Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[seascape]

As I posted yesterday Florida according to the NY Times stayed at 21 cases per 100,000. There are still 3 states above 30 but mixed results. NY was good and went down to 35 cases per 100,000. NJ on the otherhand actually increased to 40. That is a disgrace. The state of my birth and primary residence. What the heck are my neighbors doing! It's almost summer and if we don't do better we will be the laughingstock of the country and deserve all the jokes made against us. Do the right thing and wear masks, social distance and wash your hands. If California can get down to 9 cases per 100,000 is a short time so can we. I would say get off your and do something but maybe you should stay on it and inside your home so you don't spread Covid19. 40 is almost double what Florida has.

 

[DisneyFan32]

As has been said before, no one can say for certain without the benefit of a crystal ball or time travel. If you are asking my opinion, I believe they will be gone in the USA in a few months if everyone, who can be, is vaccinated. That’s what everyone is working towards. Stop worrying, the USA seems to be getting better every day. (This is not intended as a political opinion!)

After the pandemic is over in USA, then there will be no more surges anymore for good?

 

[correcaminos]

After the pandemic is over in USA, then there will be no more surges anymore for good?

Yes. Once it is done it will be over for good. As I said in the other thread I think it's time to step back and focus on positives for a while. I say this to my kid and mean it - it will get better.

 

[DisneyFan32]

Back to topic, I mean fireworks could return by summer or fall maybe for 50th because if WDW goes back to normal by October if crowds getting back, the fireworks will could perfect for return.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Here’s a really good article for the lay people here like myself about the treatments and drugs that have helped during the pandemic.. some that are a big help.. some that need more data. But it’s a complete list and very interesting.

What science has learned works and what doesn’t in COVID-19 treatments

A year into treating those with COVID-19, research is revealing medical interventions, such as remdesivir, that help patients, and some that don’t.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Heppenheimer]

Here’s a really good article for the lay people here like myself about the treatments and drugs that have helped during the pandemic.. some that are a big help.. some that need more data. But it’s a complete list and very interesting.

What science has learned works and what doesn’t in COVID-19 treatments

A year into treating those with COVID-19, research is revealing medical interventions, such as remdesivir, that help patients, and some that don’t.

www.usatoday.com

This is ancedotal, so take it for what it's worth. Our hospital has been giving monoclonal antibody infusions to non-hospitalized COVID-19+ patients at higher baseline risk for several months. Amongst the 200 or so who received the infusion, only one went on to require hospitalization, and was quickly discharged thereafter. As the article implies, though, you need a dedicated system and staff in place to infuse the medication in a timely manner. It needs to be the right patient at the right time.

 

[danlb_2000]

Churches always have a “restricted” capacity... it’s called the fire code. It’s designed to keep people safe. Just like capacity restrictions during a... global pandemic.

They wouldn't have that restriction if we got rid of fire codes as someone suggested.

 

[correcaminos]

This is ancedotal, so take it for what it's worth. Our hospital has been giving monoclonal antibody infusions to non-hospitalized COVID-19+ patients at higher baseline risk for several months. Amongst the 200 or so who received the infusion, only one went on to require hospitalization, and was quickly discharged thereafter. As the article implies, though, you need a dedicated system and staff in place to infuse the medication in a timely manner. It needs to be the right patient at the right time.

That is good to hear. I have had a handful of friends receive it and none were hospitalized either. Totally anecdotal. One even felt 100% the next day. Again anecdotal.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Bill Maher Questions Naming of Coronavirus: “Why Should China Get a Pass?”

In a new episode of HBO's 'Real Time With Bill Maher' on Friday, the late-night host explored the history of diseases being named after countries in which they originated.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

The Bill Maher piece makes sense. You however do not.

 

[tpac24]

The Bill Maher piece makes sense. You however do not.

I can't find where he said anything but the link to the video.

 

[Turtlekrawl]

Epcot / World Showcase has enough space to do fireworks with social distancing.

If I had to bet... I think we get some level of WDW fireworks for July 4th. Not super confident, but I do think it’s very possible.

I’d like to think so too. Although with Rat being pushed back to October, I have to wonder if there is any motivation to add anything for this summer.

 

[Incomudro]

The Bill Maher piece makes sense. You however do not.

Sometimes I really like what he says.
This is one of those times.

 

[GoofGoof]

I’d like to think so too. Although with Rat being pushed back to October, I have to wonder if there is any motivation to add anything for this summer.

It’s a good point. However, I think moving Rat back to October is just a cheap way to add something brand new for the 50th. Rather than actually adding something brand new you just delay the opening of something that should have been there for a while now. I don’t think bringing back something that has always existed at WDW has the same effect. They could wait until Oct to debut the new EPCOT show but that doesn’t stop them from having fireworks all Summer if they wanted to. Fireworks would be a good way to eat crowds, keep people at the parks until close spending money on souvenirs, snacks and even dinner if they do it at EPCOT. Someone mentioned in another thread there are a lot of fireworks left over for the current EPCOT show so they may want to use them up this Summer before debuting the new show.

I think it’s all going to depend on demand, which I think will likely be pretty high, and on the Covid vaccine situation. If MLB teams open stadiums to full or near full crowds for the start of the MLB season it’s gonna be hard to look negatively at WDW for having a crowd gathered at night, outdoors for fireworks. I think as CDC guidelines evolve for people who are fully vaccinated and more and more people become fully vaccinated we will see a relaxing of Covid restrictions across the board at WDW. If the CDC no longer recommends masks and/or distancing once you are vaccinated then once the general public has full access to the vaccine and if we get to 70-80% of adults vaccinated then most or all covid restrictions should be able to come off at WDW. Kids won’t be vaccinated yet, but it will be up to parents if they want to take that risk for their kids. We can’t keep everyone in masks and keep capacity limited at businesses forever just in case. The time is coming and all indications are it’s coming this Summer.

 

[havoc315]

I’d like to think so too. Although with Rat being pushed back to October, I have to wonder if there is any motivation to add anything for this summer.

Some rumors suggest they have Epcot Forever fireworks lying around they want to get rid of.

Though the rumors don’t make a lot of sense to me as I would think the fireworks could simply be re-purposed.

 

[GoofGoof]

As I posted yesterday Florida according to the NY Times stayed at 21 cases per 100,000. There are still 3 states above 30 but mixed results. NY was good and went down to 35 cases per 100,000. NJ on the otherhand actually increased to 40. That is a disgrace. The state of my birth and primary residence. What the heck are my neighbors doing! It's almost summer and if we don't do better we will be the laughingstock of the country and deserve all the jokes made against us. Do the right thing and wear masks, social distance and wash your hands. If California can get down to 9 cases per 100,000 is a short time so can we. I would say get off your *** and do something but maybe you should stay on it and inside your home so you don't spread Covid19. 40 is almost double what Florida has.

I think it’s a little early to panic about NJ. The cases aren’t dropping anymore, that is true, but the daily case numbers are still well below the Jan peak and below the level they were at a month ago. This could be the start of another wave of cases or it could just be a blip. In mid-Feb a similar situation occurred where cases spiked upward but that corrected and continued down for several weeks after until this spike. It’s best to look at the longer term picture than daily cases and assume that it won’t be a linear decline everywhere all the time. If a few weeks or a month from now cases are continuing to rise then that’s a problem. Give it some time.

 

[DCBaker]

 

[DC0703]

It’s a good point. However, I think moving Rat back to October is just a cheap way to add something brand new for the 50th. Rather than actually adding something brand new you just delay the opening of something that should have been there for a while now. I don’t think bringing back something that has always existed at WDW has the same effect. They could wait until Oct to debut the new EPCOT show but that doesn’t stop them from having fireworks all Summer if they wanted to. Fireworks would be a good way to eat crowds, keep people at the parks until close spending money on souvenirs, snacks and even dinner if they do it at EPCOT. Someone mentioned in another thread there are a lot of fireworks left over for the current EPCOT show so they may want to use them up this Summer before debuting the new show.

The other current problem is that due to the 35% capacity, most of the parks still have a default closing time of around dinner. Now, yes, those times have sometimes been extended at the last minute, particularly on the weekends. But I can't see Disney adding back night time entertainment until they are ready to keep the parks open consistently past dark, which may not be until they have the park capacity high enough to justify more workers/work hours.

 

[GoofGoof]

Great stats

Nationwide we have 27% of adults with at least 1 shot and even more important 63% of adults 65+. I think we will get that 65+ number up over 80% pretty soon as some of the people left to go from that group have appointments but just haven’t gone yet. I haven’t seen a good stat on percent of people with high risk medical conditions that have been vaccinated, but getting that many elderly people started is a big deal alone as it relates to deaths and hospitalizations.

 

[GoofGoof]

The other current problem is that due to the 35% capacity, most of the parks still have a default closing time of around dinner. Now, yes, those times have sometimes been extended at the last minute, particularly on the weekends. But I can't see Disney adding back night time entertainment until they are ready to keep the parks open consistently past dark, which may not be until they have the park capacity high enough to justify more workers/work hours.

EPCOT is open until 11 through the first week of April now due to Spring Break crowds. That’s likely to drop back down through May but as schools start to get out and vaccines are ramped up the same type crowds will be back in June. The 35% capacity limit should be gone sooner than later. They are slowly pulling back distancing on rides which adds ride capacity and that allows park capacity to increase.

The next thing to watch for is the return of people eating shows. I think they need to relax distancing on rides and also add back people eating shows before significantly increasing park capacity and I think it’s likely that happens sometime this Summer if not sooner. For shows in a lot of cases they need the CMs vaccinated first since they need to be in close proximity of each other. Once that happens they can bring them back to work and ramp up production. It probably takes a month or more from calling back cast before they open a show so it won’t be before May at this point. If the CMs get vaccine in April they could bring a lot of that stuff back as early as June. That would line up with several additional resorts coming back online and the start of Summer crowds. We also have this July 4th target now of a return to some level of normal so that would be a nice place to start with fireworks. Just not sure Disney wants that big a crowd that fast.

 

[danlb_2000]

The other current problem is that due to the 35% capacity, most of the parks still have a default closing time of around dinner. Now, yes, those times have sometimes been extended at the last minute, particularly on the weekends. But I can't see Disney adding back night time entertainment until they are ready to keep the parks open consistently past dark, which may not be until they have the park capacity high enough to justify more workers/work hours.

Wonder if when night time shows restart they won't initially be every night.