I have made 8 trips to WDW since reopening in July 2020. We have followed the precautions in place each trip but rarely wore masks when not required since the rules have loosened, although I do have to say the recent enforced crowding such as in some queues and in Oga’s Cantina made me uncomfortable. We have all received all vaccines we are eligible for. I say this with all fingers and toes crossed as we are about to head that way again soon, but thus far neither I nor anyone I have traveled with has come home from WDW with Covid. Members of our family have caught Covid from:
*Living in a college dorm in fall 2020
*Helping with/attending a school play in which several actors “discovered” they had Covid after the play ended -or- attending a crowded rock concert (could have been either)
*A cruise ship
My takeaway is, we have been lucky not to catch it at WDW, but the reality is if you are out in the world living and around other people, it could and will happen anywhere.
I agree. I was at WDW and Universal in fall 2020 (not vaxxed yet), then WDW in spring 2021 (midway between 1st and second shot), Universal June 2021, Universal September 2021, a cruise November 2021 (2 weeks after booster), Universal but staying at WDW for 2 days December 2021, and probably a dozen visits to Cedar Point between them opening in July 2020 and the end of last season all without getting it. I also went to a few MLB games (though the first few were very limited attendance) and several concerts (all at 100% vax venues) in that time. Then a spring break cruise in April got me!
My roommate had mostly the same streak, only sub the spring 2021 trip with Mexico over New Years this year. She tested positive 3 days after me in April.
In fairness I was at WDW in late April and took almost no precautions (aside from that we were vaccinated) and came home well
It’s this newest strain, I think - super contagious
We did our May WDW trip the same way as your trips (except kids wore KF94s instead of N95s). We also avoided Covid on that trip.
Our upcoming fall trip, however, is with extended family (who will not be as careful as us). We are doing 1 indoor meal (Chef Mickey’s) and will be relying on Disney transportation so that trip will be much riskier.
The say the new vaccine is coming in a few weeks so they should really help out.
I was there in July 2022, with my immediate and extended family.
My immediate family was fairly COVID-cautious at Disney, wearing N95/KF94 masks when indoors and mostly doing outdoor dining. (At home in New York we continue to mask in indoor public settings and avoid indoor restaurants).
We drove to Florida from New York instead of flying. Since we had a car on property, we drove to parks, and took non-crowded monorails and skyliners, and did not take a Disney bus while there. Some of our extended family members flew to Florida, and sometimes took Disney busses. They also wore masks indoors, but not as religiously as we did. We also took full advantage of Genie+ and lightning lanes (thanks @joelbruick ) to minimize crowded lines, and tried to ignore the “please fill in all available space” tone deaf instructions, especially at rides with known “squish points” like Haunted Mansion after the stretching room.
The challenge was the one “required” extended family meal each day at an indoor dining location. I brought a CO2 monitor with us, and the CO2 readings and spacing of tables at several restaurants were ok enough for me to feel comfortable being unmasked for the entire meal while seated at our table (Chef Mickey’s, Topolino’s Terrace, Grand Floridian Cafe, and Space 220). A few others were harder to manage because they were more crowded, with very little distance between tables (Cinderella’s Royal Table and Boma) and at these places, we mostly kept our masks on when not actively eating. We chose to skip a few other meals that extended family members were doing that didn’t feel “worth the risk” (like Garden Grill, Sci Fi Dine In, Prime Time Cafe and Steakhouse 71).
One extended family member tested positive the last day of our week-long trip, two others tested positive immediately after arriving home. My immediate family remained negative. Everyone in the group was as vaxed and boosted as they were eligible to be.
My overall take is that if you wear good masks while indoors, and avoid indoor dining, you may be ok. But indoor dining, Disney buses, and airplanes (especially getting on and off when the air is not circulating) are the danger zones. (And also being unmasked around relatives who are less cautious than you are).
I wish Disney shared any information anywhere about air flow/air exchange, HVAC systems and MERV filtration levels (for example, highlighting/promoting any upgrades that they may have done before their initial COVID reopening) but so far I haven’t found anything. (I did a lot of Googling before our trip).
Do you recall the approximate CO2 numbers for Chef Mickey’s? Chef Mickey’s will likely be our only indoor dining meal next trip. DW and I picked Chef Mickey’s thinking that the high ceilings and wide open area would help to reduce risk. I also recall thinking the tables were more spaced out at Chef Mickey’s than some other TS dining, but that may be my memory playing tricks on me.
That was my hope about it as well. High ceilings and monorails wooshing in and out creating air flow… And that seemed to be the case.
I was pleasantly surprised about Chef Mickey’s on this trip on many levels. The CO2 level was pretty good there, settling at somewhere between 500 and 600 ppm. There was space in-between and around the tables, and the restaurant is large enough for them to likely be able to let you move to a different table if the original one they assign you isn’t what you wanted.
Additionally, having the meal be family-style and not buffet was such a game changer. It eliminated so much of the unpleasant chaos that I have associated with Chef Mickey’s from past trips. Now there’s very few people moving around the restaurant and potentially breathing all over you while you are sitting unmasked at your table. We were there for dinner. My family is pescatarian (vegetarian and fish) when eating out, and the food was much much better than I expected.
We plan to do the same precautions. One thing I don’t see in chats are length of visit. I have to assume a 1 day visit is less risk than a 10 day. Have you any experience with people doing 10 days infection free following all the precautions? N95 everywhere, no indoor dining, limit waits, no public transport, etc.
We did a 2 week visit (14-28th July) and took no precautions at all. We both got colds but tested negative for covid several times.
Both vaccinated and boosted, my booster was last Dec, I’m not eligible for a second. DS17’s booster was in June. I had covid very badly in January 2021 pre vaccines. DS17 has never had it to our knowledge.
My trips were 7 days at WDW and 4 days at UOR.
Yes. I got it for the first time after a trip in May. I’m vaxxed and single-boosted. I went again in late July and also came home sick. It felt like COVID again, but turned out to be a sinus infection.
We were in WDW for 6 days with those same precautions. I would have felt comfortable staying for 10 days with those precautions, but since each day has some degree of risk, 10 days is riskier than 6. We didn’t stay 10 days because of school/work schedules, not because of Covid.
If you have any more detailed questions about our precautions, please ask. I know that for those concerned about Covid, planning a WDW trip has an additional layer of stress.
I have done 3 10 day trips in September, December, and most recently May of this year. I wore masks in all indoor locations and crowded outdoor locations. I used Disney transportation and dined indoors many times. I did develop a sinus infection in December and tested negative for covid at a local urgent care. I have been able to avoid covid thankfully. I was double vaxxed on my first trip and received my booster the end of October.
Eta: I did also avoid most of the larger indoor shows where they crowd you in such as Frozen Singalong, PhilHarmagic, etc. I did do FotLK and requested to sit at the end of a row.
We were there for 7 days
We left WDW six days ago after an 11 night trip to Universal and WDW. Three of the four of us got our second booster about two weeks before we went. The youngest had her first booster in February and isn’t eligible for the second yet.
We went everywhere and did not wear masks. So far none of us seem to have caught anything. I was concerned that we would get Covid but it doesn’t seem likely at this point.
Well timed! Was that on purpose or coincidental?
We got lucky with the timing. They had just opened up second boosters for everyone 18 and over, and we were able to book appointments right away.
I’ll be surprised if I don’t get it…but we will see.
I’m double boosted, but the second was in May.
Some coughing and sneezing around me this week - with the cherry on top being in the LL for Buzz this afternoon and a mom picked up her kid who pretty much coughed - unmasked and not bothering to cover her mouth - right in my face. Most disgusting is the mom did not even remind the girl to cover her cough!
The problem with previously having asymptomatic Covid, is i have spent my whole cruise questioning whether I have Covid or not 
I’m on Day 3. Another 5 days of driving myself crazy, then one week until WDW 
When I got it at WDW it was on day 12 of a 14 day trip. (Had completed 8.5 park days out of 10)