Rethinking going to Japan... just talking out loud... Thoughts?

[ejdmomma]

I just wanted to jump in and say hi. We are sort of in the same boat - my husband and I have a 20th anniversary trip planned for the first two weeks of October. We booked airfare back in February before there was any known cases of the virus in the US. I haven't made any hotel reservations yet...waiting to see what international travel is like over the summer months. Right now we're really hoping the trip happens, but will be ok with moving it to next year if we have to. I honestly hadn't really thought about it until today. We have a June trip to Belize that may or may not happen. We were talking about the Belize trip at lunch and my husband said something like "why don't we move it to fall break?". I reminded him that we already have airfare to Japan! There is so much going on right now that we really haven't talked about or done any planning for the Japan trip. I guess I don't want to get my hopes up if it's going to be postponed. Plus - I feel over-privileged that my only concerns are about whether or not my vacations will happen! Thanks for letting me ramble!

 

[gelatoni fan]

I haven't made any hotel reservations yet...waiting to see what international travel is like over the summer months.

A lot of hotel chains such as Marriott and Hilton have 100% refundable stays. I have several Marriott stays lined up for trips I likely won't take because I can always cancel them later. Every now and then, I check the prices and rebook one at a lower rate. In the off chance I end up going, I just need to book airfare and know that I got the lowest possible price for the hotel.

It's sort of a vacation habit of mine now to book the lowest possible refundable room as soon as I know I might be going on a trip. I book airfare and lower non-refundable hotel rates (if any exist) closer to my travel date. Obviously, this isn't relevant if you target hotels with less flexible refund/cancellation policies.

 

[ejdmomma]

A lot of hotel chains such as Marriott and Hilton have 100% refundable stays. I have several Marriott stays lined up for trips I likely won't take because I can always cancel them later. Every now and then, I check the prices and rebook one at a lower rate. In the off chance I end up going, I just need to book airfare and know that I got the lowest possible price for the hotel.

It's sort of a vacation habit of mine now to book the lowest possible refundable room as soon as I know I might be going on a trip. I book airfare and lower non-refundable hotel rates (if any exist) closer to my travel date. Obviously, this isn't relevant if you target hotels with less flexible refund/cancellation policies.

Great idea! I need to figure out our itinerary, we want to hit a couple of cities and Disneyland of course. Wouldn't hurt to start booking rooms.

 

[LovesTimone]

I just wanted to jump in and say hi. We are sort of in the same boat - my husband and I have a 20th anniversary trip planned for the first two weeks of October. We booked airfare back in February before there was any known cases of the virus in the US. I haven't made any hotel reservations yet...waiting to see what international travel is like over the summer months. Right now we're really hoping the trip happens, but will be ok with moving it to next year if we have to. I honestly hadn't really thought about it until today. We have a June trip to Belize that may or may not happen. We were talking about the Belize trip at lunch and my husband said something like "why don't we move it to fall break?". I reminded him that we already have airfare to Japan! There is so much going on right now that we really haven't talked about or done any planning for the Japan trip. I guess I don't want to get my hopes up if it's going to be postponed. Plus - I feel over-privileged that my only concerns are about whether or not my vacations will happen! Thanks for letting me ramble!

I really hope that we can go this year... We have plans for next year... I have a mile-stone birthday, and want to have a family trip to Disneyland to mark it... and the following year DH and I have a big anniversary... and we are thinking about a few spots... really leaning toward Paris, and the French countryside...

 

[LovesTimone]

A lot of hotel chains such as Marriott and Hilton have 100% refundable stays. I have several Marriott stays lined up for trips I likely won't take because I can always cancel them later. Every now and then, I check the prices and rebook one at a lower rate. In the off chance I end up going, I just need to book airfare and know that I got the lowest possible price for the hotel.

It's sort of a vacation habit of mine now to book the lowest possible refundable room as soon as I know I might be going on a trip. I book airfare and lower non-refundable hotel rates (if any exist) closer to my travel date. Obviously, this isn't relevant if you target hotels with less flexible refund/cancellation policies.

I think that DH and I are going to make reservations this weekend for the Tokyo part of our stay (6 nights) ... staying with Hilton... I was really hoping the Flash sale would or should be coming out soon for the Hilton Asia hotels?

With TDR still being closed... there is not much info on cost for a package....or hotel rates for that matter...

I did have a thought that maybe I should go ahead and booked the Hilton Tokyo bay for the Disney part (4 nights) so that I will have a spot... then once they open back up... I will be able to tell what is really going on and available to us...

 

[LovesTimone]

OP here...

So I was working on our trip...

I was looking at the time frame on arrival day... we land around 3:30 ish pm if we are on time the whole way... - then I started adding in things like all that airport stuff, custom's and immigration, luggage, WIFI, and sucia, + travel time to the resort from Haneda to TDR... trying to get a true picture of what arrival day will look like... and I never plan anything for the arrival day... We are going the private car route to the resort... So I was thinking that we would not get to the resort until around 6 or 7 pm..?

Then there is a possibility that we might stay on site... and the thing is the package, as we really want the FP's... and we are planning on 4 nights one of then is arrival night... and the 2 night 3 day package... If we stay on site.. I would have to book 2 separate nights... arrival day (night 1) then the package would be (nights 2 and 3) , and then the last night ( night 4)... So 3 reservations... I would assume that they would put us in the same room, and none of this checking in and out...

Then another thought is that I book arrival night ( 1 night), at the Hilton Tokyo Bay... then move to whatever resort on site the next morning... which would be nights 2 and 3, then book night 4 - would it be enough of a saving for one night at the Hilton, as we are just most likely going to grab dinner and sleep...

Or just...

Go with all 4 nights at Hilton Tokyo Bay... our friends said that there is someway to book a package through Disney for 2 of the nights with the 3 day park package, with Hilton ? and then book with Hilton for the 1st and 4th night... and they would keep us in the same room...
Is this correct I should be able to book through Disney and get a package, at the Hilton...?

I was talking to a friend and she pops up with why not just stay at and airport hotel on arrival night... it will be so much cheaper... you are just going to want to sleep and it will be more like 6 or 7 before you ever get through the airport stuff ? ...
if everything goes without any hiccups'... then get a car to TDR early the next morning... then we can check our bags at the resort, then head into the park... by the time we are ready for a break it will be time to get into our room... Her family did this when they went to Thailand 2 years ago... and last year when they went to Germany... she said that they go this route and it works for them... her pointers were make sure that there is a restaurant on site with room service, and some kind of convenience store or small market...

Thoughts everyone...

Thanks as always...

 

[ejdmomma]

OP here...

So I was working on our trip...

I was looking at the time frame on arrival day... we land around 3:30 ish pm if we are on time the whole way... - then I started adding in things like all that airport stuff, custom's and immigration, luggage, WIFI, and sucia, + travel time to the resort from Haneda to TDR... trying to get a true picture of what arrival day will look like... and I never plan anything for the arrival day... We are going the private car route to the resort... So I was thinking that we would not get to the resort until around 6 or 7 pm..?

Them there is a possibility that we might stay on site... and the thing is the package, as we really want the FP's... and we are planning on 4 nights one of then is arrival night... and the 2 night 3 day package... If we stay on site.. I would have to book 2 separate nights... arrival day (night 1) then the package would be (nights 2 and 3) , and then the last night ( night 4)... So 3 reservations... I would assume that they would put us in the same room, and none of this checking in and out...

Then another thought is that I book arrival night ( 1 night), at the Hilton Tokyo Bay... then move to whatever resort on site the next morning... which would be nights 2 and 3, then book night 4 - would it be enough of a saving for one night at the Hilton, as we are just most likely going to grab dinner and sleep...

Or just...

Go with all 4 nights at Hilton Tokyo Bay... our friends said that there is someway to book a package through Disney for 2 of the nights with the 3 day park package, with Hilton ? and then book with Hilton for the 1st and 4th night... and they would keep us in the same room...
Is this correct I should be able to book through Disney and get a package, at the Hilton...?

I was talking to a friend and she pops up with why not just stay at and airport hotel on arrival night... it will be so much cheaper... you are just going to want to sleep and it will be more like 6 or 7 before you ever get through the airport stuff ? ...
if everything goes without any hiccups'... then get a car to TDR early the next morning... then we can check our bags at the resort, then head into the park... by the time we are ready for a break it will be time to get into our room... Her family did this when they went to Thailand 2 years ago... and last year when they went to Germany... she said that they go this route and it works for them... her pointers were make sure that there is a restaurant on site with room service, and some kind of convenience store or small market...

Thoughts everyone...

Thanks as always...

I was just poking around on the TDR webpage - I didn't realize they aren't taking reservations while they are closed. Makes planning a tad hard! We are also looking at Hilton Tokyo Bay. I think I may book it for 3 nights we are planning to spend at Disney and cancel later if we decide to do a TDR hotel.

I would assume it will take 1.5 to 2 hours to be finished at the airport (landing, deplaning, customs, luggage). I actually had the worst experience of any airport when we flew into Thailand - customs alone took about 1.5 hours! If you will have a private car prearranged, I would go straight to either DLR or Hilton Tokyo Bay. Times when I have had to deal with public transportation or a long commute to my final destination, I have opted for an airport hotel just so that I don't have to think about where I'm going.

 

[gelatoni fan]

OP here...

So I was working on our trip...

I was looking at the time frame on arrival day... we land around 3:30 ish pm if we are on time the whole way... - then I started adding in things like all that airport stuff, custom's and immigration, luggage, WIFI, and sucia, + travel time to the resort from Haneda to TDR... trying to get a true picture of what arrival day will look like... and I never plan anything for the arrival day... We are going the private car route to the resort... So I was thinking that we would not get to the resort until around 6 or 7 pm..?

Them there is a possibility that we might stay on site... and the thing is the package, as we really want the FP's... and we are planning on 4 nights one of then is arrival night... and the 2 night 3 day package... If we stay on site.. I would have to book 2 separate nights... arrival day (night 1) then the package would be (nights 2 and 3) , and then the last night ( night 4)... So 3 reservations... I would assume that they would put us in the same room, and none of this checking in and out...

Then another thought is that I book arrival night ( 1 night), at the Hilton Tokyo Bay... then move to whatever resort on site the next morning... which would be nights 2 and 3, then book night 4 - would it be enough of a saving for one night at the Hilton, as we are just most likely going to grab dinner and sleep...

Or just...

Go with all 4 nights at Hilton Tokyo Bay... our friends said that there is someway to book a package through Disney for 2 of the nights with the 3 day park package, with Hilton ? and then book with Hilton for the 1st and 4th night... and they would keep us in the same room...
Is this correct I should be able to book through Disney and get a package, at the Hilton...?

I was talking to a friend and she pops up with why not just stay at and airport hotel on arrival night... it will be so much cheaper... you are just going to want to sleep and it will be more like 6 or 7 before you ever get through the airport stuff ? ...
if everything goes without any hiccups'... then get a car to TDR early the next morning... then we can check our bags at the resort, then head into the park... by the time we are ready for a break it will be time to get into our room... Her family did this when they went to Thailand 2 years ago... and last year when they went to Germany... she said that they go this route and it works for them... her pointers were make sure that there is a restaurant on site with room service, and some kind of convenience store or small market...

Thoughts everyone...

Thanks as always...

The amount of time it takes to get to TDR area from Haneda will vary greatly depending on the immigration line which swings from almost nonexistent to over half an hour but 2.5 to 3.5 hours is about right. I would recommend going with the Hilton over a Disney hotel because if you cancel a Disney hotel reservation, they may not give you back your deposit. Hilton will be easier to deal with for refunds in the off chance you need to cancel due to the virus situation.

I don't recommend staying at an airport hotel on the first night. You would have to wake up about an hour and a half earlier to travel to the TDR area and carry your luggage. Making rope drop is a lot harder if you're this far off site, especially if you like a proper breakfast before heading out because a lot of breakfast places don't open till 6:30. This is on top of being extra tired by the end of the day due to getting less sleep. On the other hand if you go to the TDR area on your first night, you can explore the hotels or Ikspiari in the chance that you aren't tired.

 

[LovesTimone]

The amount of time it takes to get to TDR area from Haneda will vary greatly depending on the immigration line which swings from almost nonexistent to over half an hour but 2.5 to 3.5 hours is about right. I would recommend going with the Hilton over a Disney hotel because if you cancel a Disney hotel reservation, they may not give you back your deposit. Hilton will be easier to deal with for refunds in the off chance you need to cancel due to the virus situation.

I don't recommend staying at an airport hotel on the first night. You would have to wake up about an hour and a half earlier to travel to the TDR area and carry your luggage. Making rope drop is a lot harder if you're this far off site, especially if you like a proper breakfast before heading out because a lot of breakfast places don't open till 6:30. This is on top of being extra tired by the end of the day due to getting less sleep. On the other hand if you go to the TDR area on your first night, you can explore the hotels or Ikspiari in the chance that you aren't tired.

Good point about the deposit from Disney.... I had not thought about that... adding that to my notes...

DH is really wanting to go with a package so that we can get those FP's... We originally planned 4 days in the parks... with our new plan we are planning for 3 days in the parks.. I guess if we stay at Hilton we could store our luggage on Check out day... hit the parks for a while, then take a car to our hotel in Tokyo around check in time... or we could do a day trip to Chiba to Nokogiriyama ( Saw Tooth Mountain) that's kinda what I have penciled in for our plans...

Do you have a suggestion for Ikspiari for dinner... and/or a later dinner, and drinks... We love to try appetizers and make a meal of them and sit back and relax...

Thanks as always...

 

[LovesTimone]

I just wanted to jump in and say hi. We are sort of in the same boat - my husband and I have a 20th anniversary trip planned for the first two weeks of October. We booked airfare back in February before there was any known cases of the virus in the US. I haven't made any hotel reservations yet...waiting to see what international travel is like over the summer months. Right now we're really hoping the trip happens, but will be ok with moving it to next year if we have to. I honestly hadn't really thought about it until today. We have a June trip to Belize that may or may not happen. We were talking about the Belize trip at lunch and my husband said something like "why don't we move it to fall break?". I reminded him that we already have airfare to Japan! There is so much going on right now that we really haven't talked about or done any planning for the Japan trip. I guess I don't want to get my hopes up if it's going to be postponed. Plus - I feel over-privileged that my only concerns are about whether or not my vacations will happen! Thanks for letting me ramble!

We have some friends that had planned to go to the Olympic (end of July and August)... all their plans are up in the air right now... She said that have airfare, and some hotels booked. When I talked to her last she said she was thinking about scraping all the hotels and starting over with the plan... ... They will be in Japan for 15 days... so they have time to explore outside of Tokyo... She said they are going...

DH works with a guy and his wife is a Japanese National, and her family is there... and they are planning on going in late June... so I would not throw in the towel right now...

For me I am planning... Go ahead and plan... this way if you decide to go...you won't be running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to get ready...

 

[Brett Wyman]

We have some friends that had planned to go to the Olympic (end of July and August)... all their plans are up in the air right now... She said that have airfare, and some hotels booked. When I talked to her last she said she was thinking about scraping all the hotels and starting over with the plan... ... They will be in Japan for 15 days... so they have time to explore outside of Tokyo... She said they are going...

DH works with a guy and his wife is a Japanese National, and her family is there... and they are planning on going in late June... so I would not throw in the towel right now...

For me I am planning... Go ahead and plan... this way if you decide to go...you won't be running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to get ready...

Japan is literally just entering the curve now.

https://japantoday.com/category/nat...g-away-sick-people-as-coronavirus-cases-surge
I cant imagine Japan will be allowing any leisure travel from non-citizens entering the country by June/July.

 

[MKTokyo]

We have some friends that had planned to go to the Olympic (end of July and August)... all their plans are up in the air right now... She said that have airfare, and some hotels booked. When I talked to her last she said she was thinking about scraping all the hotels and starting over with the plan... ... They will be in Japan for 15 days... so they have time to explore outside of Tokyo... She said they are going...

DH works with a guy and his wife is a Japanese National, and her family is there... and they are planning on going in late June... so I would not throw in the towel right now...

For me I am planning... Go ahead and plan... this way if you decide to go...you won't be running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to get ready...

What?! Virtually none of those people are going to be allowed to enter this country. The woman who is a Japanese national, yes. But her husband, who doesn’t have a resident spousal visa issued by the Japanese government, will be barred.

All of this is as it should be! We are in the first weekend of a now NATIONAL state of emergency. You seem to know some very interesting people.

 

[scrump]

We have some friends that had planned to go to the Olympic (end of July and August)... all their plans are up in the air right now... She said that have airfare, and some hotels booked. When I talked to her last she said she was thinking about scraping all the hotels and starting over with the plan... ... They will be in Japan for 15 days... so they have time to explore outside of Tokyo... She said they are going...

Currently in NYC, so maybe I am hyper sensitive to this, but based on the information I've seen, I would not be comfortable traveling to Japan in July/August. And I had flights to go at that time to the Olympics, too - now I am just hoping the airlines cancel them so that I can get a refund. And as MKTokyo has pointed out, there are severe travel restrictions in place that may make the decision for your friends.

October/November is still far enough away that I think you could wait for more data to come in before making a final decision. July/August feels "yikes" to me.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Good point about the deposit from Disney.... I had not thought about that... adding that to my notes...

DH is really wanting to go with a package so that we can get those FP's... We originally planned 4 days in the parks... with our new plan we are planning for 3 days in the parks.. I guess if we stay at Hilton we could store our luggage on Check out day... hit the parks for a while, then take a car to our hotel in Tokyo around check in time... or we could do a day trip to Chiba to Nokogiriyama ( Saw Tooth Mountain) that's kinda what I have penciled in for our plans...

Do you have a suggestion for Ikspiari for dinner... and/or a later dinner, and drinks... We love to try appetizers and make a meal of them and sit back and relax...

Thanks as always...

There's a Spanish restaurant/bar near the fountain at the entrance of Ikspiari. I've gone there for late night tapas after a park day before. Next to it, there's also this place right next to that that seems to have eggs benedict and stuff which may have appetizers type stuff (not sure since I've never eaten at this one). There's also a few American chains like TGIF and Outback Steakhouse if you're up for those.

If you're looking for Japanese food, I think there's a Tokatsu Wako there which I think is good katsu for the price. A lot of foreign tourists like Ippudo but I'm not the biggest fan of them and not sure if it's the "sit back and relax" type of place. I prefer thicker ramen with bolder flavors and tsukemen over ramen.

In terms of sitting back to relax, I think the Dreamers Lounge in the Disneyland Hotel would be my top recommendation. They have light meals and pasta sets at night. It's a bit pricey because you're paying for the cute Disney designed food and atmosphere though.

 

[nono]

There's a Spanish restaurant/bar near the fountain at the entrance of Ikspiari.

Bar Rica Cervesa! We had a blast there. Seems to be a bit of hangout, maybe for locals? Their tapas was solid, their paella, a little weak the night we were there (rice overcooked), but they were slammed. I'd go back.

 

[LovesTimone]

What?! Virtually none of those people are going to be allowed to enter this country. The woman who is a Japanese national, yes. But her husband, who doesn’t have a resident spousal visa issued by the Japanese government, will be barred.

All of this is as it should be! We are in the first weekend of a now NATIONAL state of emergency. You seem to know some very interesting people.

Yes, I think our friends are very interesting....and they choose to do what they want, and it's not for me to decide for them... Just giving some perspective on what other people are thinking and how they are reacting, and handling traveling and whats going on here...

The woman who is a Japanese national, and her husband who is a colleague of my DH, and have been married a very long time, would most likely have the needed paper work to enter the country... They lived there for 5 years early in their marriage, and have owned a place there for years and years... DH said he acted like it was no big deal to going there...and did not seem worried at all...

As far as my other friends that are planning for late July and August... I spoke with her over the weekend... and asked how they were feeling about going ... since the state of emergency... she said that she called Delta, and that she said at this time if they chose to cancel, that it would be like a normal cancellation, with the normal fee's associated with cancellations... The delta Customer service rep... went on to say that the trip was 15 weeks away... so almost 4 months... Once closer to the time of her flight time, and the status of the international travel to her destination would be taken into consideration... which is basically the same thing that they told me when I called some time back...

She said that they are planning on still going... knowing that things could change... That's were we are at as well planning knowing that things can change so we keeping that in mind... I have a compromise immune system as well I take care of my parents, so I have to be careful and am not in any way just blindly going around or acting all willy nilly about the seriousness of all of this...

How much news of what is happening across the States you get...? I know you are from NYC, and your parents live there... right? and you are worried and rightfully so... I have a friend that lives there, and she is older than I am, and close to the age group, and she is taking care of her mother who is really up there in age, and her mom is sharp as a tack... So I check in with her weekly and I am worried about her.... normally she takes the subway or a bus over to her mom condo, she lives up just past the park on the side where the Met is, she can easily walk to the met from her condo,... and I think her mom lives near the theater district, I think... again not really sure she said it like 6 or 8 blocks to walk there, or she catches a ride with a neighbor who is in essential service... She said that they don't seem to be cleaning the subways, trains, and other public transportation, at all...even though they are saying that they are cleaning... I told her that I saw on the news, she said hog wash, I know I live here that BS whats on the news... that according to her, that no one seem concerned about cleaning, or coming up with a plan to clean nor going forward with creating a plan for public transportation, like what will be required to use public transportation... She said that someone needs to look forward to what comes next... for her she depends on public transportation to get around, and get her mom to doctors appointment and such... which right now she can't do as her mother is terrified to leave her house and needs to see the cardiologist... she had a heart related episode just last week, and my friend found out when the doctors office called her because of the reading with the pace maker,and her mom refused to listen to the nurse... the cardiologist said that she needs to go to the hospital...right away and she will not go... so my friend is faced with what is she suppose to do... her mom believe's 100 percent that if she goes that she will die, that they will give her the virus, as they don't have any protection... when she reassures her that they do, her mom comes back with don't you watch TV... and what the news is telling us every minute that there is not enough protective gear for the medical workers... that they don't have enough, and that if you go to the hospital that they are so busy and everyone at the hospital is infected... that she will die for sure... She was at her wits end... trying to reason with her...she said to me I might lose my mom because of the fear of the virus, and not the virus itself and with that she started crying... It just broke my heart...

I have other friends or friends with parents or other family that need chemo, or radiation, even dialysis, and can't get it, because of the virus... they are being told it's not essential... Are people there in Japan being able to get treatments such as these... ?

Have you seen where people are protesting the stay at home order, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, California and even here in Florida, even in Orlando we had a people protesting the stay at home order and are begging to go back to work... and move forward

Here in Florida the Governor opened some of the beaches, with limited hours and guidelines, as well some of the state and county parks through out the State seemed to open up, walking and biking trails, and boat ramps... we took our boat out yesterday and people were following the guidelines, and they had plenty parks and rec. personnel making sure everything was going to plan... only one boat at a time at the ramp, loading and unloading their boat... on the shoreline everyone had to be 50 feet from boat to boat, and everyone was following the guidelines...and fish and game were out and making sure everyone abides by the rules...
At the same time for the rest of the school year the governor ordered, that distance learning be continued for the rest of this school year, and school would resume in the fall as planned...
With grocery stores and some retailer, they are allowing only so many people into the stores at a time, and have people waiting 6 feet apart outside and making announcement... taking people temp's before entering buildings...
Some talk of opening restaurants, and other retailers and how they are going to handle the social distancing inside...
So it seems Florida is looking forward with policies and procedures going forward... to slowly open up...
I think this helps calm people down when they know things are moving forward...

Again this is my point of view...

Sending hugs and pixie dust to you...

 

[gelatoni fan]

I have other friends or have parents or other family that need chemo, or radiation, even dialysis, and can't get it, because of the virus... they are being told it's not essential... Are people there in Japan being able to get treatments such as these... ?

I don't know about Japan but I know that appointments for cancer treatments and pre-natal care for pregnant women were being cancelled in Hong Kong due to being "not essential". I remember one woman on the HK news in early February saying she couldn't get her cancer drugs or chemo.

 

[LovesTimone]

I don't know about Japan but I know that appointments for cancer treatments and pre-natal care for pregnant women were being cancelled in Hong Kong due to being "not essential". I remember one woman on the HK news in early February saying she couldn't get her cancer drugs or chemo.

I have several friends that their parents that are in the middle of chemo, or radiation... and it is considered " non-essential" treatments... yet they tell you you have to start right away, and how important it is, and to keep all your appointments... DH has a employee who's mom is on dialysis 2 to 3 times weekly... at the beginning of March she was told only once a week, as they closed most of the centers, and only had one or two open... last week she had to be rush to the hospital, and she is in ICU because of not getting the dialysis like she is suppose to...

I really just can't wrap my head around how and why these service's are not essential... how can something that you absolutely need to live... be denied... it just doesn't make sense...

 

[MKTokyo]

Yes, I think our friends are very interesting....and they choose to do what they want, and it's not for me to decide for them... Just giving some perspective on what other people are thinking and how they are reacting, and handling traveling and whats going on here...

The woman who is a Japanese national, and her husband who is a colleague of my DH, and have been married a very long time, would most likely have the needed paper work to enter the country... They lived there for 5 years early in their marriage, and have owned a place there for years and years... DH said he acted like it was no big deal to going there...and did not seem worried at all...

As far as my other friends that are planning for late July and August... I spoke with her over the weekend... and asked how they were feeling about going ... since the state of emergency... she said that she called Delta, and that she said at this time if they chose to cancel, that it would be like a normal cancellation, with the normal fee's associated with cancellations... The delta Customer service rep... went on to say that the trip was 15 weeks away... so almost 4 months... Once closer to the time of her flight time, and the status of the international travel to her destination would be taken into consideration... which is basically the same thing that they told me when I called some time back...

She said that they are planning on still going... knowing that things could change... That's were we are at as well planning knowing that things can change so we keeping that in mind... I have a compromise immune system as well I take care of my parents, so I have to be careful and am not in any way just blindly going around or acting all willy nilly about the seriousness of all of this...

How much news of what is happening across the States you get...? I know you are from NYC, and your parents live there... right? and you are worried and rightfully so... I have a friend that lives there, and she is older than I am, and close to the age group, and she is taking care of her mother who is really up there in age, and her mom is sharp as a tack... So I check in with her weekly and I am worried about her.... normally she takes the subway or a bus over to her mom condo, she lives up just past the park on the side where the Met is, she can easily walk to the met from her condo,... and I think her mom lives near the theater district, I think... again not really sure she said it like 6 or 8 blocks to walk there, or she catches a ride with a neighbor who is in essential service... She said that they don't seem to be cleaning the subways, trains, and other public transportation, at all...even though they are saying that they are cleaning... I told her that I saw on the news, she said hog wash, I know I live here that BS whats on the news... that according to her, that no one seem concerned about cleaning, or coming up with a plan to clean nor going forward with creating a plan for public transportation, like what will be required to use public transportation... She said that someone needs to look forward to what comes next... for her she depends on public transportation to get around, and get her mom to doctors appointment and such... which right now she can't do as her mother is terrified to leave her house and needs to see the cardiologist... she had a heart related episode just last week, and my friend found out when the doctors office called her because of the reading with the pace maker,and her mom refused to listen to the nurse... the cardiologist said that she needs to go to the hospital...right away and she will not go... so my friend is faced with what is she suppose to do... her mom believe's 100 percent that if she goes that she will die, that they will give her the virus, as they don't have any protection... when she reassures her that they do, her mom comes back with don't you watch TV... and what the news is telling us every minute that there is not enough protective gear for the medical workers... that they don't have enough, and that if you go to the hospital that they are so busy and everyone at the hospital is infected... that she will die for sure... She was at her wits end... trying to reason with her...she said to me I might lose my mom because of the fear of the virus, and not the virus itself and with that she started crying... It just broke my heart...

I have other friends or friends with parents or other family that need chemo, or radiation, even dialysis, and can't get it, because of the virus... they are being told it's not essential... Are people there in Japan being able to get treatments such as these... ?

Have you seen where people are protesting the stay at home order, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, California and even here in Florida, even in Orlando we had a people protesting the stay at home order and are begging to go back to work... and move forward

Here in Florida the Governor opened some of the beaches, with limited hours and guidelines, as well some of the state and county parks through out the State seemed to open up, walking and biking trails, and boat ramps... we took our boat out yesterday and people were following the guidelines, and they had plenty parks and rec. personnel making sure everything was going to plan... only one boat at a time at the ramp, loading and unloading their boat... on the shoreline everyone had to be 50 feet from boat to boat, and everyone was following the guidelines...and fish and game were out and making sure everyone abides by the rules...
At the same time for the rest of the school year the governor ordered, that distance learning be continued for the rest of this school year, and school would resume in the fall as planned...
With grocery stores and some retailer, they are allowing only so many people into the stores at a time, and have people waiting 6 feet apart outside and making announcement... taking people temp's before entering buildings...
Some talk of opening restaurants, and other retailers and how they are going to handle the social distancing inside...
So it seems Florida is looking forward with policies and procedures going forward... to slowly open up...
I think this helps calm people down when they know things are moving forward...

Again this is my point of view...

Sending hugs and pixie dust to you...

A re-entry permit is required if he is not a Japanese national. Spouses are not exempt from this requirement. He doesn't have a re-entry permit unless he resides in Japan & left before April 2nd for a defined temporary period. Additionally, EVERYONE entering the country from the US, even if they have the right visa & re-entry permit, must immediately quarantine for two weeks and not use public transportation. Their quarantine location will be registered & monitored by the government. They will not be able to visit family unless they defy the quarantine & risk arrest. What do they plan to do, assuming the husband is even allowed to land, which it sounds like he won't be?

The Delta information is not correct. Delta is allowing changes & cancellations of any flight from the US departing on or before September 30, with no fees. This went into effect on April 17. I know this because we are almost sure we will be rescheduling a September trip to Europe. You can also see here: https://www.delta.com/us/en/advisories/coronavirus-travel/cancel-change-requirements

I get updates from my parents & friends and try not to check the news too often. My parents haven't gone out at all as my father has medical issues that would make it too dangerous right now. They are getting everything delivered. He also needs to see a cardiologist but went to a video appointment & that was fine for him. The doctor told him there was no need to come in, though. I'm so sorry about your friend's mom. It makes sense that she is hesitant to go out, but going out shopping is much different than seeking medical treatment. With that kind of thing, you do have to bite the bullet. I hope she will go in soon.

People who need the treatments you mentioned have no problem getting them. The government is busy finding ways to stop people from getting tested so that they can keep the numbers low. You can get pretty much whatever you need as long as it isn't a virus test. This is another reason I'm annoyed.

Those people are crazy. Reopening too soon exacerbates the problem. Everyone calling for that & saying "it doesn't affect me" is being willfully ignorant of the fact that it is not only concern for their own health, but the health of others, that mandates these closures. Sure, a young & healthy person might not get sick. Great. That does not give them carte blanche to go about their lives & potentially infect someone who is elderly or medically fragile. Elderly people are not expendable. This attitude has come up often lately when I watch US news and it is extremely disturbing.

Hope you & yours are staying, and will stay, healthy.

 

[Coaster629]

I have basically refused to go outside, and if needed, to my local convenience store around the corner. But I must say, when I went to the supermarket a few days ago, the amount of people not wearing masks and walking all over the place, making social distancing non existent, blew my mind.

Everything is going to just get worse here, because most people are acting like this is nothing. Even my city hid the news about a school having a case of the virus for about a week. I just don’t understand the stupidity.

That being said, I honestly wouldn’t plan anything right now. You are just going to probably have to cause yourself the headache of rescheduling or canceling. I know it is something important for you, but there is no information for anything right now. If there is a killer deal, then of course up to you, but initially TDR was to close for two weeks and reopen mid March, with the new attraction opening having a little delay. Now TDR is closed indefinitely, with no information beyond that. Golden week is soon, and many places are using the end of Golden Week as the next time table to determine continued closures or not.

I will also say that even though WDW sees more visitors every year, TDR can be very congested. My point is, social distancing isn’t an option at the TDR parks. I, again, am an annual passport holder. Even if they said TDR would open next month, I am not going.

If it were my money and time, I would wait more until I get more of an idea about reopening times. The virus situation has skyrocketed because of idiots not taking this serious, the lack of testing, the government or cities hiding information, etc.... The situation in Tokyo is becoming the 2nd New York. I am in Kanagawa and have heard or felt nothing of pressure for social distancing. Just be aware. I personally feel making any kinds of planning for a trip here right now is a waste.