Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[seascape]

Agreed. I actually think they would like to change sooner than a lot of other people think. I think they will be somewhat conservative but at the end of the day they want to go back to earnings and if they can bring in meaningful numbers this summer from the parks it will be a windfall since most analysts have written off 2021 parks segment as mostly a wash or small amount of profit. I think once the CMs are vaccinated they will start making changes. I still think masks and temp scans will go last since they are visual reminders of how safe the parks are but they don’t really impact capacity or money in the door.

The Summer will be much better than expected. I think it's crazy listening to the Government today and their continued belief that the numbers are not going down and may actually go up. I never believed Florida's numbers from last Sundays testing and insteal looked Sonday and Monday combined. The daily numbers varry while a weekly look is better both for the trend and average. That said todays 3494 number was still an improvement over yesterday's number but I still want to see tomorrow's number at 4500 or less so the combined number is below 8000. However looking at this most optimistically, 3,494 is 15.74 cases per 100,000 using the estimated 22.2 million population estimate. I look forward to seeing tomorrow's updated national numbers.

 

[Incomudro]

The masks are what is keeping a lot of guests away too. My guess is they will leave some of the dividers on attractions and busses for awhile but remove masks eventually. Maybe late summer early fall. I hope

Yes, I was thinking that myself.
Masks in many ways are the visual reminder of the problem.

 

[GoofGoof]

The masks are what is keeping a lot of guests away too

True, but the parks are selling out now with the capacity limits which are driven by distancing requirements despite requiring masks. To get back to full attendance masks need to go too but removing masks now and keeping distancing doesn’t help increase available park capacity but relaxing distancing and keeping masks allows you to let more people in and increase revenues. At some point demand from people who are willing to go with a mask will run out and then if you want to increase revenues further you have to get rid of masks.

 

[mmascari]

I don't know about states that are "wide open" for 45 year olds, but West Virginia now allows teachers and other employees of K-12 schools and colleges who are 40 and over to get vaccinated.

We got the notification today that my kids will have a half day on Thursday and full virtual day on Friday as all teachers, admin staff and bus drivers get their shots. In PA the Governor allocated the first batch of JnJ shots to go directly to the schools so they are doing them this week. There’s no age or health requirement. It’s anyone who works there.

Apparently I need a second job at a school in WV or PA. The WV/PA boarder isn't even that far away. A bit more of a commute than I was planning though.

Aren't their a few states taking smokers too? That could be an option.........

The obvious question is how do you differentiate those vaccinated vs those who are not.

That is million dollar question, and one that I don't think has an answer.

In scenarios where you'll be sure, such as grandma visiting the grandkids and you know grandma and grandpa are vaccinated, they already removed the mask mandate today. That's kind of how you know, keep the group small enough that you know and trust everyone when they say they're vaccinated.

It's when you expand that group to people you don't know well enough to trust they're being honest. That's where problems start to show up.


For instance, if I show up in WV/PA and just say I work for a school, does that count? (I wouldn't do that, it's not that close.)

 

[TheGuyThatMakesSwords]

I will not win friends with this one.... based on newest CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated human interactions?

I WANT a US approved "proof of vaccination" mechanism. And I want WDW to use it.


"All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.
Post immediately deleted, if hate mail arises."

 

[seascape]

I will not win friends with this one.... based on newest CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated human interactions?

I WANT a US approved "proof of vaccination" mechanism. And I want WDW to use it.


"All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.
Post immediately deleted, if hate mail arises."

I wish WDW would require proof of vaccination to gain admittance but they won't. However, I will be there on April 21st and look forward to the Dapper Day events. I miss the park, will be fully vaccinated, but will happily wear a mask this trip. I hope by September the requirement is long gone and we are all back to normal. The pandemic will be over by the end of April.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

Apparently the new CDC guidelines released today were supposed to have a section on travel that was removed. That was part of the reason for delay. It may be due to a fear that too many people will consider traveling for Spring Break which is starting the next few weeks. No word exactly what the recommendation on travel was going to be but if it’s like the others it would lessen restrictions on vaccinated people.

One interesting quote from this article:
Fauci said that mask mandates could slacken as more people get vaccinated because of evidence in countries like Israel that transmission from vaccinated people to others is quite low.

“I think as we get more data in that regard, you're going to start seeing the mask mandate for people who are vaccinated be pulled off gradually — not yet, we need the data — but it's going to happen, pretty soon I think.”

That is the most optimistic I’ve heard Fauci or anyone from the government on removal of mask mandates and relaximg of restrictions once people are vaccinated. This also flies in the face of the popular sentiment that case numbers would drive the removal of restrictions not number of vaccinations. It seems that what he’s saying is if the preliminary data on transmission turns out to be accurate we can allow vaccinated people to do a lot more since they are a very small threat to spread the virus. The obvious question is how do you differentiate those vaccinated vs those who are not.

CDC cuts travel advice from guidelines for vaccinated people

The Biden administration put the highly anticipated guidelines on hold last week in part over concerns about the wording and the recommendations around quarantining.

www.yahoo.com

probably for the best...

By the time spring travel is over, we will have much more data, and many more people vaccinated.

 

[Lilofan]

I wish WDW would require proof of vaccination to gain admittance but they won't. However, I will be there on April 21st and look forward to the Dapper Day events. I miss the park, will be fully vaccinated, but will happily wear a mask this trip. I hope by September the requirement is long gone and we are all back to normal. The pandemic will be over by the end of April.

I've heard of the Dapper Day events. How guests can wear those nostalgic outfits, dresses, bow tie, 3 piece suits, etc , in the brutal FL heat is noteworthy. But then again DHS Citizens of Hollywood wore those outfits without hardly breaking a sweat.

 

[Heppenheimer]

I've heard of the Dapper Day events. How guests can wear those nostalgic outfits, dresses, bow tie, 3 piece suits, etc , in the brutal FL heat is noteworthy.

I really enjoyed seeing the outfits people came up with, but I had the same thought. I wouldn't mind doing Dapper Days.. if it was in January. April in Orlando? Too hot for this Yankee to dress up.

My wife has been watching reruns of the Golden Girls recently, and looking at the heavy outfits they wear on that show, one wonders if anyone on the production team had ever set foot in Miami

 

[Tom P.]

Okay, so, reading the last several pages of this thread makes me seriously ask.... have people really not been seeing their families for a year? I mean, that's really a thing that's happening beyond some government recommendation document? I find that unfathomable. Everyone has to do what's best for them and make their own risk assessment, I suppose. But my kids have interacted with their grandparents as normal. Taking reasonable precautions in public is one thing, but I'm not avoiding my family because of a virus.

 

[JoeCamel]

I wish WDW would require proof of vaccination to gain admittance but they won't. However, I will be there on April 21st and look forward to the Dapper Day events. I miss the park, will be fully vaccinated, but will happily wear a mask this trip. I hope by September the requirement is long gone and we are all back to normal. The pandemic will be over by the end of April.

Will you have a bow tie mask?

 

[DCBaker]

 

[danlb_2000]

Okay, so, reading the last several pages of this thread makes me seriously ask.... have people really not been seeing their families for a year? I mean, that's really a thing that's happening beyond some government recommendation document? I find that unfathomable. Everyone has to do what's best for them and make their own risk assessment, I suppose. But my kids have interacted with their grandparents as normal. Taking reasonable precautions in public is one thing, but I'm not avoiding my family because of a virus.

I totally understand it. I have a friend who chose to interact with his father, now his father is dead because of it.

 

[JAKECOTCenter]

So does this data means that seniors are close to some form of herd immunity?

 

[Crunchie9]

I totally understand it. I have a friend who chose to interact with his father, now his father is dead because of it.

Enough.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Okay, so, reading the last several pages of this thread makes me seriously ask.... have people really not been seeing their families for a year? I mean, that's really a thing that's happening beyond some government recommendation document? I find that unfathomable. Everyone has to do what's best for them and make their own risk assessment, I suppose. But my kids have interacted with their grandparents as normal. Taking reasonable precautions in public is one thing, but I'm not avoiding my family because of a virus.

I’ve been avoiding everything but seeing my parents so I can feel good about seeing my parents.

When I had to go to several doctors appointments last year I avoided seeing my parents for 2 weeks.

 

[danlb_2000]

Enough.

Enough of what? Covid deaths?

 

[hopemax]

Okay, so, reading the last several pages of this thread makes me seriously ask.... have people really not been seeing their families for a year? I mean, that's really a thing that's happening beyond some government recommendation document? I find that unfathomable. Everyone has to do what's best for them and make their own risk assessment, I suppose. But my kids have interacted with their grandparents as normal. Taking reasonable precautions in public is one thing, but I'm not avoiding my family because of a virus.

Mostly. We came into this pandemic with my MIL on a ventilator for 5 days because she went into kidney and lung failure after getting pneumonia (she was tested for antibodies, and did not have COVID). But my SIL was definitely scared about her family engaging with the parents because we had seen first hand what the consequences would look like, and she knew their behaviors were not limited enough to be confident they were negative at any given time. So they limited their engagements to bringing our nephews over to ride bikes in their cul de sac, a couple of patio meals, and a ton of FaceTime. They did do a 2-week actual quarantine leading up to Christmas so they could get together.

We live 1300 miles away from them and 1800 miles from my Dad. We normally only see our family once or twice a year in a normal year. We did go see the in-laws for a week in October, I haven't seen my Dad since last February.

 

[GoofGoof]

Okay, so, reading the last several pages of this thread makes me seriously ask.... have people really not been seeing their families for a year? I mean, that's really a thing that's happening beyond some government recommendation document? I find that unfathomable. Everyone has to do what's best for them and make their own risk assessment, I suppose. But my kids have interacted with their grandparents as normal. Taking reasonable precautions in public is one thing, but I'm not avoiding my family because of a virus.

I haven’t spent any time with my family indoors without a mask on. We have done plenty of stuff outside and we have worn masks at times.

 

[correcaminos]

Okay, so, reading the last several pages of this thread makes me seriously ask.... have people really not been seeing their families for a year? I mean, that's really a thing that's happening beyond some government recommendation document? I find that unfathomable. Everyone has to do what's best for them and make their own risk assessment, I suppose. But my kids have interacted with their grandparents as normal. Taking reasonable precautions in public is one thing, but I'm not avoiding my family because of a virus.

Yes because it required travel for some. For others they were super high risk. I wasn't allowed to visit my aunt for a long time (long term care facility has very strict rules) so I didn't see her in person about a year before she died, though I did via google duo. My dad is in his late 70s. I've lost younger friends to this disease. We did some outdoor visits when it was warmer but this fall was nothing except skype/zoom. I actually listened to the CDC's recommendations given my dad's age. My inlaws were in FL and required quarantines if we returned at points. It was a collective choice. Given group gatherings caused illnesses for a few who died, I wasn't about to risk my parents' lives. Sorry if that's shocking, but we followed guidance.