This is similar to my feelings right now. Except crowded walkways wont be cool for us either...
For me the worry isn't crowded walkways. It's long lines with long wait times, limited food options with long waits and limited transportation with...long wait times.
We usually fastpass the rides we really want and if we come across anything with a short wait time we'll ride it.
We also watch all the shows.
Obviously the shows are off the table and we'll be fine with whatever food we get but I'd like to feel like I semi got my money's worth for the trip overall.
I love Disney World and we have a trip booked for early November that I'm very excited about.
But we spent 4k for this trip and I don't want to feel like it wasn't worth it.
If Disney doesn't improve transportation and increase ride capacity we are going to cancel.
We live in Vegas so it's not like we can go often. I think locals/AP's might have a different perspective. This is just my opinion based on my family and I don't mean to belittle anyone else's feelings or opinions.
I booked the trip with open eyes and I'm fully aware that it won't be like our other trips.
I know one person's perspective of crowds might not match another's.
I'm just going to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks and decide then.
I agree with this approach and have the same feelings of reduced cost/benefit it sounds like you are feeling. Our trip was rescheduled from March when we had our vacation cancelled a week beforehand. At the time we didn’t know our federal government response would put us in such a terrible position compared to the rest of the world still in November. So we rebooked at the time, hoping things would be closer to “normal“ by Thanksgiving.
We were still feeling ok with going a month ago due to the “Disney bubble“ and the lower capacity/crowds - despite Floridas numbers. Disney was doing everything right and we could manage with much more lightly attended parks. But reading about the increased capacity, long waits and even the transportation issues that are present now does not make it worth the money nor worth the risk for my family to visit. This trip - before the cost of dining and activities - is $6500 for us and we fly from Minneapolis. So not at all like a local experience where there is less travel and you could just come another time.
Based on our Disney park practices of early rope dropping, maximizing fastpass and never waiting more than 20 minutes for standby, we would be fairly unhappy standing in a two hour FOP line, even a one hour line, not to mention super stressed out by the potential for COVID 19 exposure standing indoors in those small corridors for that long. Even with Physical distancing - thats a long time to be indoors with a decent amount of others in small spaces. Not something we are comfortable doing.
We too will wait and see how reports come back through October and early November but without shorter wait times or fastpass and more timely/better transportation the trip will be cancelled. As sad as that makes me to write. Hard to justify spending that much to be waiting in long lines, stressed out and risking safety. Cruising through lines with little waits, minimal crowding or ability to avoid it, and just fewer people in general plus the chance to “stop and smell the roses” more with different experiences at the resort or other resorts or on property due to limited park hours/events made the trade offs worth it, even with many holiday things cancelled and reduced hours, restaurant options etc. It is not sounding that way now. The possibility of Increased capacity combined with Thanksgiving week and no FP, limited bus service has the makings of a nightmare trip for us.
Disney seems to be in this middle ground now of getting busier, which is good for Disney and a positive sign for sure, but not busy enough for them to go to the expense of better transportation measures or even the ability to better manage crowds through fastpass due to the physical space needed for safety protocols for COVID 19. The opposite of the “sweet spot” and more like the “awkward middle” sadly.