Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[seascape]

Today the NY Times reported the US is averaging 67,308 cases a day or 20.33 per 100,000. Florida is back to 30 cases per 100,000 tied for 10th. However, not everything it bad. Vaccinations are still rising and most of the US is slowly getting better but Michigan has an average of 7,601 or 11.3% of the country's total even though they have only 3% of the population. I was hoping things would be better than they are as this week we head down to WDW to enjoy Dapper Day Weekend. NY continues to show improvement as they are down to number 9 with a 31 cases per 100,000 and may fall below Florida soon. NJ on the otherhand still is at 41 and as a resident, I an extremely disappointed in my neighbors for letting NY do so much better than us, we need to do better.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Of course a vitamin deficiency makes one vulnerable. By the very definition of what makes a vitamin a vitamin it's essential to consume to live.

But large doses of Vitamin D doesn't supercharge anything. Dumping gallons of gas on top of car engine doesn't make it go faster. Too much Vitamin D is toxic.

Vitamin D toxicity: What if you get too much?

Understand the risks of too much vitamin D, including a toxic reaction.

www.mayoclinic.org

​

Vitamin D toxicity, also called hypervitaminosis D, is a rare but potentially serious condition that occurs when you have excessive amounts of vitamin D in your body.​

​

Vitamin D toxicity is usually caused by large doses of vitamin D supplements — not by diet or sun exposure. That's because your body regulates the amount of vitamin D produced by sun exposure, and even fortified foods don't contain large amounts of vitamin D.​

And, the low vitamin D levels that have been shown to correlate with all kinds of bad health outcomes are usually a proxy for something else, like chronic kidney disease, and not due to insufficient intake or lack of sunlight alone. Supplementing with vitamin D really only improves bone health.

 

[Heppenheimer]

People have this same misconception about Vitamin C, too. Taking a bunch of Vitamin C doesn't really stop you from getting sick or make an illness go away faster; that's not how it works. Your body can only process a certain amount and taking big doses means most of it goes straight through your body and out in urine without doing anything.

And vitamin C only plays a very passive role in infection prevention anyway. It serves as a cofactor in the synthesis of collagen, which amongst other things, maintains the basement membranes in our nose, mouth and sinuses. If these break down due to a lack of vitamin C, which is the now rare but historically important disease known as scurvy, then the person will suffer from severe infections continuously. But vitamin C offers no additional infection prevention beyond keeping these membranes intact.

One of the great break-throughs that allowed the British navy a distinct but only temporary advantage over her adversaries was the discovery that the consumption of lime juice prevented scurvy. Scurvy, not enemy cannonballs, was the main cause of death in most navies at the time.

 

[danlb_2000]

You may want to crack a book on virology to understand how viruses work, specifically the SARS virus (Sars Cov 2). I definitely don't hate anybody for decisions they make. I hope you share that same mentality with other vaccinations like the flu for instance or say MMR.

A lack of vitamin D in your body actually is the culprit for many viruses. This is common knowledge in medicine. If your body lacks the natural minerals to fight a virus introducing something into your body to fight a virus won't be as effective. There is a reason states that are open now where people are outside, exercising and being in the sun are having substantially better results than states who are closed and restricting activities outdoors. It's really simple, when you're in the sun outside at disney you feel euphoric almost, yes the atmosphere and rides help, but just being out in the warm weather, sun and fresh air have a lot to do with this.

If this was true you would expect the southern state to have consistently done better then the northern states. Looking at lockdown policies is a little tricky, but just based on the ability to be outside for a larger part of the year should have made a difference. Looking at deaths per million population the data doesn't seem to back that up. Florida, which has really good weather and loose restrictions is in the middle of the pack based on that measure. Northern states like Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin did better. California which has a mix of weather but very strict lockdowns did better the Florida. Arizona which had relatively loose lockdowns and a lot of sun was the 6th worse state. Yes, sun and vitamin D help, but they are not a magical solution to the problem.

 

[Kevin_W]

For me it's

1. The Park Reservation System
2 . The Park Reservation System
3. Ticket Priority, which wasn't a problem before except for the dang
4. Park Reservation System

We have a unique situation, but IMO, unique situations is where you find out exactly how good is company's customer service and for us Disney is becoming more and more hostile. I was going to explain in more detail, but it just makes me angry whenever I think about it. The general explanation is that buying regular guest tickets and making reservations with them, seems to have limited my Dad's ability to use his surviving spouse of a CM benefit to visit a park on any other day. We found this out after booking my May visit and purchasing 4-day passes to make park reservations, and then WDW lifted self-admission for 2 days at Epcot this week and he received a "guest has made the maximum number of park reservations." We were planning on doing the whole shebang in October for the 50th since other friends are going. On property, purchase more regular guest tickets since blockouts are unknown. But no way am I doing that, if it means that if there are blockout free days at some point between now and October that my Dad can't make a reservation using his main entrance pass.

I'm sorry about your situation, that sounds bad. For me, having to make ADR's and FP+ in the past is an awful lot like a park reservation system (if I have late-morning FP for 7DMT, Space Mountain, and Pirates I'm probably not going to DHS first thing). So it didn't really bother me. but I can see how other situations our touring styles might be different.

Similarly, when we went in October we ended up int he front row of RotR, Dinosaur, Pirates, etc. so the plexiglass wasn't a big issue for us.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm concerned we won't ever get enough shots in. There are huge numbers of people spread across the country who now have access to shots but simply aren't interested in getting them. I was reading an article earlier about places in Ohio and several other states that have dozens of empty vaccine appointments every day even though they're not even close to vaccinating the majority of the population yet.

If that's the case, variants are going to continue to develop and spread and we could end up nearly back where we started.

Ohio can never get itself straight...count on that.

Biden needs to mandate vaccines to the people who don't wanted to get vaccinating.

I don’t think that’s possible.

It means we need to be vigilant and debunk all the conspiracy theories and encourage (but not bully) those who are hesitant about the vaccines.

EDIT: And continue to follow safety protocols in the meantime.

I’d settle for a chair and duck tape at this point.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

I *believe* there are still staff to take orders, though MO is heavily touted. Mobile Order is so convenient without special dietary needs that we’re on the opposite end, specifically choosing places that have it (almost everywhere in WDW now), little snack kiosks aside.

In fact, I’d love a future F&W festival or similar where mobile ordering was available at the festival kitchens. Kind of a pre-built tour of the wares.

I haven't used Mobile Ordering before but I think I'll like it for our upcoming trip. My only issue is that some Disney-owned locations don't have their allergy menu available for Mobile Order while others do, so it will make it a little harder to plan out where to eat. However, the plant-based options seem to be available on every menu I've checked, so they seem to have prioritized (primarily) voluntary dietary choices over involuntary dietary restrictions. I know some people prefer to speak with a chef for their allergy orders but I've been to Disney enough times to know that the chefs take every precaution when preparing allergy orders, so I don't need to speak with a chef every time I order.

 

[LaughingGravy]

Not a popular opinion, but we may be getting to the point that the educated and willing to accept science will survive and thrive.
The others? Maybe not so much. Unfortunately, they may take some innocent people out with them in the process, like their kids.

 

[DisneyCane]

In your statement you literally said what I said "reduces" is exactly my point. Doesn't keep you from getting it my guy.

Yes they do with about 90% effectiveness (at least Pfizer and Moderna). On top of that they reduce severity if you get it. Even better they reduce transmission if you get it.

 

[FanforDisney]

Has anyone been tracking the Indian variant of Covid? I am getting worried that once it makes its way into the US population all of this masking and vaccination will be wasted.

Covid-19 Surge in India Risks Breeding Variants the Nation Can’t Track

As it battles a huge surge in coronavirus cases, India trails many other countries in the genomic sequencing necessary to track emerging variants, creating a blind spot for local and global health officials.

www.wsj.com

 

[Epcotfan21]

Not a popular opinion, but we may be getting to the point that the educated and willing to accept science will survive and thrive.
The others? Maybe not so much. Unfortunately, they may take some innocent people out with them in the process, like their kids.

Take out educated and willing to accept science and replace with healthy individuals and you're probably right.

Regular Exercise May Help Protect Against Severe Covid (Published 2021)

People who tended to be sedentary were far more likely to be hospitalized, and to die, from Covid than those who exercised regularly.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Touchdown]

The next step that I predict will occur if vaccine levels slow before we reach herd immunity is what I like to call “the going out of business sale.”

President Biden will make a speech where he will basically say 4 things:

1. Take credit for vaccinating every American who wanted one
2. Bemoan the fact he and the CDC can’t recommend ending mitigation’s because there is still too many cases in the US
3. Again promise Americans they will not be forced by the govt to get vaccines
4. State that since vaccinations have stalled in the United States and countries around the world are still short on vaccines starting 1 month from now all first dose vaccines that were meant for Americans will be sold/donated to foreign countries where they can best be put to use (with promises to still have enough vaccines to finsh those that start vaccinations and for kids when eligible.)

Then sit back and watch one last vaccine scheduling frenzy as the right wing media machine gets outraged over Biden not “putting America first” and the end result is hopefully enough shots in arms to get to herd immunity.

 

[Incomudro]

Not a popular opinion, but we may be getting to the point that the educated and willing to accept science will survive and thrive.
The others? Maybe not so much. Unfortunately, they may take some innocent people out with them in the process, like their kids.

That goes on in life right now, doesn't it?
Look at how many people ignore their health their entire lives, and then find themselves with lifestyle related illnesses that cut years - even decades off of their lifespan.
These same illnesses - this same lifestyle - led them to be a tremendous risk for serious and fatal consequences when covid came along.
Abuse yourself your entire life, then get on a variety of meds.
Abuse yourself your entire life, then hope that scientists will come up with a vaccine to save you.
Very few people learned anything here.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Take out educated and willing to accept science and replace with healthy individuals and you're probably right.

Regular Exercise May Help Protect Against Severe Covid (Published 2021)

People who tended to be sedentary were far more likely to be hospitalized, and to die, from Covid than those who exercised regularly.

www.nytimes.com

Wrong.

One would think being fit and healthy improves your chances with any disease...and that's where COVID surprised us. Even extremely fit and healthy people with no underlying diseases/medical conditions have succumbed to COVID.

Educated and willing to accept science is one of the keys to coming out of this.

 

[HarperRose]

Yeah, it sounds like they're keeping the park reservation system, which probably means they're also keeping the park hopping after 2 PM. That will put a huge damper on any potential future WDW trips for me.

It also greatly reduces the value of the park hopping add on (while prices go up and up on the hopper). Add it to the ever-lengthening list of things Disney is increasing in price while reducing the benefit.

 

[correcaminos]

My list of changes I cannot stand

1. Epcot opening at 11.
2. Park reservations
3. Menus diminished
4. Closure of some restaurants
5. Outdoor masking still required

 

[JoeCamel]

The next step that I predict will occur if vaccine levels slow before we reach herd immunity is what I like to call “the going out of business sale.”

President Biden will make a speech where he will basically say 4 things:

1. Take credit for vaccinating every American who wanted one
2. Bemoan the fact he and the CDC can’t recommend ending mitigation’s because there is still too many cases in the US
3. Again promise Americans they will not be forced by the govt to get vaccines
4. State that since vaccinations have stalled in the United States and countries around the world are still short on vaccines starting 1 month from now all first dose vaccines that were meant for Americans will be sold/donated to foreign countries where they can best be put to use (with promises to still have enough vaccines to finsh those that start vaccinations and for kids when eligible.)

Then sit back and watch one last vaccine scheduling frenzy as the right wing media machine gets outraged over Biden not “putting America first” and the end result is hopefully enough shots in arms to get to herd immunity.

I got a tiny issue with #4

 

[HarperRose]

Take out educated and willing to accept science and replace with healthy individuals and you're probably right.

Regular Exercise May Help Protect Against Severe Covid (Published 2021)

People who tended to be sedentary were far more likely to be hospitalized, and to die, from Covid than those who exercised regularly.

www.nytimes.com

Can we please stop with this thoroughly debunked anti-science crap?

 

[Epcotfan21]

Can we please stop with this thoroughly debunked anti-science crap?

What has been debunked from the NYT article I posted?

 

[HarperRose]

That is why I 100% support vaccine passports. You don't want to get vaccinated, fine, but you will be unwelcome anywhere that isn't your local grocery store or bar.

You want to do activities that involve putting other people potentially at risk? Ooops, sorry, you aren't allowed to enter.