new variant taking over. Hopefully they are right.

 

[faceofsam]

My friends and I have decided to still go on our trip, however we are being very careful about how we handle things. Masks on the entire trip (we have a large stash of kn95s) the only indoor reservation we currently have is topolinos, and we are trying to decide if we will keep that (if people have been lately and can speak to the distancing of tables, that would be great!) We are using DVC points, so will do more meals in the room, and spend more time at the pool/doing outdoor things. We don't plan to wait in line for anything over 20-25 minutes, to lower our exposure risk and indoors time. I know this might seem overkill, but we are trying our best to have a good trip, enioy the magic, and relax! I am really hopeful the low crowds we have been seeing continue. We have boo bash tickets, so we are hopeful that will get us on the MK rides we want to do with the low wait times. We will be in Disney the 27th of August to the 2nd of September.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

You’re not suggesting getting on a train or a bus while infectious, I hope?!

Oh good god no! Just a general thing-mainly because weve usually gone during hurricane season. Though this does bring up a question/ point about renting a car-someone could easily be asymptomatic and think they are fine when they go to get the car.

 

[rangerxenos]

Last night I rescheduled my trip for early September to early November. Even if I'm fully vaccinated and wearing a KN95 mask there's just too much risk right now even for a short trip. There's a University of Florida study projecting this wave to calm down by the time we get to November and December if there isn't a new variant taking over. Hopefully they are right.

I hope so. I'm waiting until the end of October to decide whether to cancel my early December trip.

 

[hsmamato2]

I'd be careful about being too confident about masks. I'm 100% pro mask. I think we should all be wearing them inside and out. (Again, no fighting, just my opinion.) But.... while they certainly help (or so the scientists tell us, and I believe them), they aren't a guarantee. And the problem is that Delta is so much more contagious.

I think about it like this (again, I'm not an expert, so don't trust me! I'm just telling you how I think about it based on what I've read and heard):

Imagine that you're going on Splash Mountain. You have a sensitive cell phone in your pocket, and you don't want it to get wet and ruined.

If you have a disposable plastic poncho with you, you'd probably throw it on. Some nice protection against the water. Is that a guarantee that the phone makes it through OK? No, especially if you just tossed it on haphazardly. But it's still a pretty good help. And if you're very careful and fit it properly and tuck it in all the right places, then even better.

That's how I imagine it before. Any mask is a big help, a really good, properly fitted mask puts in you good shape.

But with Delta, we're not going down Splash Mountain anymore. Instead, we're spending 4 hours outside in tropical rain downpours. The intensity of the exposure is just a whole lot stronger. With nothing, I'm a sitting duck (see current wave of infections). But does my disposable poncho work? Surely it's much, much better than nothing. And again, if it's all tucked in and fitted correctly, much better yet. But hour after hour of strong rain? Well... I'm not so confident. Any mistake on my part, any little seam or whatever, and pretty soon, water is leaking in, my clothes are starting to get sopping and my phone is at risk.

That's how I imagine Delta. Just way more intense and much harder to keep at bay.

I like the "layered defense" idea. Now imagine that in addition to the poncho, you have water resistant track pants on with a zippered pocket. That's being vaccinated. Not waterproof. Not a guarantee. But one more solid level of protection. So when I'm out and about, I'm in the best N95 or K95 mask I can get, I fit it as well as a possibly can, I stay outside when I can, and I'm vaccinated. That's layering my safety. I've got the poncho on, tucked in as well as I can get it, and my phone is in my zippered, water resistant track pants pocket.

With all of that, is it OK to go Disneying? I really want to go to the parks, but I really don't want to "toast the phone" (i.e. catch Covid).

How much risk is too much and how do we handle it? Who knows. That's what we're all here undecided about. I don't know either.

What I do feel confident saying is that the only way to guarantee that you'll be safe is to stay out of the parks. Any other choice involves some degree of risk. Then again, so does getting out of bed in the morning.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Been reading about studies being done, University of Gainsville is actually predicting the peak to be around now. Others I have seen predict beginning of September. I am not a doctor/virologist/researcher, but it is something I have been trying to read up on. Regardless, please be safe everyone!

 

[Palaura]

I had been reading up as well. Funny, one study actually quoted the 17th. The hard part is. Trying to figure out what data to look at since it’s all reported a little wonky. Something for all of us with trips to look at!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I had been reading up as well. Funny, one study actually quoted the 17th. The hard part is. Trying to figure out what data to look at since it’s all reported a little wonky. Something for all of us with trips to look at!

Thats the problem. With counties not reporting anymore, it's difficult. Some counties may be behind and others may be ahead of the projected peak. The good news is there was a huge boost in vaccinations in Florida once businesses started to require it. I can only hope more and more people get vaccinated and wear masks.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Reminder to keep on topic about Disney, not stats or peaks of infection in locations.

 

[charmed59]

Florida still reports the weekly cases and vaccination rates by county on their state website every Friday after 5pm. It no longer reports non-resident numbers, but you can get an idea how Orange County, and the world the CMs are living in, is doing.

More detailed information can be found on the Reddit forum r/FloridaCoronavirus

 

[scrapshappen]

We’re also facing a “go or not” decision right now. This trip was suppose to celebrate my son’s graduation and we’ve been looking forward to it since we moved cross country right before the pandemic started. We thought putting it off until September was the right choice when we booked in the spring. Now I’m wishing we’d gone for Spring Break.

We’re all vaccinated and have been diligent in following CDC guidelines the whole pandemic. Three out of four of us are healthy and active and at low risk for complications given our vaccine status.

However, my husband landed in the ICU in respiratory distress in April 2019 from some random pre-Covid 19 virus so he is considered high risk for complications. And that’s what keeps me up at night. He also travels for work. A lot. So I’m not sure if WDW is any worse than Texas where he just was for a week.

This morning I woke up thinking that the monoclonal antibody treatment might be the game changer for us. Just knowing that there is something that decreases his chances of landing in the ICU should he have a break through case makes me feel a little less anxious. I’m going to do some more research in the next few days on how readily available it is in our area.

Still not sure we’re going. But I have read every page of this thread and I appreciate everyone sharing their thought process.

 

[holyrita]

Well, today is the day I've been dreading, 31 days before my trip. I have to make a decision today or my DVC points will going into holding and risk going unused. I never thought we'd be here when the trip was booked and I'm so depressed. I'm encouraged by everyone's most recent reports of very low crowds, but the likelihood of crowds staying that low a month from now seem unlikely. How can we keep doing this

 

[leeniewdw]

However, my husband landed in the ICU in respiratory distress in April 2019 from some random pre-Covid 19 virus so he is considered high risk for complications. And that’s what keeps me up at night. He also travels for work. A lot. So I’m not sure if WDW is any worse than Texas where he just was for a week.

This morning I woke up thinking that the monoclonal antibody treatment might be the game changer for us. Just knowing that there is something that decreases his chances of landing in the ICU should he have a break through case makes me feel a little less anxious. I’m going to do some more research in the next few days on how readily available it is in our area.

I'm probably straying from the thread rules, but I think your research is very important. I have a good friend who is a Dr of Pharmacy at Vanderbilt Univ Medical Center and I specifically asked her about the news of a high ranking govt official getting that monoclonal antibody treatment despite no symptoms. She said that it's approved as treatment for use in patients with risk (so that's your husband), but it's not going to be readily available to all. It's probably a good thing to learn about, regardless of WDW plans.

We just hastily scheduled a trip for next month (due to some hoppers that expire that we didn't realize had), but I believe we won't be going. A friend with kids heading back to school on Monday reached out today about how she felt like Covid was just "closing in on them" because of how many people are dealing with it that she knows.

As for our hoppers, perhaps I'll call WDW and ask if the expiration can be extended.

 

[Drewsdad]

We have been twice since reopening and are booked for November. We are going unless there is another shutdown

 

[scrapshappen]

I'm probably straying from the thread rules, but I think your research is very important. I have a good friend who is a Dr of Pharmacy at Vanderbilt Univ Medical Center and I specifically asked her about the news of a high ranking govt official getting that monoclonal antibody treatment despite no symptoms. She said that it's approved as treatment for use in patients with risk (so that's your husband), but it's not going to be readily available to all. It's probably a good thing to learn about, regardless of WDW plans.

We just hastily scheduled a trip for next month (due to some hoppers that expire that we didn't realize had), but I believe we won't be going. A friend with kids heading back to school on Monday reached out today about how she felt like Covid was just "closing in on them" because of how many people are dealing with it that she knows.

As for our hoppers, perhaps I'll call WDW and ask if the expiration can be extended.

I also have a friend who is a pharmacy professor and reached out to her this morning as well to get her thoughts. Still more to think about.

We’re using points to stay at the Hilton at Disney Springs so we have some flexibility in cancelling up until a few days before we go. So I just keep putting off making the decision.

 

[katallo]

Well, today is the day I've been dreading, 31 days before my trip. I have to make a decision today or my DVC points will going into holding and risk going unused. I never thought we'd be here when the trip was booked and I'm so depressed. I'm encouraged by everyone's most recent reports of very low crowds, but the likelihood of crowds staying that low a month from now seem unlikely. How can we keep doing this

It's sad. Every day we hoped we would see some sign of improvement but needless to say we did not.

 

[rmclain73]

We have been going back forth lately on what to do for our upcoming trip. Each passing day the the likelihood of cancelling became greater. Our youngest is still not eligible for vaccination, our senior travels are vaccinated but one of them is immune compromised, no fastpass option so lines will be long, and there is some anxiety of being in a crowded restaurant with little separation from other families.

I had been waiting to speak with a good friend of mine who is a ER doctor in Orlando on what his take of the situation currently looks like. His advice was at the moment he would not go given our circumstances and what he is seeing on a daily basis .

I have now booked a trip in early May for our group. While we were looking forward to Boo Bash I just do not think its worth it for us at this point. At the end of the day I think we have to put the health of the young and older travelers in our group first. As fun as Disney and the experience can be, it is just a theme park that will be there waiting for us next spring.