Congrats! One of our friends’ sons had an internship with NASA at the Goddard Space Center in NYC. I understand they are tough to get. You must be very proud of your daughter!
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He may want to look here. https://intern.nasa.gov
I did 3 summers at NASA Goddard Space Flight center, and had some of the best times of my life. I still keep in touch with the pair of mentors I had my second and third summer. I didn’t have any connections to NASA before applying, and I went to a public university.
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We successfully avoided Covid during our 2 WDW trips over the past year.
For what it is worth, here is what we did (but obviously you need a little luck too):
(1) DW, the kids and I masked at all times indoors at WDW (except in our resort room and the few moments after boarding 7DMT at BTM that were indoors before launch). I wore an N95, DW a KN95, DD7 a KF94, and DS5 a Happy Mask. We didn’t mask outdoors even in crowded areas unless we were standing in line and someone near us was coughing.
(2) We did not eat indoors during our first trip and only ate indoors once (at Chef Mickey’s) during our second trip. I was most comfortable at Chef Mickey’s because of the high ceilings and large open concourse area.
(3) We placed a towel at the bottom of the door that divided our resort room from the adjoining room.
(4) We used hand sanitizer or washed hands before eating.
(5) We rented a car to avoid WDW transportation.
We have many friends who have contracted Covid at WDW. In all cases, either themselves or a person staying in their resort room did not mask indoors.
I agree with the other posters that your risk goes up significantly if your kids do not mask and you are sharing a hotel room with them. There are some KN95s out there now that are more breathable than those available earlier in the pandemic. Perhaps your kids would be open to those KN95s. DW and I really like the breathTeq KN95s. I play indoor tennis wearing the breathTeq and find it to be very breathable,
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Have any of you that visited WDW since the pandemic used the mobile order to go at TABLE service meals? To avoid the indoor dining but still enjoy some of these options?
Looks like it’s still an option for several locations on the app. If you used it, were you pleased? We called ahead for an order at Kona when my son was under the weather years ago & we had an ADR for Kona. They were very gracious about boxing up our meals to pick up. But that was well before mobile ordering.
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We have used this many times, often because we can’t get a reservation, so TOGO is the next best thing.
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I’ve only got Covid once in 8 trips to WDW (+1 to TDR)
…and that was during the height of Omicron, when everyone still had to wear masks indoors. (4 trips with precautions, 5 trips without)
…I have not taken any additional precautions since they were lifted.
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Awareness building: If you know anyone potentially having Long Covid whose symptoms are worse following exertion, often with a 24 hour delay, it’s a pattern called PEM or PESE. The exertion can be physical, cognitive, social, or emotional. (PEM is more widely used, but PESE acknowledges the broader range of potential symptoms.)
Op-Ed that overviews the risk of pushing through PEM/PESE.
It is really concerning how many doctors are promoting exercise treatments as a broad recommendation for Long Covid without awareness that exercise is actually counter indicated in those with PEM/PESE without careful monitoring to keep activity under the level where PEM/PESE is triggered. “Pushing through” can worsen the condition, to the point of creating a downward spiral in ability to function.
Also, many people with chronic health conditions very much benefit from mental health support, but some of the most widely used approaches (CBT Is notable for this) have a tendency to encourage people to push through the symptoms, so can also be detrimental to those with PEM/PESE.
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Excerpt:
Wear a High-quality Mask At Least Sometimes
- In transportation hubs (airports) on your way to Disney World. You’re not on vacation yet, so it’s a pain but it’s not the end of the world. And it’s right in line with CDC recommendations.
- In indoor queues. You’re moving, but as you move through the queue, you’re following the same small group of people. You’re always breathing in the air that they’ve breathed out. And remember that bit about conversations – people in queues are talking.
- On buses. Public transportation is another recommendation from the CDC. But you can be smart about it. A 3-minute ride on the monorail isn’t likely to be a big risk. A Skyliner car to yourself won’t be either, and even if you’re sharing it they’re well-ventilated. On buses, you’ll be sharing the same air with a large number of other people for 10-15 minutes or more. And again, they’ll be talking to each other.
- At indoor stage shows. Of course, if the theater is mostly empty then your risk will be lower than if it is crowded.
- In large, stationary crowds. We often think of outdoors as being “safe”, but if you’re in a big press of people waiting for a parade or fireworks, or at rope drop, consider a mask.
- On indoor, slow-moving rides that are longer than you are comfortable with.
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Handy reference for indoor exposure risk planning.
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These two articles are pretty thorough, thanks for linking them. I don’t keep up on the blog.
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Some interesting information coming out from one of the NIH’s RECOVER studies.
Of particular interest for predictive value, the “acute” cohort are people that were enrolled within 30 days of symptom onset or positive test. They were then checked for Long Covid symptoms at 6 months and 10% had Long Covid symptoms compared to 4.6% of their uninfected controls. (So I’m assuming the impact of Covid is the difference between those two, and 4.6% is prevailing rate of symptoms due to non-Covid causes.)
The rate goes down only slightly for those vaccinated (9.7%) but was significantly higher for unvaccinated (17%). Only ~4% of the acute cohort was unvaccinated, thus the small impact on the overall prevalence.
Also of note, the rate is 9.7% for 1st infections, but jumps to 20% for subsequent infections. So “I’ve had it once and was fine” doesn’t mean that will necessarily hold through future infections.
Full study:
There is also info on specific symptom prevalence, etc.
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“Among adults aged ≥18 years without immunocompromising conditions, bivalent booster vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19–associated hospitalization declined from 62% at 7–59 days postvaccination to 24% at 120–179 days”
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The UK is proposing to no longer offer the primary Covid vaccination series to those under 50. 
Meanwhile, this week Chins rolled out a quadvalent Covid vaccine.
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Historically, the northern hemisphere has looked to the prior southern hemisphere winter to get an idea how our next flu season will play out.
So, looking at what’s happening to Covid hospitalizations in Australia as they are in their winter to see if we should expect another wave in the northern hemisphere this winter…(and noting they also had a summer wave)…
https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/case-numbers-and-statistics
Still wondering if this has less to do with specific variants and seasonality than the main driver being “antibodies generally fade after 6-9 months” so that’s the timing of waves with a moderate assist from the other factors. 
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at least they are still tracking data
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To respond to my own inquiry….
Just got back Thursday from our whirlwind return to WDW. It was 4 nights, 3 hotel rooms, 3 parks, 75,000+ steps of magical blessings. I decided not to ask my teens to wear masks. I don’t want to get Covid. But I especially don’t want to get it from a random stranger…if I get it, I guess I’d rather it be from my kids as they go about living life “normally.” I felt a lot of guilt initially like I was leading them into the lion’s den by taking them to Disney and not having them wear masks.
For myself, I followed the advice here and from the touring plans blog post.
Hotels/dining: Towel rolled up to block air from connecting rooms, opened balcony doors (stayed in all DVC rooms) immediately upon entering hotel room to air out for a couple hours. No indoor dining. Wore kn95 masks in hotel lobbies & quick service pick ups & shops (which I limited).
Rides: I wore the kn95 in ride lines. We paid for genie+ to limit time and number of people in ride lines. Removed my mask for indoor roller coasters or other more immersive rides…basically, if I felt it would negatively affect my ride experience, I removed it. I didn’t wear one on N’Avi River Journey, but I did wear one on Pirates and It’s a small World. I didn’t wear one on Flight of Passage, but I did wear it on Soarin. And I wore it outdoors in crowded areas in Fantasyland and Animal Kingdom where things were close quarters. And in bathrooms.
No crowded fireworks….watched MK fireworks from our hotel. Only show we did was Festival of the Lion King.
Obviously, the biggest mitigation is that cases are lower right now…looking at waste water & hospitalizations.
….that my dad/special needs sister just recovered from Covid, I wasn’t fearful bringing it home to them.
Sanitized hands, etc….which I did before Covid, too.
Masks: loved the BreatheTeq ones recommended here. I got lavender ones which felt more magical to me. Haha. I bought ones for my kids, too….because I didn’t decide until last minute not to ask them to wear one (after discussing with my hubby who stayed home to be near my dad/sis if needed).
My son started sniffles on Saturday. Three days of negative Covid tests in a row now. I think it’s allergies as he does have those/asthma. My daughter and I have had no symptoms. She went on some FL college visits with my husband while my son & I returned home.
Hope this helps someone else in planning….or encouragement….whichever may be needed.
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Make sure to update your test-to-treat locales. I notice Wal-Mart has fallen off my local list of options. We used this site to get help when my homebound sister got Covid from the state aid that comes in daily. My sister’s normal doc was no help at all. I really hope these sites do not go away with the ending of the emergency. 
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