A physician’s thoughts after spending 16 nights at Universal and Disney

[durangojim]

Did you eat on the patio at Homecomin'? I love that place, but we're not doing any dine-in (at home or anywhere else), so I hope they haven't overcrowded the patio just because it's outdoors.

I'm a nurse, and I'm realizing that colleagues and friends are much more all-over-the-map about their interest in public health strategies and in acquiring accurate information about this illness than I expected. So I guess I understand why someone would question using your background as a physician to share your experiences, but this long paragraph is meant to say: I really, really appreciated this perspective.
Your post is from a physician who has had Corona and who has traveled and taken a family to Disney in the middle of a pandemic. This insight isn't going to come up too often! Thank you!

Thank you! The thing about COVID-19 is that there is so much we still don’t know. I am very protective of my patients and family but also understand that there are other aspects to health than just physical. I hate to say it but after working 6 days a week for 10-12 hours per day seeing patients virtually and in peroson along with ensure it we didn’t need to lay off or furlough any of our 300 employees, I needed a vacation along with my family. I’m a firm believer in common sense and taking reasonable precautions but also that seeing patients in person and being in close proximity to them 2-3 days per week may have been just as risky of not more so than my family being in the parks and being distanced.
We did eat at Homecomin but on the inside and we’re somewhat uncomfortable about the traffic going by our booth.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Thanks for posting this thread. Nice to get first hand knowledgeable knowledge.

 

[HollyAD]

Did you eat on the patio at Homecomin'? I love that place, but we're not doing any dine-in (at home or anywhere else), so I hope they haven't overcrowded the patio just because it's outdoors.

I'm a nurse, and I'm realizing that colleagues and friends are much more all-over-the-map about their interest in public health strategies and in acquiring accurate information about this illness than I expected. So I guess I understand why someone would question using your background as a physician to share your experiences, but this long paragraph is meant to say: I really, really appreciated this perspective.
Your post is from a physician who has had Corona and who has traveled and taken a family to Disney in the middle of a pandemic. This insight isn't going to come up too often! Thank you!

You're right, the medical community is all over the place! Some are very doom and gloom and some are a little more relaxed. I like to think I fall in the middle. I take precautions, respect the rules, but still want to experience life with my immediate family. I am also the kid who's Dad went to work one day and never came home. I have always felt you make time for experiences with family when you have them. So...to each their own but in the mean time we need to find ways to live life around the pandemic because there is no magic cure/ vaccine that is going to stop this anytime soon.

 

[Benjamin_Nicholas]

Do you think "virologists" are the ones treating patients with COVID "hands on." Absolutely not.

No... They're just the specialists who have spent their entire careers finding cures and who know these sorts of issues backward and forward.

Like I said in a now-deleted post, I would have had less problem with this if the headline didn't include that he was a 'physician,' which made it immediately sound like a professional endorsement. That's shaky territory from an anonymous online post.

 

[durangojim]

No... They're just the specialists who have spent their entire careers finding cures and who know these sorts of issues backward and forward.

Like I said in a now-deleted post, I would have had less problem with this if the headline didn't include that he was a 'physician,' which made it immediately sound like a professional endorsement. That's shaky territory from an anonymous online post.

Please explain how this is an endorsement post. I’m a physician and not embarrassed to say so. If I was giving medical advice that would be different, but sharing my experience and listing what my family and I did to reduce risk hardly constitutes advising people to go to Disney. Please contribute in a meaningful way instead of just trying to troll here. Perhaps your post was deleted for a reason.

 

[thomas998]

1. If any of us felt that we were unsafe at the Disney Parks we would cancel our reservations and return home or try to find some other destination to go to.
2. We would wear masks as often as we possibly could even when not required
3. We would avoid situations where people were not wearing masks or following distancing requirements
4. We would use hand sanitizers or wash our hands as frequently as possible
5. We would not touch our faces without having used the sanitizer or washing our hands
6. We would not do any shows where we remained stationary for extended periods of time
7. If a ride broke down or the line stopped for more than a couple of minutes due to cleaning and people did not follow the distancing and mask rules we would leave and come back later

I'm trying to understand your logic in number 6. We would not do any shows where we remained stationary for extended periods of time

Why would you feel more uncomfortable if you were stationary than if you were moving around? Not quite sure I see how being stationary put you at more risk than moving around would.

 

[Storm]

Please explain how this is an endorsement post. I’m a physician and not embarrassed to say so. If I was giving medical advice that would be different, but sharing my experience and listing what my family and I did to reduce risk hardly constitutes advising people to go to Disney. Please contribute in a meaningful way instead of just trying to troll here. Perhaps your post was deleted for a reason.

Then perhaps you didnt need to clarify in your op that you were a physician but simply a guest with your family ? If you arent talking professionally as a physician then you should simply be talking as a guest , the physician word doesnt need to be there ?

 

[larryz]

Then perhaps you didnt need to clarify in your op that you were a physician but simply a guest with your family ? If you arent talking professionally as a physician then you should simply be talking as a guest , the physician word doesnt need to be there ?

I, for one, appreciate the credibility OP's labeling provides. In other words, he's not just a random, anonymouse board poster, but a qualified professional offering his insights.

Now if it turns out he's ALSO a 300-pound chain-smoking skydiver, all bets are off.

 

[durangojim]

Then perhaps you didnt need to clarify in your op that you were a physician but simply a guest with your family ? If you arent talking professionally as a physician then you should simply be talking as a guest , the physician word doesnt need to be there ?

Something that may be difficult for people who aren't in the medical field to understand is that most people who are in the medical field view almost everything through a certain lens. In my case that means minimizing risk, but not eliminating it. It's not like when I leave my office I stop being a physician and don't wash my hands and start spreading germs like a child or many people I see at the grocery store. It's very difficult to separate a mentality that I've had for over 20 years from "just being on vacation". As Obi Wan might say, I see things "from a certain point of view" and see no shame or reason not to include that my perspective is that of a practicing physician.

 

[durangojim]

I'm trying to understand your logic in number 6. We would not do any shows where we remained stationary for extended periods of time

Why would you feel more uncomfortable if you were stationary than if you were moving around? Not quite sure I see how being stationary put you at more risk than moving around would.

My thought process, although it may be incorrect, is that if I'm in a theater where I'm forced to sit next to someone for an extended period of time, I'm at a higher risk to be exposed to their droplets than if I'm on a moving ride where we are passing through a given space.

 

[DaisyDnDon]

Thank you for sharing about your trip, and I’m glad you had a good experience. Your post, along with most of this thread, is exactly the type of information I’m looking for - specific examples about your experiences coupled with an idea of your background/general approach to risk, etc.

Was riding in the elevator ever something that gave you reason to feel a little uncomfortable?
And what about the pools? Did you swim or skip - and why or why not?

 

[durangojim]

Thank you for sharing about your trip, and I’m glad you had a good experience. Your post, along with most of this thread, is exactly the type of information I’m looking for - specific examples about your experiences coupled with an idea of your background/general approach to risk, etc.

Was riding in the elevator ever something that gave you reason to feel a little uncomfortable?
And what about the pools? Did you swim or skip - and why or why not?

Thank you. Riding in an elevator was actually fairly stress free. I think most people follow the sign that says “one party or no more than four individuals period elevator”. A couple of times I had people offer to let me ride with them but I politely declined and once I had to tell a lady that she could not ride in our elevator. On all cases people were cordial and understanding. I would not want to ride with anyone other than my family in an elevator.
We did swim but tried to confine ourselves to one area and did not throw any kinds of balls or toys around. The pools at BLT worked out well but because of the abbreviated hours the “quiet pool” at the Contemporary became a hotspot for teens and 20 yo’s after 9pm and we did not feel comfortable there due to their lack of common sense and distancing.

 

[thomas998]

My thought process, although it may be incorrect, is that if I'm in a theater where I'm forced to sit next to someone for an extended period of time, I'm at a higher risk to be exposed to their droplets than if I'm on a moving ride where we are passing through a given space.

Funny. My thought was the opposite, if I'm sitting in a theater and am far away from others I expect I'm at less risk of being exposed to the droplets of others than if I'm walking through the same air that others just exhaled. In the end you are probably screwed either way since even if everyone were 12 feet apart in a theater the HVAC is going to circulate the air around as if you put a drop of food coloring in a blender that was turned on... and if you walk around your clearly going through the areas someone else was leaving little wuhan present.

 

[durangojim]

Funny. My thought was the opposite, if I'm sitting in a theater and am far away from others I expect I'm at less risk of being exposed to the droplets of others than if I'm walking through the same air that others just exhaled. In the end you are probably screwed either way since even if everyone were 12 feet apart in a theater the HVAC is going to circulate the air around as if you put a drop of food coloring in a blender that was turned on... and if you walk around your clearly going through the areas someone else was leaving little wuhan present.

I understand but was thinking more about fast moving rides. Maybe give me an example of a ride you’re thinking about.

 

[thomas998]

I understand but was thinking more about fast moving rides. Maybe give me an example of a ride you’re thinking about.

I'm thinking most every dark ride is really the equivalent of moving around inside a small barn. Haunted Mansion might be the least nasty since it seems to have an abundance of area compared to say Winnie the Pooh, but all of them are really closed in areas where the movement of the cars is just helping to disperse the viral particles from anyone that has the virus throughout the entire area... couple that with no sunlight to help kill any of the nasties and they just seem like a high risk compared to say Thunder Mountain where the speed should be causing enough turbulence in the air that you aren't getting any more on the ride than you would from simply walking around the park.

 

[durangojim]

I'm thinking most every dark ride is really the equivalent of moving around inside a small barn. Haunted Mansion might be the least nasty since it seems to have an abundance of area compared to say Winnie the Pooh, but all of them are really closed in areas where the movement of the cars is just helping to disperse the viral particles from anyone that has the virus throughout the entire area... couple that with no sunlight to help kill any of the nasties and they just seem like a high risk compared to say Thunder Mountain where the speed should be causing enough turbulence in the air that you aren't getting any more on the ride than you would from simply walking around the park.

I don’t disagree. Attractions like Philharmagic, Carousel of Progress, etc. seem more high risk than the fast moving coasters or even dark rides where you still move around. Unfortunately it seems like it’s just differing levels of ptential exposure.
In example, I could kick myself that we went on Star Tours. That seemed totally unacceptable after we boarded. Unfortunately there wasn’t much we could do.
I’m not trying to hold myself up as a paragon of what guests should be doing, just trying to give others info so they can make their own informed descisions.

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

If you’re giving out free telemedicine by way of Disney Parks threads, I have had high fevers, boils, hallucinations of burning villages, and the urge to yell we wants the Redhead. It all started after drinking the water on POTC....any opinions?

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I, for one, appreciate the credibility OP's labeling provides. In other words, he's not just a random, anonymouse board poster, but a qualified professional offering his insights.

Now if it turns out he's ALSO a 300-pound chain-smoking skydiver, all bets are off.

Unless he wants to post his real name and where he practices(and please don't) he is an anonymous poster, we all are!
I like getting the insight, but hope nobody makes their personal health decisions based on what they read on this forum.

 

[Archie123]

Unless he wants to post his real name and where he practices(and please don't) he is an anonymous poster, we all are!
I like getting the insight, but hope nobody makes their personal health decisions based on what they read on this forum.

You are 100% correct. Why would ANYONE take medical advice from a complete stranger on a Disney website or any random website for that matter. He may be a doctor or he may not be but regardless please don't any advice from a complete stranger.

Edit - I suppose if you listen to me then you are indeed taking advice from a complete stranger but you can trust me!!

 

[Club Cooloholic]

You are 100% correct. Why would ANYONE take medical advice from a complete stranger on a Disney website or any random website for that matter. He may be a doctor or he may not be but regardless please don't any advice from a complete stranger.

I appreciate him telling his point of view. I have a trip in November, and it sounds like things are being done to the level I was hoping, but I haven't had COVID yet(at least according to the anitbody test I took a 2 weeks ago)so I am still nervous.