Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[ImperfectPixie]

Not sure I understand what you mean. I started out saying that I was wrong more times than I was right in this thread. You could literally go back and pick a hundred posts out where something I said didn’t happen. One guy even did start doing that .

Specifically this...

On one small aspect of this whole pandemic team optimism 1, team doom and gloom 0

We ALL want the pandemic to end...some of us are just of the opinion that especially with the delta variant in the US that we're moving too quickly. And with so many areas doing so poorly with vaccination, mutations are a real concern.

 

[jlhwdw]

And now we're tied at 1-1 going into page 3695

 

[DisneyWildcat]

I've come to the conclusion that most people who obsessively post daily in this thread are doing so to reassure/convince themselves of whatever narrative they want to believe. So they have divided people up into groups to make it easier to construct their own version of reality, so they can dismiss them and gain reassurance of their chosen narrative.

Well said

 

[hopemax]

Specifically this...



We ALL want the pandemic to end...some of us are just of the opinion that especially with the delta variant in the US that we're moving too quickly. And with so many areas doing so poorly with vaccination, mutations are a real concern.

I also did not appreciate the scorecard. And appreciated your "us vs them" post.

Did we get a scorecard when all the optimists were dismissive that the death toll would reach even the 60K from the initial IHME graphs. Or the range predicted by the UK model, or Dr. Osterholm's March 2020 prediction of 480,000 (which even turned out to be optimistic). Of course not! Because no one wants to see optimists 0; doom & gloomers 1. It's not something to celebrate. So @GoofGoof gets to post a score, and all his party emojis, for the one thing he got right, and even when the other side is correct, it has to be silence because it's a horrible thing. It doesn't feel right. And the answer isn't for team D&G to celebrate their wins. It's not to post a score at all.

 

[DisneyCane]

Not sure I understand what you mean. I started out saying that I was wrong more times than I was right in this thread. You could literally go back and pick a hundred posts out where something I said didn’t happen. One guy even did start doing that .

Now that the last of the distancing and mask rules at WDW have been relaxed (outside of transport) and the capacity limits have been removed for all practical purposes I see no harm in celebrating the “return to mostly normal” at the parks. I understand that some people think it’s a mistake or too soon and that‘s a valid opinion and I’m not arguing that one way or the other. Just reacting to the situation as it unfolds.

I saw this post from blog Mickey which I thought was really cool. It’s a collage of pictures of mask free CMs smiling happily. As we have all followed the progress of WDW during the pandemic there has been a ton of debate back and forth mostly focused on guest experience, but it must be a huge relief for the CMs who first and foremost are all back from furlough and working again, but also finally do not have to wear a mask every day to work in the hot sun and also don’t have to deal with enforcing mask and distancing rules anymore.

Disney World Cast Members Share Smiles as Face Masks Become Optional Outdoors

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

CMs that I either spoke to or overheard yesterday seemed elated to be able to be mask free.

Now, if they can please reinstate all of the pre-shows (like ToT) things would get even better. However, they can leave out room #1 of FoP because the actor/character get's really grating after more than 20 seconds.

 

[GoofGoof]

I deleted the line containing the “scorecard”. I suggest anyone who was offended by that go back and read the actual post instead of focusing on one line. What I was celebrating has nothing to do with the delta variant or projected deaths or any of that stuff. I am celebrating the success of the vaccine rollout and speed of deliveries. I’m celebrating the impact on covid cases and the start of a “return to normal” for the Summer, specifically at WDW. That is all. Many people doubted we would have enough vaccine by now or that it would work well enough to drive cases down but it has been a big success.

This pandemic has been horrific. There are many things the Federal Government and the state governments did terribly wrong that combined with individual actions may have resulted in countless unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths. None of that is a cause for celebration. However, we have to move forward now and IMHO it’s ok for people to be happy with the vaccine success and to be happy to see a place that’s special to them like WDW start to look normal again. That doesn’t mean the pandemic wasn’t a terrible tragedy and it doesn’t mean it’s over yet. There is good reason for cautious optimism IMHO but if people don’t want to embrace that it’s their choice too.

 

[GoofGoof]

CMs that I either spoke to or overheard yesterday seemed elated to be able to be mask free.

Now, if they can please reinstate all of the pre-shows (like ToT) things would get even better. However, they can leave out room #1 of FoP because the actor/character get's really grating after more than 20 seconds.

I imagine the regular workers are pretty happy and they have a recent influx of college students who lost a year+ of their college experience but at least now will get a shot at some fun for the Summer

 

[correcaminos]

I've come to the conclusion that most people who obsessively post daily in this thread are doing so to reassure/convince themselves of whatever narrative they want to believe. So they have divided people up into groups to make it easier to construct their own version of reality, so they can dismiss them and gain reassurance of their chosen narrative.

Nope, I really just have nothing better to do with my time. My first post was to attempt to help a fellow anxious person and then it turned into giving info after joining the trial. Now it's like a trainwreck I cannot get away from Plus some pretty cool people.

Many here changed thoughts often so narratives often changed. Heck I went from thinking vaccines were impossible to being a huge pusher of getting vaccinated. So people change

 

[correcaminos]

Not sure I understand what you mean. I started out saying that I was wrong more times than I was right in this thread. You could literally go back and pick a hundred posts out where something I said didn’t happen. One guy even did start doing that .

Now that the last of the distancing and mask rules at WDW have been relaxed (outside of transport) and the capacity limits have been removed for all practical purposes I see no harm in celebrating the “return to mostly normal” at the parks. I understand that some people think it’s a mistake or too soon and that‘s a valid opinion and I’m not arguing that one way or the other. Just reacting to the situation as it unfolds.

I saw this post from blog Mickey which I thought was really cool. It’s a collage of pictures of mask free CMs smiling happily. As we have all followed the progress of WDW during the pandemic there has been a ton of debate back and forth mostly focused on guest experience, but it must be a huge relief for the CMs who first and foremost are all back from furlough and working again, but also finally do not have to wear a mask every day to work in the hot sun and also don’t have to deal with enforcing mask and distancing rules anymore.

Disney World Cast Members Share Smiles as Face Masks Become Optional Outdoors

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

I wish I could have seen that - though I am glad for the lesser crowds from when I went. Next trip should be great to see as I hope it will be normal!

 

[ImperfectPixie]

View attachment 564771
I deleted the line containing the “scorecard”. I suggest anyone who was offended by that go back and read the actual post instead of focusing on one line. What I was celebrating has nothing to do with the delta variant or projected deaths or any of that stuff. I am celebrating the success of the vaccine rollout and speed of deliveries. I’m celebrating the impact on covid cases and the start of a “return to normal” for the Summer, specifically at WDW. That is all. Many people doubted we would have enough vaccine by now or that it would work well enough to drive cases down but it has been a big success.

This pandemic has been horrific. There are many things the Federal Government and the state governments did terribly wrong that combined with individual actions may have resulted in countless unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths. None of that is a cause for celebration. However, we have to move forward now and IMHO it’s ok for people to be happy with the vaccine success and to be happy to see a place that’s special to them like WDW start to look normal again. That doesn’t mean the pandemic wasn’t a terrible tragedy and it doesn’t mean it’s over yet. There is good reason for cautious optimism IMHO but if people don’t want to embrace that it’s their choice too.

Thanks for deleting. It's not that I found it offensive, per se, and I understand the need/want to celebrate any wins...believe me, I get it.

We just don't need yet another means of dividing each other, that's all. There are plenty of people out there making sure people stay angry at one another, and I'm trying my best to push the angry aside any time I can.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I think it’s important to remember that no one wants life restricted, uncomfortable safety measures in place, or the economy to suffer.

But I think it’s also important to remember that those of us who may be called “Doom and Gloomers” or too cautious, truly believe a little bit longer of strict measures can save lives and benefit our various countries.

We just want what we believe is best for everyone during a pandemic. We are all sick of it, but we are just so close to potentially ruin it now.

 

[LittleBuford]

Encouraging developments over in the UK:

Covid: Queues at pop-up vaccine centres amid jabs push

It comes as a scientist advising the government warns the Delta variant is fuelling a third wave.

www.bbc.com

 

[Jrb1979]

Canada hits COVID-19 vaccine milestone as 75% receive one dose, 20% fully vaccinated - National | Globalnews.ca

Canada hit the COVID-19 vaccine milestone on Saturday with 31,735,308 doses of COVID-19 vaccines having now been administered across the country.

globalnews.ca

With how slow the vaccine rollout started to where we are now is amazing.

 

[danlb_2000]

Specifically this...



We ALL want the pandemic to end...some of us are just of the opinion that especially with the delta variant in the US that we're moving too quickly. And with so many areas doing so poorly with vaccination, mutations are a real concern.

Yes, mutations are a concern, but what can really be done about it at this point? The specter of a possible immunity resistant mutations isn't going to convince many hold outs to get the vaccine, and even if we did get a high vaccination rate in the US, it's going to take years to get the rest of the world vaccinated and if a mutations pops up there it's only a matter of time before it gets here.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yes, mutations are a concern, but what can really be done about it at this point? The specter of a possible immunity resistant mutations isn't going to convince many hold outs to get the vaccine, and even if we did get a high vaccination rate in the US, it's going to take years to get the rest of the world vaccinated and if a mutations pops up there it's only a matter of time before it gets here.

I am hopeful that we have already reached a high enough vaccination rate in a lot of places and we aren’t done vaccinating yet. In my local county of 830,000 people 5 of the 7 days last week had single digit new cases and 1 day had just a single new case reported. We have about 64% of the total population vaccinated with at least 1 dose and well north of 75% of adults. I know some people feel the decline in cases is more tied to seasonality, but even at our low points last Summer our best numbers were over 25 cases a day. I definitely think the vaccines are working.

I agree we can’t do a whole lot more to get more people vaccinated, but I’m not giving up yet either. We are at 65.3% of adults with one dose per the CDC. Last Saturday we were at 64.3%. 1% a week isn’t great but it’s not nothing. Slow (very slow) but somewhat steady pace. I do think we will exceed 70% of adults eventually, but not likely by July 4th. I think the pace of teens being vaccinated has dropped off due to the vaccine scares so I’m not sure how that factors into the overall plan. We may need more adults vaccinated if less teens go.

The worldwide situation is depressing. It does feel a bit shallow of a ”victory” to celebrate WDW returning to somewhat normal when the majority of the rest of the world is in such bad shape. I do think it’s OK to be happy about the little things, but we have a way to go before the worldwide end of this pandemic. Mutations are a concern but even if 100% of eligible Americans were vaccinated right now that would still be the case worldwide.

 

[DisneyCane]

I am hopeful that we have already reached a high enough vaccination rate in a lot of places and we aren’t done vaccinating yet. In my local county of 830,000 people 5 of the 7 days last week had single digit new cases and 1 day had just a single new case reported. We have about 64% of the total population vaccinated with at least 1 dose and well north of 75% of adults. I know some people feel the decline in cases is more tied to seasonality, but even at our low points last Summer our best numbers were over 25 cases a day. I definitely think the vaccines are working.

I agree we can’t do a whole lot more to get more people vaccinated, but I’m not giving up yet either. We are at 65.3% of adults with one dose per the CDC. Last Saturday we were at 64.3%. 1% a week isn’t great but it’s not nothing. Slow (very slow) but somewhat steady pace. I do think we will exceed 70% of adults eventually, but not likely by July 4th. I think the pace of teens being vaccinated has dropped off due to the vaccine scares so I’m not sure how that factors into the overall plan. We may need more adults vaccinated if less teens go.

The worldwide situation is depressing. It does feel a bit shallow of a ”victory” to celebrate WDW returning to somewhat normal when the majority of the rest of the world is in such bad shape. I do think it’s OK to be happy about the little things, but we have a way to go before the worldwide end of this pandemic. Mutations are a concern but even if 100% of eligible Americans were vaccinated right now that would still be the case worldwide.

Even in FL where people aren't exactly falling all over themselves to get vaccinated, around 150k people were newly vaccinated last week. Slow but that's still a pace of 1 million new people in less than 7 weeks (a little under 5% of the population).

Using the FL weekly report which only includes FL residents and the estimated 2020 population of 21.73 million, I calculate 49% of FL residents currently have at least one shot. If the vaccination pace stays steady, it is possible to get to the 60% Israel benchmark in 14 weeks (by 9/24).

Who knows, combined with immunity from infections, the 50% vaccinated number might be enough to get to herd immunity. There are 2,310,881 cases reported to date in FL residents. Estimates from studies are that there were 2-3 times the reported cases in actual infections. Even if we use the low number, that's 21% of the population that potentially has natural immunity and that is skewed to the least vaccinated age groups.

 

[DonniePeverley]

With the more transmissible Delta Indian variant coming - it may have been prudent to wait a few more months till all data of the Delta Indian variant was seen before abandoning ALL measures, especially face masks indoors. As i've said the UK has seen cases shoot up 300% in a few weeks with the Delta variant.

In my opinion abandoning all safety measures is wreckless and dangerous. A warning from India is that they thought the pandemic was over, they relaxed all restrictions, held large events, and then bang within a few weeks everything got out of control again.

 

[Touchdown]

With the more transmissible Delta Indian variant coming - it may have been prudent to wait a few more months till all data of the Delta Indian variant was seen before abandoning ALL measures, especially face masks indoors. As i've said the UK has seen cases shoot up 300% in a few weeks with the Delta variant.

In my opinion abandoning all safety measures is wreckless and dangerous. A warning from India is that they thought the pandemic was over, they relaxed all restrictions, held large events, and then bang within a few weeks everything got out of control again.

India wasn’t vaccinated, most of the UK wasn’t fully vaccinated, we do t know what’s going to happen, but so far we are still doing ok, 5 weeks later.

 

[GoofGoof]

With the more transmissible Delta Indian variant coming - it may have been prudent to wait a few more months till all data of the Delta Indian variant was seen before abandoning ALL measures, especially face masks indoors. As i've said the UK has seen cases shoot up 300% in a few weeks with the Delta variant.

In my opinion abandoning all safety measures is wreckless and dangerous. A warning from India is that they thought the pandemic was over, they relaxed all restrictions, held large events, and then bang within a few weeks everything got out of control again.

15% of India’s population has at least 1 dose of the vaccine today and that number was smaller when the variant took hold there. They had no good reason to believe the pandemic was over. The US vaccination rate is currently 53.2%. Big difference. In the UK they had a higher percentage vaccinated than India, but their spike in cases is not as extreme as what happened in India. In the UK today 96% of the new delta variant infections are coming in people who are not fully vaccinated. When the variant began to grow they were not vaccinating anyone under 30 yet. That has changed now.

We have no way of knowing if the Delta variant will become a major issue here or if it will follow the path of the UK variant and become the dominant strain but not result in a long term or widespread new wave of infections. So far the mRNA vaccines look to be highly effective vs all variants so people should get vaccinated and then there’s much less to worry about.

 

[DisneyCane]

With the more transmissible Delta Indian variant coming - it may have been prudent to wait a few more months till all data of the Delta Indian variant was seen before abandoning ALL measures, especially face masks indoors. As i've said the UK has seen cases shoot up 300% in a few weeks with the Delta variant.

In my opinion abandoning all safety measures is wreckless and dangerous. A warning from India is that they thought the pandemic was over, they relaxed all restrictions, held large events, and then bang within a few weeks everything got out of control again.

India didn't have 45% of the population fully vaccinated. India also didn't have a vaccine which is extremely effective against the Delta variant available to anybody who wants it and walks into a Walmart store.

If it gets out of control in the US again, it will be among people who chose not to be vaccinated. No reason to continue to have restrictions to protect people who elect not to protect themselves.