17 Days in WDW During COVID-19

ummmmm death. Manners has nothing to do with this. I’m perfectly happy staying away from ppl like you but you want to get in my face and potentially breath death into it. Not your choice to make for me or anyone else. Again, Disney as a private company is following the guidelines of health experts and adhering to a negotiated contract with their CMs to protect them from the virus. You can disagree with their rules while remaining outside of the parks.

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Yes, and if you do not like, dont agree with it but still go there knowing you will intentionally try to circumvent the rules at all, IMO, you are the one disrespecting Disney. Im a smoker, yes I know, gross. I dont like that Disney removed the smoking sections, I dont agree that Disney could not find and allocate at least 1 place out the way in each park to have a smoking section. But, if I go there and intentionally light up in the park, even if its out the way, I am in the wrong. Period. I will leave the park when I have to (hopefully I will have fully quit by my next trip, Im trying). But I would be disrespecting the other guest if I lit a cigarette in the park just because I disagree that its harmful to others, thus exposing them to second hand smoke. When they entered the park, the other guests had an expectation that this exposure would not happen in the park at all because it is against the rules. (please note, I fully agree that it is harmful to oneself and to others around the smoker). Its very much similar.

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Ahhhh, we really hijacked a perfectly good trip report! Sorry :disappointed_relieved: back to Disney!

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Back in March, the fear of God was instilled in me by two things.

First, video footage filmed in Italian hospitals that looked like visions of Hell.

Second, the UK prime minister was rushed to hospital himself and there were serious questions about whether he would survive. I am a similar age and body type to Boris Johnson. It felt like a wake-up call.

The UK went into lockdown and many of us, oddly perhaps, enjoyed it. The weather was glorious and everywhere was peaceful.

But then stories started emerging about various high profile individuals breaking the lockdown rules. All bar one were forced to resign. The one who held on to his job was the prime minister’s most senior adviser. He remains in post.

This was the point for many people where they started questioning whether COVID was as serious as we’d been told.

After the lockdown ended, things started to feel like they were getting back to normal. Except the rules kept changing. And the statistics became confusing: cases were rising, but deaths were not. It felt like government was sending out contradictory messages: you must take this seriously and socially distance, but please go back to your offices, and please eat out in restaurants (the government even subsidised this) and please send your kids back to school.

I think people have also become weary and even depressed by it all. Millions of people have had their holidays cancelled. A lot of people have crappy jobs and crappy lives and they live for those two weeks a year when they can get away from it all. But not this year.

Meanwhile millions of people are out of work — on furlough or in ever-lengthening unemployment lines.

I made the decision a couple of months ago to defy formal government advice and travel to France in order to go to Disneyland. And I travelled from there to the centre Paris. Despite the apparently enormous risk, no virus for me.

Europeans and Asians tend to focus less on the rights of the individual and more on the good of society as a whole. It’s a cultural thing. I saw virtually 100% mask-wearing everywhere in France, and by people of all ages.

I don’t know how serious a threat COVID is. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic have shown catastrophically poor leadership and have sent out confused and even misleading messages.

But keeping socially distanced in places like theme parks is really not hard to do. It’s not an onerous burden. Nor is wearing a mask. It really isn’t. Is COVID as deadly as I thought it was back in March? I don’t know. But I’m happy to wear a mask and socially distance just in case.

And, yeah, I take a dim view of people who won’t. Some excellent analogies have already been used on this thread — smoking in public, for example. With rights come responsibilities. And, yeah, reasonableness. Not every argument has two equally-weighted sides. If I’m wrong about COVID, you had to wear a mask and socially distance unnecessarily. If you’re wrong about COVID, people die.

It’s like Pascal’s Wager. Maybe there’s a God, maybe there isn’t. If there isn’t a God and you believe there is, you waste your Sundays going to church. If there is a God and you believe there isn’t, you burn in the fiery pits of Satan for all eternity.

Wear a damned mask and keep your distance. Or find somewhere to go where you don’t have to. Like your own back yard. Two hundred thousand Americans have died of COVID, a number wildly disproportionate to the size of the US population. Think about that.

It’s not all about you and your damned rights to do whatever the hell you damn well please.

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I totally get your frustrations and have spoken up about this before. I also dont have much fear of this virus despite the news and death total. But I’ve accepted hoping for WDW to match my own fear level is a losing battle. It would be one thing if there were no official rules but just unwritten expectations. But it’s hard to make a case for violating policy that you have agreed to abide by while on property and not expect anyone to have issue. There’s enough people worried about it and want masks worn that WDW has made it the policy, so there’s either waiting to go until restrictions are lifted or begrudgingly having to follow them. It sucks, and I relate to the points you’re making but it is what it is. The smoking example by @drvillarejos really hit me as a perfect comparison. The negative feeling I would have if someone lit up in the park when it’s against the rules is similar to what others might feel if I cheat on mask compliance in the park. On my own property or in some sparse place is different, but in a theme park attended by many people that expect rules to be followed, it sucks, but there’s not much of a choice. I hope when you go, you are able to focus on the magic and have a great time and not be too deterred by the covid policy. This craziness will pass and things will get back to normal at some point (I can hope).

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I respectfully disagree with you on the virus, but let’s leave that aside because it is not relevant to being at Disney. If one chooses to travel to a private property, which Disney is, one accepts the rules.

I post because want to reassure you that in the 7 days I have been here (and I wrote about this on my trip report) guests are very kind, understanding, friendly, forgiving about little mistakes like losing track of the distance markers. And I have not seen any, any one pay any attention to hand washing or how often one uses the hand santizers ( which are ubiquitous and great – why wouldn’t one want to get rid of germs of all kinds on one’s own hands?! :smiley:

compliance with wearing face coverings is another matter, because non-compliance is, obvioulsy, not an accident, it is chosen. CMs are quite kind and friendly in pointing out noncompliance and gently asking to correct any mistake – so if it is a mistake there’s no harm, no foul. I did not see anyone ever behave badly if someone who made a mistake quickly corrected the mistake and apologized. It was all quite friendly. I hope that reassures you, if you do choose to come!

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Thank you, @DumboRunner this is very well put!

To @annhardt I really hate to think that you might feel disrespected at the parks, or most especially at this forum! Just know that all of us are very supportive of our friends (including you!) who choose to go to the parks, and in order for us to be supportive, we must insist on complete compliance with posted rules at Disney. With the numbers of people at the parks and the expectations each guest and cast member has going there, it wouldn’t be fair to express anything less than complete support for the rules (lest we expose those same friends to danger!).

I do not judge anyone who chooses to go to a political rally, motorcycle expo, rock concert, etc. (unwise as it may be) as long as it is legal and everyone who goes is aware of the conditions they are exposing themselves to. But when it comes to Disney (or any other business with posted rules), compliance is the way.

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Ann, thanks for your comment. We’ll have 9 days at wdw in early November. Just in time for the holidays. Our group is over the moon. Great to hear others are able to ride the attractions without waits. As one of our great Presidents, confronted with worldwide calamity once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” We’ll be at wdw on USMC birthday and veteran’s day. What a great time to celebrate our endurance and exceptionalism.

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I am gearing up to book our ADR this weekend and I had to scrap the original list because most everything we wanted is closed. I am having a bit of a struggle this trip because I don’t think we want to waste time at a sit down restaurant during park hours as they are so short.
Did you eat in the parks at any table service if so did it really hamper how much you got done that day? I mean good grief Animal Kingdom is open banking hours. We have 2 days at each park and we really love the dining experiences inside the parks but, the list is short this year. Hopefully more will open up before the holidays.

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@sanstitre_has_left_the_building I hope you don’t mind that I shared your words above on another forum of a group that has been reportedly not careful. I had to edit your d@mn language a little. :wink:

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So if you are in the restroom with my DS7 and see him “forget” to wash his hands, please feel free to say (in a friendly voice), “Hey, buddy, I think you forgot to wash your hands.” Of course, he’s seven, so he will never be in the bathroom by himself, but then again, my DH will be his escort, so you never know! Ha!

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We did Yak & Yeti for lunch as well as spent some time at Nomad Lounge and still had plenty of time to get everything done at AK with shortened hours!

Also did a TS at Skipper Canteen for MK. MK is tougher since there are SO many attractions, but we still got everything done we wanted to.

We were not previously “TS people”, but really liked them this trip as a break from masks and dedicated time to sit down and eat.

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Hi, @Julierich. First of all, welcome! I see that this is your first post.

I too was concerned about spending time dining in view of the shorter park hours. We had an ADR for most days that we were there, but I didn’t feel they significantly reduced what we were able to experience. They actually provided a nice break from the heat and humidity and from having to wear our masks for a while. And I view dining as an experience in itself.

As you are planning to do, we did two days each at AK and EP:

  • At AK we ate at Tiffins each day and spent time at the Nomad Lounge on the second day, and we felt like we were able to get as much done as we wanted. We experienced FoP and NRJ at least twice each day and KJS, iTtBaB, and Dinosaur! once each day. We did both the MFJT and GFET the first day and the bird show the second day. They didn’t have either FotLK or FNtM going, so that freed up a chunk of time as well.

  • One hint is that you might try to book your ADRs for right before the park closes. The second ADR we had for Tiffins was about 15 minutes before park closing, so we were able to enjoy a meal without feeling like we needed to get going to get back to the park.

  • At EP we didn’t have an ADR the first day, but we did the second day at Le Cellier. The first day we leisurely went through the park, spending some time at Living with the Seas and Living with the Land, catching SOtW, SE, and FEA. And we tried a few drinks in WS as well. I think we ended up leaving the park an hour or so before it closed on the first day.

  • I have no regrets for either of these two parks.

As I mentioned above, we did five days in MK and six days in HS:

  • I spent a lot of time in GE at HS because it was my first time there, and I wanted to absorb everything. (My DW, although a SW fan too, was pretty much done with that section of the park on the first day. One of the problems is that there isn’t much shade or AC there, and she deplores sweating.) We had an ADR for five days there. Even with these, I felt we were able to do everything we wanted. We rode MLSR at least once per day, RotR every day, TZToT at least twice per day, TSMM at least once per day. I suspect we could have squeezed in SDD and RnR if we wanted to most of the time as well. I would think that you’d be fine having an ADR for both days here as well, but you could perhaps just do one if you’re concerned about it.

  • We had an ADR on four out of our five days at MK, but, again, we were able to get everything done that we wanted (except that I just wanted more of everything, but that’s true even when I’m there for a 14-hour day)

  • Our first day at MK we didn’t have any ADRs, but I made notes on what we did that day just out of curiosity to see what we were able to accomplish. I believe “they” say that typically if you can do 10 attractions in a day, you’re doing pretty well. Well, we were able to do 20 on our first day at MK between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm. Here’s what we did:

9:00 am

  • Buzz Light Year Space Ranger Spin
  • Carousel of Progress
  • Space Mountain
  • Purchased and drank water

10:00 am

  • Tomorrowland Speedway
  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Tried to visit Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but it was down for tech issues
  • Under the Sea

11:00 am

  • Tried to visit Mickey’s PhilharMagic, but it was down for tech issues
  • Ate lunch at Pinocchio’s Village Haus

12:00 pm

  • Peter Pan’s Flight
  • it’s a small world

1:00 pm

  • Haunted Mansion
  • Country Bear Jamboree
  • Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

2:00 pm

  • Splash Mountain
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Enjoyed Dole Whip Floats at Aloha Isle

3:00 pm

  • Enchanted Tiki Room
  • Jungle Cruise

4:00 pm

  • Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train
  • Ate dinner at Pecos Bill’s

5:00 pm

  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Haunted Mansion

6:00 pm

  • it’s a small world
  • Mickey’s PhilharMagic

You have to consider that not all attractions are available and there are fewer guests, so you may be able to do all that you want (that is, all that you want that is also available) even though the hours are shorter. I almost viewed it as having an eight- or nine-hour After Hours experience.

I hope this helps.

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Yes. It’s good to keep your eyes on your children right now. I think most can do really well if the parents have a sit-down with them in advance to explain how they are to behave and explain the importance of it right now. But they can so easily forget and get caught up with everything that surrounds them. They’re kids after all.

We saw one young girl, maybe five or so, in the queue for iasw, who was constantly rubbing her face through her mask on the handrails, and her mom was completely oblivious to it or perhaps just didn’t care. I can’t imagine allowing my child to do that at any time, let alone during a pandemic. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to see parents ignoring what their children are doing at WDW.

I would personally hesitate to tell a child what to do – even in a very friendly, loving manner – because parents – especially neglectful parents it seems – often take umbrage at this and have even become belligerent when others take it upon themselves to “parent,” as it were, their children for them.

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I just wanted to give a little perspective of what it’s like for those of us who are fearful. I realize it is seen as weakness, and it is hard to admit that I am fearful, but I am. I would just ask those who are not fearful to have compassion for those of us who have fear.
I have a dear friend in the hospital right now fighting for his life, and I am scared. His wife and children are scared. They are not the first people we know who have had to drop someone off at the hospital and wait for the calls each day from the nurse or doctor to hear how their loved one is doing. One of my mom’s good friends lost her husband to Covid last month. Another friend of ours got off the ventilator in July. He had to relearn how to swallow and walk and he is still not back to work, because of continuing health issues. My boss’s SIL spent 20 days on a ventilator and is home recovering, but not back to work after 2 weeks. None of the people I know who have been affected had underlying conditions, and only one was over 60. This scares me.
I do not want to live in fear. I want to trust God. I know he will carry us through whatever happens, but I am scared for myself, my husband, my kids, and others I love being sick for a long time and how hard that could be and what lasting problems we may have.
I have never been so aware of how much spit comes out of our mouths when we talk, laugh, sing, yawn, etc. Ugh! Masks and social distancing truly help so much with my fear. Even if it doesn’t keep all the virus at bay, at least we’re not spitting on each other.
I just ask for some compassion, so those of us with fear can go to the store, let our kids go to school, and possibly also enjoy ourselves at WDW.
And finally, know that if I were to ask someone to step back or to wear a mask, it would not be out of judgement, but out of protection for my family - and theirs.

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Supportive :heart:

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I respect your willingness to admit your fear level and discuss the tragedy you have witnessed. It is beyond sad. No one should judge you for that. Also, I admire the courage to bring up your faith and how it shapes your mindset. That is a huge factor for me, and to what extent I worry.

Totally reasonable. I love the way you state this rather than just firing insults or shaming someone who looks at things a little differently. And there would be no judgment the other way either. My risk level is a little different than yours, but hearing your examples of those around you struggling with it, I cannot help but feel compassion and want you to find some peace. I pray for all of us to get through this, no matter how worried we are about it.

My level of concern for the virus is shaped by a mixture of statistics, faith, and personal anecdotes (not national media). 1.4% of my county has tested positive at this point. Of those in my county in my age group who have tested positive, just 4% have required hospitalization. The vast majority of deaths in my region had some significant comorbidities that I do not have. I am around very very few people between home, work, and wherever else I need to go. And faithwise, yes I believe God is always in control and will see us through this in His time and His way. (I am not looking to get into a “If there is a God, and He is loving, why would He let this pandemic happen” debate with anyone.) Those from other areas with different experiences and beliefs will come to their own conclusions, and I respect that.

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Thank You. This was SUPER helpful. I never thought about using dining as a way to take a mask break. This makes my heart happy. Thanks again!

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The worst sickness in our country right now is one of mass hysteria, not the virus.

(Begin soapbox)
I agree. 100%
The data clearly does not support the draconian measures taken, and Sweden got it right.
(move to a different soapbox)

Having said that, if one ventures into a theme park, one should respect the rules of the park, which are presumably put in place for the safety & enjoyment of all.

If one is unable or unwilling to do so, one should be escorted to the exit. The true rudeness is in the flaunting of the rules, not the calling out of them. (Inadvertent/unintentional is different, and we all know it when we see it.)
(end of other soapbox)

I sincerely hope you reconsider your stance.
If you’re not capable of enjoying yourself without breaking the rules, you probably shouldn’t go at this time.

Best to you.

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