Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[DisneyCane]

Pretty interesting. They are requiring

• Proof of vaccination for anyone over 18
• A negative test from the last 5 days for under 18.
• When boarding the ship everyone (including those fully vaccinated) have to pass an additional antigen quick test.
• While onboard the ship they are also still requiring masks in all public spaces unless stationary and eating for anyone over 11 including those fully vaccinated
• Masks are recommended for kids 3-11
• Daily health screening including temp check and health questionnaire

These are also cruises to nowhere with no stops. I wonder how they will handle people getting off and back on a port in the future.

This is not for cruises out of the US and particularly FL. I wonder how they handle the testing and vaccine requirements for FL based US cruises or will they just avoid cruising out of FL for the immediate future.

That sounds like a really fun vacation. [/sarcasm]

Seriously, is that a cruise or a hospital ship?

 

[DisneyCane]

Looks like masks still get the thumbs up from them though. Sucks for folks wanting both out of the picture last year.

Sort of. They seem to say that masks are pretty useless with respect to asymptomatic spread and only help with droplets.

 

[lisa12000]

That sounds like a really fun vacation. [/sarcasm]

Seriously, is that a cruise or a hospital ship?

I have to agree unfortunately. We were planning on just doing a two night one at the start of a 10 day uk based Holiday. We will both be fully vaccinated by start of June and don’t mind that being a condition of boarding - but the thought of that plus a test and then wearing a face mask all the time even if we are just walking around outside and not even being able to sit outside on a sun lounger and take it off? (That’s even stricter than wdw isn’t it?) I just don’t want to do it

The UK hasn’t changed rules for fully vaccinated people at all so I get masks being needed indoors at theatres etc but we have no requirement to wear them outside, at a pub outside when sitting down etc so it’s not a uk requirement and other cruise lines aren’t going that far even if they’re requiring vaccinations

 

[DisneyCane]

We did talk about it a few pages back. I think the key takeaway is that physical distancing while indoors and wearing a mask doesn‘t necessarily help as much as people were assuming. For outdoors the article says this:
As for social distancing outdoors, Bazant says it makes almost no sense and that doing so with masks on is “kind of crazy.”
So I think this supports the idea that outdoor distancing is not really needed. For indoor spaces they are still saying masks are most important since it greatly reduces the larger droplets from circulating. With a mask on the smaller droplets that get through tend to float in the air longer so a person on the other side of the room is just as likely to be infected as someone 6 feet apart. Time spent is a bigger factor than distance. So for indoor dining this is a bigger negative finding. With masks off and dining the 6 feet isn’t really helping as much as we hoped and dining tends to take a longer time than passing through an area.

For WDW it could be a strong argument to end distancing outdoors and also to lessen the indoor queue and ride vehicle requirements since people are masked and not spending long periods of time together.

For WDW, the on ride distancing and plexiglass were likely never necessary and can be removed. For indoor portions of queues, it makes sense to keep some distancing just to lower the amount of people in there breathing at once. Many indoor queues don't seem to have great ventilation.

All measures being done outdoors can likely be ended with a very small increase in risk, if any. I think this could have been concluded when the large outdoor gatherings in the streets last summer didn't result in increased spread. Air doesn't behave differently on Main Street, USA at MK than it does in a major city.

 

[GoofGoof]

That sounds like a really fun vacation. [/sarcasm]

Seriously, is that a cruise or a hospital ship?

It’s the price to play right now. Just like some people see no appeal in going to WDW with a mask and distancing and signs everywhere reminding you it’s a pandemic there will be many who don’t want to do all of this either. Some will think it’s worthwhile.

I assume this gets the door open and then they can pull back over time. I assume once recommendations evolve around masks for fully vaccinated they will drop the masks. The rest seems appropriate for a cruise ship. Do the daily questionnaire and temp check do much? Probably not.

 

[GoofGoof]

Air doesn't behave differently on Main Street, USA at MK than it does in a major city.

It smells much better

 

[disneygeek90]

Don't agree. Cruises were already know for people being sick. I think they will play it safe and keep the vaccine requirement. It's unfortunate those who won't be getting vaccinated can't sail but that's life

This is an incident from Independence of the Seas.

Fun fact, I was on this ship! It was the most ~apocalyptic experience I’ve ever felt prior to covid. Both of my parents (who were in a different room) got sick. My brother and I were spared. I think the number was actually much higher than officially reported, it was pretty much ship wide in a matter of 24 hours.

 

[BlindChow]

Ah please no more surges, waves or spikes this summer, fall or winter, we're almost there to herd immunity soon! When we reach 80% people got vaccinated then masks and social distancing will be gone for good. @GoofGoof

I meant surge in attendance at WDW not surge of Covid cases

I'm laughing way too hard at this.

 

[correcaminos]

I meant surge in attendance at WDW not surge of Covid cases

I got a notification I think this morning that Epcot hours were extended to 10pm. This isn't the first extention I noticed for early June. Unfortunately opening is still at 11am which I loathe.

 

[GaBoy]

This is an incident from Independence of the Seas.
View attachment 551700
Fun fact, I was on this ship! It was the most ~apocalyptic experience I’ve ever felt prior to covid. Both of my parents (who were in a different room) got sick. My brother and I were spared. I think the number was actually much higher than officially reported, it was pretty much ship wide in a matter of 24 hours.

Noro never again! I was a whirlybird lawn sprinkler for 24 hours Christmas 2018. Aweful.

 

[GoofGoof]

I got a notification I think this morning that Epcot hours were extended to 10pm. This isn't the first extention I noticed for early June. Unfortunately opening is still at 11am which I loathe.

There seems to be a desire to see people take advantage of hopping and go to EPCOT for dinner and park time in the evening. I also think its a good indication that EPCOT may be the first park to get a night show back. No guarantee of that and no inside information just a gut feeling.

 

[correcaminos]

There seems to be a desire to see people take advantage of hopping and go to EPCOT for dinner and park time in the evening. I also think its a good indication that EPCOT may be the first park to get a night show back. No guarantee of that and no inside information just a gut feeling.

That's what most seem to do. Epcot usually gets a lot of park time. This time we have it 2 days. Arrival day for some and then a morning we want breakfast at WCC. I do prefer F&GF in the morning which is why I'm annoyed with it.

 

[CastAStone]

Is this just an HR paperwork requirement? You have to post an open position for equal opportunity employment reasons? I know where I work that happens with open positions even if we have someone internally wanting to move into the role. I thought there were still thousands of CMs furloughed. Do they have to reapply for their former positions now or are those just different positions still furloughed? Either way it’s good news for out of work CMs and for the immediate future of the parks. The ramp up to a Summer surge has begun.

My understanding from following along with CM and former CM posts on the interwebs is that for most roles, they have been done asking furloughed to come back for a few weeks, and they’ve been calling completely laid off workers over the last few weeks to see if they wanted their jobs back. This is the next step beyond that - this means they’re really, truly hiring.

I believe there are still furloughed people in certain specific roles.

 

[DCBaker]

Numbers are out - there were 53 new reported deaths, along with 1 Non-Florida Resident death.

 

[DCBaker]

Current Florida vaccine report -

 

[GoofGoof]

My understanding from following along with CM and former CM posts on the interwebs is that for most roles, they have been done asking furloughed to come back for a few weeks, and they’ve been calling completely laid off workers over the last few weeks to see if they wanted their jobs back. This is the next step beyond that - this means they’re really, truly hiring.

I believe there are still furloughed people in certain specific roles.

Makes sense. So filling the gaps left by not having the college program back yet. It’s really good news for the workers and the local economy in general.

 

[GoofGoof]

The world has officially hit 1 billion doses of covid vaccine administered

On the US front another 3.3M doses yesterday, supporting the theory that vaccinations are going up on weekends due to working people being the primary group left to be vaccinated. 65+ up to 81.3% started so not climbing rapidly, but that group continues to go up each day. Keep the faith and keep encouraging your friends and family to get vaccinated.

 

[Bullseye1967]

I found this article on Universal Japan:

Super Nintendo World in Osaka closes after COVID case surge in Japan

Universal Studios Japan has shut down to comply with a new state of emergency. Tokyo Disneyland could be next.

www.cnet.com

 

[BrianLo]

Has Japan closing Universal already been discussed? How is Japan, with maybe the highest mask adherence in the world, having a spike right now?

Keep in mind (adjusted for population) that Japan during a spike is currently 18% of what the US right now is calling "Normal" or not a spike.

None of these mitigations are perfect, obviously. But strong evidence that even without vaccine penetration their measures are still far superior. Eventually vaccines will supersede all of that. But clearly not yet.

The US has just lost the pulse on what is a Normal amount of control over the virus.

 

[Incomudro]

For WDW, the on ride distancing and plexiglass were likely never necessary and can be removed. For indoor portions of queues, it makes sense to keep some distancing just to lower the amount of people in there breathing at once. Many indoor queues don't seem to have great ventilation.

All measures being done outdoors can likely be ended with a very small increase in risk, if any. I think this could have been concluded when the large outdoor gatherings in the streets last summer didn't result in increased spread. Air doesn't behave differently on Main Street, USA at MK than it does in a major city.

I'm getting the impression that many of my beliefs on the type of masks the public has been wearing (non n95) and how we have been wearing them will be proven to have not done much when the dust settles.