How are COVID restrictions/park capacity? Travel Insurance? 49 Days until our trip!

[MarcyElly]

We are now only 49 days away from our upcoming Disney/Universal trip (Sept. 28 - Oct 6 total). We have park reservations for MK, HS, and AK, and hoping to at least hop on Sept. 30 to Epcot (the day we're visiting HS).

I'm a little confused as to what to expect of our upcoming trip, since masks are now required indoors again, but the parks seem to frequently be at capacity. I've also heard a lot about longer lines, etc. and figured I should go to my favorite Disney forum for real advice/observations.

I guess I'm mostly nervous about our trip being cancelled, or being too overwhelming. We're from rural Maine and the farthest we've travelled during the pandemic was to Boston. I'm not the kind of person that needs to ride every ride, but I am hoping to at least get some in, and to not have to do too much crowding.

Do any of you experts have any information or tips that could help us? I know it's not exactly a straightforward question, but I just want to feel informed before we go as to what the situation is currently like. Would any of you suggest purchasing travel insurance? In case of another shutdown (knock on wood) or perhaps even weather? Or would Disney refund us/help us reschedule?

I'm sure y'all can sense my anxiety leaking out into this message, haha. Please don't make this (or read this as) a political conversation. We've just really been looking forward to this trip and I want to make sure we can make the most of it, and do our best to be prepared. Thank you all so much, and I hope you have a magical day!

[Happy2012]

I have not had the opportunity to visit the parks yet since they reopened. However we will be going at the beginning of September so just a few weeks before you. We are from rural New Hampshire so... After our trip I will comeback to this post or message you and let you know how it went. Do you have any other needs that I can be on the look out for you? We will be utilizing the handicap (wheelchair) entrance and security so I will be commenting on that after our trip as well since I have asked how that works and have not gotten a response so I want to get information out there.

[MarcyElly]

I appreciate it and hope your trip goes well!

[Ashley.in.Wonderland]

I think it depends on the needs/acceptable risk level for your family and who you interact with back home. My family went to Disney in May and didn't buy theme park tickets. Instead, we spent a few days in a nice DVC room to use up DVC points and enjoyed the hotel while avoiding other guests. We have medically vulnerable folks in our family and weren't comfortable with the park crowds we were seeing in photos and on the streams in May. From what I've seen, it seems like it's gotten more crowded. But, I also haven't been in the parks, so my perception may be off. If you're definitely set on going but worried about overcrowding, I'd maybe try to avoid some of the more crowded areas/times like rope drop or fireworks (there are some other really nice, less crowded areas you can still see them from). I know Disney reintroduced their mask requirement (for both vaccinated and unvaccinated) indoors, and, as far as I know, Universal's policy is still no mask requirement. If you interact with people back home, I'd also suggest coming up with a plan to get tested after your trip to be absolutely sure you aren't spreading anything in your own community.

As we've seen over the past year and a half, a lot can change in just several weeks. So hopefully things get better! As far as refunds, I think Disney theme park tickets are nonrefundable, but if you end up having to reschedule, you can hold onto the tickets for later. If that's not correct, someone please correct me. As far as weather, I think they also have a special hurricane policy on their website, but I'm not sure what it is.

[Ashley.in.Wonderland]

Oh! And as a side note for travel insurance, be sure to read the policy before you purchase it if you're considering it. Travel insurance might cover something like interruptions for hurricanes, I'm not sure. But, I definitely had to cancel a flight for a conference in March of 2020 in the early days of the pandemic (bought the ticket before the pandemic was a thing). I had travel insurance, but the company wouldn't cover it. They said a global pandemic was a foreseeable event, and I just lost the price of my plane ticket. So, don't bank on travel insurance covering a potential shutdown and be sure to check the policy! I'm sorry, I know that's not reassuring. I wish things were more certain by this point.