I keep coming back to this thought over and over. Disney caters to families and they seem to have forgotten this at the moment.
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OOF!
We are in a similar situation. We had an extended family trip planned March/April 2020 that we postponed. Some of our tickets (military) expire if they are not used, so 6 from the group are going in a couple of weeks. Everyone is vaccinated except for my youngest. I’m still nervous, but…I bought a bunch of KN95 masks for everyone (wow, they were expensive!). We are staying at an Airbnb rather than in a hotel. And we will only eat at places that offer outdoor seating. Stay safe everyone.
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Welcome to the forum! I’m not sure which Mil tickets you have… ours expire Dec. 17th. Have a wonderful time.
As much as I don’t want to be in crowds right now (or really even pre covid), I know it is something you’ve missed from reading your other posts. I’m glad your family got to travel and have that experience! Hope it was fun.
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Thank you @iamalmostmoana. 
We had a very nice trip.
[spoiler]I did a little report. Don’t want to hijack.
https://forum.touringplans.com/t/ndr-busch-gardens-williamsburg-7-3-7-4/79289[/spoiler]
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Just stumbled on your post and in a similar boat so thought I would reply. My husband and I are both in healthcare so were vaccinated months ago. My DS is 3. I was agonizing about going until the last few days. I started to try to think rationally about our risk. I recently saw a statistic that 5500 people out of 159 million vaccinated have died of COVID. 75 percent of those were over 75. So that puts you at 1375 people out of 159 million have died of COVID. There is increasingly evidence that long COVID is unlikely in vaccinated people. The risk to healthy children is also unbelievably low- in fact it equates to six months of driving in a car. Yes COVID is scary and novel and there is still much unknown. But if you think rationally about the risk I think it makes it easier. We plan to mask on indoor rides but we are planning on eating inside. We may come home and we could contract SARS-CoV2 but the risk of serious hospitalization and death is negligible. We will not be visiting my 98 year old grandmother the day we get home. Otherwise we are doing it.
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My family and I decided to go and leave next week. My husband and I are fully vaccinated with Pfizer. We are even more extremely cautious now that new cases are on the rise. We have similar worries, especially because we don’t feel everyone is doing their part. However, what really pushed us were the following questions “How long will this last? Will we really halt living our lives for something that’s here to stay?” We have a 5 year old and 2 year old, both of which are asthmatic. We are nervous, of course, but are taking the leap
Totally unrelated but I just want to say that you have a knack for writing! You should definitely be a featured author for blogs, articles, and maybe even a book.
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You all have been so helpful. Some of the data/articles have really helped me to shape our decision and make it right for us. We made our final payment today for a trip starting on the 22nd! Here’s hoping that not too much changes (for better or worse) over the next month. Fingers crossed this won’t be our second cancelled trip.
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As a nurse, I feel obligated to jump in with one of my first ever posts (yes, I am a long-standing lurker myself) and point out that pregnant women are in a VERY HIGH RISK CATEGORY for severe complications including the loss of the baby. While that alone doesn’t rule out a trip, there are some thing I would want to keep in mind in the formulation of my final decision. This is significant to your specific scenario for the following reasons:
- Pfizer is 66% effective against Covid delta. There is 33% chance that you or your wife will become infected. (Moderna is not releasing specific data that I can find, so there is no true data for your specific vaccines to guide you with true exposure risk. It could be more, but it could also be far less. The CDC also keeps saying "Pfizer and Astra Zeneca are highly effective against Delta…not Moderna. So I don’t know where to go with that. I would try specific research to see the exact boat you are in.)
- While there are therapies for people in high risk categories, those therapies have an impact on the fetus. (Monoclonal antibodies, anti-virals, and heaven forbid dexamethasone and ventilation). Educate yourself on these complications before you decide to go. Seriously, call your OB/GYN and have a heart to heart.
- Florida is THE hotspot. There are many unmasked, unvaccinated individuals ALL OVER the place. You will be exposed. It’s not if, but when and to what degree. Delta is scary because it successfully infects at a much lower exposure rate. I know you are planning mostly outdoor stuff, but transportation? stores/shops? elevators? restrooms? (Those all aren’t outside and also have very poor ventilation.)
- You or your kids could get it and unless you live in separate tents outdoors, BAM! your wife is exposed in a high-viral load scenario.
I am in the same boat, as far as parenting young children. We have decided to give it a go in a similar outdoor style with our DS7 since my partner and I are vaccinated, but I will pull the plug on our November trip in a heartbeat if there are any correlations between Delta (or other variant) and severe illness in children.
And our family’s mental health is tenuous these days. On top of having to re-re-re-plan our FIRST EVER WDW visit initially scheduled in 2019 for Oct 2020, we lost our three–yes, all three-- cats to cancer, I had to home school and isolate my only small child for kindergarten, put re-entering the work force on halt all while my older daughter missed her prom, graduation, and first year of college. It’s bad for everyone, but possibly harming the baby you have coming should be ruled out. That is a very significant risk that all the kind posters are tiptoeing around, and I just can’t. Maybe if you hold out, more shows, rides, and benefits will return and make your trip even more enjoyable for the wait.
Obviously, you need to do you, and it will all work out. Hopefully, whenever you get to go, it is fantastic!
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Welcome to coming out if the Shadows. Thank you for your detailed explanation.
Thanks for your perspective as a nurse. That is great advice, but I think they’ve already done that?
Somehow I missed the flesh-out post 
Back to lurking in shadows for me!
We went last October with our DD (8). It was a great trip. Granted masks were mandatory then (indoor and out) but we felt safe. We’re going back in November and will likely mask indoors with her. Hubby and I are both fully vaccinated as well but feel that masking alongside our daughter seems the right thing to do. I was somewhat anxious in October but so much is outside anyway we really never thought much about it once we were there. We too are covid cautious - not worried about death so much as long term implications from the disease.
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Hey, so you missed a sentence. No reason to go back to lurking! You’re here now, join the party.
And thanks for your perspective. I’m reading all of these trying to reassure myself we’re not being stupid. And while my particular case is different than OP’s, I’m really appreciating that everyone brings a different background and perspective, and that they are assembled here because OP took the initiative to ask. Thanks, @colingigl_688313! Over 100 posts now - just shows how relevant this topic truly is.
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Here, here!
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When/if you call to cancel… heck, all of us need to call and TELL Disney to step up and do the right thing w/ masking. If enough call and write they will listen. DL-AP holders organized and got info from Disney. Where is a our Macron?!?
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Maybe they should also not sell hamburgers, anything fried, anything with a dye in it, no candy or sodas, only let Starbucks sell black coffee, etc. That would be the right thing if they were concerned about people. Right?
Many, MANY more people died and suffered health complications last year from heart disease than from Covid. Yet nobody is all up in arms about making restaurants stop selling their artery-clogging, cholesterol-raising not-good-for-you-at-all food. Nobody is up in arms against the federal government for approving and subsidizing companies that make highly processed food with no nutritional value. If you don’t like Disney’s rules then don’t go. If you’re actually concerned about your (this is not directed at YOU, @vcka, just a general “you”) health then maybe the thing to do is to stop eating fast food, stop overeating, stop drinking gallons of soda, start moving your body and exercising self-control when it comes to diet and exercise. We dropped my husband’s cholesterol 40 points in 3 months. The only thing he changed was to stop eating ice cream and only eat 1 or 2 pieces of pizza instead of 3 when we have it a couple of times a month. Diet and exercise matter. If someone is overweight and concerned about Covid, losing some weight will affect their health much more than a vaccine or a mask. I’m tired of the hypocrisy when it comes to Covid. Live and let live.
I’m sorry @colingigl_688313 that your post has turned into another mask vs. no mask post. I’m muting this thread and will not reply to any messages in it.
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I honestly believe that much of this discussion should have taken place on the COVID thread. Isn’t that the intent of that thread- to share experiences, research, and data?
We have spent the last 16 months talking about personal choices that impact: ourselves vs impacting others vs personal freedoms - and many of us will never be able to “see” it from another side.
If you want to start this debate again can we at least keep it on one thread?
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Oh, please. YOU eating processed food is not going to possibly infect my grandchildren, who don’t have the option of being vaccinated. I won’t say that other people’s health choices re: unhealthy food don’t affect me, because they do, in the fact that we all bear each others choices in the increased cost of health care, but it’s not going to make my grandchildren sick. Yes, I have the option not to go. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make sure Disney knows exactly why, and pressure Disney to reinstate an indoor mask mandate until children can be vaccinated, which will likely be what makes the difference between us going/not going.
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