To go or not go?

Walt Disney World
1

Hey all! Haven’t been on here for a bit, really stopped tracking the forum after the reopening announcement. It all just got to be too much. Since I haven’t been on, I’m not sure what the general consensus is right now on going to the World. Obviously it’s a very personal choice (and controversial for some :joy:). I’m just trying to decide if I’m just as likely to catch Covid at my local grocery store or at Disney, who seems to be doing everything as right as they can.

We would drive down, stay at Animal Kingdom Kidani and would drive to the parks each day. DH (43), myself (31), and DS3. We rented points for our April 2020 trip and have a credit to use them through May 2022. Our biggest issue is we want to add to our family and want to go in September before we start ahem trying. I definitely do not want to go during Covid while expecting (this is assuming not much has changed by the Spring). Assuming things go as planned we would have a 10ish month old baby if we waited until May 2022 to use our points.

So knowing all this, what do you guys think? Go ahead and travel now or wait and go with a baby? As far as our Covid approach, we work from home, grocery shop safely, occasionally go to a store for pleasure, but never take DS3 into a big store. We’ve been to the beach and to a mountain resort a few times. We’re very cautious about being around a lot of people in close quarters, for ex. we are not eating out at all right now except take out. But all reports I’ve read coming from Disney talk about how safe it all feels.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated!

2 Likes
2

Sounds like you have a lot of good reasons to make a trip sooner than later! As one who recently made a trip with my DD3, I would just try your DS3 out with a mask first and make sure he will tolerate it, because he will have to wear one anywhere outside your room. I was surprised how well my DD3 did with this, but her class had been “practicing” wearing them at daycare so it wasn’t new to her. The other factor right now is the heat. To me it’s never ideal to go when it’s really hot, but it is tolerable when necessary due to other constraints. Coming from someone who once swore I’d never go to WDW again between June and September but did it the last two years anyway. If you think you could hold off on the other matter a little longer, you might find October or November more enjoyable weather-wise. But crowds are sure to be quite low in September and may or may not go up later. Another factor is, the later in the fall you wait the more chance you have of such things as shows and fireworks returning and Ratatouille being open. Regarding Covid, of course there are no guarantees. You have to weigh the risk and benefits to yourself. We felt reasonably safe most of the time due to distancing and mask requirements, and tested negative afterward. We went nowhere in Orlando outside Disney property except to fly in and out, and used our rental car to get around. Good luck with your planning and decision process. I think the answer really is individual to each family’s circumstances right now.

3

I will tread lightly because your post doesn’t indicate if you are a WDW regular, or if this is a once every 5 year trip. We were at WDW last week, and it is DIFFERENT, with limited experiences. There are still significant closures inside the parks and around the resorts of stores, shops, restaurants, and extra experiences, such as the boardwalk and shows, and fireworks.

If you are a regular and avid fan, its a good time to go and experience light crowds, and slower pace. If it is a once in 5 yrs trip, I have actually suggested to our friends in that situation, to wait and go later. If you do choose to go in 2020… go as cheaply as possible, cut out one day, save the money, and plan to go again.

WDW right now is not worth a full scale, large vacation budget.

As to the question on Covid … we flew, and we changed planes in Atlanta. It was fine. At least with Delta we had no issues. There’s always one or two “stupid people” but keep an open eye and avoid them. No issues with spacing or crowding within the Disney bubble.

3 Likes
4

That’s a good consideration! We haven’t been since 2013, but previously I’ve been used to go going every year or so, and hope to get back to that once we finish growing our family. I really want to take DS3 while he’s still young just so I can experience the magic though his eyes. He doesn’t love fireworks so that won’t be too big of an issue. And he would love the ability to ride lots of rides with low waits. I think a lot of the things that are missing right now are things he wouldn’t know to miss.

Thanks for your thoughts!

5

A thought accrued to me about wait times. When my children were little extraordinarily long lines were difficult. Young children are sprinters not marathoners. And after a few days the ‘cabby & tired’ set in. Knowing what I know now, I think I’d rather go w/ little ones w/ low wait times, ride more, in less time. take my time instead of rush, rush, rush to experience all ‘the magic.’ Last winter, I did a girls trip w/ my two daughters (in their 30s)… we waited in lines to meet their favorite characters and it was probably more fun as adults than when they were little. They still enjoy the magic no matter the age. But as adults we tire more quickly of endless lines and crowded parks. The magic will be what you make it.

2 Likes
6

There’s another person, basically, asking the same question today. I’m a “wait until the parks are back to normal” type of guy. Here’s what I wrote to them:

It’s a decision you have to make for yourself, but IMHO - is it worth the risk of being ill for weeks / months just for a few days of fun?? (or possibly worse) Because that’s the real risk. There are people here that have gotten it and can tell you how miserable it is.

There is no “safe” place to go in our current environment - only areas that try to be “safer”. That’s a big distinction. I really do think WDW is doing a great job making this as safe as possible, However, can you really have as much fun while constantly having to think about COIVD concerns all day long? I go to WDW to “escape” the real world. For me, constantly having to be reminded about masks, social distancing and such would never give me a moment to relax. (On top of the crazy Aug / Sept heat & up coming Hurricane season)

On top of that, WDW has turned off ALL the preshows and a LOT of the effects on the rides, which to me are what make them better than a typical “amusement park” . This includes even the new hits like MMRR & RotR. (For Example - ALL the effect on MMRR were turned off today. I still haven’t ridden it yet & that would, for me, be a terrible first impression) - Plus, rides & new attractions, like Ratatouille have delayed their openings

AS you probably know, buy just in case, they’ve cancelled all of the shows, fireworks, characters & other things that make a trip to WDW special / “Magical”.

Also, so many of the restaurants & quick service places are closed or are only serving a a fraction of their menus. (mostly burgers, chicken nuggets and a veggie option)

Furthermore, the park hours are cut by so much - they are going to be even shorter right after Labor Day. (closing by 6pm and some opening an hour later & closing earlier)

The WDW experience is so limited right now & Disney still expects you to pay FULL PRICE for all this!

I’ve had to cancel my plans for this year and for a while I was severely tempted to go when I saw the insanely low crowds. I spent a lot of June really trying to make peace with “should I pop down for a quick trip?” For me it came down to it’s still going to be there next year / later and I will get full value without having to even be concerned about COVID.

(Plus, I can hold on to those funds & add to them to an even better / bigger trip for the 50th Anniversary! I’m even considering getting a Premier Passport so I can go to both WDW & DLR when things get back to normal because I’ll have those extra funds.)

1 Like
7

We just went. Not sorry at all (other than the heat). It is true that a bit if magic is gone, but that doesn’t mean the magic is gone…just a little less.

My concern with going in September has nothing to do with COVID changes…but concern of heat and hurricanes.

1 Like
8

For my young kids (5 and almost 3), the most magical parts of our WDW have been the character meet and greets and character meals. Without those, it would not be the same. DD5 is bummed that we are not going to WDW this year but when I told her that there are no meet and greets or character meals now, she said that doesn’t sound fun.

2 Likes
9

I don’t agree with this. Well, sure many places aren’t open, but many are. We are almost exclusively QS, and I didn’t repeat what I ate even once across 7 days at Disney. I did have a burger, but no nuggets. There are fewer choices for kids…but we were very pleased with the variety. In fact, we ate more varied this trip than any previous Disney trip.

Likewise, we didn’t feel terribly impacted by this. Of course, we would rarely do opening to close before. The one part I do agree about hours, however, is the lack of dark time hours. Not seeing Tomorrowland at night was a bummer.

2 Likes
10

Mine said the same! And no fireworks. Said all those things were the best part. So we will return when more things come back.

1 Like
11

Little guy doesn’t mind wearing his “doctor” mask, but we haven’t tried the for extended times outside in the heat. You make a good point about the high temps, but hopefully it’ll cool off a little bit by the very end of the month.

If you don’t mind me asking, did you have symptoms/weren’t feeling well or do you in live in a state where you have to test negative so you can go about life without the 2 week quarantine? Thanks for your help!

12

Heat and hurricanes- two valid concerns! If we decide to go ahead and book, we’re going to wait until a week or so before, that way we can have a much better idea of the weather.

I haven’t looked at all, but does the Disney website have a pretty substantial listing of the restaurants open with the current menus posted?

13

Yes. If you go look at the Disney Dining, it will show you what is open and what isn’t. You can also check the menus to see what they are currently offering.

For QS, we did the following during our 6 days in the parks (not including snacks):

MK: Pecos Bill, Cosmic Ray’s, Pinocchio Haus
EP: Sunshine Seasons, Fife and Drum, and the Epcot F&W pavilion
AK: Flametree BBQ
HS: Docking Bay 7, Backlot Express, Rosie’s.

Also ate at Pop Century’s Everything Pop twice. (That was probably the worst food of the trip, overall, but not horrible.)

14

We tested as a precaution before I returned to work at a hospital and the kids returned to school/daycare. None of us had any symptoms. Our state doesn’t require a quarantine, but we stayed home a week after returning and tested just to protect the people we care about.

1 Like
15

It’s really so variable depending on how you do the parks and your level of comfort.

We’re going after Thanksgiving with our 5 year old. The changes have minimal impact on us. We don’t care about parades or fireworks, and we’re rarely in the parks past 5-6 PM. We use the DAS pass and have a wheelchair, so we’re often ushered through the FP lines or exit and miss the preshows. We will miss the character meals and meets, but it’s not a deal breaker for us. We spent the quartantine acclimating our son to the mask and he can wear one for up to 4 hours at a time now. So all those things that may put some people off are not a concern for us.

Now about comfort level - that’s gonna be super individual. I take Covid seriously - I wear a mask when I go out at home, try to limit non essential outings, etc. But I’m not overly worried about it. Maybe bc I live in a place that has already been so hard hit that it’s become de rigeur for me. :woman_shrugging:
Plus I have children returning to in person school, so my risk factor will already be higher. (One goes to hybrid 1 week on, 1 week off, the Special Education one goes 5 days a week every week.)
I will wear the mask at WDW, I will wash my hands frequently and use sanitizer and limit indoor spaces within reason.
I don’t feel like my risk is that different between going or not going. Ymmv.

16

Thanks for your perspective, especially on how you’ve been treating Covid. That’s very much how we’ve been treating it, I’m not sure if we’ve been considered hard hit in VA, but we’ve been mandated to treat it as such to mitigate huge spread. Based on how we would tour and how careful we are, I don’t think our risk would be much higher at Disney vs. at home. I’m definitely leaning more towards going!

1 Like