Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[DisneyDebRob]

I take COVID very seriously—no travel, restaurants, or gatherings for me—but will gladly eat food from a buffet once the pandemic is behind us. Am I the only one here not grossed out by them?

Yes you are the only one.

 

[Chi84]

I think you may be overestimating the number of people who spread it with no idea they were a risk to spread it. Here is an example (I've actually heard a few similar stories):

My brother is an assistant coach for a youth baseball team. In the third inning of a game two weeks ago, they were informed that a kid who was playing in the game just got a positive test result and needed to leave. His mom had symptoms a few days earlier and tested positive. The kid got tested due to the close contact with his mom even though he was asymptomatic. However, he continued his normal life until he received a positive test result. He should have quarantined just from the close contact with a positive (and symptomatic) case. I think there are at least hundreds of thousands of stories like this.

People also wildly overestimate the number of people who actually have it, but I see that more from the few people who post often here than out in real life. I wish our news media were more about informing and less about sensationalizing. This virus is bad enough without all the hyperbole and fear-mongering.

 

[Parker in NYC]

I take COVID very seriously—no travel, restaurants, or gatherings for me—but will gladly eat food from a buffet once the pandemic is behind us. Am I the only one here not grossed out by them?

My comment wasn't about buffets themselves but rather the speed in which they'll reopen. I'm just saying that as soon as the doors swing open, folks will go.

 

[Dreaming of Disney World]

I'm curious, when the vaccine is widely available, do you think Disney would require proof of vaccination in order to let people reserve park tickets and hotel rooms?

 

[Parker in NYC]

I'm curious, when the vaccine is widely available, do you think Disney would require proof of vaccination in order to let people reserve park tickets and hotel rooms?

No. There'd be an outcry of totalitarianism.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

People also wildly overestimate the number of people who actually have it, but I see that more from the few people who post often here than out in real life. I wish our news media were more about informing and less about sensationalizing. This virus is bad enough without all the hyperbole and fear-mongering.

I don’t think when the CDC says the rate is probably 8x what is being reported is fear mongering. It’s the CDC saying it, the news is reporting what’s coming from them. You can choose to believe it or not. For me, I think they know better then any of us here.

 

[DisneyCane]

People also wildly overestimate the number of people who actually have it, but I see that more from the few people who post often here than out in real life. I wish our news media were more about informing and less about sensationalizing. This virus is bad enough without all the hyperbole and fear-mongering.

I've tried to do the math a couple of times in this thread to estimate the percentage of potential spreaders out of the population at any given time. I just get hammered for minimizing the situation and admonished that "you don't know if you are in the tiny percentage of the population that is asymptomatic and contagious."

 

[Heppenheimer]

I'm curious, when the vaccine is widely available, do you think Disney would require proof of vaccination in order to let people reserve park tickets and hotel rooms?

I imagine Disney's decision will be based on if such a move would increase attendance (by providing reassurance) or decrease it (by making visiting more inconvenient). Just from my observations, tolerance for continued COVIDiocy seems to be rapidly plummeting, so a policy that genuinely protects guests might work in their benefit by attracting more visitors.

 

[Chi84]

No. There'd be an outcry of totalitarianism.

Just like there was when they started entering people's rooms without their permission to do security checks. Totalitarianism is a government thing - limits must be placed to prevent overreach because government holds power over its citizens. It has the authority to fine or even imprison people unless they obey.

Disney has no authority whatsoever over anyone unless that person voluntarily submits to it by entering their property. I don't know whether or not they will require proof of vaccination but I hope they do. If people really are staying away from Disney because they don't feel safe, that would help bring them back.

 

[Jrb1979]

I've tried to do the math a couple of times in this thread to estimate the percentage of potential spreaders out of the population at any given time. I just get hammered for minimizing the situation and admonished that "you don't know if you are in the tiny percentage of the population that is asymptomatic and contagious."

Could the lower percentage have to do with the restrictions that were put in place? Why minimize it at all? It is what it is.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I take COVID very seriously—no travel, restaurants, or gatherings for me—but will gladly eat food from a buffet once the pandemic is behind us. Am I the only one here not grossed out by them?

The haters will hate. I love buffets. I especially miss the Biergarten in EPCOTs Germany. I hope it comes back.

I have a great Biergarten story. My wife and I were enjoying the fine buffet in Germany, as we know the Biergarten has community seating, when another guest had a seat at our table, it turns out he was a dad, he and his family just got to WDW and the very first thing he did was to go to the Biergarten while his family enjoyed their day in the park! Now that’s a fan of the Biergarten

 

[Jrb1979]

The haters will hate. I love buffets. I especially miss the Biergarten in EPCOTs Germany. I hope it comes back.

I have a great Biergarten story. My wife and I were enjoying the fine buffet in Germany, as we know the Biergarten has community seating, when another guest had a seat at our table, it turns out he was a dad, he and his family just got to WDW and the very first thing he did was to go to the Biergarten while his family enjoyed their day in the park! Now that’s a fan of the Biergarten

I don't mind most buffets. The only bad ones seem to be the character dining ones as the food is secondary. Most are some of the worst rated food on property.

 

[DisneyCane]

I'm curious, when the vaccine is widely available, do you think Disney would require proof of vaccination in order to let people reserve park tickets and hotel rooms?

No. There'd be an outcry of totalitarianism.

I disagree with that conclusion. If it is a Disney rule, I don't see an issue with it and I'm as "anti totalitarian" as they get. Where I would have an issue is a government mandate that I can't travel to a state without proof of vaccination or something like that.

I don’t think when the CDC says the rate is probably 8x what is being reported is fear mongering. It’s the CDC saying it, the news is reporting what’s coming from them. You can choose to believe it or not. For me, I think they know better then any of us here.

Of course, assuming their estimate is accurate, it means the infection fatality rate is 1/8 of what has been reported. It would make it around 0.25%. Let's even say 0.3% to account for death and reporting lag. How many news reports focus on that aspect?

 

[Heppenheimer]

The haters will hate. I love buffets. I especially miss the Biergarten in EPCOTs Germany. I hope it comes back.

I have a great Biergarten story. My wife and I were enjoying the fine buffet in Germany, as we know the Biergarten has community seating, when another guest had a seat at our table, it turns out he was a dad, he and his family just got to WDW and the very first thing he did was to go to the Biergarten while his family enjoyed their day in the park! Now that’s a fan of the Biergarten

If you like Epcot's Biergarten, and you ever make it to Munich, try one of the best of the real thing:

Biergarten

 

[danlb_2000]

Anyone depressed to think that we may have to go through this vaccine cycle thing every year??

No, because there is reason to be optimistic that immunity may be long lasting, and even if it's not, people get a flu vaccine every year an it's not a big deal.

 

[Chi84]

I don’t think when the CDC says the rate is probably 8x what is being reported is fear mongering. It’s the CDC saying it, the news is reporting what’s coming from them. You can choose to believe it or not. For me, I think they know better then any of us here.

I heard it's around 10 times as many, which would still leave about 90% of the US population uninfected. Without a vaccine to protect against it and prevent the spread, and given the sheer size of the US population, 10% infected can quickly grow and overwhelm health care resources. Everything we're doing now to stop it is important. But the vast majority of the population does not have COVID - acknowledging that does not minimize the virus or make it any less important to take precautions.

 

[Seanual757]

The plan for Florida I will be ready for mine as well as my family.

Gov. Ron DeSantis unveils Florida’s COVID-19 vaccine plan; who will get it first?

Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled who will get the vaccine first and when it could be more widely available on Wednesday evening.

www.wftv.com

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I disagree with that conclusion. If it is a Disney rule, I don't see an issue with it and I'm as "anti totalitarian" as they get. Where I would have an issue is a government mandate that I can't travel to a state without proof of vaccination or something like that.



Of course, assuming their estimate is accurate, it means the infection fatality rate is 1/8 of what has been reported. It would make it around 0.25%. Let's even say 0.3% to account for death and reporting lag. How many news reports focus on that aspect?

No news outlet will report on the minutia of the percentages and degrees. You know that. It’s not going to grab someone’s attention for a minute or two. What gets the attention of people is that we just had 3100 deaths in one day and they are calling for upwards of a total of 450,000 deaths by February if we don’t get our act together. Call it fear mongering if you want but the first figure is a fact and the second could happen. That should be enough for everyone to step back and take notice.

 

[Jrb1979]

I heard it's around 10 times as many, which would still leave about 90% of the US population uninfected. Without a vaccine to protect against it and prevent the spread, and given the sheer size of the US population, 10% infected can quickly grow and overwhelm health care resources. Everything we're doing now to stop it is important. But the vast majority of the population does not have COVID - acknowledging that does not minimize the virus or make it any less important to take precautions.

Why acknowledge that at all? All that does is make it harder to get people to follow guidelines then it is now. The more you downplay the virus, the more people will think it's ok not to worry about it. Less people taking precautions is not a good thing. We all want this to be over but downplaying this it the way to do it.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I heard it's around 10 times as many, which would still leave about 90% of the US population uninfected. Without a vaccine to protect against it and prevent the spread, and given the sheer size of the US population, 10% infected can quickly grow and overwhelm health care resources. Everything we're doing now to stop it is important. But the vast majority of the population does not have COVID - acknowledging that does not minimize the virus or make it any less important to take precautions.

We agree that the vast majority does not have it. We disagree on the fear mongering you brought up. You are correct to say we need to do something now because many are already being overwhelmed and we haven’t even gotten into thanksgiving figures yet.