Oh, wise ones, what do you think the odds are that Disney will be mostly returned to normal by January? As in no-masks, character meets, all shows and fireworks. We don’t really care about dining. I know that no one can say for sure, but I figure that this group is the best bet. I’ll plan differently if I think it is 80% than if it is 20%.
For us, this will be our once-in-a-lifetime trip, so we aren’t going for a curtailed experience. I keep thinking of this photo I saw where Minnie was one side of the glass with her hands on it, and a little girl was on the other side with hands matching. The caption was something like, “See, there is still magic.” I didn’t see magic, it made me sad.
I am a little sad that I won’t get to do the fast pass planning thing, but the consensus is that is gone for good. Right now, those driving there have no reason to stay on-site, so I assume they’ll be adding some incentives.
But I do think they COULD bring back some of that. Masks will remain in place indefinitely, I believe, until there is a vaccine readily available.
Character meets? I think they will stick to the socially-distanced meets they are doing now for a while as well.
Shows? That one will depend on how many people start to return to the parks. I think some shows could return now, except that the added cost of running them can’t be justified right now until they have more people coming to the parks. So, people need to return to the parks more, I think, before we’ll start to see many shows return.
Fireworks…I think Disney could do it…but again, does the cost justify it for them? More people, and they might start thinking about it seriously. At the same time, having fireworks return might draw people back…so it is a bit of catch-22 there.
I think masks are around for a good long while. January will be the peak of flu season and with flu and Covid indistinguishable without a test I believe they will remain in full protective mode through springtime.
With the recent announcement that Poly is staying down until July 2021, it seems WDW is not expecting a return to normal for the foreseeable future, as well. I would not expect a full return to normal for a long time. I think we may begin to see fireworks by spring or summer. Character meets I think will wait until this is “all over”.
I’m looking at March 2021 for either WDW or DLR. The predictions above seem pretty reasonable. I’m probably going to have to temper expectations a bit or push it back to 2022, which seems like a million years away.
The other problem is that next fall, they will likely have the anniversary hoopla. We are homeschoolers, and can plan to go during low crowd days. So I didn’t want to go during the anniversary crowds. The “we” includes another family going with us.
If we don’t go to Disney in January, there is a convention in Maine in April that we can attend. It is a longer drive, but we’ve never been to Maine. If I sign up for that and cancel, we’ll only be out $10-15.
We are planning May 2021, but we know there is a good chance it will get pushed back yet again. My best friend and myself have a difficult time with masks outside in the heat and humidity. She has asthma and those conditions cause her to have breathing issues with a mask on. Inside or in cooler weather we can handle much better.
But you never know, they are anticipating the vaccine to be ready by the end of the year, so May 2021 is kind of a borderline. January 2021 though, I don’t think masks will be gone yet.
I don’t think that the anniversary hoopla is going to be as big as what they were planning. I’m thinking if we have to move our trip, it will be the week after Thanksgiving 2021.
I think the announcement of the Poly refurb and July 2021 re-opening date gives us a good idea of when WDW is targeting getting back to “normal”
I can say one thing in total confidence is that WDW wants to have 50th anniversary on October 1, 2021 to be completely full of people and activity. It is going to take time to build back up to that level.
If you are a home schooler and have flexibility in dates I would target the week after Labor Day 2021.
The week after Labor Day is maybe the slowest time of the year at WDW and it will likely be a time when WDW has planned to have full operations again.
Oddly, I find the masks much easier in the heat and humidity. I hated wearing one in 60 degree weather at our wildlife park. My breath felt so warm and icky inside the mask. In the heat, everything is warm and icky I guess. But at least in 60 degree weather you’re not overheating your entire body.
These options seem about as far apart on the spectrum of fun as one could imagine.
Maine is nice, but it’s no Disney World
Well, I will be overjoyed. There is a board game convention that moves locations. It had been local to me this last April, but was postponed and then cancelled. I was crushed and a bit depressed. People play games 24 hours a day for a few days with breaks for sleep and sustenance. DH and DD will probably go hiking, or something. Will also be much much cheaper.
Disney World is still on the plans, just now with a ? mark on the date.
Week after Labor Day 2021 is an option. Reason for January was that DH finally said he was willing to go when Star Wars had been open for a year to let the crowds die down, and for them to work out the kinks. January 2021 had been the first low crowd time after that.
I think the odds are near zero that things will be back to normal in january 2021. If it were me and this was a once in a lifetime WDW trip, I would wait until things were closer to normal.
I’ll join the very low crowd. I’m guessing that “normal” (if defined as pre-COVID) ever comes back, it will be well into 2021, and possibly not until 2022. I hope I’m wrong, but current statistics are not promising.
