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

[DougEMG]

We haven't been since the pandemic started and are in serious withdraw. Luckily YouTube helps here. We should be getting our vaccine in April so I would definitely feel safe in the parks. I just find it hard to breath through a mask and can't imagine wearing one all day walking around the parks. So sadly I'm not going back to WDW until they remove the mask restrictions. I've got a trip booked for Nov, but I'm not feeling overly confident that the restrictions will be lifted by then.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I took a couple of trips in the fall since I had use-it-or-lose-it options for timeshares (DVC and non). I tried some new restaurants and enjoyed the warmer FL weather. I tried the Skyliner and visted Riviera to see the mosaics and grab lunch next to the water. I skipped the parks since the value wasn't there for me (no shows/no fireworks and sure, it's a long stretch to wear a mask).

I have a stay booked this fall after I will definitely have been vaccinated. If Chapek is still...what is the opposite of Walt's notion of "plussing?"...reducing the reasons to visit the parks - cutting shows, staff and fireworks and such to soak the suckers who will continue to pay a premium regardless of the cuts, I will spend most of my time and money offsite.

Just bank your pts and look to the future IMO.

I don't think that anyone who chooses to visit WDW amidst a modified experience should be referred to as a "sucker." Everyone has the right to decide for themselves what they're comfortable with and what they consider "worth it." It's very subjective based on personal circumstances and point of view and not everyone is able to bank points. With all due respect, it doesn't make them a "sucker" anymore than it makes you whatever term would be used for someone who chooses not to go.

 

[danissmart]

There are now multiple variants, at least one of which is prevalent in Florida and more transmittable. That's a fact.

It's one thing not to be concerned yourself, it's another to tell someone else a fact they're concerned about is not true.

Do you have proof of this “fact”?

 

[Olaf Myfrenzargay]

My principal concerns on our trip in a couple of weeks are whether we get that partial Savannah view we requested, whether I can make the walk from Poly to MK without convulsing, whether Dolphin pool is overcrowded and whether in fact the Pirate slide at Yacht and Beach is in fact open. Not necessarily in that order.

 

[Cliffside]

We are scheduled for 4/21-4/29. I can’t count how many trips I have canceled. Our points will expire at the end of July. DH and I unexpectedly were able to get vaccine appointment when NY opened up vaccinations to comorbidities. We both have had our first Pfizer dose and will have our second shot in the next two weeks. We were so excited to get appointments we booked the trip for April, but I am now having second thoughts. DH has been working from home for the past year and I have pretty much done nothing. We did a little outdoor dining when the weather was nice and that is about it. I can’t imagine eating inside at all the table service restaurants we enjoy. We are debating moving it to June so that I can get comfortable doing things closer to home and hopefully get more at ease in crowded situations and hopefully cases will have declined even more since now cases are up slightly after the dramatic decline.

 

[bwvBound]

@TinkB278, Are there other ways you might use your points without such a great commitment of travel and expenses? We used our 2019 DVC points for a close-to-home Concierge Collection reservation. It went well!

Perhaps there is something nearby via RCI (available to all DVC members) or the Concierge/Disney Collections if your points are qualified?

 

[Bbcondon]

Hi we are down at Disney now and although happy to be here going to the parks is a challenge. If you drive know the trams from your car are not available. Many stores and restaurants closed (wanted to go to Casey's for a hot dog). Since there are no FP lines at times are long for rides, although we got on safari in 10 mins. Wearing a mask does get tiring at times since the temp has been between 80 and 89 for the last few days. Hope you all enjoy your trips. I am hoping FP and a normal Disney World will return soon.

 

[bakerworld]

2020 we cancelled two trips and the cruise portion of the last trip but I refused to cancel our November '20 trip. Everyone is different but I needed that trip mentally. My husband was really 'iffy' but even he admitted it was the best decision. Wearing the masks wasn't that big of a problem (although my ears were sore by the time we returned home). WDW does a very good job with contactless, cleanliness and distance. We have trips planned for '21 in March, May, July and September, with the September trip being our next park entry. In 15 days we fly into MCO and I'm already ironing clothes.

 

[RescueRanger]

We just got back a week ago. We felt safer at Disney than we did here at home. We have another trip planned in June, and we aren’t worried one bit. I will say that the cloth masks were more uncomfortable in the heat than the disposable ones. We are planning on using disposable masks for our June trip.

 

[jimaok]

My family have been DVC members since 2009. Since WDW has reopened we have been back 5 separate times for multiple days. We live in Georgia so it’s a short drive. We went right after they opened back up. It was amazing- there were no crowds anywhere. We rode many rides and weren’t required to get off before cast members asked us if we wanted to ride again. As time progressed so did the crowds. The last time we were at magic kingdom I was a little disappointed because of the lines and crowds. We have never felt anxious about covid except my DW refuses to eat indoors there. Disney does an exceptional job with social distancing and requiring mask usage. They also can be seen sanitizing everywhere. My wife and I will be headed back this Friday to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary at animal kingdom, Hollywood studios and the Magic Kingdom. Just use common sense.

 

[Eric Smith]

I keep booking trips to WDW on DVC points but I keep finding myself chickening out and canceling or postponing the trip, pushing it back to a later date. I think it’s because I have this underlying anxiety that once I get there I will feel uncomfortable regarding crowds and the virus, as well as just the way things are now. I work at home so I’m not used to wearing a mask for long bouts of time, and definitely not at a theme park in Florida. I want to go so bad, but I keep getting scared that once I’m already there I’ll feel like I’ve made a mistake.

Being a DVC member adds an extra layer of complexity with banking windows etc. My banking window closes 5/31 so as that approaches I keep finding myself going back and forth on “do I just go for it because things won’t be changing any time soon” or “just bank what you can and rent out what’s left of you are feeling nervous”? We aren’t in a high risk group for the virus so I wouldn’t say I’m super concerned about the virus itself (although that’s always in the back of my mind) but I’m just worried about spending money on plane and park tickets just to be stuck in an uncomfortable situation for several days.

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

We went to WDW back in December. My wife has to go in to work every day and she wears a mask the whole time she's there so she is used to it. I was working about two days a week on site throughout the summer and wearing a mask the whole time. We also wear masks whenever we do our weekly shopping on the weekend. Bottom line, we were used to wearing masks for long stretches of time. I understand that you're not used to doing it, but I don't think it would be that hard to get used to it. If you want to try it out, just wear a mask for a whole day at home and see how it goes. I think it's also important to find a mask that's comfortable for you. We went through a few different types at the start of the pandemic and finally found some that work for us. I think the paper ones are actually the most comfortable, but they don't work well at all with my glasses.

When we were there in December, we never really got in a situation in the parks where we found that the crowds were too much. There were certainly some choke points in the parks (Adventureland in MK especially) where it would get a bit tight, but we just went around a different way if we were uncomfortable. One thing to note is that Disney Springs started to get out of hand in the early afternoon. I'd recommend avoiding it after about 2:00 or avoiding it totally if you're ok with that. There are also certain parks that are better at certain times. Here's what we did that worked for us in December, I'm not sure if these still hold true:
1) Magic Kingdom - Go on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. We heard multiple people say that it was too crowded on the weekends (likely due to locals showing up)
2) Epcot - Avoid on the weekend and Friday night because of the locals. It really wasn't crowded during the week
3) Animal Kingdom - I think you can go here any time. It never felt crowded at all. Pandora had the most people, but it wasn't bad.
4) Hollywood Studios - We didn't go here, but people said to go ahead and do DHS on the weekend since it's nearly full any day of the week.

I think the biggest thing that you need to be ready for is to be flexible while you are there. A Disney vacation during COVID is fairly different than going during normal times. You may not be able to do everything you plan on when you want to do it exactly. You may need to work around crowds during the day. It does seem that most parks get less crowded later in the day.

With all that said, we had a really good time on our trip and found it to be a lot more relaxing since we didn't have fastpasses we needed to hit or a lot of dining reservations.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I cancelled and postponed multiple trips over the past year and finaly went last week. I was also unsure how I would feel because I've been hunkering down at home for the past year (work remotely, get the groceries delivered, only see friends outdoors at a distance, etc.).

I felt comfortable and am really happy that I went, though I spent the majority of the time outdoors. I'm not sure I would've personally felt as comfortable doing indoor dining and rides. It was nice to spend time at a place where mask compliance was very good. I will say that's you do get close to people in passing, and that's pretty unavoidable. I was comfortable with it since I was generally outdoors.

Because I've been mostly hunkering down at home, I also wasn't used to wearing a mask for long periods of time. I was surprised how easy it was for me (it was in the 80's and sunny when I was there... it felt hot, but not very humid, and I walked 15 miles on my first day!), but that is very different for everyone. I wore KN95 masks, which are not as breathable as most cloth masks.

If you're okay with just hanging out at the resort if you don't feel comforable in the parks, it might be worth going. I have an AP, so I don't feel like I need to be in the parks all day or go on a certain number of rides. But if you don't want to risk not having your usual Disney vacation, then it might be better to postpone and go twice next year, or do a longer trip. Things are looking optimistic with the vaccines, so you may feel a lot more comfortable going at the end of the year or next year.

 

[Blondie58]

We cancelled a January trip due to the fact we could not buy an AP. For us the Covid issue per WDW travel s based on a personal opinion, age, health, willingness to have limited hours, willingness for limited attractions, etc. AND vaccines. I hear two states have recinded mask mandates as of today. Have to do some research to get final info on that. Time to move forward.

 

[dclpluto]

We haven't been since the pandemic started and are in serious withdraw. Luckily YouTube helps here. We should be getting our vaccine in April so I would definitely feel safe in the parks. I just find it hard to breath through a mask and can't imagine wearing one all day walking around the parks. So sadly I'm not going back to WDW until they remove the mask restrictions. I've got a trip booked for Nov, but I'm not feeling overly confident that the restrictions will be lifted by then.

hows your pulmonary function? Do you smoke? You look young too young to be having pulmonary problems. A mask shouldn’t bother you unless you have pulmonary problems usually in older people or people that smoke or in bad shape.

 

[angelmav]

I’m starting to think we won’t ever be going back.

 

[jlb727]

OP, good luck with your decision We were there in January over New Year’s. I’m a teacher and used to keeping a mask on all day, so it didn’t bother me. Hubby works from home so isn’t used to the mask, and he was only a little bothered. My two kids, 7 and 10, who aren’t used to masks were fine with it. Honestly, they found that once you’re in the “magic”, there’s so much to see and think about that you stop thinking about the mask! Like anything else in life, wearing one (if someone doesn’t have legit pulmonary medical issues) comes down to ATTITUDE. People can choose to make the best of it, knowing it’s temporary, or people can let it get to them and hate every minute because they’ve decided to.

If you get tired of wearing a mask, stop and get a snack, sit down and eat it, and no one will say anything to you as long as you are distanced from other parties and put it back on when you throw away your cup, wrapper etc. That being said, Disney is very good about enforcing mask wearing and social distancing. It made me feel rather safe. Most cast members were really friendly and accommodating. They were happy to see us there because it meant likely employment security for them. The worst part was the longer lines due to distancing and the lack of fast passes. You CAN go and have a great time! However, it’s up to you to decide what you’re willing to deal with!

 

[bwvBound]

I’m starting to think we won’t ever be going back.

I hear you. I've been thinking along similar lines for a wide variety of reasons. For us, for now, Disney parks and resorts have lost their appeal. They were once the most simple of vacations ... and mostly enjoyed by all. Then came the layers of pre-planning ... then came Covid-19 ... then came the loss of Magical Express (ground transportation) ... and "bah; we just don't want to go there."

Perhaps, once Disneyland re-opens ... perhaps the "magic" will sink in again and we'll venture a return to WDW.

It isn't a fear of travel in general or even of being in close proximity with the public as we've managed to squeeze in at least a few adventures in recent months ... but that Disney itself has lost some of its appeal. I'm kinda waiting to be "courted" into a return. I'll be watching to see how Ken Potrock crafts the DLR AP program ... hmm ...

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I took a couple of trips in the fall since I had use-it-or-lose-it options for timeshares (DVC and non). I tried some new restaurants and enjoyed the warmer FL weather. I tried the Skyliner and visted Riviera to see the mosaics and grab lunch next to the water. I skipped the parks since the value wasn't there for me (no shows/no fireworks and sure, it's a long stretch to wear a mask).

I have a stay booked this fall after I will definitely have been vaccinated. If Chapek is still...what is the opposite of Walt's notion of "plussing?"...reducing the reasons to visit the parks - cutting shows, staff and fireworks and such to soak the suckers who will continue to pay a premium regardless of the cuts, I will spend most of my time and money offsite.

Just bank your pts and look to the future IMO.

Two trips, huh?

 

[WilsonFlyer]

"Hey Joe? How do we sell these cheap Chinese paper $0.10 masks for a buncha money?"

"Just stamp a "K" in front of N95 and charge $10.00 for'em." #Capitalism

 

[purrenh1]

Do you have proof of this “fact”?

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