Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Rteetz]

Have been coming at least every year for the past 35 years. HS was the most crowded I have ever seen it. Most shops are closed so you can't pop in to get relief from the crowds and heat. Miserable.

DHS suffers a lot due to people running there for the best new ride at WDW. They also don't have any of their large people eating shows operating. Will be interesting to see if Frozen helps at all there.

 

[Jrb1979]

While the parks are busier then back in July they are still far from being where they thought they would be. From a poster on another board has said

Disney is apparently reaching out to CPs from Spring 2020 (the ones who had their programs abruptly cut short due to the shutdown) and offering them the opportunity to "redeem" any complimentary park tickets they earned. Some of these participants have been reporting this on social media, and I see certain sites are starting to pick this up.

That to me tells me they aren't happy with attendance.

 

[tussking]

Finally built up the courage to take my teens to Epcot (Wednesday) & MK (Thursday). Has there been any cases reported after visiting Disney? Do you all feel safe sleeping in a hotel? Just trying to get a feel. I usually travel 75+ nights a year for work and stay in hotels. It feels so odd to me. It's been 7 months. Any tips for hotels? Any tips for Epcot & MK? Thanks in advance.

 

[Miss Bella]

While the parks are busier then back in July they are still far from being where they thought they would be. From a poster on another board has said

Disney is apparently reaching out to CPs from Spring 2020 (the ones who had their programs abruptly cut short due to the shutdown) and offering them the opportunity to "redeem" any complimentary park tickets they earned. Some of these participants have been reporting this on social media, and I see certain sites are starting to pick this up.

That to me tells me they aren't happy with attendance.

Are any businesses other than Costco, Amazon, and the random mask-making company happy right now? I'm guessing not. The fact the WDW is steadily getting busier is a good sign,...or is it?
Who would have thought posters on a Disney fan forum would be stressing over low crowds.

 

[Jrb1979]

Are any businesses other than Costco, Amazon, and the random mask-making company happy right now? I'm guessing not. The fact the WDW is steadily getting busier is a good sign,...or is it?
Who would have thought posters on a Disney fan forum would be stressing over low crowds.

While it's busier, its mostly AP holders filling the parks. What Disney survives on is the resort guest which from all reports are far from being full.

 

[Chomama]

Finally built up the courage to take my teens to Epcot (Wednesday) & MK (Thursday). Has there been any cases reported after visiting Disney? Do you all feel safe sleeping in a hotel? Just trying to get a feel. I usually travel 75+ nights a year for work and stay in hotels. It feels so odd to me. It's been 7 months. Any tips for hotels? Any tips for Epcot & MK? Thanks in advance.

we stayed at contemporary and felt safe in the hotel with everyone masked. We used stairs instead of elevator when needed but requested a 1st floor room garden wing so we could park our car right at our room. I brought some Lysol wipes and wipes down high touch items - phone, remote, charging docks, door handles and toilet flusher. We also brought our own disposable coffee cups bc we like to travel with our coffee. The hotel did not put guests in adjoining rooms so we felt distanced that way as well. Only felt a little iffy on the monorail and the 2 times we ate Inside.
Now in the parks is a different story!

 

[Chomama]

Are any businesses other than Costco, Amazon, and the random mask-making company happy right now? I'm guessing not. The fact the WDW is steadily getting busier is a good sign,...or is it?
Who would have thought posters on a Disney fan forum would be stressing over low crowds.

From what I am seeing they want safe crowds over crowds at any cost. I think they feel that one of two things will happen:
1- out of state guests will cancel more trips
Due to lowering of restrictions in FL and higher crowds in parks And quarantine lists that won’t change now
2 - the lowering of restrictions causes an uptick in cases that extends all the quarantines against travel to florida and larger crowds will lead to more cases and an uptick in florida as we head into flu season

time will tell but I think people want Disney open. They are just wanting it done as safely as possible which means avoiding large clumps of people hanging around

 

[Miss Bella]

While it's busier, its mostly AP holders filling the parks. What Disney survives on is the resort guest which from all reports are far from being full.

I visited Disney multiple times during the last two recessions and crowd levels were down for a couple of years. They've been open for less than three months give it some time.

 

[Jrb1979]

I visited Disney multiple times during the last two recessions and crowd levels were down for a couple of years. They've been open for less than three months give it some time.

I know it will come back eventually. From the Disney side of things visitation is not where they want it/need it to be. Not enough out-of-state Guests, not enough week-long visitors, not enough Disney Resort Guests, and not enough Guests visiting the parks on weekdays. That pent up demand that Chapek said was there isn't there.

 

[Miss Bella]

I know it will come back eventually. From the Disney side of things visitation is not where they want it/need it to be. Not enough out-of-state Guests, not enough week-long visitors, not enough Disney Resort Guests, and not enough Guests visiting the parks on weekdays. That pent up demand that Chapek said was there isn't there.

I guess I'm getting old, but I've been through a lot of recessions. It's kind of like here we go again. Maybe this is the end of the world as we know it, but I hope not.

 

[Jrb1979]

I guess I'm getting old, but I've been through a lot of recessions. It's kind of like here we go again. Maybe this is the end of the world as we know it, but I hope not.

I don't think it's the end of the world. I just think a lot of people believe things are better then they are right now. Disney will cutting a lot more things before it gets better.

 

[Figments Friend]

I've seen 3 different people say the parks are now becoming too crowded. 2 of these basically walked around and left. For a while Universal was very busy and Disney was manageable but it seems like now Disney is getting busy. Any reports of this?

I've been on Property for the past week.
Parks are busier then I expected, but still enjoyable.
But the days of 'empty Parks ' and 'walk on' Attractions are over - people are here and in numbers that have increased from prior months.
Big time.
At least, this has been my experience.

I came expecting 'sparsely populated Parks' but that is not the case.
The only time it feels like that is the last two hours of operation...which is the best time to be in the Park of choice for the day.
Crowds thin out tremendously and then I get the feeling that there is actual capacity restrictions.


Pop Century Resort is a frenzy of activity and seemingly very full.
As the only 'Value' Resort currently operating, that is to be expected...but it's still fuller then I expected after all the reports of sparse attendence.
I see no real difference in attendence there compared to 'normal'.
I know part of the uptick is a lot of people who booked vacation packages with Disney for earlier this year cancelled and then reaceduled to visit in September.

Most of the people I have interacted with that are in the Parks have been local AP holders or DVC people.

-

 

[TheRealMichaelEisner]

The world has gone downhill ever since ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter closed.

 

[Kevin_W]

Finally built up the courage to take my teens to Epcot (Wednesday) & MK (Thursday). Has there been any cases reported after visiting Disney? Do you all feel safe sleeping in a hotel? Just trying to get a feel. I usually travel 75+ nights a year for work and stay in hotels. It feels so odd to me. It's been 7 months. Any tips for hotels? Any tips for Epcot & MK? Thanks in advance.

I've stayed in hotels a couple times since this all started (Hilton brand in Indiana and Marriott in Idaho) and felt pretty good. They are doing extra cleaning, and like the poster above said, we also brought our own wipes fro high-touch surfaces. Employees/guests wore masks, and we didn't really interact with anyone aside from a brief checkin that was more distant than visit to the grocery store.

 

[DisneyCane]

It’s not “just” those 2 risk factors. Rather, there are quite a few more. From the CDC website:



People of any age with the following conditions are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19:

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant
• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher)
• Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
• Sickle cell disease
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• 
  
• Based on what we know at this time, people with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19:
  • Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
  • Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Hypertension or high blood pressure
  • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
  • Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
  • Liver disease
  • Pregnancy
  • Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
  • Smoking
  • Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
  • Type 1 diabetes mellitus

So really, we need to stop shrugging and saying “Meh”. As I think of my friends, family, and co-workers, I can attach many of these risk factors to them.

From speaking with medical professionals who treat COVID patients the most common condition that young people have when they present with a severe case of covid-19 is morbid obesity. It is followed by diabetes. Yes, people with the laundry list of conditions are more susceptible than a healthy person but are still not that likely to have major issues if they are not elderly.

 

[DisneyCane]

It only makes sense to "hide" from an infectious disease, and right now there isn't any other infectious disease that is as prevalent as COVID in the US. Ebola is much worse, but since we aren't getting 40,000 new cases of it in the US each day it does not concern me.

We don't hide from the disease which shall not be named. For people in the younger demographics that one is possibly more deadly than COVID-19.

 

[DisneyCane]

Don't you know that masks are "no problem?"

Seriously, thanks for your perspective - it's why I don't see us visiting until the mask requirement is either removed or relaxed somewhat to make it more palatable. My most fervent desire is that people would respect the protocols now in place so we can reach the point where these restrictions are no longer required.

The mask requirement for outdoor areas (outside of queues) is just stupid. Although I can understand that it's easier to have a blanket "masks while on property" rule than to try and get people to put them on when they enter a queue or shop.

 

[DisneyCane]

Finally built up the courage to take my teens to Epcot (Wednesday) & MK (Thursday). Has there been any cases reported after visiting Disney? Do you all feel safe sleeping in a hotel? Just trying to get a feel. I usually travel 75+ nights a year for work and stay in hotels. It feels so odd to me. It's been 7 months. Any tips for hotels? Any tips for Epcot & MK? Thanks in advance.

Since May I've stayed in several hotels/motels ranging from Pop Century at WDW to roadside motels in MN and MT. I just wiped down the room with sanitizing wipes like I always did before COVID and really didn't give anything a second thought. Granted, outside of forced restrictions and protocols that businesses have implemented, I don't really give anything a second thought.

 

[giantgolfer]

Are any businesses other than Costco, Amazon, and the random mask-making company happy right now? I'm guessing not. The fact the WDW is steadily getting busier is a good sign,...or is it?
Who would have thought posters on a Disney fan forum would be stressing over low crowds.

I work for Dick’s Sporting Goods. Business is through the roof this year.

 

[Polkadotdress]

From speaking with medical professionals who treat COVID patients the most common condition that young people have when they present with a severe case of covid-19 is morbid obesity. It is followed by diabetes. Yes, people with the laundry list of conditions are more susceptible than a healthy person but are still not that likely to have major issues if they are not elderly.

Welp, I am tagged with 2 of the issues on the list (not diabetes or obesity) so I will NOT be taking my chances that I'll get through without major issues.