So, we are booked at a split stay at YC and AK-K March 3-10. I made park reservations and even a few dining reservations. I wanted to meet a few conditions before we decided whether or not to keep the trip:
My husband and I are vaccinated. He gets his second dose tmw, and who knows when I’ll get mine… tomorrow? Next year? Don’t even get me started on how bad this rollout has been. But it doesn’t seem crazy that I could potentially get started middle of next month.
Some kind of night time shows. HEA is one of the big reasons I love Disney, but we don’t stay up for the shows every night because the kids go to bed by 7/8 normally. So a couple evenings of castle projections, maybe Fantasmic…
Fast Pass is back, or something similar. This one seems the least likely of the three, honestly. What’s the over/under on this coming back in any way, shape or form? And if it doesn’t, what are the chances that most rides will be around 20m wait (max for my 2 year old) on weekdays in early March?
My husband says “I don’t care if we all have immunity, we’re not going to DIsney in a pandemic.” I’m trying to convince him that waiting a year is what EVERYONE is doing, and since he hates crowds, we’ll have fewer ppl going in 2021.
Other pertinent info:
We went last year, finished our trip a week before it closed. (Pretty sure my husband got covid on that trip, even though he had a false test, he had all the symptoms).
We live close enough for a direct, 2 hour flight whenever we do end up going, so distance isn’t a huge issue.
We would be focusing on things we didn’t get to do last time, like FEA, Frozen singalong (my daughter is “Du-waf” obsessed), Epcot as a family, a couple restaurants (Cali Grill, Homecomin), Stormalong Bay, Gatorland (LOL), Animation Station. Though, several of the things we missed last time will not be open… HDD (that may never reopen, sigh), FOTLK Tier 1 pkg, Jiko, Boma, Jambo in general (sigh), FoF parade…
If your answer is GO!, tell me why so that I can convince my husband.
If your answer is WAIT!, tell me where to take my family of 4 (DS7, DD2) if I’m vaccinated and where to go if I’m not.
The consensus of thoughts regarding FP+ is that it is not that important. Both sides of the debate have some pluses but if you arrive well before official opening to catch a couple headliners, you certainly will be better off without the FP+ system.
This is one of the the best cases for going without the FP+ system. Right now, the standby lines keep moving because there are no FP+ folks cutting in and effectively prolonging the wait.
Maybe the greatest reason to go these dates is because the crowds won’t be overpowering. I really think that from May/June 2021 to the end of 2021 will be absolutely crazy, with more and more people getting vaccinated, rescheduled trips, and the fall Anniversary celebrations. I would even bet that the entire 2022 will be busier than normal.
And of course, I don’t want to neglect to mention that WDW is safer than many towns across the country. In case you are concerned about your children, SO many liners have had very safe, enjoyable trips since the summer.
In terms of kids, I’m not terribly worried, though maybe I should be. It’s soooooo much less severe in kids, I worry more about croup and rsv, though maybe Im wrong.
And I’m right there with you on the crowds. I thought about canceling the split stay at akl because jambo is mostly closed but then I thought how cool would that lobby be empty?!?!
I am coming to terms with the nighttime shows, I think. The vaccine is the real wildcard.
I don’t really have an opinion if you should go but you do seem to be very self aware and have a good idea of what you’d be getting into. I think the right decision will come to you, it just might take some time.
I am a week behind you(situations very similiar) and I say go. Husband and son get 2nd doses next week. We all have had covid. We closed www last March. I am fed up with lockdown. Grocery stores have become a nightmare and I am mentally done. I got covid in my home(family are front line). Only question in my mind is how ny will treat is as travlers. And if husband /son will quarantine for 2 weeks
We postponed to Jan 2022. I don’t think we are the only ones that are postponing for whole year. I fully expect the crowds to be worse than a normal January. My uneducated guess is that starting with Spring Break 2021 crowds will be much worse.
I’m surprised people are getting second doses already! Wow!
Honestly, I wouldn’t pressure DH on this. Vacationing during a pandemic does send a certain message that he doesn’t want to send. As someone who went to Universal in June and regrets it for that exact reason…I’d respect his “no.”
Based on your conditions … I’d say its a no go.
Maybe potentially a night show at Epcot (much more viewing area, and limited capacity), but i sincerely doubt HEA, and sincerely doubt FP+. Crowds have returned and wait times are 30+ minutes on a good day.
I disagree with the premise of the question. If you have “conditions” for a WDW trip … those conditions would/should apply to any potential vacation spot.
If you mean vaccination, yes. We would do a mountain cabin or something if I hadn’t gotten it yet. But the other conditions are pretty specific to wdw…
but your other specific WDW restrictions are … not covid-related. Its possible to set up similar personal preference conditions specific to any trip. But in summary, your personal WDW preference conditions are extremely unlikely, so I wouldn’t pressure anyone into a WDW trip in early 2021.
I hear you, but my Dr is in Florida for a few weeks and I totally support him. Front line workers need a break. You have the added benefit of the vaccine and you will still be observing the saftey protocols. If his pratice or hospital is allowing vacations, please go and don’t worry about how it looks, if that is what you want.
For an example, the weekend prior to getting his vaccine he was in 3 different emergency rooms evaluating people for heart attack symptoms and then going into the catherization lab to open their vessels. He also has had to do aerosolizing procedures on covid-status-unknown patients. But the rest of us mortals are gonna be waiting a while just for the first shot LOL
