Weekend Plans Post: Disneyland
image is “Disdney Castle Fireworks I” by BrianMoranHDR is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
It was over a year ago that we were getting ready to go to Disneyworld. It was over a year ago that we cancelled our trip.
Almost a year and two months! One of the things we wanted to do while we were down there was visit my uncles. It’d been some years since we saw them and one of them was doing poorly. We wanted to see him and say goodbye. Welp, he died in the middle of the pandemic. Not due to Covid, mind. Just due to being poorly.
When we cancelled, we had daydreams about going in October of 2020. I mentioned this to my boss, who has two little ones ages 4 and 6. Hey!, he said. We should time our vacations to go at the same time! You’ve been there before, the kids haven’t… it’ll be nice to go there with someone who knows what they’re doing and can, you know, sit at the bench while one of us goes to the bathroom. Surely we won’t still be wrestling with this silliness by October!, we thought. So we made a verbal agreement that we’d look into going to Disneyworld come October. Well, October rolled around and rolled away.
OCTOBER 2021!, we yelled at each other.
But then I got the call. His wife was with child. If he was going to go to Disneyworld, it had to be soon. Because, by October, she wouldn’t have been in a state to enjoy walking more steps than it took to go to a toilet and, after that, it’d be FOUR YEARS before the window would be open again. He was scheduled to be done with his shots a little under two weeks before he would be leaving for Orlando.
Did I still want to go?
I asked Maribou. “Do we still want to go?”
And she said “No way. There is no way I want to go. There are 10 places I want to visit and, sure, Disneyworld is on the list but it’s at the bottom and there are places I’d rather spend my energies on than Disney.”
Okay, I said. I understand.
“But you can go if you want.”
AND HECK YES I WANT TO GO. This way, we don’t need a house-sitter. Maribou can take care of the kitties. All I have to do is throw together some meals in some EZ-microwave single-serving containers so she’ll have ease of dinner, make sure that the catboxes are traded out, and that the fridge is full of stuff that won’t go bad by the time I get back and… well, by the time you read this, I’ll be in Orlando taking a shower in the hotel after a day that included seeing two little kids see that castle for the first time.
So this weekend will involve visiting my Uncle and seeing him again and letting him see me (I look like my dad, his brother, I’m told) and going to EPCOT.
So… what’s on your docket?
Have fun!!Report
Pirates of the Caribbean. Haunted mansion. Space Mountain. Don’t go ANYWHERE close to It’s a Small World, at least if they still have the music.Report
We did Pirates.
We did Haunted Mansion (they no longer do the painting room pre-ride).
We did Small World. Gotta start the MKUltra conditioning early.Report
It is a little known fact that going to Disney with Boss’s kids grants a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions).
My wife and I have our private Covid-19 liberation day set for May 8; and as patriarch, I’ve set our public liberation day for June 1. The CDC is welcome to call me for rhetorical tips and graphics, if they’d like. Our 23yo is already vaxxed as childcare worker, the 20yo got first dose yesterday at the Amazon warehouse he’s been working at this past semester, and 17yo is signed up and should get one in the next month or so…
Otherwise this weekend look to be mostly meh, chores, repairs, pastures, downed trees, maybe some stumps…Report
2nd shot today. Here’s my post-COVID plan: https://youtu.be/btAbU1sPqIM
The weekend may or may not be spent dealing with the after effects of said vaccine. At least the weather will be nice.Report
Off to an early start on weekend fun. I managed to fall on my bicycle this morning. Abrasions and contusions, and a cracked helmet liner. Equipment failure started it — I heard the front tube go POP! part way around the curve in the trail. You know, I suspect that 40 years ago I could have handled that without falling.
The old helmet is all grays and black. I think this time I’ll get something really garish.Report
What’re the mask rules in Florida? Orlando? Disney? Are you just following the rules? Doing more than is required? Just curious how it’s going.
NY/NJ hasn’t changed much despite a dramatically improving situation. But we’ve been doing outdoor dining all year and did some indoor once we were vaxxed. We’ve done zoos and museums but they all still require masks indoors and out. I’m trying to envision how I’ll handle actual freedom like what you may be experiencing. I’m not concerned about my own risk but want to be a good citizen. So I probably wear my mask more than I maybe need to, but I don’t mind. I just don’t want to be the maskless bozo in an area that still shames the maskless.
Have fun!!!!!!!!Report
A research said that the mask rules restrict like you could not lower your mask except to take a sip of water or whatever from a drink and you could not walk and drink because people would just keep their mask pulled down. So the rules were you had to stop walking, drink, and then put down your bottle and pull down your mask in one smooth motion. The rules aren’t quite that strict now. You still have to wear masks but you can walk and sip.
I wish the CDC rules had made it down here but I understand why they haven’t.Report
That’s just for Disney?
It’s interesting how specific they are. We’ve gone to major venues… Bronx Zoo, the Met, Natural History Museum… and they all required masks but I never saw such specificity outlined. The Met was probably the strictest, go so far as to bar gaiter-style masks (my preferred style) but offering free surgical masks to anyone who needed it.
But it would make sense that an organization as big and deep pocketed and PR-sensitive as Disney would go above and beyond to avoid anything bad happening or even the optics that they weren’t taking this seriously.
What about the rest of Florida? Do you find yourself being more cautious than the rules require? Or are you reveling in the freedom to not have to stop-and-sip or it’s equivalent everywhere you go? From reading your posts, I got the impression you were being more cautious than many so am wondering if/how that has changed now that you’re A) vaccinated and B) in a state that is less cautious.
I sometime feel like I’m the ONLY person wearing a mask in certain situations and then immediately I’m the person being least cautious in others. But that may be all in my head. It’s such a weird world currently. More than anything, I don’t want to make anyone ELSE feel uncomfortable, so even if I tested negative yesterday and am fully vaxxed and have no reason to think I need to wear a mask while walking past someone on the street, if I see them aggressively tug theirs up as they pass, I tend to read that as, “I’M STILL VERY CAUTIOUS!” so I try to pull mine up for the 3 seconds we’re within 10 feet of each other as a sign of good faith.Report
Yesterday I followed the CDC guidance and rode my bike without a mask. I’m fully vaccinated and paid attention to maintain social distancing. Since I was riding by myself, that was easy enough. Real mixed bag on the trail and in the parks about whether people had on masks or not.Report
Nah, in parking lots or walking to the pool, we are pretty much maskless. But Disney has strict protocols and cast members will walk up to people not in compliance and cheerfully remind them of the rules.Report
Now I’m just imagining the Mickey voice discussing mask policy.
Damn you, Covid… that’s nightmare fuel.
Have a great time! Glad to hear it worked out for all involved parties.Report
Some of my family visited DW a couple weeks ago and they said the same thing; that Disney “cast members” would certainly confront anyone who might have, in an excess of excitement, forgotten to fully and completely wear their mask.
They also said that SeaWorld’s visitors were far less interested in wearing masks, and that while the place had the same policy the enforcement staff was weedy teenagers mumbling at people (versus Disney, where the staff assigned to this task appeared to have been chosen for their imposing presence and extraordinary politeness, sort of like the big rock guy from Thor 3.)Report
Some of my family visited DW a couple weeks ago, and they said that A) for the time of year, the number of people milling about the park was about the same, but the lines were a lot shorter; and B) the biggest noticeable difference was that almost all the smaller food-and-gift-shop stands scattered about the park were closed, because the staff who worked them only got paid minimum wage and they were better off with unemployment benefits. The crew was, apparently, surprisingly candid about this, or at least not particularly cautious to avoid discussing it within earshot of park attendees. (They do get paid for all the hours they work, and they seemed content enough to be pulling ten- or twelve-hour shifts instead of six-to-eight.)Report
Yeah, there were a bunch of little places where I’d normally get a Mickey-shaped ice-cream novelty or a Mickey-themed Coca-Cola Product that was just up’n closed.
I will have more deets when my brain is no longer fried.Report
Home.
I got in the front door and fell apart, like a car at the end of a 1950’s sitcom about going on vacation.Report