Disney World Quarantine Rules & Travel Guidance
Quarantine rules to Florida from many states apply to Walt Disney World visitors returning home. This covers travel restrictions, mandates & recommendations, international testing requirements, updates on numbers, and relaxation of rules for fully vaccinated people by the CDC. (Updated April 26, 2021.)
In addition to travel rules, this post has become our monthly status report for progress and setbacks by states and the U.S. as a whole. As always, we’ll begin with the above map, which has stalled in its improvements. In some states, new cases have plateaued and even increased in hot spots. The silver lining there is that hospitalizations and deaths continue to drop throughout the United States, and that trend will likely continue with older and higher risk populations vaccinated.
Speaking of which, more positive news: the vaccination rollout continues to accelerate. The United States has now administered more than 225 million doses, fully vaccinating over 92.9 million people or 29% of the total U.S. population (42% are at least partially vaccinated). The United States is now averaging 3 million vaccines per day in the last week. We’re among the best countries in the world for vaccine rollout, on par with the United Kingdom and well ahead of the rest of Europe and Asia.
The fruits of these improved numbers are starting to impact policy. After months of cautionary messaging that has been slow to evolve, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will release new recommendations this week. This is expected to include a lifting of outdoor face mask guidance.
Per multiple news outlets, President Biden will announce several changes on April 27, as part of remarks on the state of the pandemic. The will likely include more rule relaxations for fully vaccinated people, though the final language of the announcement is unclear, as is to whom the outdoor mask rules will apply.
This comes after prominent publications like Slate and The Atlantic proposed an end to outdoor mask mandates. Israel, which offers a potential preview into what the U.S. numbers will look like in another month if vaccination rates hold, lifted its outdoor mask mandate.
There has also been a growing chorus for ending outdoor mask rules among experts. Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC: “People could choose to wear a mask if they want to. I think there shouldn’t be requirements that they have to wear masks outdoors…We know activities outside are lower risk than things done indoors.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci essentially said the same thing on ABC with regard to outdoor mask rules: “The CDC is a science-based organization. They don’t want to make any guidelines unless they look at the data and the data backs it up. But when you look around at the common sense situation, obviously the risk is really very low, particularly if you’re vaccinated.”
As we reported last week, Orange County is weighing a timeline to phase out some restrictions, including face masks and physical distancing. New CDC guidance could preempt that, and be a potential game-changer for Walt Disney World. However, that’s likely only going to be the case if dropping masks outdoors encompasses both the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
If you’re wondering why Walt Disney World probably won’t change its mask rules if that relaxation applies only to the fully vaccinated, it comes down to logistics. Theme parks, airlines, hotels, and various other businesses cannot have two classes of people. That would be a nightmare scenario for enforcement, and overly burdensome to frontline Cast Members and other employees of the aforementioned businesses. As we’ve reported previously, vaccine passports could sidestep this issue, but will not be allowed in Florida.
Prior to this, the CDC released new travel guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals. This is a big step that reflects a shift in messaging and better balance, which is necessary if the CDC wants its advice to remain relevant to real world behavior.
For domestic travel, people who are two weeks past their final shot (first dose of Johnson & Johnson; second dose of Moderna or Pfizer) do not need to get a test before or after trips and do not need to self-quarantine after travel. That means, for example, fully-vaccinated grandparents can fly to visit their grandchildren without testing or self-quarantining, provided they follow the other recommended public health measures, such as wearing masks on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transportation.
For international travel, the CDC guidance indicates that fully vaccinated people do not need to be tested before their trips unless it is required by the destination. When returning to the United States, fully vaccinated people should get tested and have a negative result before boarding an international flight back to the United States.
Of course, this international travel guidance is somewhat meaningless for most countries that have barred travel. However, that could change in the coming months. The U.S. Travel Association has pushed the government to lift travel restrictions on international visitors. As many of these are reciprocal in nature, this is first likely to occur with other countries–like the United Kingdom and Israel–that are also vaccinating at high rates. (Vaccine passports remain likely for international travel, with the European Union and many other countries working on implementing such systems.)
In tandem with this travel guidance, the CDC also stated that “if grandparents have been vaccinated, they can visit their daughter and her family, even if they have not been vaccinated so long as the daughter and her family are not at risk for severe disease.”
Extrapolating from that quote, this could be a precursor to how the CDC will handle bigger picture guidance given that most kids likely will not be vaccinated in 2021. That’s very relevant to Walt Disney World’s rules given its core demographics. With all adults now eligible to be vaccinated and ample availability throughout most of the country, it’s entirely possible that things are closer to normal and public health measures can be further relaxed by Memorial Day.
We’re already seeing some states ditch their rules, and more will undoubtedly follow suit as the early-movers are “vindicated” by numbers that continue to decline. Based solely on seasonality, current trajectory, and vaccination rates, that seems likely. Moreover, public tolerance of face masks, especially once vaccines are widely available, is going to plummet.
Being fully vaccinated is effectively the end of this for most people, and they’ll want to behave accordingly. No matter how people might feel about masks right now, the vast majority won’t want to continue having to wear them long after they’ve been vaccinated, especially on vacation.
We’ve been predicting precisely this for months. (See When Will Walt Disney World Stop Requiring Face Masks? among many other posts.) Even late last year as the holiday surge started, we stressed that there was light at the end of the tunnel and numbers would start to come down as the season of family gatherings ended (contact tracing has shown over 70% of cases are a result of “living room spread“) and vaccines rolled out.
On the last earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently stated that Walt Disney World could have some level of physical distancing and mask-wearing for the remainder of 2021 but called vaccine availability a game-changer. Most other sites emphasized the “remainder of 2021” part of that, saying it meant face masks until 2022.
We disagreed, emphasizing the some level and game-changer parts. In parsing Chapek’s words, it appears to us that Disney is laying the groundwork for changing its approach to health safety protocol so rules can be relaxed on an earlier timeline. (Just reiterating all of that here to double-down on our past predictions, which have been criticized for being too bold and optimistic.)
Even with variants posing some cause for concern and making it premature to declare mission accomplished, our view is that “cautious optimism” is still the appropriate perspective. In Europe there has been a plateauing of numbers or even spikes in some countries, but the United States’ vaccine rollout has been markedly better. Again, we’re on par with the United Kingdom, which is still seeing cases and deaths drop despite their variant.
Obviously, things could still go wrong–as has happened several times throughout this–but hopefully the U.S. can outrun the variants with vaccinations. Anyway, let’s move along to the travel restrictions and quarantine recommendations & rules…
Domestic Travel Restrictions & Quarantine Rules
Now let’s turn to the state-by-state quarantine rules. For its part, Florida does not have any quarantine requirements, travel bans, or restrictions in place for those arriving from other states. Governor Ron DeStantis issued a series of executive orders rescinding all of those in fall of last year, and Florida Fully Reopened in September.
In short, there is no quarantine rule that will impact you going to Walt Disney World. However, returning from Walt Disney World is another story entirely. Many states have quarantine rules in effect for residents returning from Florida or visiting from out of state. Here’s a rundown of quarantine rules for various states and cities. (Note: the aforementioned CDC travel guidance for vaccinated people was just released on April 2, 2021 and many states haven’t yet had a chance to update their rules accordingly–within a few days, all will align with the CDC guidance.)
New York has announced that domestic travelers will no longer be required to quarantine after entering New York from another U.S. State or U.S. Territory. It’s still recommended as an added precaution, and completing a health form is still necessary.
New Jersey has already shifted from a mandatory to a voluntary quarantine, as has Connecticut. This is significant, and the Tri-State Area is all lumped together up top, because this trio has had some of the more stringent rules in the contiguous United States.
California‘s travel advisory has been relaxed for the fully vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, avoid non-essential travel. If you must travel, get tested 1-3 days before travel and 3-5 days after travel. After travel, self-quarantine for 7 days, no matter what your test results were. If you didn’t get tested, self-quarantine for 10 days.
Maryland‘s emergency order to limit all travel to essential purposes only still appears to be in place. All Marylanders who do travel outside of Maryland or any individuals who do travel to Maryland must either obtain a negative test result or self-quarantine for 10 days upon return home.
Kentucky‘s travel advisory now discourages all out-of-state leisure travel until further notice. Those who do travel out-of-state for leisure travel are urged to voluntarily self-quarantine upon return to Kentucky or follow CDC guidance for alternate options to shorten the quarantine period.
Minnesota highly discourages out of state travel for non-essential purposes. Incoming visitors and Minnesotans who travel out-of-state are asked to stay home and quarantine for 14 days. Consistent with CDC guidance, a shortened quarantine period may be possible.
Rhode Island‘s rule is that those arriving will need to quarantine for 10 days or provide proof of a negative test result taken within 72 hours prior to arrival. Quarantines can be shortened with post-arrival testing. Those who are fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine if asymptomatic.
Both Maine and Massachusetts have nearly identical rules in place, right down to the exception for fully vaccinated individuals.
Pennsylvania has rescinded its quarantine rules. Now, travelers are simply advised to practice appropriate public health measures to slow the spread.
New Mexico also rescinded its mandatory quarantine rule. Visitors from anywhere outside of the state will instead by strongly advised to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days.
Vermont no longer requires quarantine for those who are fully vaccinated (it has been 14 days since your final vaccine dose). Anyone else traveling to Vermont must quarantine for 10 days.
New Hampshire requires a 10-day quarantine upon arrival, except for fully vaccinated people. If you have not had any symptoms, you have the option to get a PCR test and end your quarantine with a negative test result. You must continue to monitor yourself for symptoms for the full 14 days.
Kansas no longer has a quarantine requirement for Florida. However, it does have one for mass gatherings of more than 500 where you did not socially distance and wear a mask. Walt Disney World has such rules, so this arguably does not apply.
Both Alaska and Hawaii have very similar mandatory 10-day traveler quarantine and passenger verification process for anyone traveling to those states. This has nothing to do with Florida, specifically.
Out-of-state travelers have the option to get tested via a trusted travel provider prior to their arrival, and show proof of a negative result, to avoid the quarantine.
Washington DC requires anyone engaging in non-essential travel to or from Florida and other states to self-quarantine for 14 days when they come to the District.
Same deal with Chicago’s Emergency Travel Order, which directs travelers entering or returning to Chicago from Florida and other surging states to self-quarantine for a 10-day period from the time of last contact within the identified state.
If your state has a test-out option, there are numerous diagnostic testing sites within a short drive of Walt Disney World. The closest is unquestionably the Disney Maingate Complex, which is near Animal Kingdom (and actually on-property). The Florida Division of Emergency Management operates this walk-up testing site daily from 8 am to 5 pm, and appointments are not required at this location.
The Disney Maingate Complex offers rapid testing, with results available in about 15 minutes. We’ve used this site and have had great experiences–never a wait, quick & easy, and friendly staff. Highly recommended!
Two alternatives with less convenient locations are the no-contact rapid tests at Walgreens or CVS. Walgreens has two locations: one in Kissimmee east of Disney’s Hollywood Studios (2274 Fortune Rd) or near Universal Orlando (5280 S John Young Pkwy).
CVS has two Orlando locations (13454 South Orange Blossom Trail & 7001 Old Winter Garden Road). Both have eligibility and appointment requirements right now, but are in the process of scaling up testing so it should become easier in the next month or two.
(If your state or city has a Florida quarantine order or advisory, we’d greatly appreciate it if you’d leave a comment letting us know. There is no nationwide database with this information, and searching state-by-state is a tough task. Thanks!)
International Travel
The CDC is expanding the requirement for a negative test to all international air passengers entering the United States. A test will be required before departure to the United States, and that will be combined with the CDC recommendations to get tested again 3-5 days after arrival and quarantine for 7 days post-travel.
The new administration issued an executive order reaffirming this rule, which is now in effect. It also requested that these policies be reviewed by the State Department, Homeland Security, Transportation Department, HHS, FAA, TSA, and CDC leadership.
Canada and the United States issued a mutual ban on non-essential travel across the land border last spring, and have extended that order each month since. People driving into Canada must provide proof of a negative PCR test taken in the United States within 72 hours or proof of a positive test result between 14 and 90 days before arrival, which is long enough for the illness to have passed, but not so long that immunity might have waned.
Travelers arriving at Canada’s land border points will also be required to take tests upon arrival. That is also the date that air travelers will be forced into a mandatory three-day hotel quarantine at their own expense and required to take multiple tests.
United Kingdom citizens are currently barred from entering the United States, with some exceptions–including those with close family members in the US, and certain other limited categories of visas holders such as diplomats. The limited categories of people who are allowed entry to the US must self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
Previously, were some flickers of hope about a New York to London “air bridge” that would restore flight routes between those two cities without a quarantine, thanks to rapid testing. We would caution against too much hope about this–there had been rumors of a travel bridge between the UK and US, but those have been quiet for months.
The same proclamation that bans travel to the United States from the United Kingdom and Ireland also applies to the European Schengen area. That means no one will be completing any Chateau to Castle challenges anytime soon.
This ban includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
It is presently unclear when and how this travel ban will be lifted–it could occur on a country-by-country basis, or a blanket proclamation. At this point, it is not expected to occur until Summer 2021 at the earliest.
In addition to United States-issued travel bans regarding arrival, Australians are restricted from traveling overseas. Exceptions exist for New Zealand and other countries that have the pandemic under control; the United States is not one such exception.
With vaccine distribution likely to take several months, there are concerns that these non-essential travel bans could last until 2022 if nations don’t come up with ways for people to safely cross borders. One such possibility is a rapid polymerase chain reaction test prior to travel. Airport testing is a viable option with results possible within 10 minutes, but the degree to which such a system could scale is debatable. (Although lack of demand for international travel may render that concern a moot point.)
In summary, a variety of international travel bans remain in place–by both the United States and other countries–that will make visiting Walt Disney World a non-starter for at least the next few months, if not the remainder of the year. Past estimates have pegged international tourists as accounting for 18-22% of all guests to Walt Disney World, so this could be a big blow for park attendance.
With regard to domestic travel restrictions, visitors from all 50 states are now welcomed to Walt Disney World without restriction upon arrival. When returning home, it’s a different story, as over one-dozen states have mandatory quarantine requirements or recommendations. Unfortunately, after some of these were rescinded, we’re now likely to see more quarantine rules reinstated or implemented due to Florida’s upward trends. If you have a 2021 trip to Walt Disney World and are visiting from out of state, plan accordingly, as a quarantine could be required when you return home.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you located in a state that has quarantines on travelers from Florida? How far into 2021 do you expect the travel restrictions to be extended? Do you have plans to visit Walt Disney World this spring or summer? If you’re an international reader, what’s your expectation regarding travel between your country and the United States? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We are PA residents and still planning to go in August assuming “suggestion” doesn’t change to “requirement”. My kids are teenagers and looking forward to it so hopefully we will get to go. Restaurants are booked, passes secured, and resort finally confirmed. I’m just curious of the lines with no fast passes. Not sure why Disney hasn’t implemented virtual ques before opening that Universal has successfully done – seems they are behind their competitor.
they aren’t working at Universal, they are hiding the amount of employees contracting Covid-19.
EVERYTHING, including Disney, will be closed down by the end of next week.
Mary Kendall, I agree. The writing is on the wall (as they say) in Florida. They botched it big time. Could have had a good reopening had the governor and residents heeded the advice. But they let politics and money interfere. What good is a thriving economy if thousands of people are sick or dying. Sounds like an exaggeration, but then so did hearing in February about the prospect of a global pandemic that would possibly shut the world down. And yet, here we are, no better than we were a few months ago. And perhaps even worse.
We can only hope it will be closed. Employees are definitely getting sick and Universal and Disney Springs.
Governor Wolf doesn’t have the authority to pass the type of legislation to make this mandatory. Neither does Health Secretary Levine. Even the “mandatory” mask mandate cannot be enforced in PA. Wolf can use whatever type of language he chooses to make citizens believe these things are law, but they are not.
Seems the only thing he & Levine are good for is committing genocide within our nursing homes.
We have a December trip booked (would be traveling in from N.C. where today the spread is more controlled than FL). We assume we will cancel the trip, FL doesn’t appear to be doing anything to control the virus and Unless there is some development we won’t go. We booked in January before all this and we’ve just left the reservation but the farther FL lets things spiral out of control the less likely our trip is.
Well, as we are doing literally nothing To control the spread here in Florida, I can say with great confidence you’ll be cancelling.
It’s frustrating to live here right now.
Thanks for the response Frank!
Troy
I called Disney yesterday to try to get a room for a night or two before the parks opened and I was told that they’re not accepting reservations for 2020. I’m a Florida resident in driving distance of Orlando but I’m not an annual pass holder. Just wanted a change of scenery. But I guess not.
I would like to know how any state is going to verify you are self-quarantining once you return from visiting a specified state.
Depends on how hard they want to press it. In Hawaii, they make you give them your phone when your plane lands. The health department loads an app to track you and who you come within bluetooth range of. If they catch you outside your house or hotel or not carrying your phone, they put you on the next plane. Do I think NY/NJ/CT are going to go that far? No, but they could if they wanted to.
You get sick and get tested, NY has great tracing & tracking . They find out you didn’t self quarantine, You are in big trouble. Cuomo is quite clear he will be pissed.
That comment re: Hawaii, please link the alleged law. There is a program that was developed to track bluetooth signals, but to my knowledge the states that looked at it decided not to buy it because of the civil liberties issues. That didn’t require an app on any phone though. I’m not clear as to how they are legally confiscating phones and installing apps without permission.
I’ve heard employers are asking where you’re going before approving vacation days, and then enforcing the quarantine. I’ve also heard of checkpoints at state borders and along I-95 on the East coast.
This last round of Executive Orders in NY prompted calls to revoke the emergency powers granted the governor. And in CT, the governor loosened the rule after backlash, permitting testing within a 72 hours period to eliminate the quarantine period. Although it’s unclear how you’d get tested and results back that fast.
I had switched my Disney vacation 3 times from April 6 to July 3 then to July 18, Now we just had to cancel our vacation,I can’t be quarantined for 14 days upon returning from Florida.Very disappointing for all of us, hopefully we will be able to book early next year if a vaccine is available So Sad Disney is our HAPPY PLACE
The travel advisory for residents of PA returning FROM Florida is just a suggestion. That said, we’re staying home & going to Hershey Park, Dorney Park, Dutch Wonderland & Knoebels this summer. We’ve already gone down the shore to Cape May & to our mountain cabin.
Friends from the tri-state area, we have some great parks here in PA! 🙂
Same here! Coming from NY and swapped disney for hershey park in august. Now I am watching the PA COVID numbers and praying every day.
I live in Kansas and 4 days ago our governor ordered a quarantine upon return from Florida. So you can add to the list. We are scheduled to go to WDW on July 26, but we doubt it’s going to be lifted by then and most likely won’t get to go.
Hi Tom
Thanks again for your great blog and all the helpful information. So what are the chances of Gov DeSantis extending the order Monday or Tuesday for the tri state area?. Keeping my fingers crossed I have a july 18th trip planned. Also just wanted to mention for NJ its a travel advisory to quarantine when you come back from Florida they expect you to do the right thing.
NY is going a little more heavy handed with fines.
Hi Don, I can see no logical reason that it is extended except for you guessed it, politics. There is no data that backs up this decision any longer, especially maddening is the fact that you can go to Florida from Texas, California, Arizona or Georgia who are all surging and re-closing their states down, but the tri state is still banned when we have some of the “best” numbers in the country. (I use that term lightly since nothing is truly good right now). Add in the quarantine upon returning back up north and as far as I’m concerned, Florida should be thanking us for wanting to come down there now and spend money and welcome us with open arms given the current situation, let us spend our money and deal with a quarantine back home. We sure aren’t spreading the virus down there any more. We’re safer up north in fact, but it boils down to how badly do you want to go to Disney? lol
The tri state area should be Extending the quarantine in Florida but we shouldn’t have one on them. They are so better off and have great direction from their governors. Florida does not
Disney is trying to keep the numbers low, so how is this a bad thing?
If Disney itself, not just the area, became an epicenter for the virus things would not go well.
Let’s face it, things are not going well now.
We need to get this virus under control then we can hope to go back to Disney (November )
Stay well people, stop the spread.
I just did a little looking around to see where things stand. In Florida, new positive SARS-CoV-19 tests have increased 500% in the last two weeks. Only 0.02%, that’s two hundredths of a percent – can be tested daily. They warn to expect lines up to three hours long to complete the process. Over 13% of the population is uninsured, and that seems to be an issue from county when it comes to actually getting a test.
We all love visiting the parks and resorts, and suspending reality for a spell. It’s, for lack of a better word, magical. But there is no magic that can protect us from this virus yet. It’s not just you who is at risk – it’s everyone you come in contact with on the way home, followed by your community.
Wave II of this pandemic has begun, and begun in the states least equipped to handle it. I implore you to think about your role in this pandemic.
Whoops!!! SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19.
We are actually still in wave 1. It never really ended since everyone opened up too soon. The numbers decreased but not low enough to say wave 1 ended. Florida Governor will not impose enough restrictions. I’m heading to Disney July 11-12. DVC
Well said, Aaron.
Yeah wave 1 is not evenbclise to over in the us. Data does not lie. While most modern countries curve has flattened ours continues to climb. Pathetic and inexcusable. Our border with Canada remains closed because we cant seem to get our shit together. All the while we are worried about Disneyworld. Lol.
Speaking as a FL resident, we take a very dim view of people who come to our state and break our laws. If you want to break COVID laws in your home state, that is your business. If you come to Florida and break our state laws, that is OUR business and we suggest you travel elsewhere if you are unwilling to abide by them; especially during a health emergency.
The last thing Florida needs right now is more COVID problems.
honestly, i don’t know why anyone would be planning a trip to one of the epicenters of the virus right now or for the foreseeable future. disney is not a bubble in which the virus will not exist.
Well it doesn’t exist for you cuz you don’t believe in pixie dust but for us it’s a perfect pixie bubble thanks for asking!
Agree. People need to weigh the risks. Personally, I would not be going down there with my family right now.
I live in FL, am one of the original WDW visitors, and am an insatiable MK fan. If they converted some of the monorail resort suites to condos for permanent living, I would buy one and move in.
But even when suffering serious MK withdrawl, I cannot bring myself to expose me or my family. Latest news is the virus has mutated again. (look up mutation D614G) The spike protein has become more effective, making it more contagious from person to person. About 70% of cases now carry this mutation.
I’m desperately craving a visit to MK, but health of my household is more important.
Wow Karmen, that’s one of the most self centered things I’ve heard. You’re desire to visit a theme park trumps the very lives of people dying from this lethal virus??
That, friends, is the mindset of a sociopath. Will the US resorts be safe once we have a vaccine? Comments like this give me pause.
why are we encouraging spread of a virus by looking for loopholes?
HI Tom,
This past Thursday we were set to leave with bags packed. The plan was to drive from NY staring out Friday morning and arrive Sat.
I thought your article on the empty resorts sounded intriguing not eerie.
We wanted just to get out of our home and have a romantic 9 days at the Treehouse with long walks in those empty resorts, boat rides to the slightly attended Disney Springs, some drives around areas west of WDW exploring possible places to move to and some great Disney Dining.
Then Coumo put the 2 weeks quarantine thing on and I started making some phone calls. A lot of phone calls.
Technically a one week vacation takes 5 weeks. 2 upon entering FL then the actual vacation followed by another 2 weeks at home.
According to the Orange County police you can drive around FL looking at areas to move to during your 2 week quarantine as long as you stay in your car. So far so good.
According to the FL State police they are stopping anyone with NY, NJ and CT license plates coming in via I 95 and other in roads.
You are stopped and given a temperature test. If you fail you are turned away. If you pass they ask for your information like where you will be self quarantining for 14 days and phone numbers to reach you.
It was at this time that I learned a dirty little secret: if you rent a car in another state like say NC, VA or PA you can drive in without being stopped.
Then I got the really terrible horrible no good very bad news. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO QUARTINE AT WDW!
ok, ok, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of “sneaking in” via a rental car, being stopped for rolling through a stop sign and handing over my NY license. It’s legit to rent a car rather than putting thousands of miles on your own but still…..
So last minute we moved our stay from June 27th over to the first two weeks in Dec.
Disney was great about everything but getting through was insane.
Thursday I spent 5 hours calling every 10 to 15 minutes trying to get through the “all lines are busy try later” message before getting into the que and then another 2 and 1/2 hours of listening to Disney music on speaker phone before getting a lovely lady who was still working from home at 10:50pm. She told me they had at least another 200 people in the que.
Disney usually closes at ten and technically they stopped putting people into the cue at that time but they were staying open as late as necessary to make sure everyone in the que at that time was taken care of.
They are very shorthanded so I asked about the callers and she told me that she didn’t have one impolite caller all day despite the long waits so that was nice to hear.
What I know is that Disney has kept me in a Deluxe resort at Value resort prices and the difference between what I’m paying and what it would cost me normally to stay there is some crazy amount like $16,000 more.
Now is December far enough away that the virus and face mask will be gone? Will parades and fireworks be back? Hey as long as it’s open there’s nothing that compares to Christmas at Disney and their resorts.
Wishing you all good luck. I appreciate everything Tom does here and all the tips and good questions that the rest of you supply. Thanks you.
You have the most wonderful attitude and I hope you have an amazing trip in December!!
We’re scheduled for October, but not lookin good for the home team!
As a Brit who is used to standing in them all the time, I’m here to share the fact that’s it’s a ‘queue’.
Whichever way you spell it – when you’re waiting to try and change your plans, or get answers, they’re excruciating.
But thank heavens for all those Disney phone operators right now. Not a job I would like to have. They’re incredibly patient and polite as always. God bless them.
We were going to go to Florida on August 28 and spend the next week there. I didn’t get tickets to Hollywood studios in time so that is out of the question. I live in Maryland so with what has been going on with the increase infection in Florida, we decided to scrap that idea and we are heading to Alaska. We will try again next year though. I want to see Galaxy’s Edge so bad!
Please don’t drive through Canada for a vacation in Alaska
My family is still wanting to to to Florida for our vacation but wait on our DISNEY trip till next year. We have already gotten the tickets but not going till next year but they all still want to make the trip just to be together like every year we been doing. I am at a loss as to what we should do at this point. We are scheduled to be there July 24th. We are coming from Kentucky. Please help
If Florida is in state of emergency why is Disney world still opening in July. There are too many outbreaks in Florida what is making that safe in Disney world .
Its not safe but the Florida economy is dependent on Disney being open.
The economy every where is dependent on businesses being open. We decided to cancel our Florida trip and just go to Alaska. Don’t want to risk it and have to quarantine for 2 weeks when I get back. Besides, they aren’t opening Galaxy s edge. Try again next year.
Galaxy’s Edge will be open. Oga’s cantina is not listed to be open, and I haven’t heard about Savi’s, but everything else will be open.
My job in a not C19 exploding state still requires a 14 day Quarantine Period and A negative test before returning to work. So regardless of whether FL had a quarantine for my state, my employer will require one. Pretty sure other people are in the same boat. So a 7 day vacation to WDW could mean 15 vacation days for some people. Given all that’s going on, I’m genuinely surprised people outside driving distance to WDW are still planning any trips before a vaccine.
That’s cuz you have two choices live in fear and ignorance or the rest of us who choose to live I can’t believe the people who get in car accidents and die every weekend I can’t believe that 37 people lost their life in Chicago and nobody cares!
So it’s called living you could die tomorrow and get hit by a bus I’m not going to live in fear.
Hi Tom. Just a wee update. The Canada US border closure was extended through July 21 now. You may want to update that part of the story. Cheers, and thanks for all your great work!
Corene, You beat me too it. Yes, we got that news a couple of weeks ago, I think.
I’m just glad he knew to note that you can fly out of Canada to the US. Most people hear “border closed” and think it’s real and all-encompassing. I think it’s weird that you can’t drive across a border alone in your car but you’re allowed to fly with 100 strangers, but that is currently the case.
But yeah, the 14-day quarantine is unattractive to all and pretty much a non-starter for people who work outside the home.
Just to add, the Canadian government travel advisory is still saying to avoid non-essential travel anywhere outside of Canada, which means trip cancellation and health insurance would be void and if you get stuck down there for whatever reason, it would be highly unlikely the Canadian government would help you out of it.
The disruption of our annual visit to DW has prompted us to consider other fun stuff to do, and most all of them much cheaper. We are not visiting the remainder of 2020 as everything is just too “off” to spend that kind of $$$$. We have other plans for this fall and already have one travel event elsewhere in the U.S. set for next year. We love Disney World and always will but we don’t have any young children in our family at this time and that was one (not all) of the reasons we vacationed there. But I think we became rather “vacationally myopic” – DW was just our annual go-to without thought of other experiences. Plus, for the cost of one DW week visit, we can do 2-3 alternative vacations and such. Not to say I’m will not be going back to DW, we will, but not as often and, going to have more vacation variety from here on.
Linda, smart move the country is a big place. Simpler can be better and more enjoyable. Bob
Totally agree with you. We are doing the same. A vacation to Disney, which we have done every Christmas, is $5K. Considering how weird it seems, a lot of the features are not there (fully understandable) – the whole experience feels like “Disney-light.” I thought Tom’s report of his first day back to Disney was really eerie. I am not interested in a $5K trip for 1/3 of the Disney experience. We’ll go back another year. But, you are not alone in your thinking.
That may be the new issue for Disney: does the ticket price/hotel price/vacation price equate to the limited Disney experience? Prices should be lowered (in light of limited options), but you can assume that will never happen.