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Why Is Orlando Taking So Long to Recover?

CPNY

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And many haven't. 80% of Covid 19 deaths are those 65 and older.
True, because the older population has other health issues. It’s why the flu is lethal for anyone over 65. Imagine a population of 65+ without a flu vaccine. You have no way of knowing the true scope of this virus. It’s been here WELL before we were told.
 

Firepath

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We can handle the cut backs of amenities as we have APs, but not wearing a mask when it feels like 120 degrees. That and the risk of a long flight and layover in the airports will keep us closer to home.
 

rickandcindy23

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Many elderly people had this virus and beat it.
We have a few different friends who live at The Villages, and there are very few deaths that came from that community. They are all older, all over 55. It's a huge retirement area. Our friends are 65, and the virus is not running rampant in the community. Activities are much curtailed, however, and golfing requires social distancing.
 

CPNY

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We have a few different friends who live at The Villages, and there are very few deaths that came from that community. They are all older, all over 55. It's a huge retirement area. Our friends are 65, and the virus is not running rampant in the community. Activities are much curtailed, however, and golfing requires social distancing.
Correct. Not denying the virus is real or the consequences of what may be. We were going off of what we were seeing in Italy. In elderly population there is at the mercy of their health system which was letting the elderly die off. Not to mention the smoking rate is much higher. The virus ran through every community already and exposure is much higher than reported.
 

silentg

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We had a larger turnout at the walking club today. Everyone was in good spirits. We had to have temp checks and sign a waiver. Instead of 6 attending there were 12. Our instructor wants to add an additional day for the club next week. I am so out of shape, so taking it slow. But I felt safe there.
 

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We had a larger turnout at the walking club today. Everyone was in good spirits. We had to have temp checks and sign a waiver. Instead of 6 attending there were 12. Our instructor wants to add an additional day for the club next week. I am so out of shape, so taking it slow. But I felt safe there.
I can relate to being out of shape. This virus is killing us in so many ways. So glad to hear you are getting out and moving. I need something like this.
 

pedro47

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We have a few different friends who live at The Villages, and there are very few deaths that came from that community. They are all older, all over 55. It's a huge retirement area. Our friends are 65, and the virus is not running rampant in the community. Activities are much curtailed, however, and golfing requires social distancing.
Sound liked The Villages community needs to share what they are doing correctly with our local, state and federal government officials. LOL. IMO..
 

Big Matt

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I'll just share my thoughts and why it isn't on my list. For me, I need to fly (I'm not driving 14 hours each way). That's a non starter for my wife who has respiratory issues and is at risk. Second, I only go to do the theme parks, but also love the resorts and what they offer in non-park time/days. I'm not interested in how the parks are run in terms of reservations, etc. Couple that with the limited offerings in terms of shows, food service, etc., I don't see the reason to fork over hundreds of dollars for a couple of days. Without the parks, the resorts don't cut it in terms of stuff to do. If I'm going to a Marriott resort with limited things, I'll take a South Carolina or Florida resort on the ocean or one in the mountains before heading to Orlando. I'm sure Branson is getting hit just as hard as Orlando. Vegas?
 

CPNY

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I'll just share my thoughts and why it isn't on my list. For me, I need to fly (I'm not driving 14 hours each way). That's a non starter for my wife who has respiratory issues and is at risk. Second, I only go to do the theme parks, but also love the resorts and what they offer in non-park time/days. I'm not interested in how the parks are run in terms of reservations, etc. Couple that with the limited offerings in terms of shows, food service, etc., I don't see the reason to fork over hundreds of dollars for a couple of days. Without the parks, the resorts don't cut it in terms of stuff to do. If I'm going to a Marriott resort with limited things, I'll take a South Carolina or Florida resort on the ocean or one in the mountains before heading to Orlando. I'm sure Branson is getting hit just as hard as Orlando. Vegas?
I haven’t been to Disney but I can speak to universal. It’s been extremely enjoyable, little to no crowds, haven’t waited more than 15 minutes on ANY ride. Almost all restaurants open with distancing. It’s been great without crowds. The drive would be worth it.
 

bizaro86

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Holiday Inn Club Vacations just sent me an email waxing poetic about how great Orlando is, and how most of the amenities at their resort there are open. That suggests to me that occupancy at Orange Lake specifically is lower than they expect compared to the rest of the chain, which matches the other observations in the thread.
 

dioxide45

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Thinking about this more with Orlando compared to beach resorts. If you only go to the beach resorts to hang out at the pools, Orlando is really the better option. Come to a resort in Orlando with 18% occupancy and have the pool almost all to yourself and no concern about social distancing. Go to a beach resort which is near capacity and have hoards of others with little social distancing. Another problem with the pools at beach resorts is that they have pulled many of the pool loungers for social distancing. Our experience is that just pushes people into the pool instead. Unless you have to go to the beach, just go to Orlando instead, even if you never go to a park. But I am okay with everyone staying away, though we will be at a beach resort in October again.
 

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In the fall we would normally book a room at the Swan, then ride a Friendship boat to Epcot to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival. I'm hearing the boats aren't running, and many of the festival activities we love are cancelled, like the Eat to the Beat concerts. Plus, we are so out of shape from sheltering in place I don't think we could make a good day of it until we get our legs back. We even cancelled our annual passes.
 

silentg

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Holiday Inn Club Vacations just sent me an email waxing poetic about how great Orlando is, and how most of the amenities at their resort there are open. That suggests to me that occupancy at Orange Lake specifically is lower than they expect compared to the rest of the chain, which matches the other observations in the thread.
We stayed at Orange Lake for 5 days recently. The East Village was completely closed. We stayed in a tennis villa. There were others staying but much less than I’ve ever seen. Only a couple of restaurants were open and just one golf course. River Island Lazy River was open, and we were able to social distance and eat by the pool for lunch. Plenty of tables. It was a nice get away but very different. We mostly cooked and enjoyed staying in the condo.
 

IslandTime

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Thinking about this more with Orlando compared to beach resorts. If you only go to the beach resorts to hang out at the pools, Orlando is really the better option. Come to a resort in Orlando with 18% occupancy and have the pool almost all to yourself and no concern about social distancing. Go to a beach resort which is near capacity and have hoards of others with little social distancing. Another problem with the pools at beach resorts is that they have pulled many of the pool loungers for social distancing. Our experience is that just pushes people into the pool instead. Unless you have to go to the beach, just go to Orlando instead, even if you never go to a park. But I am okay with everyone staying away, though we will be at a beach resort in October again.
BUT in Orlando you don't get the ocean breeze or the sound of the waves in the background while sitting at the pool. We live in Cape Canaveral, only 45 minutes from Orlando but every time we have to drive over there now, I complain about the heat. It's much nicer at the beach. :)
 

Big Matt

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Thinking about this more with Orlando compared to beach resorts. If you only go to the beach resorts to hang out at the pools, Orlando is really the better option. Come to a resort in Orlando with 18% occupancy and have the pool almost all to yourself and no concern about social distancing. Go to a beach resort which is near capacity and have hoards of others with little social distancing. Another problem with the pools at beach resorts is that they have pulled many of the pool loungers for social distancing. Our experience is that just pushes people into the pool instead. Unless you have to go to the beach, just go to Orlando instead, even if you never go to a park. But I am okay with everyone staying away, though we will be at a beach resort in October again.

Your assumptions make sense and was what I was expecting, but they weren't reality when I was at Grande Ocean this summer. On July 4th week (I checked out on the 5th) it was busy that weekend at the beach, but not from GO. It was all of the people coming in at the two public walks on either side of the resort. I was in Starfish and saw the mobs coming in. You would think the pools would be crowded with 55-60 seats per pool (as opposed to 200-250), but it wasn't and people weren't being turned away much. You needed special wristbands to get into the pool areas so you couldn't just go in and get into the pool without a chair. The next stay was from July 11-25. Much less crowded and very few people on the beach. Instead of 100 chair rentals, there were maybe 20. The week leading up to Labor Day felt empty. There was nobody at the beach and the pools were half full even at the limited capacity. The resort was 80-95% full each week with the first one being close to capacity. It was very different than what I'm used to which would have been people everywhere partying until late. None of that at all.
 

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Orlando theme parks have offered special deals to get Florida residents to come... many of them don't stay for a week at a timeshare.
And to AP holders at the theme parks. GREAT rate at Universal Deluxe for a few extra days after Thanksgiving when our MVC resort week is done-going to spend it with the kids and grandkid-his first time-he is 5. I may finally get to ride Pterondon Flyers at Universal for first time! And still far far far far cheaper than Disney's "deluxe" even with the "great" AP discount. Problem with Disney is they hiked the prices so much that even a 40% discount is still a couple hundred more than what I paid in 2015 (with ~50% stacked discount-but I doubt I will ever see Beach club for $220/night again)
His wife can't imagine wearing a mask outside in Orlando for 8-10 hours a day, so they have backed off on it.
Understandable. There are lots of areas to "rest" and take off mask, and not required once seated in restaurants but it is still hot.
Myself on the other hand, I’m searching for airfare.
OMG right?? Have you seen the airfare to Cancun? I priced out a 5 day all inclusive with airfare for the 3 of us in October-fraction of cost of any theme park trip!! So tempted but trying to convince hubby about going to stay with his mom in PVR at Grande Bliss in January (for a week-she and his stepdad are there 5 weeks). Airfare from our airport to PVR direct is less than half what they paid last 2 years.
I spent a lot of time in universal in June. I’ve been seeing pictures July/August
Did June and again in August when we went back. August definitely busier than June (and hotter), but still not 'normal'. Glad to see they finally did away with the stupid "social distancing" on the outside fast moving rides so lines are again short. They do a great job spacing out in the shows. Agree if you can do the mask thing-it's actually not a terrible time to go...
The effects of Covid are making people depressed and isolated. Even without the virus the deaths are happening.
And is under appreciated just how hard this has been. In my longterm rehab building I assessed 3 people admitted this past week for hip fractures-despite family trying to visit zoom (or cautiously in person) all had weight loss, depression and this led directly to weakness/falls/fractures. Now their risk of dying is MUCH higher in the next year due to fracture. All were fine prior to isolation.
And many haven't. 80% of Covid 19 deaths are those 65 and older.
0.6% of population in NH yet accounts for 45% of deaths according to one study. Most NH locked down, and continued to lockdown so really am at a loss as to how this could have been prevented... hoping we learn so in future we do better. If there is a silver lining-with all the low viral load/asymptomatic spread now it does appear that now when covid hits more residents are recovering or not even getting symptoms.
I'm sure Branson is getting hit just as hard as Orlando
Branson is rebounding a bit, most things are open including shows with distancing/capacity limited. But down from past, and shortened season too. This winter is going to harsh economically. Lake of the Ozark is way way up though.

We dropped our Disney AP's too, requested the refund. Our Universal ones though I am renewing while the 3 extra months is in effect. Just got my son his AP as it was around same price as the promo (2 park to park buy 2 days get 2 free) and the seasonal AP will be good for 15 months.
 

ciscogizmo1

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Bummer! We live on the other coast and don't want to fly right now. We generally get an annual pass to WDW every other year or every 3 year and go 3 or 4 times during that year. We were scheduled to go in April with our annual pass. I miss Disney but not sure I want to fly that far yet. Now that Florida is back to 100% occupancy everywhere, I might wait a little longer to see how the Covid numbers pan out.
 

Sea Six

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Bummer! We live on the other coast and don't want to fly right now. We generally get an annual pass to WDW every other year or every 3 year and go 3 or 4 times during that year. We were scheduled to go in April with our annual pass. I miss Disney but not sure I want to fly that far yet. Now that Florida is back to 100% occupancy everywhere, I might wait a little longer to see how the Covid numbers pan out.
Don't assume Florida is at 100% just because the governor allowed it. That is not the case.
 

Lisa P

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Don't assume Florida is at 100% just because the governor allowed it. That is not the case.
Agree. Counties, municipalities, and individual businesses may still require masks, just as restaurants may require shirts & shoes. Reasonable social distancing and capacity limits are still expected but determined by local needs. Local governments cannot require that businesses close so long as they keep capacity at 50% or less - supporting businesses' right to operate. Outdoor social distancing in public spaces is going to be more self-monitored. The public will have to determine their own comfort level and take personal responsibility for their own risk. The public has now been thoroughly educated on how to avoid this communicable public health issue, just as they have been educated about transmission of tuberculosis or the flu.

As a nurse who personally takes an immunosuppressant medication, I wear a mask correctly, avoid close contact with others, avoid crowds, clean my hands frequently, use store pick-up for most of my groceries, view church services online, and socialize in very small, distanced get-togethers. We do occasionally eat inside restaurants because the staff are all masked and they've done a great job of blocking off tables. I recently flew to Tampa without fear, thankful that Delta still keeps the middle seat empty. While there, we went to the Zoo, the Aquarium, the beach... had a great time! These visits cost me nothing because my son's family has annual memberships... so a shortened visit of 2 or 3 hours in a mask is fine and doesn't waste an expensive admission fee.

Yet, to be honest, I'm still holding off on theme park visits until it's cooler out because it's really too hot out now for me to spend the WHOLE DAY with a mask on, or spend that kind of money for a short visit. Maybe if they sold cheap "after 3 pm" tickets for out-of-state visitors like us, I would go. But that won't happen. So we'll wait until the weather is cooler to visit any theme parks. I still doubt the parks will increase their capacity limits by very much unless they also add back the larger capacity shows and more restaurants as well, to handle the capacity. YMMV.
 
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ciscogizmo1

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Don't assume Florida is at 100% just because the governor allowed it. That is not the case.
I didn't that is why I said I had to wait and see what the Covid numbers present. I live in CA. I understand how NYers think we are walking around with no masks on here. I'm not making any assumptions. For me it is a long way to travel for limited park options at WDW. I'm not sure I'm ready to risk that. If it was a short flight I'd probably be more comfortable but for me it is a layover as there are no direct flights.
 

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I live in Sarasota. Florida should not be open 100%!! Yesterday Florida had 3266 cases. We have not been below 1800 in at least 5 months. Florida has not flattened the curve!!
 

dioxide45

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I live in Sarasota. Florida should not be open 100%!! Yesterday Florida had 3266 cases. We have not been below 1800 in at least 5 months. Florida has not flattened the curve!!
I think they look at more than just new cases.
 

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I watched the Toronto Blue Jays play the Tampa Bay Rays today. NOBODY in the stadium. OK, the restrictions are lifted, but the venues don't care
 

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I haven’t been to Disney but I can speak to universal. It’s been extremely enjoyable, little to no crowds, haven’t waited more than 15 minutes on ANY ride. Almost all restaurants open with distancing. It’s been great without crowds. The drive would be worth it.
Waited 50 minutes today for the Hagrids motorbike and Gringott's rides. Skipped the Mummy which said it was 45 minutes (WHAT?!). It was a mixed bag today, we rode most of what we wanted to but the crowds are coming back
 
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