When I called DVC today they stated I would need to pay $25 per day to leave a car at the resort.....is this not accurate?
I sit here now debating this very topic. I have booked: a LM RCI exchange at Saratoga and an II exchange at Marriott Cypress Harbor for mid March and trying to make this decision.....
I can eplus out of the Marriott, but now I'm stuck with flex and I don't see that timing happening.
I still question how sane this trip even is, our first adventure out of our Covid bubble (we haven't even been to a restaurant yet) and we are headed to WDW. But, DH is vaccinated and DD15 could really use a pick me up and as silly as it sounds, Disney is her happy place. They will be doing the parks, I will be staying at the resort.
I still want to get a car to mitigate the risks of buses and to take a day trip off property, but wow car rentals are around $450 and then $25 per day parking at resort. That adds up.
Personally since I will be at the resort the whole time, I would prefer Cypress Harbor because it is nicer and the rooms are larger. But, for them it will be much easier to stay on property.....
Decisions, decisions..........
I just got back from AKL. I'd love to answer any specific questions that you have but thought I'd try to help you out with a couple of things:
1) If you stay at DVC the $190 you pay to Disney will cover parking. We just used a magic band to get into the gate and when we went to the parks we told the attendant we were staying on site and they scanned our magic band. Sometimes they just waived us through.
2) If you haven't gone to restaurants and you are being super careful, it will be a very real culture shock to you when you get to Disney World. We were uncomfortable being around so many people that weren't the greatest at wearing masks. Disney IMO does a horrible job of sanitizing / cleaning and doing COVID mitigation.
A couple of examples:
- There is no disinfection at all between riders. We have gone skiing and they spray down lifts / gondolas as people exit. No such thing at Disney World. You are loaded literally seconds after other riders.
- On hot days, people get a little bit antsy in masks. People pull them down to get a break, drink, or eat. You are only supposed to eat / drink when stationary, but that really wasn't followed too well when we were there.
- Disney treats plexiglass like it's magic. What I mean by that is that in lines they have plexiglass between rows of people (particularly as you get close to the entrance of a ride). The plexiglass is usually only a little above 6 feet tall, so you can definitely get coughed on from those that are taller, They also only put it over railing, so my little guys were standing face to face with other littles in these areas.
- When we got blue milk at Galaxy's edge there's no lid on it. As I walked around dozens of people (with masks down because they were drinking their blue milk), I couldn't help but think about someone coughing straight into my cup.
- Hand Sanitizer is most everywhere, but not always refilled.
- Pool areas at the resorts are mask free zones.
- There are HORDES of people everywhere....a lot of this is because there's reduced capacity on some rides, no parades, or character interactions (which are big people eaters).
I think when you are there, Disney *may* have bumped up capacity to 50% (was at 35% when we were there) -- this is just a guess based on the fact that new availability came online based on new availability coming online in the reservation system.
All things considered, the risk of virus spread is extraordinarily low outside. It's also very low on objects (a lot of our new COVID disinfection "standards" are based on studies from back in January / February of 2020 that showed COVID potentially surviving for long periods of times...these studies were mostly flawed in that the amount of virus they ran tests on were sooooo much higher in concentration than what you would see in the real world, they also didn't take into account things like UV levels that would kill the virus in a very short period of time).
My personal opinion is that catching it at Disney World is probably really low -- most of it is outside in the sun where there is almost no risk of catching it and you really aren't around the same people in close proximity for extended periods of time.
We've been home for 8 days, and are COVID free.
If I were doing things over again, it's a toss up on if I'd go again. We had SUCH a good time, and it was AMAZING to feel somewhat normal again. However, prior to going we had been pretty careful, and it was a complete shock to us how standards we were used to were sooo much lower at DisneyWorld. There's also a fair amount missing in terms of "magic" that our kids would have really enjoyed.
Obviously, I am torn -- they didn't meet our expectations at all for COVID mitigation, and there was a lot of "magic" missing. However, given that we've been cooped up inside for the last 11 months, it was sooooooooooo nice to be outside, spend quality time with our family, and do things that the whole family enjoyed.
One last thought -- if you are going during peak spring break (which I think you are), I would think the waits will be very similar to what they were during this past President's Day week. We've been checking the waits and they've been HORRIBLE ( > 60 minutes for the big attractions).
If you are coming from a cold area, it may be worth it just to get some time outside in nice weather.
Feel free to PM.
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