To those who have not returned yet - what will get you back?

[ZephyrHawk]

Well, first, I don't know if I so much chose not to retrun to Disney since Covid. If the whole dang place hadn't been closed down, I was prepared to take a "resort-only" trip this summer at my previously scheduled time. But, it didn't happen. That being said, I have some time in February that we're purposely choosing not to spend at Disney (because of the crowds). As to what will get me back? The 50th Anniversary. Already got my park reservation. Once in a lifetime.

 

[auroralark]

1. I won't consider getting on a plane until my whole family is vaccinated.
2. No masks outside (not anti-mask at all, but if you don't need masks outside I would assume the pandemic is more under control.)
3. Return of character interactions.
4. Return of Fastpass
5. Return of fireworks/parades/live shows etc.

We are also DVC members, so I've banked my points for this year and hoping to be able to use them next year.

 

[dledger]

Our list for return would be :
1. Travel restrictions are less strict - my husband and son cannot afford to be out of work/ daycare for 3 weeks at a time.
2. Vaccines
3. we would prefer not to have to wear masks but wouldn’t consider this a deal breaker.
4. Return of live shows / entertainment
5. hours extended back to “normal”

 

[Lisse24]

We have a trip mid-March. We're comfortable with the COVID precautions Disney is taking and so feel safe. However, we're considering putting it off because the limited hours will make it hard to do all we want to. If they were selling APs, we'd just plan a shorter follow up trip or two to do things we missed, but without that options, we're wondering if it's worth the money.

SO, I know 100% it's longer hours or APs.

 

[musika]

We're Canadian so similar to other posters, we will not be returning at a minimum until travel restrictions are eased and quarantine lifts at home - we can't afford to stay home for 2 weeks following a vacation. I also live in one of the few success stories in North American (Nova Scotia) so going from a place with little or no Covid to a place where it's a prevalent threat gives me pause.

Our original plan was to return once more before DD turns 10 in Feb/22 but I strongly doubt that'll happen at this stage. Given all the recent cuts to Disney (shows, ME, FP, MBs, etc etc) I am not as in love with the place as I once was. I think our next trip will either be Universal Studios only (we have HP fans in the family), or a hybrid of the two. When I can stay premium onsite at US for the same price as a moderate at WDW, it's hard to justify the mouse.

 

[hes122]

Things at Disney:
- extended park hours
- fireworks/parades
- live shows
- character meet & greets

Things for me:
- I feel comfortable sitting down inside a restaurant
- I feel comfortable getting on a plane

I'm getting my 2nd dose of the vaccine next month so I would in theory add that to my list, but since I'll have it before any of the rest of this happens I didn't add it.

That being said, before all of this happened my traveling companions & I had been talking about Spring 2022 (late April/early May). That still might happen. We'll see.

 

[Edeyore]

A Disney road race. I had gone to 5 Disney marathons, the last in January of 2020. I was signed up for the Star Wars Half in April of 2021. When they cancelled in on
property, I cancelled my reservations.

 

[Miffy]

1) Vaccinated--and a large % of the population also vaccinated
2) No quarantining
3) If 1 and 2 create gigantic crowds, then that might also postpone our return, I'm sorry to say.

We have a trip planned for May 2021. Right now, I'm wondering if it will happen. And my AP--an AP renewal that I never used for even 1 day--will expire in July 2021.

 

[dd316]

Easy answer - almost everything back the way it was pre-COVID.

Now I know that's an impossibility as the landscape of the world is forever changed, but as far as Disney World goes there are a lot of things that I just want to go back to normal - character interactions, Park Hopper without restrictions, fireworks & parades...

 

[pwdebbie]

I'd go right now if they cut the price in half (or even more) for everything -- resort, tickets, and dining. Since it is only half the experience it used to be, I see no reason to pay full price.

 

[Darcy03231]

For me to go back things would have to pretty much return to pre-pandemic normals. Everything at WDW would need to be completely open - - rides, restaurants, shows, character dining, etc. Also, my family would all need to be vaccinated, no more masks and no more quarantines upon return.

Having said that, I don't think this will happen until at least 2022.

 

[Gentry2004]

1. Vaccinations for at least the adults
2. Live shows/entertainment/fireworks
3. FP+
4. I also want to feel comfortable eating indoors, which I am not right now.

 

[disneygirlsng]

A Disney road race. I had gone to 5 Disney marathons, the last in January of 2020. I was signed up for the Star Wars Half in April of 2021. When they cancelled in on
property, I cancelled my reservations.

That would get me back very fast. I know I've already been back, and would go back in a heartbeat if I didn't recently start a new job and have minimal PTO right now. Especially since my August trip was about 95% a normal trip for me. But I'd be there tomorrow for a race. Still sad about my first (and looks like it will be only) shot at Star Wars.
I'm so glad I didn't need so many of the things people are saying they need to go back (other than travel restrictions obviously). It was way more than well worth it for me.

 

[Sakiki]

Hoo boy...

Well, we’re in the UK so the first thing of course is the UK and US governments have to reopen the skies! Other than that:

UK vaccination program proceeding as expected so DW and I are protected as much as possible. Unless DW and I feel safe on an aircraft and sitting down in a restaurant (we haven’t done the latter since March 2020) the whole thing will be off before we start.

No requirement for negative COVID tests at either end before boarding our flights.

No need for quarantine or self-isolation on arrival at either end.

No masks (I believe in them and wear one as necessary/appropriate but that doesn’t wash on vacation, particularly in Florida’s heat and humidity).

The rest is all in the hands of Disney - all resorts reopened, all park and resort TS and QS restaurants reopened with full seating and full menus, return of all indoor shows, return of ‘street entertainment’ and Epcot cultural performers, return of fireworks and parades, return of Fastpass (or some similar system - neither of us are physically capable of standing in line for 2/3/4 hours).

We’ve just had our TA defer our December 2021 trip to December 2022. Given the cost of travelling from the UK (particularly as we’re no longer willing to fly transatlantic in coach) and if Disney are going to charge full price (plus whatever uptick is applied in the meantime) we won’t be back while the whole Disney experience’ is so diluted and impaired.

 

[Blondie58]

Annual passes. We have July, October and January scheduled. All depends on annual passes.

 

[pinkxray]

We have a trip planned for Nov/Dec 2021. We will cancel if the travel restrictions we will deal with coming home aren’t dropped.
We can on take a Sat-Sunday trip. I don’t want to shorten our trip bc we have to pass a COVID test 4 days after returning home before returning.

I have also told Dh if I can get a registration for any RunDisney event that comes up we are going whatever the restrictions are.

I do wonder about those who want the majority of the population to be vaccinated before going. I feel like that is going to be a long wait. I work in a hospital and we are still at only 60% vaccinated with it being available to all employees. They had hoped to reach 80% at this point.
I feel like the general public will be much more resist to get it than healthcare workers but hope I am wrong.

 

[TomorrowlandKD]

When the month of September comes. (hehe we have a trip booked for then!)

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

1. No masks
2. Restaurants open and full menus
3. Fastpass/or similar with Park Hopping and full flexibility
4. Fireworks
5. Longer park hours

That is my list in order of importance. I hate wearing a mask and it makes me feel emotionally flat for some reason which is not good on vacation. We went to Charleston in October and had to wear masks when touring inside and in restaurants which was tolerable. At Disney, it is a dealbreaker for us because the only real respite would be in our hotel room. Also, my DD19 and I both wear glasses which makes masks an even bigger frustration.

Restaurants are a big deal for us because of a variety of food allergies.

We plan our park days using the fastpass system and rope dropping to maximize our time with minimal waits. We love the flexibility of park hopping on a whim after using our first 3 fastpasses so being constrained by park ressies and availability is a no-go for us.

We love watching the fireworks at MK and it is special to us on every trip. It would be a real bummer not to have that special family moment.

Longer park hours are pretty self explanatory. I need more time for more magic!

 

[Matt'sMom]

We live literally minutes from the MK...

With masks and social distancing and hand sanitizing, we feel relatively comfortable going out shopping here in Orange County and going to Disney Springs. The only thing stopping us from going to the actual theme parks is our inability to purchase Florida Resident Annual Passes. We're retired, and can't afford to buy high priced day passes and pay for parking multiple times per month -- but if we had AP's, we'd be visiting the parks & resorts frequently -- probably multiple times each week. Once Disney begins to sell FL annual passes again, we'll be there!

Unfortunately for us, we purchased our home and moved to FL right at the start of the pandemic in the USA, during early springtime of 2020. At the time we were told we could wait and upgrade our old, unused, non expiring passes towards the cost of an annual pass. Well, as we all now know, Disney stopped selling annual passes... and that includes not allowing upgrades of other tickets towards an AP either. So here we sit, mere minutes outside of the park -- so close we could hear fireworks at MK when they'd shoot them off -- and we can't visit the resorts or purchase our resident passes for park admission.

 

[720L]

We live literally minutes from the MK...

With masks and social distancing and hand sanitizing, we feel relatively comfortable going out shopping here in Orange County and going to Disney Springs. The only thing stopping us from going to the actual theme parks is our inability to purchase Florida Resident Annual Passes. We're retired, and can't afford to buy high priced day passes and pay for parking multiple times per month -- but if we had AP's, we'd be visiting the parks & resorts frequently -- probably multiple times each week. Once Disney begins to sell FL annual passes again, we'll be there!

Unfortunately for us, we purchased our home and moved to FL right at the start of the pandemic in the USA, during early springtime of 2020. At the time we were told we could wait and upgrade our old, unused, non expiring passes towards the cost of an annual pass. Well, as we all now know, Disney stopped selling annual passes... and that includes not allowing upgrades of other tickets towards an AP either. So here we sit, mere minutes outside of the park -- so close we could hear fireworks at MK when they'd shoot them off -- and we can't visit the resorts or purchase our resident passes for park admission.

We are so close to moving by Disney! But now pausing everything because if they decide to not sell annual passes, there's no point.