My niece came back with COVID from her recent trip in early August - this was her 3rd instance of COVID. She’s vaxxed and boosted. But she also works in retail, so she’s been exposed way more than my household since the beginning.
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Was it very mild for her?
It was. My nephew got it from her when she returned and it was like a cold for him too.
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I felt the same way when a bunch of us in my group all got it after our April cruise, but then half a dozen of our other friends who didn’t go also got it within a week or two, so I decided that it was just a very catchy variant. There was a time in late June/early July when it seemed like half of the people I knew were all getting sick in the days before they were supposed to travel, which has me a little paranoid for the next couple of weeks.
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Honestly I would limit social visits for the next couple of weeks and mask when indoors. It’s worth it for a few weeks so you can enjoy the trip.
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That’s the plan… no plans for this weekend or the holiday weekend except going to my mom’s house and sewing. I’m dreading the Dr. visit tomorrow, but I thought it better to go there where they only ever have 2-3 people in the waiting room than to urgent care where they’ll have a bunch (especially with kids getting school sports physicals).
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I’ve always found doctors offices to be low risk since masked are required. Just don’t sit near anyone coughing.
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Yes, this was my first time getting it. Both of my teenage kids have gotten it (probably from school) and DH and I have been able to avoid catching it from them in the house. Ironically, I had cancelled and rescheduled two prior trips (August 2020 and August 2021) in order to avoid it, but ended up getting it during the rescheduled trip anyway! But at least now I am fully vaccinated and double boosted. Symptoms have been fairly mild so far, but I do have some risk factors so I was able to get Paxlovid and I already feel improvement since I started taking it yesterday.
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It was for me in June. I didn’t get it on the cruise this month so maybe that june immunity was fresh enough as my booster was last Nov so that’s probably why I got it in June
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Off a ship, not back from parks, but yes. This was my first bout. I am fully vaxxed and single-boosted last October. I’m not eligible for more at this time or I’d have more.
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I came back in late July from Disney with Covid. First time I’ve ever had it (vaccinated and double boosted).
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2 Orlando trips (1 last December 7 days WDW, 1 in March 4 days UOR), no COVID, thank heaven. Here’s the precautions we took:
- wore N95’s in all indoor spaces
- wore surgical masks in crowded outdoor spaces
- no indoor dining
- Avoided rides with over 30 minute indoor wait
- used lightning lane and express pass a lot to cut waits
- mostly used rental car to get around
edit: we were vax’d and single boosted (in Nov.) at time of these trips.
From a risk management point of view, it’s true that you can also catch COVID at home, heaven forbid. So you really only need to worry about taking risks at WDW that you wouldn’t normally be taking at home. From my CO2 monitoring readings and ventilation research (see COVID thread if interested), I believe that air travel isn’t any riskier than riding a commuter train or sharing a car, so if you’re already doing that regularly, air travel should be a negligible incremental risk. The things I’d watch out for at WDW would be:
- Disney transportation
- Crowded indoor settings (esp. ride queues)
If you are willing to wear a high-quality mask selectively, those are the places that wearing one would have the biggest protective benefit, I think.
I’m planning to go again this December/Jan and will hopefully be able to collect CO2 readings at WDW/UOR to assess ventilation.
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Trip was Tue the 9th - Saturday the 13th. Was running 102 fever on Monday, tested positive on Tuesday. I am vaxxed and boosted. I wore masks indoors. First time getting COVID.
Worth noting that I also went in March and May, as well as DL in July and did not get COVID during those trips.
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I came home with Covid in July. I’m vaccinated and double boosted. I could have gotten a third booster, but didn’t. First time catching COVID. sigh.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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The say the new vaccine is coming in a few weeks so they should really help out.
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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).
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