FYI: Disney has 90% of their employees vaccinated. All unvaccinated (w/ waivers) are required to wear K95 masks and shields.
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Shoot, I hadn’t thought of that.
That’s fine…but Omicron is seeing a high percentage of breakthrough cases happening among the vaccinated as well as those had been previously infected. So, they might test positive, but not end up very sick at all.
In fact, we know someone who had COVID last year, was vaccinated this year, but STILL ended up testing positive with COVID about a week ago with mild cold symptoms.
If Disney requires such cases and their close contacts to quarantine, it could impact staffing. It might not, but with how incredibly contagious Omicron is compared to other variants, it is something to think about.
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I agree w/ everything you just wrote. I think their covid response is remarkable… especially in FL 
I believe all unvaccinated have to test weekly too.
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Definitely a lot to consider. I do have a question around the testing. What happens for those that have previously (more recently) tested positive but have recovered? You can continue to have a false positive test come back for weeks or even a couple months after recovering. How do airlines or venues account for that, if at all?
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Tests are in such short supply here. Rapid tests are hard to come by. Many pharmacies don’t have them right now, here at least.
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I plan to book with a location that allows booking a few weeks in advance. So, I’ll have my appt before I leave. …and if I don’t get an appointment, back up is to purchase a self-administered test that can be done via video.
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I can speak for Hawaii. They will accept proof of a positive test within the last 90 days along with a letter from your doctor saying you are recovered and no longer contagious.
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I’ve ordered a few at home tests, just in case (havent received yet). Stores here do not have them. I use CVS and currently you can not even make a rapid test appointment and result times is hovering around 3-5 days. So many protocols for testing for everything here so often has put them in short supply all around.
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We have 10 rapid Antigen tests, but can’t use for travel 
Plan to use before we test for travel, so we can know before we officially know 
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My neighbor and her husband were able to use them for her recent Cruise in December. She had to take the test on video chat with someone from the cruise line and they waited on the video chat to show the results
I have a trip early next month and still planning to proceed. But then again, I caught Covid during my trip a few months ago. Eligible for the booster before I go, so hoping antibodies and booster will protect me. Omnicron is so contagious I think you pretty much have to isolate yourself to keep from catching it. If you’re working outside the home, visiting friends/family, grocery shopping, etc - it’s not much different than going to WDW, IMO.
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In a similar boat. Supposed to go with a friend 1/27-1/30. Not feeling great about it 
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Our week-long trip is planned for the end of January. We have three young kids and this is a first and only trip for our family. I was really nervous about covid exposure/crowds despite all of us being vaccinated (and my husband & I boosted).
Well, my five year old came down with a fever on Sunday morning and was feeling lethargic. I was lucky enough to find a test…positive. It spread through our house like wildfire with the two other kids developing the same symptoms a day later. My 10 year old son has had it the worst with fever, exhaustion, dizziness and cold symptoms/cough for the past 48 hours. I have a headache, sore throat, gastrointestinal issues and am a little tired but can function. My husband didn’t develop symptoms.
People say if you are vaccinated and infected it’s not that big of a deal. I guess I would agree but it would have been absolutely awful if we would have developed these symptoms while traveling or at the parks. The only good thing about this is that we will have some immunity in the future and feel totally comfortable about our trip now (although this whole situation just plain sucks overall). I wish everyone the best of luck out there!
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I haven’t yet cancelled my trip that begins Jan 28th. I did add a one way rental car home in case we’re positive and shouldn’t fly or if there are issues with the flights. It’s just DH and me this trip so pretty low stakes.
I’d really like a second booster before going as I had J&J as my original dose but I’m banking on my full Moderna booster dose warding off major issues. News out of the UK had me hopeful we’ll be on the downside of this wave by late January.
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Lots of good advice and thoughts here.
I was in WDW just before christmas and ultimately it was a risk we were willing to take. Thinking about it afterwards, I’m kind of on the fence whether I’d do it again, but much of it has to do with the christmas crowds. The most uncomfortable I felt was in Universal surrounded by unmasked people crammed into tight spaces. WDW was better, but O can’t say I wouldn’t have had time when I thought what the hell am I doing here. But still, we had a good time generally speaking. If it were a quieter time, I would’ve stressed less.
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That is great info. Thank you for sharing
We went just before Christmas so before this surge really took off. My calculus may be different now but here was our thought process:
1- all vaccinated and boosted
2- none of us at high risk
3- DH and I are HCW so really used to long stretches in good masks. Kids excellent maskers. KF94 indoors and outdoors in crowds.
4-Financially and practically able to cancel last minute if worried/exposed/positive
5-Financially and practically able to make plans for extended stay in FL if we got sick there
6-Financially and practically able to take more time off of school and work if we got sick on return
7-Hometown does not mask or test or quarantine or vaccinate so WDW not likely to be worse on those fronts
8-Made plans to zig when crowd zagged. Early park entry but not our usual RD front of the crowd experience. FW from BTMRR instead of hub (highly recommend!).
9-Able to throw money at the problem and get G+/ILL$$/Xmas party to allow for lower crowds and shorter waits.
FWIW we came back negative. Day 1 of school and DD has already been contact traced.
Make your own list. Figure out your contingency plans. Evaluate your risk if you get COVID. And go from there.
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Thanks for all the comments, everyone!
My daughter and I really want to take this trip! My wife is a little iffy.
My wife and I were booth boosted within the past month or so. Daughter had her 2nd shot 2 weeks ago.
I’m now thinking that to avoid some possible COVID exposure points (ground transport to/from airports, airport terminals, airplanes (though I understand airplanes have some of the best filtered air anywhere), ground transport to/from parks and to eliminate the worry of the last minute plane cancellation - that we drive instead of fly.
That just leaves the parks as major possible exposure points, and I bought some N95 masks to bring with us. So, that’s the best I can do, right?
As an added bonus, we’d save about $1700 by driving instead of flying.
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That’s one of the main reasons we’ve always driven. Much cheaper than flying! And now you don’t have to worry about flight cancellations!
I think you are set up nicely to have a good trip! Just trying to avoid getting sick leading up to the trip will be the trick! (Of course, you might still catch it and then be over it before you go!!!)
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