Starting to freak out and wondering if I should cancel

[Anna Chassereau]

I just don’t know what to do. We’re booked and paid in full for our trip August 8-13 staying at Royal Pacific. This trip is to celebrate my sons 9th birthday on August 10. Cabana booked at Volcano Bay, lots of great restaurants booked and so many things we can’t wait to do and see!!

But now with these sky high Covid cases I am just so torn and freaking out!! 9,000 cases in one dayThat just blew my mind and is scary and alarming. I just am so torn if I should cancel and go another time when all of this isn’t happening?? Or just stick with it and wait it out a few more weeks before making a decision? I just wish I wouldn’t have said anything to my son...he is going to be so crushed if we have to cancel!

What would you do? Anyone have an August trip and how are you feeling??

 

[WeatherLights]

Likely that community spread will get worse before it gets better. Would not surprise me if the parks closed again. You'll probably feel some relief if you cancel and resign yourself to no trips this year. Worrying about whether you should go or not may be worse then just deciding not to go and being done with that particular decision!

 

[JM23457]

I just don’t know what to do. We’re booked and paid in full for our trip August 8-13 staying at Royal Pacific. This trip is to celebrate my sons 9th birthday on August 10. Cabana booked at Volcano Bay, lots of great restaurants booked and so many things we can’t wait to do and see!!

But now with these sky high Covid cases I am just so torn and freaking out!! 9,000 cases in one dayThat just blew my mind and is scary and alarming. I just am so torn if I should cancel and go another time when all of this isn’t happening?? Or just stick with it and wait it out a few more weeks before making a decision? I just wish I wouldn’t have said anything to my son...he is going to be so crushed if we have to cancel!

What would you do? Anyone have an August trip and how are you feeling??

It's all about your risk status. If you're in a higher-risk group (elderly, obese, diabetic, heart condition, lung condition, immune system dysfunction), then you shouldn't go.

If you're in a low-risk group, and you're not in close contact at home with someone from a high-risk group, then it's really the subjective issue of your own comfort level. Only you can decide in that case.

 

[bchbetha]

Depending on the terms of your trip, maybe wait a little longer but I’d assume a cancellation will be the right call. Start prepping your kiddo for that possibility. Kids are resilient. He will be ok. Should be used to things being cancelled at this point.

 

[GabrielMom]

I said cancel because you are already concerned. We just finished 10 days here, half at volcano bay. Volcano bay was great feeling safe wise. Good room for social distancing, outdoor queues. We noticed a lot of people taking off mask in the indoor queues at us and ioa, on bus to volcano bay, in hotel waiting for elevator, or maskless person getting on same elevator in hotel even though sign says one party per elevator, or people sitting right next to you on bench and taking mask off. We will not travel again with covid risk due to rule breakers. We are healthy but don't want to be spreaders. I think universal has great procedures in place so this is a low risk environment, but its not as good as could be if other people don't follow rules.

My son is 7 and had a great time at volcano bay, he wanted to go there every other day. Maybe plan a water park vacation closer to home?

 

[bookwormde]

I would watch Orange County rather than all of Florida

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/florida/

 

[mjhtvchick]

I just don’t know what to do. We’re booked and paid in full for our trip August 8-13 staying at Royal Pacific. This trip is to celebrate my sons 9th birthday on August 10. Cabana booked at Volcano Bay, lots of great restaurants booked and so many things we can’t wait to do and see!!

But now with these sky high Covid cases I am just so torn and freaking out!! 9,000 cases in one dayThat just blew my mind and is scary and alarming. I just am so torn if I should cancel and go another time when all of this isn’t happening?? Or just stick with it and wait it out a few more weeks before making a decision? I just wish I wouldn’t have said anything to my son...he is going to be so crushed if we have to cancel!

What would you do? Anyone have an August trip and how are you feeling??

We were booked Aug 16-26 and have cancelled.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If you are going to worry the whole time, cancel. If you are comfortable with your Covid odds and not concerned about wearing a mask in the heat, keep the plan alive. But your question indicates you should probably cancel

 

[karen4546]

i voted "cancel". If you are expressing so many concerns then you should just cancel.

I really wanted to bring my grandchildren to LEgO Land for a few days since our May trip to WDW ws canceled and I am not bringing them with me in September to WDW. But, with them having to wear a mask in that August heat.....

Maybe, I can make a trip for November and take them to Legoland. I think we could do a quick three or four night trip to Legoland and they will be happy. I will take them back to WDW in 2021.

 

[KNJWDW]

We are supposed to be there the same week as you. We have changed our vacation plans several times so far. Honestly, I am tired of worrying about things. Vacation is something we always look forward to. I never have to worry if we will have a good time or will it be a waste of money. But this year, these are the things running through my head. We have decided to cancel and will be vacationing close to home. We do plan on going to Universal next year and might take advantage of the AP deal before September 30.
Good luck with your decision.

 

[DonnaDuck]

If you are high risk, cancel.

We just returned yesterday. Let me say, they were great! We are major Disney fans. It was our first trip to Universal; it will not be our last. The employees practiced every caution they possibly could have. The park wasn't crowded at all, so social distancing was easy. Hand sanitzer before every ride, temp checks at the resort each day. Mandatory masks & it was enforced. However, I started coughing yesterday. I have been running a fever since last night. I am quarantined at this time & worried.
If you decide to go, use your own transportation. The issue with transportation was that we were not spaced out well on the buses. I could touch the closest person to me. On one day, a teenager had her mask pulled under her nose the entire bus ride.

 

[greg9x]

As others have said...since you are very concerned about the spread, maybe cancelling is the best option. That way you don't have to stress about going or not for next few weeks and get freaked out if numbers do climb more.

All the reports of low crowds make it tempting to use the AP's we have for a trip...but the unknown risk is not something i'm willing to gamble on for a theme park vacation, even though I have a ton of vacation time that won't be able to carry over at end of year. Not being able to fully relax and enjoy a vacation is not worth the risk or money.

 

[schumigirl]

If you are high risk, cancel.

We just returned yesterday. Let me say, they were great! We are major Disney fans. It was our first trip to Universal; it will not be our last. The employees practiced every caution they possibly could have. The park wasn't crowded at all, so social distancing was easy. Hand sanitzer before every ride, temp checks at the resort each day. Mandatory masks & it was enforced. However, I started coughing yesterday. I have been running a fever since last night. I am quarantined at this time & worried.
If you decide to go, use your own transportation. The issue with transportation was that we were not spaced out well on the buses. I could touch the closest person to me. On one day, a teenager had her mask pulled under her nose the entire bus ride.

Oh my goodness!!!

Hope you feel better soon and it`s not the dreaded virus you have!

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

If you are high risk, cancel.

We just returned yesterday. Let me say, they were great! We are major Disney fans. It was our first trip to Universal; it will not be our last. The employees practiced every caution they possibly could have. The park wasn't crowded at all, so social distancing was easy. Hand sanitzer before every ride, temp checks at the resort each day. Mandatory masks & it was enforced. However, I started coughing yesterday. I have been running a fever since last night. I am quarantined at this time & worried.
If you decide to go, use your own transportation. The issue with transportation was that we were not spaced out well on the buses. I could touch the closest person to me. On one day, a teenager had her mask pulled under her nose the entire bus ride.

Cough and fever in June... Best wishes and please keep us up to date!

 

[FoxC63]

It doesn't matter if you're at high risk considering the facts that have been reported:

On one day, a teenager had her mask pulled under her nose the entire bus ride.

@theatregeek
Does not surprise me that things are surging in Florida at these levels. I just had to go down for a funeral, and you would think no one even knew we had a pandemic on our hands. I would say only 15-20% of people wore masks, at the very most. The Orlando airport installed hand sanitizer stations but otherwise nothing changed: no markers on the floor of where to stand, only one security/bag check line was open which lead to people on top of one another while putting belongings on the conveyor belt, TSA agents were all clustered around in groups just standing there (not sure why they couldn't open more lines to spread people out if they had so many agents), no capacity limits or social distancing markers for the tram to/from the terminal which lead to crowding. Tourists were certainly some of the worst offenders in the airport at not abiding by social distancing or mask wearing, but when driving into other parts of Florida for the funeral, the locals weren't bothering with precautions either. I certainly will not be returning to the state anytime soon. My next Disney trip is going to be a ways off after that experience.

Since then Tom Bell wrote "Orlando International Airport Reminds Travelers of Face Covering Requirements in Orange County'
What isn't covered in the article are the issues mentioned above.

And it's not just Florida residents getting and spreading the virus, it's tourists as well. Many of whom will be on the same flight taking their masks off to eat, drink or breathe Going to the same park where it's been reported guests are having to be reminded to wear their "face coverings" properly. The list goes on and on. Same things are happening at the resorts, malls and various businesses all over the US.

The percentage of tests coming back positive is rising around America, which epidemiologists said indicates the disease is spreading. And the percentage of positive tests is now higher in the 18-to-49 age group than among older brackets, CDC data show—a departure from earlier patterns. Link

@Anna Chassereau only YOU know what's best for you and your family.
We cancelled 3 trips to Florida for 2020: June, late October and late November.

 

[MamaKate]

We do plan on going to Universal next year and might take advantage of the AP deal before September 30.

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but what is the AP deal?

 

[KNJWDW]

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but what is the AP deal?

You get 15 months instead of 12 months on an annual pass. Must purchase by September 30th.

 

[soniam]

I have a trip starting July 8 for UO and then WDW. I am a bit concerned. We are not in a high risk group, are not exposed to anyone that is, and will be self-quarantining for 14 days when we return home. We have been working from home since March anyway. We will also be driving instead of flying. Except for Volcano Bay, we will be walking to the parks and driving at WDW. I am coming from Covid Country, Texas, but Austin isn't as bad as Houston right now. I think if the WDW part of our stay were refundable (non-refundable DVC rental), then we would consider cancelling. If I am uncomfortable anywhere, we will hang out at the hotel. If that isn't comfortable either, then we will drive home. I wouldn't want to feel like I was stuck. You have doubts, so you might want to cancel. Good luck in your decision. No matter what you do, you will still have some doubts.

 

[mala55]

I’m in a similar boat.

I had booked a WDW trip for April a long time ago. I got a new job in Feb where I would not be able to get the time off, so we cancelled. Very happy it worked out that way. At the time we did not see a pandemic coming. At that time, we rebooked for late August and my only worry at the time was the summer heat.

When it became clear that we were in a pandemic which would last awhile, we cancelled August and
rebooked for November. We planned to go for 10 nights. We haven’t cancelled yet, but I think it’s inevitable. 10 long days wearing a mask and with all the cancellations/limitations that WDW is implementing, it just doesn’t sound fun even if the virus decreases (which was the hope when we rebooked).

The family was very disappointed about WDW. My daughter’s birthday is in October (14). She has had a tough year and we really would like to take her somewhere fun. We decided to book Universal for a long weekend.
.
She is so, so very excited. I booked because I thought we could handle wearing masks for just a few days. Probably shorter days at the parks than a WDW. Early October may not be as crowded.

Now, I’m getting second thoughts. The Florida numbers are rising. We need to fly there. Sounds like people are not following the rules. Although healthy, we are in our early 50s. My nephew who will be joining us has asthma.

I think probably too risky, but I’m hoping against hope things change for the better. I’ll wait until August to decide. Wishful thinking maybe.

 

[macraven]

If you go in early October, only the weekends could create more in the park due to Halloween Horror Nights.

Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat and Sun the Studios closes at 5 to the public
IOA would be open their regular hours.

I hit UO in that time period of early October and find (prior to the pandemic) Saturday and Sunday can get crowded in the daytime