Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[AmberMV]

Ahhhb I don't keep up with all the blackout dates. So if you are blacked out. Then no. Last thing I heard from a very reliable person is they know they are going to make some people unhappy but they are not lifting blackout dates

I was hoping that they would extend the AP preview to all APs, at least to get a chance to make a reservation to go, even if the rest of the blackout applies. I wouldn't say I'm "unhappy", I understand they need to severely limit attendance, I was just hanging onto a shred of hope on it lol. Even though we are local we had resort stays for March, May and June that all got cancelled and only just got our APs in February so we had all these visits planned and are literally stuck out of the parks for 6 months since we started our AP lol

 

[Remy is Up]

Do we know for sure yet that people will be moved vs. canceled or is that still something being discussed?

Moved option is still the primary goal.

 

[cmmelzer]

It is a business model to staff parks more effectively by knowing how many people will be there accounting for limited numbers of "walk up" guests. Walk up guests will find it they are behind the prebooked guests on other things. It is so if there were a spike they already have the ability to limit capacity through reservations and cut day guest entry. Therfore no disruption again to previously booked trips. As far as hopping options. My opinion based on the options I've heard is limited to on site guests and platinum aps only. Gold and silver would be able to purchase the hopping option in limited numbers.. But off site guests with regular tickets would no longer have the hop option. Nor would day guests. There would be preference to on site and platinum guests.

First off. Thanks for all the info...

Secondly i have a selfish question. We have a week booking at Beach Club DVC late September going into early August. Obviously we stayed at Beach Club to take advantage of EPCOT. Any chance by that time we would be able to hop? Or would they possibly consider only letting BCV/YC hop freely to EPCOT?

 

[Remy is Up]

At the time of closure we both had valid AP's (FL Gold and a Platinum) but both passes expired during the closure.

You should be OK then. You just have to call and renew the passes. They won't charge you. My wife renewed hers in May when it expired without issue. Then you'll be fine

 

[Jroceagles]

I heard some interesting attraction and construction news and scheduling. Once I get the Green light to pass tidbits along I'll do so. I'm having to bite my tongue at the moment on it. Lol

TEASE!! LOL Thanks!

 

[Remy is Up]

I was hoping that they would extend the AP preview to all APs, at least to get a chance to make a reservation to go, even if the rest of the blackout applies. I wouldn't say I'm "unhappy", I understand they need to severely limit attendance, I was just hanging onto a shred of hope on it lol. Even though we are local we had resort stays for March, May and June that all got cancelled and only just got our APs in February so we had all these visits planned and are literally stuck out of the parks for 6 months since we started our AP lol

It is about limiting attendance more than wanting people unhappy. And by doing so they obviously will make sure on property and current non blacked out passholders have the opportunity before anyone.

 

[CopperMonkey]

You should be OK then. You just have to call and renew the passes. They won't charge you. My wife renewed hers in May when it expired without issue. Then you'll be fine

What do you mean by call and renew in this case, we were banking on the passes being "extended" once the parks reopened and using what valid time we had left. We both were planning on letting our AP's expire this year and renewing later on in 2021. (The Gold Pass expired beginning of April and is now gone from MDE)

 

[Remy is Up]

First off. Thanks for all the info...

Secondly i have a selfish question. We have a week booking at Beach Club DVC late September going into early August. Obviously we stayed at Beach Club to take advantage of EPCOT. Any chance by that time we would be able to hop? Or would they possibly consider only letting BCV/YC hop freely to EPCOT?

If say by that time hopping is still tenuous. I dont expect 75% or greater capacity until end of October or November. And they will still be monitoring crowd levels at every park.on the positive. You'll be able to book your park days without fear of not getting into parks.

 

[Remy is Up]

What do you mean by call and renew in this case, we were banking on the passes being "extended" once the parks reopened and using what valid time we had left. We both were planning on letting our AP's expire this year and renewing later on in 2021. (The Gold Pass expired beginning of April and is now gone from MDE)

I would call and discuss options. They will work with you. It can be very convoluted in a general sense. Easier to deal with on a specific basis. I will ask my daughter as she deals with this daily. But definitely call and talk to guest services about it. They have a special group handling these situations.

 

[cmmelzer]

If say by that time hopping is still tenuous. I dont expect 75% or greater capacity until end of October or November. And they will still be monitoring crowd levels at every park.on the positive. You'll be able to book your park days without fear of not getting into parks.

Well my issue is that we havent bought our tickets yet. We were just waiting till closer to 60 days out for fast passes because no need to buy them before then. So without actually having tickets even though i have a reservation on site i wont be able to book park reservations right away will i?

 

[Marthasor]

I don't mean this in any negative way to you, because deciding whether to come back is absolutely a personal decision that has no right or wrong attached to it, but I see a lot of people on these boards suggest that Disney will be crippled by longtime guests deciding not to come back, but the reality is there are first time guests all the time, and some of those will become longtime guests in their place. Disney doesn't have to do anything to bring anybody back, there's almost always going to be piles of folks in line ready to take that place.

I'm not suggesting they will be crippled, but repeat guests make up a large chunk of revenue for WDW. It's why, IMHO, they incentivize APs, DVC members and FL residents with perks and discounts. They want them to invest in WDW and make the commitment to come back again and again. With good customer service, it is easier to retain a guest than to recruit a new one. I would also mention that convention and youth groups are big business as well and it's probably another segment they are looking at to retain or incentivize to bring back when they can. Disney certainly has a lot on its plate right now. I'm optimistic that, at some point, when the dust has settled, they will circle back around and try to get guests back who were impacted by these circumstances.

 

[woody337]

Moved option is still the primary goal.

I have a reservation the week of July 18th at ASM. So you feel if they wont open that resort i'll get moved?

 

[CopperMonkey]

I would call and discuss options. They will work with you. It can be very convoluted in a general sense. Easier to deal with on a specific basis. I will ask my daughter as she deals with this daily. But definitely call and talk to guest services about it. They have a special group handling these situations.

Any particular number I should call besides the passholder line, or say any line in particular to not get the generic "we can't help right now, modifications are locked down, etc"? Thank you for all the help Remy!

 

[yulilin3]

I would call and discuss options. They will work with you. It can be very convoluted in a general sense. Easier to deal with on a specific basis. I will ask my daughter as she deals with this daily. But definitely call and talk to guest services about it. They have a special group handling these situations.

the CM cannot do anything with tickets right now, they can't renew, extend, refund or upgrade. It's a wait and see

 

[VeronicaZS]

Welp, it looks like the go/no go decision wasn't even up to me. I just made the kids walk around the house in masks and told them to imagine being outside with it all day. They didn't even last 5 minutes and all 3 emphatically said they would not want to go to Disney if they had to wear a mask and were happy to wait until that requirement was eliminated. The amount of complaining that happened in those few minutes has made me more fearful about going than anything coming out from Disney. I'm not cancelling yet but I really don't think we are going Aug 15-22 unless the mask requirement goes away.

 

[MrsSmith07]

. Quit calling and chatting with the CMs online and being a baby when they cant answer your question. If they cannot answer, it is because they have no answer to give. Getting mad at them is displaced anger and serves no purpose, other than giving them more people to laugh at. And trust me, when you say dumb things like "the free dining I paid for" They talk to one another and you become the biggest laughing point in the room. Asking the same question over and over in different ways will not change the answer either. Acting entitled ( MOST DVC and SOME AP holders in particular are the worst bunch) is going to get you nowhere. You are not the only person who paid for their vacation or time at Disney. You arent special.

Am I the only one that treats every Disney worker with respect because I think Disney tracks everything?? I got Twitter just to send #castcompliments, every phone agent gets 1s on their survey. I don’t want my Disney file filled with a bunch of sad faces and angry rants, lol.

 

[ChiSoxSider]

We have reservations at AKL- Kidani for the week of 7/26. We already purchased 6-day park hoppers and the dining plan prior to the parks closing. Are we 100% that the dining plan is out the window and will be refunded? Any word on people who paid for the park hoppers if we aren't able to hop? Will Disney refund the difference? I know this was probably asked 1000 times but it's tough to keep up.

 

[rteetz]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/06/union-shares-cast-member-recall-dates-for-theme-park-operations/

 

[Remy is Up]

Well my issue is that we havent bought our tickets yet. We were just waiting till closer to 60 days out for fast passes because no need to buy them before then. So without actually having tickets even though i have a reservation on site i wont be able to book park reservations right away will i?

Another weird situation but no uncommon. Call guest services and explain it to them. They will be selling tickets again once they start the 30 day rolling window so I'd say be patient or just call if you are concerned.

 

[Dis5150]

@Remy is Up have you heard anything about the runDisney participants? Wine & Dine half and Marathon Weekend are both sold out but they blocked off (obviously) making any type of room reservations or packages. We are registered for Dopey and are worried that they will open up reservations to the general public and we will be out of luck for those dates if we aren't fast/lucky enough.