Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[seascape]

That’s actually not true. PA‘s travel restrictions say if you leave the state to go anywhere you have to quarantine and that includes NY and NJ so your facts are alternate facts. It’s not some political policy attempting to punish FL. The CDC is recommending people avoid non-essential travel through the holidays. These states are following through on that recommendation.

Latest Guidance At A Glance​

• The Secretary of Health issued an order requiring travelers over age 11 entering Pennsylvania from locations outside the Commonwealth, including Pennsylvanians who are returning home from locations outside the Commonwealth, to produce evidence of a negative COVID-19 test or place themselves in quarantine for 10 days without testing or a 7-day quarantine with a negative test on or after day 5 of quarantine.
• If someone cannot get a test or chooses not to, they must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in Pennsylvania.
• This does NOT apply to:
  • Individuals traveling to and from the Commonwealth for the purposes of work.
  • Individuals who are returning to the Commonwealth after traveling outside the Commonwealth for less than 24 hours.
  • Individuals traveling to and from the Commonwealth for medical reasons, including individuals providing comfort and support to a patient.
  • Military personnel traveling to the Commonwealth by order or directive of a state or Federal military authority.
  • Individuals in transit through the Commonwealth to another destination, provided that the time spent in the Commonwealth is only the amount of time necessary to complete the transit, make use of travel services, such as a highway rest stop, or make necessary travel connections.
  • Individuals traveling to comply with a court order, such as child custody, or other exemptions issued by guidance.

I was just reading the Pennsylvania FAQ page and it seems Governor Wolf did a better job on his order than either Governor Murphy or Governor Cuomo. In my opinion that is because of the education he received at The Hill School. He did exclude those who work in Pennsylvania but live in a neighboring state. He did not exclude anyone not working, or on critical business, but I know those vacationing from NY or NJ is not enforced.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

We do our share of that. And while I don't personally have a pile of change, my college student does, and I don't expect her to donate all her change.

We need to stop making assumptions about what everyone can or should do.

Not making assumptions at all. Just thought it was a good idea. Sorry you got offended.
Maybe round down then for the ones that don’t want to give or can’t. Done again.I think most would so business won’t lose any money.
Change, as in money, has needed to go for a long time.

 

[seabreezept813]

M

True, but it does seem like we might want to move as soon as possible to a scenario where customers aren’t walking into banks wearing masks...

My mom is a bank manager and when their lobbies were open this summer (they’ve closed again) they would make people take their mask down in front of a camera.. and everyone complained, both about wearing masks and taking them down.

 

[Lilofan]

I didn’t think walking into a bank was even a thing anymore. People still need to walk into banks?

I do to access my safety deposit box.

 

[Lilofan]

There are a ton of hospitals in the Philly area and a ton of nurses and doctors who live in the NJ suburbs and work in those hospitals. They aren’t going to restrict those people from going to work. If you come to PA from another state for a vacation right now you have to quarantine. There is a work exception that allows people to continue working. There’s a big difference between traveling to another state for work or to go to a doctor’s visit at a hospital or something short term and going somewhere on vacation. That recent list of the 5 most likely public place to be infected included restaurants, bars, cafes and hotels which are all places you are more likely to visit while traveling on vacation.

I would think it is cheaper cost of living to live in PA as opposed to high property tax Jersey. But the food when I visit is tops in both areas.

 

[GoofGoof]

I was just reading the Pennsylvania FAQ page and it seems Governor Wolf did a better job on his order than either Governor Murphy or Governor Cuomo. In my opinion that is because of the education he received at The Hill School. He did exclude those who work in Pennsylvania but live in a neighboring state. He did not exclude anyone not working, or on critical business, but I know those vacation from NY or NJ is not enforced.

None of it is truly enforceable by the states. All of the states exempt anyone traveling for less than 24 hours which covers the bulk of people traveling for work. The state requirements are really to give private businesses a guideline to use to set their policy so in PA schools all follow that plan so if a kid travels anywhere outside of the state overnight (even to their own vacation home at the shore) they can’t come back to physical school until they meet the requirements. A lot of employers are doing the same for workers. So while the states aren’t arresting or fining people for non-compliance the rules still help reduce unnecessary travel. The point isn’t to punish people its to get everyone to bear down and just stay home while the second wave is upon us. Nobody wants to go back to stay at home orders. They are trying to address the higher risk areas instead of doing blanket closures. That’s what the CDC recommends as well.

The CDC guidelines are updated to say:

Travel can increase your chance of spreading and getting COVID-19. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.

NJ has updated their guidelines to say the following:

New Jersey strongly discourages all non-essential interstate travel at this time.

 

[mmascari]

I didn’t think walking into a bank was even a thing anymore. People still need to walk into banks?

There are a surprising number of financial related documents that need to be notarized. A service many banks provide to their customers. One that’s hard to do at a drive through.

 

[GoofGoof]

I would think it is cheaper cost of living to live in PA as opposed to high property tax Jersey. But the food when I visit is tops in both areas.

Philly has city wage tax which somewhat offset the higher property taxes in NJ. There are a lot of people who work in center city Philadelphia and live in S Jersey. There’s a high speed train line that takes workers in. If you want some land and don’t want to live in a city environment a lot of people choose the suburbs and NJ is one way to go. Philly has a number of big hospitals and there are a lot of doctors and nurses who make that commute daily.

I live in PA outside of Philly but I work in the Princeton NJ area. There are a ton of people at my office who live in PA to beat the real estate taxes in NJ so the commuting goes both ways.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

When they don't allow the full range of transactions at the window it is.

It's one of the reasons there's a nationwide coin shortage.

My bank doesn’t even have locations to even visit.

 

[drizgirl]

There are a surprising number of financial related documents that need to be notarized. A service many banks provide to their customers. One that’s hard to do at a drive through.

We tried getting something notarized at a drive-thru this summer and they turned us down. Apparently they do occasionally do it if you're at the first window, but are only doing a small number of them. I guess so they don't hold up the line.

Thankfully our credit union did open for a bit this summer and my daughter was able to get the funds for her car. Drive thru windows have a limit on the dollar amount they will handle.

 

[drizgirl]

My bank doesn’t even have locations to even visit.

Yeah, most of the time we don't need to go in. But there are some instances, like I detailed above, where you might need to. And since this has dragged on so long, many people have encountered some of those instances.

 

[seascape]

There are a surprising number of financial related documents that need to be notarized. A service many banks provide to their customers. One that’s hard to do at a drive through.

My bank setup appointments to notarize documents.

None of it is truly enforceable by the states. All of the states exempt anyone traveling for less than 24 hours which covers the bulk of people traveling for work. The state requirements are really to give private businesses a guideline to use to set their policy so in PA schools all follow that plan so if a kid travels anywhere outside of the state overnight (even to their own vacation home at the shore) they can’t come back to physical school until they meet the requirements. A lot of employers are doing the same for workers. So while the states aren’t arresting or fining people for non-compliance the rules still help reduce unnecessary travel. The point isn’t to punish people its to get everyone to bear down and just stay home while the second wave is upon us. Nobody wants to go back to stay at home orders. They are trying to address the higher risk areas instead of doing blanket closures. That’s what the CDC recommends as well.

The CDC guidelines are updated to say:

NJ has updated their guidelines to say the following:

As for what is essential and not essential, it debatable. We have a condo in Southwest Florida and our seasonal tenant left at the beginning of April. We go check it every April to make sure there were no problems and in November to get it ready. However, before they left, they told us the Vertical Blinds mechanism broke and needed to be fixed. Fortunately, we managed to get that taken care of without having to make a personal vist but I can think of other things that could have happened and our being forced to quarantine on our return up north from a state with less Covid19 cases is crazy. There is no science to back that up and because of where my wife works, they couldn't let her work if she went to Florida without quarantining. We have not left the Northeast since last January and hope there is nothing wrong with our condo for the tenants. We could have driven in one day if neccessary and brought our own food to eat. The only stops would have been for gas and bathroom breaks. Why was this not allowed? Please let me know?

 

[drizgirl]

My bank setup appointments to notarize documents.

Ours did that as well, but were booked 2 weeks out and we needed it done before my daughter left for college.

Any bank I've ever been in has been naturally spaced out, far more so than any grocery store or hardware store. I really don't get why they haven't been able to reopen the lobbies.

 

[carolina_yankee]

I was just reading the Pennsylvania FAQ page and it seems Governor Wolf did a better job on his order than either Governor Murphy or Governor Cuomo. In my opinion that is because of the education he received at The Hill School. He did exclude those who work in Pennsylvania but live in a neighboring state. He did not exclude anyone not working, or on critical business, but I know those vacationing from NY or NJ is not enforced.

I seriously doubt Wolf is any more or less educated than Murphy or Cuomo - all very accomplished, successful, intelligent people with distinctly different personalities of varying levels on the obnoxious scale. So, leaving that aside . . .

It may not be the answer you like, but the reality is that our states have a compact that allows for travel to bordering states for purely practical reasons. As conditions have worsened, they have emphasized that travel should be for essential reasons only (work, healthcare, interstate commerce), etc. I can't speak for PA or NY, but NJ is discouraging *all travel* beyond a bordering state for any reason whatsoever.

However, with hotels, businesses, and other venues open, it's not practical to enforce, so yeah, it happens.

I can say that most spread in NJ is due to private indoor gatherings where masking and distancing aren't happening. NJ is also the most densely populated state in the country. If you look at our numbers, the more rural counties are better than the more urban counties. My county, a suburban county, has a lot of shore activity and people with attitude so yeah, rules aren't being followed with regard to gatherings.

At the same time, the police aren't going to knock on doors and peer in windows. It is what it is. Spread is directly tied to personal behavior regardless of rules. For the most part, where masking and distancing are being followed, issues aren't happening.

I would suspect county numbers in Florida with similar circumstances (dense populations, disregard for masking and distancing) are seeing similar numbers. Statewide, there's a lot fo rural area, too, to balance that out. I would say if Florida's number/100,000 is even close to NJ, it speaks to how bad it is in Florida's urban areas.

 

[_caleb]

I didn’t think walking into a bank was even a thing anymore. People still need to walk into banks?

It's the same people who are adamantly opposed to using self checkout on mobile devices while shopping at WDW.

 

[GoofGoof]

My bank setup appointments to notarize documents.

As for what is essential and not essential, it debatable. We have a condo in Southwest Florida and our seasonal tenant left at the beginning of April. We go check it every April to make sure there were no problems and in November to get it ready. However, before they left, they told us the Vertical Blinds mechanism broke and needed to be fixed. Fortunately, we managed to get that taken care of without having to make a personal vist but I can think of other things that could have happened and our being forced to quarantine on our return up north from a state with less Covid19 cases is crazy. There is no science to back that up and because of where my wife works, they couldn't let her work if she went to Florida without quarantining. We have not left the Northeast since last January and hope there is nothing wrong with our condo for the tenants. We could have driven in one day if neccessary and brought our own food to eat. The only stops would have been for gas and bathroom breaks. Why was this not allowed? Please let me know?

They can’t make rules that specific. Everyone has a different story or a reason to travel. It’s easy to exempt bordering states for work. We went to the Jersey shore for a weekend back in Sept. We ate all of our meals in the room, went to the beach and sat more than 25 feet from anyone else. Nothing we did was any less safe than if we stayed home. That trip wouldn’t be allowed today without us quarantining on return. Is there a difference in safety today vs then for that particular trip, probably not, but they have to set broad rules to try to slow the spread. Sometimes the rules prevent an activity which isn’t really so bad because it’s impractical to make them that precise to prevent it.

 

[_caleb]

My bank setup appointments to notarize documents.

As for what is essential and not essential, it debatable. We have a condo in Southwest Florida and our seasonal tenant left at the beginning of April. We go check it every April to make sure there were no problems and in November to get it ready. However, before they left, they told us the Vertical Blinds mechanism broke and needed to be fixed. Fortunately, we managed to get that taken care of without having to make a personal vist but I can think of other things that could have happened and our being forced to quarantine on our return up north from a state with less Covid19 cases is crazy. There is no science to back that up and because of where my wife works, they couldn't let her work if she went to Florida without quarantining. We have not left the Northeast since last January and hope there is nothing wrong with our condo for the tenants. We could have driven in one day if neccessary and brought our own food to eat. The only stops would have been for gas and bathroom breaks. Why was this not allowed? Please let me know?

You realize that the virus can be carried from a state that has fewer (but not few) cases into a state that has more cases, right? And you might be able to understand how much more difficult it is to conduct contact tracing when patients have been traveling vs. when they've stayed home.

 

[drizgirl]

It's the same people who are adamantly opposed to using self checkout on mobile devices while shopping at WDW.

Right? Same people, same reasons. Damn luddites.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

The issue is not with Florida but why NY and NJ have restrictions on their residents visiting states with lower Covid19 cases than they have, especially states where you spend more time outdoors, than those who visit Pennsylvania. It is clearly more dangerous in Pennsylvania than Florida since Pennsylvania have 54.5% more cases per 100,000 than Florida. The entire quarantine process is a joke and the way it is setup isn't even using science, since anyone can travel between Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Use the numbers you want but don't differentiate between states, be consistent. Anyone should be allowed to take a vacation in a state with a lower Covid19 rate than the state they live in, provided they follow safety protocols of 6 feet distancing and mask wearing, which is being enforced at WDW and Universal.

A big part of the reason is that there are people living near the borders of those states who work in the neighboring state. It's also very easy to drive back and forth for shopping, doctor's visits, etc., which makes it harder to tell people to quarantine. How do you quarantine due to traveling between states if you have to travel between states to get to work?

 

[Chip Chipperson]

I didn’t think walking into a bank was even a thing anymore. People still need to walk into banks?

Even banks that haven't reopened their lobbies still need to allow people inside for certain services like opening a new account, large cash transactions, or accessing a safe deposit box.