To Go or Not To Go

[luv2cheer92]

I am wondering if the last week in August (August 23-28) midweek and not on weekends will be less crowded than what people are currently experiencing now. The current crowd levels have me concerned but I'm not sure that will be the case the last week of August.

Could be. The last week or so has already seen crowds die down a bit.

 

[Tonberry]

We leave in less than 2 weeks. 2 fully vaccinated adults, 1 fully vaccinated teenager, and our unvaccinated 10 year old son.
Still plan on going, but going to be very cautious. Already we've made some changes to our trip.
We were going to do DME but opted not to and to rent a car instead. That way we could reduce our need for Disney transportation. We were fine with transportation back in December when it was limited seating with plexiglass. Now that's all gone and they're packing people in. No thanks.
We're also going to request our own Gondola if we use it.
we rented a cabana at Blizzard Beach so we have our own personal area if things get too busy.
We're not doing any indoor shows where they pack you in next to strangers (Lion King, Frozen Sing Along, etc.)
We're doing the Boo Bash but will get there way before 7:00 to avoid the rush of people entering the event and the rush of people clearing out of the parks. We have MK park reservations that day anyway.
We also don't plan on watching fireworks anywhere near the hub or main street. We'll fine a nice quiet area.

 

[Tonberry]

I am wondering if the last week in August (August 23-28) midweek and not on weekends will be less crowded than what people are currently experiencing now. The current crowd levels have me concerned but I'm not sure that will be the case the last week of August.

We hope so too. I know several people in my Facebook groups that have already cancelled their upcoming trips in August and September. I've also noticed a bunch of ADR times have opened up that were not there before.

 

[cakebaker]

We're also going to request our own Gondola if we use it.

If you use the gondola and have people transferring on, be sure to let them know asap at transfer that you don't want anyone with you. Before we could say anything at a transfer point, they put another couple in our car. I'm not sure how you avoid that, but just be aware it happens. We were not happy about it, but nothing we could do.

You have an even number so probably not an issue for you, but on rides like Slinky, they will add single riders in the car if you don't request to be seated alone as well.

 

[zuzu310]

We were scheduled 2nd week of September and we ended up rescheduling over Spring Break (last week of March). I have a 7 and 10 year old and I just didn't feel safe taking them without them being vaccinated. If they did get sick, they would end up missing at least 3 weeks of school so the countdown begins again and I'm hoping numbers will be better then and vaccinations for their ages will be approved.

 

[firstwdw]

We leave in less than 2 weeks. 2 fully vaccinated adults, 1 fully vaccinated teenager, and our unvaccinated 10 year old son.
Still plan on going, but going to be very cautious. Already we've made some changes to our trip.
We were going to do DME but opted not to and to rent a car instead. That way we could reduce our need for Disney transportation. We were fine with transportation back in December when it was limited seating with plexiglass. Now that's all gone and they're packing people in. No thanks.
We're also going to request our own Gondola if we use it.
we rented a cabana at Blizzard Beach so we have our own personal area if things get too busy.
We're not doing any indoor shows where they pack you in next to strangers (Lion King, Frozen Sing Along, etc.)
We're doing the Boo Bash but will get there way before 7:00 to avoid the rush of people entering the event and the rush of people clearing out of the parks. We have MK park reservations that day anyway.
We also don't plan on watching fireworks anywhere near the hub or main street. We'll fine a nice quiet area.

This is our tentative plan as well. I am still watching things and haven't cancelled yet. We live in the Northeast where numbers are better than FL so going to the hotspot has me second guessing it all. We have nonstop flights, car rental. just 2 park days, Blizzard Beach (I'll look into the cabana rental). I am not sure about dining.....we haven't even eaten indoors at home since this all started. But I worry about the heat in FL and we may want a break from that!

 

[mousefan73]

The Florida surge isn't the sole metric to consider with WDW though - eventually, Delta will burn through the locals, but a very large number of WDW attendees will be from other states so...

Yes that is what is complicating the math in my head. Orlando's true population ( those who overnight at a given time) are half locals and half people from everywhere else in the US and abroad. For right now we are still planned to arrive on the 21st in the evening. I changed things about. 1. We are not taking any buses. Only exception is the skyliner. I am paying a crap load for a car rental the whole trip. Will go grocery shopping and eat half in room. Will not dine inside anywhere. A good part of our trip is shopping ( our fav mall is outdoors) and resort pool time. I was looking foward to not wearing masks as one can ( we are flying in from Germany and here N95s are a requirement everywhere but outside) but I told my DD already I dont care how stupid you feel if we are the only one in N95, but we are wearing them or we cancel. She is cool with it. Just trying to decide if we do surgical outside or keep N95 on. We have our must dos, most of which are outside. We are both vaxxed. Ideally we should hold off, but mentally we just cant. I have a back-up plan if we get sick ( family in another state) but we are both recently vaxxed (June/Aug) second shots, so I hope our antibodies are super strong. If we do eat indoors, a QS, or such we will do it at odd times when places are usually dead. lunch at 11 or dinner at 3 etc..

 

[karatstravels]

We are arriving Sept 1 - all fully vaxxed adults and teens but we have 2 under 12s. We may just end up doing a resort only stay, haven’t told the kids yet. Playing it by ear but not looking good.

 

[smwisc]

For me this is the biggest reason to cancel - even if I can convince myself that it's a fairly low risk to my unable-to-be-vaccinated kids, I just do not want to invest the time and money into a Disney vacation where I have to spend every minute monitoring the crowd levels and behavior of people around me and just generally worrying about which decision might be the one I regret; it just sounds like the opposite of relaxing.

That was my biggest take away. We were able to make it enjoyable for my grandson, and that had ended up being my goal. But it was incredibly stressful monitioring everything and just mentally exhausting. It was nothing I would call magical at all and we won't repeat it. If the trip had been free, it still wouldn't have been worth it. Sure, we had some fun times, but overall it was just hard work. The guilt we all felt when he did get sick and we didn't know if it was Covid or not, was awful.

Yes, this. Our last park day was Thursday and we are all getting COVID tests tomorrow as a precaution (no symptoms, so fingers crossed). We had a lot of fun, but it was so stressful and just mentally exhausting. If the situation had deteriorated like it did just a few weeks earlier, we would not have gone.

 

[TinkOhio]

Went 7/7-7/14. Had symptoms by 7/17 & then tested positive. DH & I are vaccinated. DS too young. Still getting over being sick.

I’m so sorry that you became and are still sick. Can I ask what your breakthrough symptoms were like?

 

[LSUmiss]

I’m so sorry that you became and are still sick. Can I ask what your breakthrough symptoms were like?

Sure they were shortness of breath, congestion, fever, loss of taste & smell, body aches & fatigue. Was almost 2 weeks worth of that. Still have shortness or breath & my taste & smell aren’t 100% yet. Concerned those will be long term symptoms.

 

[holyrita]

Sure they were shortness of breath, congestion, fever, loss of taste & smell, body aches & fatigue. Was almost 2 weeks worth of that. Still have shortness or breath & my taste & smell aren’t 100% yet. Concerned those will be long term symptoms.

My mom caught covid in March and her taste and smell have still not returned

 

[TinkOhio]

LSUmiss ~ I’m so sorry you are still feeling sick! I guess I assumed breakthrough cases were usually mild, but it sounds as though you had more severe symptoms. Hope you are feeling better soon!

 

[valerie160]

We were at disney and universal July 24-28. Our group of 6 (2 vaccinated adults, 3 vaccinated teens, and a 7 year old unvaccinated child with immune/health concerns) traveled with another group of 6 (2 vaccinated adults, 2 vaccinated teens, 2 healthy unvaccinated kids under 12). This was before the mask mandate came back, but we personally stayed masked indoors, masked outdoors if we were in a very crowded area (but usually outdoors we didn't mask). We sanitized constantly (the parks were great about sanitizer stations placed at the end of every ride). We limited indoor time and if we were indoor, we stayed away from other people as much as possible and kept our masks on. I was very nervous for my son, but we did the best we could and I'm happy to say we have all been fine since getting back. Also, it was hot, but we had a great time. We missed disney so much so it was nice to get our yearly fill.

 

[dwonderz]

We just moved our August 17 - August 22 trip to later this year (still finalizing but most likely early November). We are both vaccinated and were planning on wearing masks the entire time (since cases started rising) - we just feel like it's a little too risky right now. Definitely bummed - but also relieved to have made a decision as we kept going back and forth.

 

[mousefan73]

tha

I am wondering if the last week in August (August 23-28) midweek and not on weekends will be less crowded than what people are currently experiencing now. The current crowd levels have me concerned but I'm not sure that will be the case the last week of August.

This is when we are going.. fingers crossed.

 

[LSUmiss]

LSUmiss ~ I’m so sorry you are still feeling sick! I guess I assumed breakthrough cases were usually mild, but it sounds as though you had more severe symptoms. Hope you are feeling better soon!

Yes me too! But I guess mild compared to we weren’t hospitalized or dead

 

[sjrec]

We ate at several ts restaurants and I felt like there was a good distance from other tables once we were seated. We wore masks into the restaurants and when we left. Even in cs restaurants we were able to isolate ourselves (it was so hot we needed the ac to cool off).

 

[sjrec]

Sure they were shortness of breath, congestion, fever, loss of taste & smell, body aches & fatigue. Was almost 2 weeks worth of that. Still have shortness or breath & my taste & smell aren’t 100% yet. Concerned those will be long term symptoms.

I am so sorry you are still so sick-hope you’re feeling better soon.

 

[firstwdw]

tha
This is when we are going.. fingers crossed.

we are just keeping a close eye on everything. I have a backup plan booked for Cape Cod but I'm not excited about it at all.