What will it take for you to feel safe sleeping at Disney again?

We caught a stomach bug years ago on a Disney trip and ever since then I’ve taken certain steps in our room. I put the remote in a sandwich bag (studies show hotel remotes hold huge amounts of germs), I bring Clorox wipes (now nonexistent) and wipe everything down, focusing on doorknobs and faucet handles, and I wipe them down daily while there. And I Lysol the soft surfaces. I pretty much pretend that there’s a sick person in our room and sanitize accordingly. Not much else you can do. My family always made fun of me for it. As for when you’re out in the parks, hand sanitize. Masks will be useless, the best we can hope for is they’re keeping things clean and hand wash or sanitize frequently and if you’re in an at-risk group, don’t go. I for one have a trip planned in late November and as long as they’re open I’ll be there. At some point you have to live life again.
 
I'm struggling with when I'd feel safe for my family to sleep in a hotel again. For me, the additional risk of a hotel stay vs. all the other risks of Corona at Disney is hard for me to handle. Mainly because the duration of exposure to a "risky" area with no where else to go. I'd like to know what you'd need to see from Disney to feel safe? Right now, I'm stuck at bring pillows, buy a cleaning kit, do it myself and refuse housekeeping. Whatever time spent is better than not going.

I have no idea what kind of sneezes and coughs the person just a few hours earlier was in the room with. This virus lives for days on surfaces. I'm thinking of the uncovered coughs, sneezes, bathroom, shower, and just the thought of putting my face and sleeping on a pillow that was just 12 hours earlier used by someone seems crazy.

I'm really fine with the "going" to Disney part. The travel to/from and being at the parks feels a lot more in control for me. I can see the efforts of the cleaning staff around me. I can wipe down the airplane seat, I can wear a mask, etc. and it's not prolonged 8 hours in one place. Inside the parks, I am sure there will hand washing stations, masks, tons of queue handrail wipers, and the hopefully constant bathroom cleaners.

I've never considered myself a germaphobe. I travel(ed) for work constantly until this without a second thought. The risk was just getting sick or worst case bed bugs. The risk now is a much higher. Of all the companies who will get it right, I'm sure it's Disney.

Seriously, if you are "struggling" with feeling safe going to a hotel again, what will it take to make YOU feel safe again? It doesn't really matter what the rest of us say. If they opened Disney right now I'd be the first person in line and wouldn't think twice about putting my head on the pillow at AKL (my fave resort). Fear is very real and for you, it's preventing you from wanting to travel. Until you can overcome YOUR fear, none our suggestions will matter. I might bring extra hand sanitizer for after a ride or bring some Clorox wipes for remote controls, etc., but it's not just Disney's job to make sure I'm safe, it's mine, too.
 
While I do not want to comment on anyone's personal level of risk aversion, I have been thinking about this often. My family has a week long trip planned for late August - early September. We are booked at Gran Destino Tower but now I am considering which resorts would "feel" the safest. I was initially very excited to stay at GDT as I prefer indoor corridors and less of the motel feel I get from the value and moderate resorts. Now, the very things that would make me want to stay at GDT have me second guessing it. Elevators, hallways, etc. all seem to be added risk points versus the sprawling, outdoor corridor style of the other moderates and values. I've even considered that the Fort Wilderness cabins might be even "safer" (we would have a vehicle and would likely not take the busses).
I'm curious as to what others think. Would you feel more comfortable at a traditional moderate resort or would you not be concerned about elevators/hallways? Is there a "safest" resort? I assume a campsite with your own camper/tent would technically be safest but would you consider the cabins "safer" than a regular resort room?
Of course, this is all contingent on the parks operating by this time but I'm choosing to remain cautiously optimistic about that. I'm not cancelling until I have to. And I agree with previous posters that the parks are likely a greater risk than the resort. I am just thinking about ways to minimize our personal risk.
 
Oof.

Imagine having someone come over to your house. Maybe someone staying overnight for a sleepover or something with your kids, if you have any. You plan to host dinner at your house that evening. But before the person/family comes over for dinner, they ask you to video how you clean your house, how you clean your dishes, how you cook, and how you do your laundry....and they will only come over if the way you do things is satisfactory for them.

Feel kind of insulted, wouldnt you? Well, that's what you just asked Disney to do in order for you to be comfortable sleeping in a resort. And it would be one thing if the Disney reputation is somehow shady or cheap....of course, its not. They're top-shelf resorts.

I have a feeling you'll never be comfortable again, which is fine. But to do something as drastic as "video how they clean" is borderline absurd. At some point, you have to trust other people, no matter what you do in life. The entire service industry depends on trust in order to survive....whether its people staying in hotel rooms, people eating in restaurants, people flying in airplanes, etc. You're asking someone else to do something for you and take care of you. Are you going to eliminate everything in your life that happens outside of your home because you can't see first-hand and control yourself what is going on?
While I 1000% agree with everything you wrote (I would be quite insulted), I don't think it's a fair comparison. Inviting a family over is different than paying for a restaurant and a hotel.

And, to add some clarification to the video request. I didn't mean for them to video my room individually. I meant for a broader Disney Blog Post about how they clean and showing the standard they hold. I agree, asking to see a video of how they cleaned my individual room would be nutty.
 


My point is that why do you think Disney won't do everything in their power to keep you as safe as possible? Cleaning a hotel room is cleaning a hotel room...i fail to see what "extra" they are supposed to do to give you a level of comfort. I mean, if you're talking about basically bringing your own cleaning supplies and refusing housekeeping because you don't trust the people being paid to clean your room, which is what you said in your original post, I'm not sure what you expect Disney to do, as it's clear you won't trust it.
I mentioned up-thread that Housekeeping currently does the bare minimum during your stay (make the bed, replace the towels). It would be nice to see them wipe surfaces down and vacuum/sweep/mop each day rather than just between guests. Of course, this would be less efficient and require a larger housekeeping staff with fewer room assignments each, which has cost implications. So it will be interesting to see what they do.

On a somewhat related note, but not to derail the thread, I wonder if Disney will continue with the "Service Your Way" program which allows people to decline housekeeping and receive a $10 per day gift card. If Disney has to roll out new sanitization and cleanliness procedures, it would seem counterintuitive to allow guests to not have some sort of cleaning each day, and it makes more work for housekeepers when turning rooms over.
 
Seriously, if you are "struggling" with feeling safe going to a hotel again, what will it take to make YOU feel safe again? It doesn't really matter what the rest of us say. If they opened Disney right now I'd be the first person in line and wouldn't think twice about putting my head on the pillow at AKL (my fave resort). Fear is very real and for you, it's preventing you from wanting to travel. Until you can overcome YOUR fear, none our suggestions will matter. I might bring extra hand sanitizer for after a ride or bring some Clorox wipes for remote controls, etc., but it's not just Disney's job to make sure I'm safe, it's mine, too.
It's not preventing me from traveling. But barring any additional info from Disney on what they are going to different, I am going to spend the first hour or so cleaning the hotel room. It's still WAY better than not going. And, I'll be able to relax when I get back to my room and feel my family is safe. I dont know why I feel totally fine in the parks with all the shared close quarters. It's just something about not knowing what went on in the room by the last family. Maybe that's why I hate hotels in Vegas.

After this, using a strangers pillow is just baffling to me. I dont see much difference between that and using a strangers mask after they used it all day.
 
I would mostly feel safe. I would like for them to up their cleaning for rooms prior to a guest checking in. Maybe some enhanced air filtration whether it be in the form of stand alone machines or built into their ac systems.
 


While I do not want to comment on anyone's personal level of risk aversion, I have been thinking about this often. My family has a week long trip planned for late August - early September. We are booked at Gran Destino Tower but now I am considering which resorts would "feel" the safest. I was initially very excited to stay at GDT as I prefer indoor corridors and less of the motel feel I get from the value and moderate resorts. Now, the very things that would make me want to stay at GDT have me second guessing it. Elevators, hallways, etc. all seem to be added risk points versus the sprawling, outdoor corridor style of the other moderates and values. I've even considered that the Fort Wilderness cabins might be even "safer" (we would have a vehicle and would likely not take the busses).
I'm curious as to what others think. Would you feel more comfortable at a traditional moderate resort or would you not be concerned about elevators/hallways? Is there a "safest" resort? I assume a campsite with your own camper/tent would technically be safest but would you consider the cabins "safer" than a regular resort room?
Of course, this is all contingent on the parks operating by this time but I'm choosing to remain cautiously optimistic about that. I'm not cancelling until I have to. And I agree with previous posters that the parks are likely a greater risk than the resort. I am just thinking about ways to minimize our personal risk.
I'm glad you mentioned the camping/RV option. While that one is certainly safest of all the options because you control all aspects of cleanliness, I've never felt like I was at Disney when we did that years back. Plus, I dont own one, so that takes it out for me.

While I have no proof, my thought is that outdoor spaces are only slightly better than well kept indoor spaces. I need to take a plane to get there, so I better get comfortable sharing indoor space. While you are in the hotel, you decide what you touch, so no matter what it's sanitizer time.
 
Use lysol spray all over room.
FYI *most lysol sprays take 10 minutes of the surface being saturated to kill Covid-19
Source: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2

I have a rescheduled trip for early September, I will unfortunately be staying at 3 different resorts..which now that I think of it is more of a risk....

I am however confident that Disney will up the sanitation game all around and especially during room turn over, I guess new cases would have on a solid decline for me more than anything, however I am at higher risk due to a heart condition and my wife would call it off before I did.
 
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I'll be interested to know what changes housekeeping will be implementing when everything re-opens. I hope Disney is forthcoming about their plan for resort rooms. In my own past experience, we have always found Disney housekeeping to be sub-par compared to other hotel chains. We've had a few instances where we know they did not vacuum/sweep or wipe surfaces. Seems it was a simple make the bed, remove dirty towels, add clean towels, done. If they are going to do things right, they need to lower the quota of rooms per housekeeper and add more housekeepers, add more housekeeping inspections (usually done by a supervisor), and include a wiping of surfaces and floor cleaning for each room.
Unfortunately, I would have to agree with you. Maybe with less rooms to clean, they will be more thorough? Here's hoping!
 
I’m more concerned with catching bed bugs at Disney than corona by contact with surfaces.

And I don’t believe housekeeping/custodial/maintenance is any of a different level at the highest category and cost room at a Deluxe than the cheapest room at a Value.
 
And I don’t believe housekeeping/custodial/maintenance is any of a different level at the highest category and cost room at a Deluxe than the cheapest room at a Value.
Agreed, they're not. I've had sub-par housekeeping at all levels at WDW. Compared to other large resorts like Marriott or Hilton, Disney could use tweaking in this area even before the virus. Hopefully any changes out of this will address it.
 
I have ALWAYS traveled with my own pillows and blankets - so no fear there...same with wiping down surfaces (phones,door handles,tv remote,etc) with antiseptic wipes...I do think I’ll be vigilant in my cleaning going forward...but all in all - once DVC opens up (and I can get more Chlorox wipes) - I’m ready to stay
 
This article highlights some of the measures Marriott is planning to implement. No doubt Disney is likely already working on something similar, I am sure there will be many changes coming within the travel industry before people feel comfortable travelling again, both for business and leisure.

https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article110305.html
That’s fantastic info, and I’m a loyal Marriott customer, and I DO believe that Marriott already has high standards of cleanliness overall. That said, three things...

-These hotels do not actually hot water mop the hard floors; they spritz them with cleaner and run a dust mop over them, and I mean between stays, not just during YOUR stay. I had a go-around with a Renaissance manger over that once because there was something sticky in my floor and nobody could produce and actual mop to clean it with. GROSS.
-And even if they try to implement these enhanced measures, they have to coordinate and train the staff accordingly. Assuming they aren’t just slackers and will do their jobs (I think most WILL), somebody has to make sure they fully understand the instructions. How many times have you tried to communicate something specific to housekeeping and the manager couldn’t pass it along because whoever speaks whatever language isn’t there at the moment?? I do NOT intend to imply that all housekeepers don’t speak English, but I’ve encountered this pretty frequently.
-And last, hey, can you spare some of those wipes for us all to use at home?? Thanks!! (I’ll personally, like PP, feel a lot better about travel once I can get my hands on some again.)
 
I would wipe my hotel surfaces down and maybe take a pillow case but Disney is going to go above and beyond to take care of this problem, they don’t want to be a hotspot for it, if people are getting it there, people will stop coming and Disney can’t have that! I don’t go til November and I am hoping by then it will be more under control! But if it isnt, I’ll go anyway, I refuse to live my life in fear of, what if!!!
 
Airborne spread is a much bigger risk than surface to surface. People should be more worried about contact with others than they should getting sick from their hotel room.
yep masks masks and more masks i'm not going unless people have masks.
 
I got bed bugs from a hotel (not at Disney) one time and since then, before my family comes in, I strip the bed and check for signs of bed bugs. It takes ten minutes, max. While I'm at it I spray disinfectant on any hard surfaces. We wear socks in the room because those carpets are gross no matter where you are, we don't drink out of the glasses or eat off anything without washing first, and we wash our hands a lot. As good as mousekeeping is, they're human and they'll miss things. But again that takes just a few minutes. I certainly don't reclean the room. No matter what Disney does or doesn't do, I will still do these things upon arrival.
 
yep masks masks and more masks i'm not going unless people have masks.
I just wish we could GET masks! Hopefully part of this reopening strategy (like in general, not just Disney) will be ramping up production in the US of masks for the general public to purchase.
 

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