To those who have not returned yet - what will get you back?

[Evita_W]

So, you've decided to never go back, it seems? I agree with your wish list, but I don't think it's ever going to materialize at Disney World, particularly #6 & 7. #2 is probably never going to approach what it used to be, either. They were already quietly cutting hours long before the pandemic had even started.

Number 1 is likely to never happen again either, I think park reservations are here to stay forever.

 

[Edeyore]

Probably not until the very end of this year or in 2022. If I'm still alive. Yes, I have reached the age where I have to add that message to any of my predictions.

And don't have your family spreading your ashes on Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

[goofyernmost]

And don't have your family spreading your ashes on Pirates of the Caribbean.

Quick, change of topic. For a number of years, mostly the early 1990's I really did have a desire to have my ashes spread at WDW. We even had a plan devised where I would leave a separate fund for the family to bring small vials of my ashes with them to the park and scatter them in random places. Then I came back to my senses and decided that all that would be is a remake of "Gone with the Wind". All plans were cancelled especially since it seemed that everyone in the family was looking at me strange in anticipation of a free trip to WDW. I never wanted to be worth more dead then alive.

 

[Timandalicia]

This is intended for those who have chosen to not return to WDW since COVID hit. I had a 10-day May 2020 trip that couldn't have been better planned. It was canceled of course due to COVID. We deferred the trip for Holidays 2020 before the world knew how long COVID would be. We opted to cancel the trip indefinitely and get our money back.

For us, it was all the limitations that the virus has brought we rather spend our money when we can have a more complete experience.

There were a few things we were hesitant about before COVID, however. The Epcot entertainment cuts were big for us and the overall experience wasn't as magical as I feel it could be (i.e. Disney Springs ship captains ignoring a hello). But overall WDW offers so much we wanted to visit again and made plans to enhance the experience further.

Now with more cuts like River of Light (my wife's favorite nighttime spectacular), Magical Express and the loss of EMH...we aren't so sure we want to go back anytime soon. We're considering our first Univeral trip Post-COVID in place of our WDW trip, which was going to be a second 2020 trip for us.

For us to go back obvious for us is vaccinations are in full force and the world and the WDW experience is returning to normal operations (i.e. we put our masks away, all shops are open, nighttime shows return, etc) The other big thing would be the return of an After Hours event. I was willing to pay for one last trip so with EMH out of the equation that is an important must for us.

So for those who haven't come back what will it take for you?

Normal/new normal
I am thinking January 2022

 

[eMoneyBug]

Sept 2020 trip to WDW cancelled, so maybe late July or early August 2021???

 

[Pooh2]

No masks, no temp checks, bring back entertainment and fastpass.

We had our trip cancelled last March when Disney closed and reschedule and cancelled two more trips since.
Our annual pass ends in April but looks like that will be another cancellation.

On the upside, we are saving lots of money by doing local vacations instead of Disney.

 

[igrsod]

For us Canadians, it will take open borders, vaccines for our family and a good chunk of Americans, and no mandatory quarantine upon return home for us to go back to Disney. It's been a whole year with no Disney trips.... longest we've gone in a long time. I miss it.

 

[DisLiss]

A lot more normalcy in the world and the parks. We don't wish to pay more (We had some nice deals for our cancelled trip. ) for a diluted experience. Nor do we wish to take more chances than necessary with this virus.

 

[Bete]

I'm having a tough time with this decision, as well. I'm older and I have had the opportunity to see DW many times and with the new DW I'm just not sure we will ever go back. I'm afraid many of the entertainment cutbacks may be permanent which was our favorite part. Major shows will come back even if it's a modified form but the street entertainment may be lost forever. And who knows how long it will take to make all this happen and return to some normalcy.

I would be very nervous, too. We need herd immunity and no one knows how long this will take or if there will be enough of us taking the vaccine to make that happen.

Then considering the cost for a lesser experience it just doesn't make sense right now.

 

[Terryj529]

We would like to have Fastpass+, longer park hours, more dining options and resort airline check in. We have a 12 day stay booked this summer so we hope things loosen up a bit by then. If not, we are still going and will make the best of it we can. We also have an 8 day stay booked for late fall, that may or may not happen, just depends on how this summer's trip goes. The fall trip is a bonus trip since our trip was canceled last year. After this year, not sure if we will being going every year.

 

[Belle's-Library]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be returning for at least another year or two, but I would definitely need:

• Vaccines for myself and my partner
• Widespread vaccines for most people
• The return of shows/fireworks and a little more return to what is generally normal
• I'm in Canada so I'll be waiting until travel restrictions are gone, I do not want to deal with all of that!

The masks really don't bother me, I work and have to wear them for 8 hours a day, so I'm used to them!

 

[Alexis56578]

Normalcy and safety.

I want the vaccines to be rolled out to most people. I'd like to have one for me and anyone in my party.

I want the parks to be back to normal. Normal being the way they were before they closed. Parades and fireworks are probably the biggest.

 

[Macprincess]

My entire party vaccinated. No mask required. I believe strongly in wearing mask, I'm just not comfortable being out and about when not necessary until mask are not required. However, our family circumstances regarding Covid are more limited as we currently have a person in our household undergoing chemotherapy.

In addition, I would like to see the return of Happily Ever After. It's my favorite show and I could use some magical fireworks entertainment. Honestly, I don't see me returning until more entertainment is added back into the mix. Its not worth the price of admission without it for me.

We also enjoy park hopping and like the luxury of being able to move over to another park if we finish what were doing or find the current park too crowded. I'm not a big fan of park reservations. I would like to see those go away as well.

 

[SnickerzKC]

DM and me had a trip planned two weeks from now to go down to her place in Florida and we just ended up booking a two night stay at the Contemporary during it. Both of us are now fully vaccinated and masks don't bother really bother us since we wear them along with additional PPE for 12 hours on a regular basis. Had a couple of coworkers recently come back from Disney who had a good time and thought they did a pretty good job with the restrictions.

My annual pass was extended to the end of this month so that was also a big factor in deciding to go. If I didn't have that probably wouldn't have gone until there was more normalcy in regards to dining/entertainment, longer hours, and park-hopping flexibility.

 

[disneyguy87]

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's responses. There seems to be a lot of patterns here which makes sense. For some, it's purely health-related which makes complete sense. There's the health matters and so does the experience and for some, there's the AP. All of these make a ton of sense. The quarantine has been tough on everyone, and I know that I really couldn't wait to get back to the Disney experience that I enjoy. There is a temptation to go later this year to experience the ME one last time but as noted by many, a lot more of the experience needs to open back up and of course vaccinations. Normally I'd be optimistic and think those are all possibilities by Oct-Dec 2021 but when March 2020 hit I did not realize we'd still be here.

I remember when WDW first closed its doors I called up WDW and chatted with a cast member. She was really helpful (as helpful as you can be in this new crazy situation) and kind. I asked her if she thought my May 2020 reservation would be canceled and at the time, she said she didn't think so. She said "Hey look my birthday is the same week as your trip and there's no way I'm not building my lightsaber at Savi's workshop! We'll be there!" which made me laugh and gave me some hope. That's not how it played out but that's the way it is.

I'm at a very uncomfortable place that should we get vaccines and the world doesn't have to wear masks because things are safe again, that trip I had planned won't happen as it would have. My wife and I have to reach a place personally where we're OK with that and can look at the next trip, not as the canceled trip (which would have been amazing!) but a different trip. By that time we'll probably have a baby kiddo so that would help accept that change.

I hope everyone can get what they want and for those of us really bummed by some longer-term changes like ME and EMH, I hope that things are announced that help bring back what we found most magical.

Quick, change of topic. For a number of years, mostly the early 1990's I really did have a desire to have my ashes spread at WDW. We even had a plan devised where I would leave a separate fund for the family to bring small vials of my ashes with them to the park and scatter them in random places. Then I came back to my senses and decided that all that would be is a remake of "Gone with the Wind". All plans were cancelled especially since it seemed that everyone in the family was looking at me strange in anticipation of a free trip to WDW. I never wanted to be worth more dead then alive.

Hahaha this is an amazing story! I would definitely be the family member who would (jokingly) ask everyone if they want to go to Disney World if you antagonized me in some way!

 

[Tasmen]

I know for friends we usually do travel with, they aren't going back to Disney until, at least, the adults are vaccinated. I had thought we would not return until we were vaccinated at a minimum. Or until the Star Wars Hotel opened. Whichever happened first. That said, I ended up saying 'fark it' and booked recently under the pretense of 'mental health' needs. I'm sure we can all agree how hard all this has been. Seeing vacation after vacation get canceled (I had 3 over 2020 canceled).

I do then when we come out the other end of this pandemic there is not going to be a return to what was considered 'normal' though. Things are going to change including at Disney. I'm sure they are taking advantage of these times to try out certain things to see if it is something that is 1) successful and 2) they want to keep around post-pandemic. For example, I could very well see park reservations be a thing that persists especially during those super busy times of year.

 

[Brian Noble]

So for those who haven't come back what will it take for you?

We would not consider going until everyone in our bubble is vaccinated. Even then, I am not sure how quickly I want to go back to a theme park setting. Our "wish list" of travel right now is mostly to destinations that are entirely outdoors and are less crowded.

The current offerings/hours would probably not be a significant factor for us if we felt comfortable again being in crowded indoor places. We were never "do everything/spend all our time in the parks" people, so the reduced hours aren't a problem for us. The lack of most of the shows is a bit of a bummer, but I'm sure we'd make do. Masks would not be a problem for us, but we also don't go during the more humid months.

 

[Sadeesmom]

Primarily true character dining.
I had a trip planned for June 2020-pushed to July 2020-pushed to December 2020-pushed to February 2021-now pushed to April 2021, but likely to be postponed again. It's my nephew's first trip (just me & him!), and almost everything I planned is not open, but I'm ready to make some concessions.
Arrival night - dinner at Chef Mickey's
Day one - Animal Kingdom including dinner at Tusker House
Day two - Breakfast at BOG & dinner at Crystal Palace
Departure day - breakfast at O'hana

The buffets were appreciated since we have such varying food preferences, but I can work around that if we could just get some character meet & greets for his first trip.

He picked out All-Star Sports due to theming-closed. His second choice? Animal Kingdom Lodge-also still closed. I suppose I can rent DVC points and not keep disappointing him too much.

Masks? He's gotten in trouble at school several times that I have heard of for not wearing them properly, so maybe that's something else to hold us back from visiting just yet.

I just know I miss my happy place...

 

[Rory607]

We are hoping for sometime in 2022. I would like our entire family to be vaccinated. I would like to see longer park hours and fireworks return. Right now I feel like you are paying so much for a very watered down experience. Not worth it to me. Masks do not bother us as we all wear them daily to work and school.

ETA: Also the return of character dining.

 

[goofyernmost]

For us Canadians, it will take open borders, vaccines for our family and a good chunk of Americans, and no mandatory quarantine upon return home for us to go back to Disney. It's been a whole year with no Disney trips.... longest we've gone in a long time. I miss it.

Just to make you feel better, after going every year (at least once) since 2015 I have only been twice and that was just for 2 days each time. It seemed to be more exciting when a few years were pushed in between visits. Classic absence makes the heart grow fonder situation.