I think that sums up life in the 2020’s pretty well so far, anyway. The rest of this decade better totally rock or I will never forgive it. 
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FWIW I think you made a good decision. I definitely told my friends who were debating going that it’s not worth it right now. 1 more year will probably make a world of difference.
I think you’re right that we’re all right. 
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Thank you for clarifying for me. I’m not wanting to downplay the seriousness of the serious long Covid. But when (especially for kids, who are frequently mildly sick if they attend daycare/preschool/school) “cough for 4 weeks” (and some of the studies said 3 weeks!) is considered one of the main symptoms for long Covid…I just can’t get concerned over that. Separate out the data and tell me how many people have serious symptoms and then I might be concerned. But as it is, by lumping “lingering cough” in with “lung damage” they are not gaining my trust but losing it.
I very clearly remember winter of 2016 when my girls were 2, 4, and 6. The 4 and 6-yr olds attended a local preschool where we live in Russia and were in different classes. Our family was sick all. winter. long. Coughs passed from one kid to another, from one class to another, and through our whole family over and over again. Yes, long Covid can be very serious. But I just can’t live my life in fear over a potential 4-week cough. We’ve lived through worse. Was it fun? Nope, it was an awful winter. But it’s part of life. It doesn’t concern me. I understand that others hold different positions.
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One way I have approached risk is thinking about the effect quarantine could have on our daily lives. Since the kids are unvaccinated, even if they are ok health-wise we’re still looking at significant time out from school, testing for covid (which my kids borderline do not tolerate) and a parent home to care for them. This scenario would be very challenging for us to handle.
We went in early May with nice weather, manageable lines, low cases and strict mask policies. For our family, the juice wouldn’t be worth the squeeze right now. I would have regrets if the outcome of our behavior was my kids missing the first week(s) of school. I totally get that everyone is different and sometimes you have to go for it for mental health or other reasons. We’ve been there too. Just didn’t see the “impact of quarantine on your life” perspective and wanted to add that.
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I sincerely hope your wife has a quick recovery from whatever it is! It certainly wouldn’t hurt to get tested so you know if you need to extend your quarantine or not.
It really feels like such a lost opportunity coming back from a getaway where it feels like you needed to be hyper vigilant the entire time. I know some people can just put the pandemic out of their mind. My DH can, I can’t.
Keep in mind, most rental cars will have Florida plates as well, so not sure how closely that really reflects the number of Floridians at the parks. Maybe someone here has seen a number? Not sure how much current breakdown varies from pre-Covid (obviously missing a lot of international travelers),
But Delta is prevalent across every region of the US now (83% on average) and cases are going up most places, so not sure how much it matters in the overall picture.
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Hello OP.
I’ve had precious little computer time, but have had a lot of reading-on-phone time and have read through this thread.
My two-cents is the very fact you are asking here suggests that you probably shouldn’t go. With the reservations you’ve expressed, your post-trip feelings, should an infection occur, would probably devastate you.
My children are not as young as yours are, and, sadly, I am not expecting… but we did go to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the 4th of July and it was packed. Very few masks. We were comfortable with it, and indeed, being shoulder to shoulder with masses of humanity fed my heart after such a long season without. But it would likely cause great concern to people trying hard to protect themselves. I can’t imagine that would be a fun trip. @Jennifer_B_568600 just posted photos on her trip report of the streets during fireworks. I wouldn’t visit WDW without the fireworks, but that level of crowding might not fit your family’s needs right now.
Having had my own share of “travel before the baby comes” trips (6 kids!) I do understand your desire to fit something special in. But I would hate for you to regret your decision. FWIW I have been to WDW twice while pregnant. In 2000, I went 24 weeks pregnant in June, and in 2005 I went at 16 weeks pregnant in November. I didn’t mind not being able to do rides, but as someone who is rarely “too hot” I was very hot, and thirsty, and SOB with the walking. But I didn’t regret it one bit. I just had to pace myself and it was fine.
ETA - for full disclosure, I was sick in December and subsequent blood donations confirmed covid antibodies for both DH and I. Some of my kids also experienced some mild symptons at that time and we are operating under the assumption that we all had/were exposed to covid. We have also had numerous exposures before and after that time. I just want to be transparent.
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I really appreciate this link! I have so much more confidence in a post where the author is willing to admit what they don’t know. Not sure if there was anything I hadn’t read elsewhere but it was well presented.
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I haven’t got anything to add to this thread that someone hasn’t already said, but I’ve been following as we have a similar decision to make for October. Vaccinated parents, unvaccinated kids 7 &10. I wish they had another sister! I’m almost certainly going to cancel (and I’m gutted about it) for the following reasons:
- Deep disappointment in Disney’s indoor mask policy. I don’t particularly want to go somewhere that doesn’t have my unvaccinated kids’ back. And frankly, anyone else who can’t be vaccinated for whatever reason beyond their control. I can’t help feeling that Disney owes their youngest guests a higher duty of care.
- Delta variant unknowns.
- It will have been 2 years since our last visit. We can suck it up for as many more months as it takes 'till the kids are vaccinated.
A side note (entirely fwiw) on the pregnancy. We live in the Caribbean (although I did have a long stint in Hoboken myself, and have northern sensibilities about heat). I’ve done 9 months pregnant in 90 degree heat with 90% humidity. I don’t recommend it. Ever. On the other hand, while I’ve not had the pleasure of three girls at Disney with one an infant, our trips with the second one as a baby were fabulous.
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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.