Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

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sullyinMT

Well-Known Member

CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I think this is a feasible option to counter some of the "political" opposition to getting the vaccine, and I can see officials adopting this strategy if/when the "new vaccinations" number hits a wall.

If new vaccinations basically stop at, say, 68%, and the number needed to lift restrictions is given at 75%, perhaps the idea of getting the extra 7% becomes enough to drive those who are "on the fence" to get the shot.

I think an actual goal to reach would be more effective than a general admonition about the importance of getting vaccinated.
I noticed a lot of buzz when the Orange County FL mayor said if they hit 50% of the population vaccinated he would consider dropping the mask mandates. I think 50% is way too low, but if you set a high enough target then I think it works. We are at 53% of adults with one shot so still 22% to go to get to 75%. The good news is we are still doing over a million new first shots a day so the pace is still going strong. If we continue the pace we’d be at 75% of adults by mid-June or potentially earlier and then another 3-4 weeks to get the second shots. It’s conceivable we are at 75% fully vaccinated close to the end of June and all Covid restrictions would be lifted in July if we executed on that plan.

If the plan works the pace would likely actually pick up again too. The narrative is that a large portion of the people who haven’t gotten the vaccine won’t go in because there’s no guarantee of a lifting of restrictions if they do so ”what’s the point”. So solve that by giving the guarantee. Either it works and we get to the target and return to normal or it doesn’t work and people still don’t go in and we never reach the target. That leaves us no worse than where we are today and maybe some people buy in and get vaccinated so even if we don’t hit 75% maybe we get to 70% and that drives a major drop in cases. Still a better outcome.
 

Incomudro

Well-Known Member
Good. Hope this is still the case (with dropped ages as appropriate when they’re authorized) for the US. Hopefully we can get to dropped masks soon, but a fully vaccinated ship sounds so appealing and logical right now.
I wish they would drop the face covering requirement, since they are requiring all guests and workers to be vaccinated.
 
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GoofGoof

Premium Member
I hope that becomes the norm from now on. Once kids can be vaccinated they won't need a test.
Everyone needs a test, even those vaccinated. Kids need 2 tests, one at home before arriving at the port and one during the boarding process.

For a place like WDW to implement this type of system every guest would have to take a quick test before entering the parks each day in addition to adults being vaccinated or kids testing negative prior to arrival and they would still need to wear a mask in the parks. Maybe it would allow them to further loosen physical distancing.
 

Horizons '83

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
Pretty interesting. They are requiring
  • Proof of vaccination for anyone over 18
  • A negative test from the last 5 days for under 18.
  • When boarding the ship everyone (including those fully vaccinated) have to pass an additional antigen quick test.
  • While onboard the ship they are also still requiring masks in all public spaces unless stationary and eating for anyone over 11 including those fully vaccinated
  • Masks are recommended for kids 3-11
  • Daily health screening including temp check and health questionnaire
These are also cruises to nowhere with no stops. I wonder how they will handle people getting off and back on a port in the future.

This is not for cruises out of the US and particularly FL. I wonder how they handle the testing and vaccine requirements for FL based US cruises or will they just avoid cruising out of FL for the immediate future.
I’m good with all of it but the masks required in all public places seems kind of excessive to me. We have a fully vaccinated and tested ship. At some point can’t we trust that group together? I get they’ll want to be extra cautious with the first few months but hopefully that is not a continued norm.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I’m good with all of it but the masks required in all public places seems kind of excessive to me. We have a fully vaccinated and tested ship. At some point can’t we trust that group together? I get they’ll want to be extra cautious with the first few months but hopefully that is not a continued norm.
I agree. I‘m not sure what the UK rules are (which is the starting point for these cruises), but in the US the CDC is still not saying fully vaccinated people can gather in large, public groups together without masks. I hope that does change at some point but it makes sense its the rules for now. Eventually I would hope the rules are changed, if not then vaccine passports don’t get you very much.
 

DisneyFan32

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Pretty interesting. They are requiring
  • Proof of vaccination for anyone over 18
  • A negative test from the last 5 days for under 18.
  • When boarding the ship everyone (including those fully vaccinated) have to pass an additional antigen quick test.
  • While onboard the ship they are also still requiring masks in all public spaces unless stationary and eating for anyone over 11 including those fully vaccinated
  • Masks are recommended for kids 3-11
  • Daily health screening including temp check and health questionnaire
These are also cruises to nowhere with no stops. I wonder how they will handle people getting off and back on a port in the future.

This is not for cruises out of the US and particularly FL. I wonder how they handle the testing and vaccine requirements for FL based US cruises or will they just avoid cruising out of FL for the immediate future.
Soon the cruises will not let people wear masks or social distancing anymore by late this year right @GoofGoof as people don't wear masks and social distancing anymore for good in USA by late this year.
 

HarperRose

Well-Known Member
I think the J&J vaccine fatalities will grow as time goes on. My SIL friend just died 7 days after her shot. If you are in the demographic, insist on the Pfizer shots.
I am in the demographic and had zero side effects with my J&J shot. I'm also a non-smoker and don't take birth control.

If I was still unvaccinated, I wouldn't hesitate to get the J&J vaccine today.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Not sure if this was posted, but interesting study on the effectiveness of social distancing:

We did talk about it a few pages back. I think the key takeaway is that physical distancing while indoors and wearing a mask doesn‘t necessarily help as much as people were assuming. For outdoors the article says this:
As for social distancing outdoors, Bazant says it makes almost no sense and that doing so with masks on is “kind of crazy.”
So I think this supports the idea that outdoor distancing is not really needed. For indoor spaces they are still saying masks are most important since it greatly reduces the larger droplets from circulating. With a mask on the smaller droplets that get through tend to float in the air longer so a person on the other side of the room is just as likely to be infected as someone 6 feet apart. Time spent is a bigger factor than distance. So for indoor dining this is a bigger negative finding. With masks off and dining the 6 feet isn’t really helping as much as we hoped and dining tends to take a longer time than passing through an area.

For WDW it could be a strong argument to end distancing outdoors and also to lessen the indoor queue and ride vehicle requirements since people are masked and not spending long periods of time together.
 

Horizons '83

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I hope that becomes the norm from now on. Once kids can be vaccinated they won't need a test.
To each their own but I can’t agree with you there. I understand why this is necessary in the short term but this shouldn’t be the new normal past this year. I think we are also overestimating the amount of people who want to cruise in the near future. There is also a large swath of folks who are annual cruisers but won’t be getting vaccinated.
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
I agree. I‘m not sure what the UK rules are (which is the starting point for these cruises), but in the US the CDC is still not saying fully vaccinated people can gather in large, public groups together without masks. I hope that does change at some point but it makes sense its the rules for now. Eventually I would hope the rules are changed, if not then vaccine passports don’t get you very much.
I think that will change once kids can be vaccinated. I do see vaccine passports being the norm for cruises going forward.

The reason I am all for vaccine passports is that we have lost a year due to Covid. I don't want to have to go back to restrictions due to those who choose not to be vaccinated.
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
To each their own but I can’t agree with you there. I understand why this is necessary in the short term but this shouldn’t be the new normal past this year. I think we are also overestimating the amount of people who want to cruise in the near future. There is also a large swath of folks who are annual cruisers but won’t be getting vaccinated.
Don't agree. Cruises were already know for people being sick. I think they will play it safe and keep the vaccine requirement. It's unfortunate those who won't be getting vaccinated can't sail but that's life
 

sullyinMT

Well-Known Member
I’m good with all of it but the masks required in all public places seems kind of excessive to me. We have a fully vaccinated and tested ship. At some point can’t we trust that group together? I get they’ll want to be extra cautious with the first few months but hopefully that is not a continued norm.
I agree. They’ve already moved the mask age up to 11, from WDW’s 2. I think they (and maybe the UK health minister, tbh) want to be over the top cautious to show it can be done. I’d expect as community transmission continues to drop some of these precautions do, as well.

At least they can sail and prove a concept (or, god forbid, even this extreme measure fails)
 

CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Don't agree. Cruises were already know for people being sick. I think they will play it safe and keep the vaccine requirement. It's unfortunate those who won't be getting vaccinated can't sail but that's life
I think for cruises it will likely become the norm at least for now. Cruise lines right now are shut down so if passports are what it takes to be allowed to reopen they are going to be willing to do it, similar to pro sports in NY and out of state guests to theme parks in CA. It’s a way to be in business. For WDW and a lot of other businesses they are already open so they will try to avoid having to do passports if they can. For a cruise line it’s the choice between 0 customers and a customer based with potentially 30-50% less customers. 70% of customers is better than none for sure.

I think the only way a place like WDW would consider a vaccine passport is if the number of people willing to go to WDW with a passport is far larger than the number willing to go without one. So if we only get to 70% vaccinated then Disney knows they have lost at least 30% of their customer base by requiring a vaccine passport. For some reason there are some people who are fully vaccinated who still won’t show proof of it to go somewhere. I assume that number is small enough to not consider. There will also be a number of people who won’t go to WDW unless there is a vaccine passport system. Then there is the largest group in the middle who are vaccinated but will still go to WDW even if there is not a vaccine passport. So if the group who won’t go without a passport is equal to or less than the group unvaccinated then it makes little business sense to require it for Disney. Unfortunately for those who want a vaccine passport, the biggest reason Disney won’t do it for the parks is enough people will go anyway without it. If public sentiment shifts and vaccine passports become more acceptable and expected maybe that percent is enough that it tips the scale in favor. Based on political trends the same blow hards who pushed the covid denier agenda for the better part of a year are now shifting to and anti-vaccine passport platform.
 
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GoofGoof

Premium Member
Apparently this is the first attractions posting in a decade+
Is this just an HR paperwork requirement? You have to post an open position for equal opportunity employment reasons? I know where I work that happens with open positions even if we have someone internally wanting to move into the role. I thought there were still thousands of CMs furloughed. Do they have to reapply for their former positions now or are those just different positions still furloughed? Either way it’s good news for out of work CMs and for the immediate future of the parks. The ramp up to a Summer surge has begun.
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
Is this just an HR paperwork requirement? You have to post an open position for equal opportunity employment reasons? I know where I work that happens with open positions even if we have someone internally wanting to move into the role. I thought there were still thousands of CMs furloughed. Do they have to reapply for their former positions now or are those just different positions still furloughed? Either way it’s good news for out of work CMs and for the immediate future of the parks. The ramp up to a Summer surge has begun.
Yes it has!
 

DisneyFan32

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Is this just an HR paperwork requirement? You have to post an open position for equal opportunity employment reasons? I know where I work that happens with open positions even if we have someone internally wanting to move into the role. I thought there were still thousands of CMs furloughed. Do they have to reapply for their former positions now or are those just different positions still furloughed? Either way it’s good news for out of work CMs and for the immediate future of the parks. The ramp up to a Summer surge has begun.
Ah please no more surges, waves or spikes this summer, fall or winter, we're almost there to herd immunity soon! When we reach 80% people got vaccinated then masks and social distancing will be gone for good. @GoofGoof
 
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