Our Aulani trip is scheduled for late March. How's everyone doing?

[Madeline Green]

I am booked in mid-April as well. I myself am not concerned with getting sick but am worried about coming home and having to be self-quarantined. Someone in my area just came back from Hawaii on Saturday and tested positive yesterday. They did not say which islands she had visited. It’s unfortunate because she is a health care provider and saw patients her first day back before being tested positive later in the day.

I feel that it is going to move in the direction of automatic self-quarantine if you have travelled. That’s the only way to prevent spread.

At this point I am still moving forward with plans as our flights are non refundable. I am going to prepare for the possibility of forced quarantine on our return though. We’ll see what the next few weeks hold.

 

[plasmo]

we are still going in 2 weeks, but so much can change in 24 hours...

This just came in:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/covid19-first-case-doctor-hamilton-health-sciences-1.5493530
does anyone have any further hawaii info on where this doctor went?

 

[2Gma]

we are still going in 2 weeks, but so much can change in 24 hours...
This just came in:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/covid19-first-case-doctor-hamilton-health-sciences-1.5493530does anyone have any further hawaii info on where this doctor went?

Simultaneously bummed we are not on our way to Hawaii today as planned BUT also feeling like we made the right decision for our family.

 

[br3n]

My family is still planning to head to Oahu from Texas on Monday, unless our flight is canceled by then. We will take as many precautions as we can (I'm always a bit of a germaphobe when traveling anyway) but I am really more concerned with the state of the economy and ensuing panic than the virus itself. At this pace, and with more developments by the hour, I just hope we aren't quarantined or returning home to chaos on the 24th.

Then again, I told my boss that I may need to self-quarantine while in Oahu...

 

[Amw1064]

My family is still planning to head to Oahu from Texas on Monday, unless our flight is canceled by then. We will take as many precautions as we can (I'm always a bit of a germaphobe when traveling anyway) but I am really more concerned with the state of the economy and ensuing panic than the virus itself. At this pace, and with more developments by the hour, I just hope we aren't quarantined or returning home to chaos on the 24th.

Then again, I told my boss that I may need to self-quarantine while in Oahu...

This is how I am feeling as well. We leave tomorrow morning and home on the 21st. Not sure what we will come home to. Just got a call from school board asking people to not travel over spring break. We are in Florida.

 

[corgi_monster]

we are still going in 2 weeks, but so much can change in 24 hours...

This just came in:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/covid19-first-case-doctor-hamilton-health-sciences-1.5493530
does anyone have any further hawaii info on where this doctor went?

This is copied and pasted from the Oahu daily newspaper (Star Advertiser) website in regards to the Canadian visitor:

However, Hawaii health officials say they don’t have any information on that individual, which means they cannot trace any close contacts while in the islands.

 

[neurosx1983]

Hey guys, I just want to piggyback onto this thread. We canceled our ABD… And actually last night found out our ABD was canceling anyway. We were supposed to fly out to London this morning for our England France trip but now we are flying the other way to Hawaii. Hope it’s the right thing to do... My thinking is that we are more exposed in the NYC area then in Hawaii. We will just try and be clean on the long flight...

 

[rocketriter]

...It's a cold virus. A contagious one but still a cold virus...

Cold viruses don't kill 5% of the people who catch a cold. Yes, there's plenty of panic around Covid. But pretending there's no issue isn't a good approach either.

 

[Tiff M]

We are continuing on as planned and leaving next week, unless of course all flights are cancelled or something else goes terribly wrong. I hope this stops spreading soon, it's a scary situation.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Cold viruses don't kill 5% of the people who catch a cold. Yes, there's plenty of panic around Covid. But pretending there's no issue isn't a good approach either.

You are correct but theres A LOT of variation in the death rate based on age and health.

For the majority it is less than 5%, much less. For some it is dangerously higher.

 

[cgattis]

Very

You are correct but theres A LOT of variation in the death rate based on age and health.

For the majority it is less than 5%, much less. For some it is dangerously higher.

Very interesting (and calming, IMO) graphic. We should be vigilant but not panic. Thanks for sharing.

 

[corgi_monster]

The University of Hawaii told its students not to come back to campus after Spring Break (next week) and that all classes would be conducted online.

My OPINION and I'm NOT AN EXPERT BY ANY MEANS, is that the dominoes have started falling here in Hawaii. Based on past government responses to hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves, and other disaster situations, the dominoes generally fall in this order:

- UH shuts down
- Dept. of Education closes down public schools
- Private schools shut down and non-essential government workers are told to stay home
- Many private businesses, especially small ones, close
- If large businesses (chain stores like Target, Costco, etc.) shut down, they are usually quick to reopen

I don't know what the tourist experience will be like in the next few coming weeks. If schools are closed, many parents will have to stay home with their kids instead of going to work at the hotel, restaurant, or shop you're visiting.

The good news is that you'll still be able to visit the beach, go hiking, take a drive around the island, etc. And the Chinese restaurants never close I'll never forget the day the earthquake knocked out power to the entire island for over 12 hours. The Chinese restaurant owner lit a fire in the parking lot, brought his wok outside, and it was business as usual. Entrepreneurial spirit at its best!

 

[Sepo]

i suppose traffic might be better.

 

[2Gma]

The University of Hawaii told its students not to come back to campus after Spring Break (next week) and that all classes would be conducted online.

My OPINION and I'm NOT AN EXPERT BY ANY MEANS, is that the dominoes have started falling here in Hawaii. Based on past government responses to hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves, and other disaster situations, the dominoes generally fall in this order:

- UH shuts down
- Dept. of Education closes down public schools
- Private schools shut down and non-essential government workers are told to stay home
- Many private businesses, especially small ones, close
- If large businesses (chain stores like Target, Costco, etc.) shut down, they are usually quick to reopen

I don't know what the tourist experience will be like in the next few coming weeks. If schools are closed, many parents will have to stay home with their kids instead of going to work at the hotel, restaurant, or shop you're visiting.

The good news is that you'll still be able to visit the beach, go hiking, take a drive around the island, etc. And the Chinese restaurants never close I'll never forget the day the earthquake knocked out power to the entire island for over 12 hours. The Chinese restaurant owner lit a fire in the parking lot, brought his wok outside, and it was business as usual. Entrepreneurial spirit at its best!

This is EXACTLY what I feared when trying to make our decision whether to come yesterday...so glad I trusted my instincts.

 

[thedogatemyhomework]

well disneyland just decided to shut down from the 14th thriugh the end of the month...seems likely that a lot of things controlled by people not called the HTA (the people that waited till the day a cat 5 hurricane was almost to oahu to order events cancelled...while all the city/county controlled events were ordered cancelled a week earlier) will be cancelled, postponed or otherwise impacted. any indoor activities that draw crowds are likely to see entry limits imposed or be shut down completely (pearl harbor, museums, convention center). the bus system will also probably be impacted (possibly in similar ways as new yorks subway system...)

few things to note tho...given the required duration of the shut downs, it is likely that only the bigger businesses will do so. for most small businesses...2+ week shut down means they're closing up shop for good.

any buisness that is capable of having people work remotely is frantically trying to make it possible for as many people as possible...this is important to note as in the rush to get this done, it is likely that security will be overlooked and any hackers that are capable of doing so will likely be going into overdrive trying to break into systems they previously couldn't...basically...be extra alert for identity theft for the next year or so.

seems like every official is simply waiting for the shoe to drop before they shut things down, but just like with every other state...lack of testing could delay when/if this happens...there is the chance that just like with previous outbreaks of flu/SARS/MERS...hawaii will dodge the bullet, but its pretty much gonna be a wait and see.

 

[We'reGoingToDisney]

We decided yesterday during the day to postpone our March 20 trip, and then all of these announcements came out last night, so we felt good about our decision. Busy today trying to reschedule for September. Hopefully things will be more stable by then.

 

[corgi_monster]

This is EXACTLY what I feared when trying to make our decision whether to come yesterday...so glad I trusted my instincts.

I just want to reiterate that my post was 100% speculation and opinion. None of those things (except UH closing campuses) has actually happened. (Can you feel the "yet" hanging in the air, though lol)

 

[Lissa413]

I’m just thankful to have found this board! The trip advisor boards have become a war zone with no real information. We booked a trip last minute over the weekend for next week after canceling our original vacation to Tokyo. We were excited for a few days but by the end of today I’m wishing we never booked. Now we’re torn. I want to cancel, husband insists it’s better to go now (he thinks travel could be more restricted by summer). I don’t want to arrive in Hawaii to angry residents hating us for going there and an empty resort with staff looking at us like we’re crazy.

 

[corgi_monster]

I’m just thankful to have found this board! The trip advisor boards have become a war zone with no real information. We booked a trip last minute over the weekend for next week after canceling our original vacation to Tokyo. We were excited for a few days but by the end of today I’m wishing we never booked. Now we’re torn. I want to cancel, husband insists it’s better to go now (he thinks travel could be more restricted by summer). I don’t want to arrive in Hawaii to angry residents hating us for going there and an empty resort with staff looking at us like we’re crazy.

If it were me, I’d wait a day before deciding to cancel. Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day of school before spring break here in Hawaii and any system-wide, large-scale closures would likely be announced during tomorrow's news schedule.

Local businesses spent today regrouping and strategizing after Trump's Wed. night news conference. We should have a much better picture of what will and will not be closed sometime Friday afternoon.

Aulani itself shouldn't be too empty next week due to Hawaii schools being on spring break. For every angry resident, you will meet many more who are grateful for your tourist dollars. Tourism is the biggest sector of our economy and many people are just as worried about their finances as they are covid-19.

 

[Noah_t]

Well our family just made the decision to postpone the trip. Was supposed to arrive on Wednesday from Vancouver Canada but the situation has escalated so much in the last 24 hours it really felt like there was only one right decision. Our airlines let us change our flight with no fees, the hotel we were going to stay in for a couple nights before Aulani let us cancel and lastly DVC member services (once I finally got though: one hour of repeatedly dialing then 1.5 hours on hold) was amazing. They put all our points back into their use year, even the borrowed ones will go back. These are the things people remember and it's another reason I don't mind paying that Disney premium. We are all pretty bummed out but there's also a lot of relief too. It's a fluid situation and staying home right now seems to be the safest course. Hope everyone is doing good and educating yourself seems to be very important right now. I usually consider myself agnostic but I really like the sentiment so will be using it as it feels right, God bless everyone.