Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[ryanpatricksmom]

Exactly our thoughts and what I did when our March trip was cancelled. Changed from 5 days to 13, tacked on a split stay to add a CL stay, added a bunch of hard ticket events...then June came and blew it all away.

All we have now is a very slight possibility we’ll go for the previews. I can’t take it anymore. I need certainty for the next one.

Yeah, I'm getting a little concerned about the state of my mental health as I realistically look at how I've continued to set the bar lower and lower. At this point we have 14 days total booked room only with APs, so I can wait and see what the actual experience is reported to be before making a decision. It really has been so devastating watching all of my plans go *poof*, over and over again.

 

[Arguetafamily]

The decisions Disney is going to make will be initially guided by revenue. That is my speculation. With limited capacity, that means fewer bodies paying admission to get through the turnstiles, fewer guests buying food and merchandise. While this is an unprecedented situation, that doesn't mean they're just going to throw out their entire business strategy. Their goal in the last 5-7 years in particular has been to maximize guest spending/revenue per capita by A) capturing all available revenue points throughout a guest's vacation, B) attracting guests with higher disposable incomes and higher spending power and C) finding guests who will exercise that power to the greatest practical extent in a condensed period of time (making "room" for the next set of spenders). That's why the resorts are so valuable to them. That's why Disney created the 60(+10) FP+ window. With park reservations, I would expect something closer to the FP+ system than the ADR system.

Will there be a lot of unhappy/nervous local APs and offsite guests? Yes. Will there still be room for them? Yes (that's why Disney is restricting occupancy), but they want the great majority of the guests in the parks to be those in that "maximum guest spending" category. I understand the frustration from that local poster, but from Disney's perspective, she/he is not a huge immediate revenue generator, and that's what they're really looking for right now (it's going to be a long recovery for them). No matter how much she/he spends on limited time merchandise or food, that pales in comparison to the revenue generated by lodging and three meals a day. It's the same reason why he/she had a harder time getting on SDD or FOP. Her/his "friend" in a Disney Resort would get priority for that ride under the old system.

Well said and without a doubt, spot on.

 

[gatechfan99]

I hadn’t seen that. It will be nice to get some official word. I would imagine a great many people would be thinking twice if they realize they aren’t getting any benefit to their on site stay, especially those having to pay rack rate. From what I read, most people think it’s a given that they will get that access and it just isn’t yet.

What would make sense to me would be at 30 days (or 45 or 60), everyone eligible could make a park reservation - resort or non-resort with tickets, APs who had open availability to make another one. But resort guests can also make one for each day of their trip on that day, still giving them a priority and reason to stay on property.

Now how that gets applied as they roll this out, I'm not sure. If they open reservations on June 16, would it only apply to July 11-16 and then everyone can do July 17 the next day? And when can people start buying tickets for those or future days? If it's immediate, there's no real advantage to those currently with tickets which seems opposite of what they've said.

 

[peaceluv&mickeymouse]

Not an outright ban, but the information posted yesterday did include this:

What You’ll Need

Before traveling to Florida, please make sure that you have reviewed any advisories or restrictions that may be in place for travel to Florida. Visit https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/travelers/ for information. Guests who are under isolation or quarantine orders must not enter Walt Disney World Resort.

I mentioned earlier than I really expect the “restrictions” from the tri-state area to be lifted by the time the theme parks open. But if they are not lifted, I don’t know if I would risk traveling to WDW if they didn’t clarify their position on the above.

Will this apply to the NBA players? It better be equal for all people staying on property.

 

[bernina]

It will be very different is all I can tell you if things go the way they appear to be headed. Disney has never really differentiated benefits between levels of passes. Uni does. Sea world does. Disney may head that direction as well

Remy, have someone on the fence if they should buy Gold DVC AP voucher now or wait a bit for a potential fall trip. Do you think gold/platinum would see any negative changes in the coming weeks?

 

[Dis5150]

We finally gave up and booked our vacation days at UOR and due to the low cost, even bought the seasonal APs. Our Disney trip was booked with gift cards so I will rebook for this year with the 35% discount and hope they let me move it to Marathon weekend when January opens up. Tired of all the restrictions, unknowns and paying the same for a “lesser” experience.

 

[Krandor]

What would make sense to me would be at 30 days (or 45 or 60), everyone eligible could make a park reservation - resort or non-resort with tickets, APs who had open availability to make another one. But resort guests can also make one for each day of their trip on that day, still giving them a priority and reason to stay on property.

Now how that gets applied as they roll this out, I'm not sure. If they open reservations on June 16, would it only apply to July 11-16 and then everyone can do July 17 the next day? And when can people start buying tickets for those or future days? If it's immediate, there's no real advantage to those currently with tickets which seems opposite of what they've said.

I think it will be on phases. Like onsite gets 2-3 days, then offsite gets 2-3 days then tickets go on sale for the days inside the 30 day window.

 

[LSUmiss]

Do we still not know if an AP voucher counts as tickets?

 

[gatechfan99]

Will this apply to the NBA players? It better be equal for all people staying on property.

Yes, that's why NBA is getting there several weeks before the season starts. They're going to undergo daily testing and a quarantine at first to get them settled into the "bubble."

 

[RWinNOLA]

Will this apply to the NBA players? It better be equal for all people staying on property.

I think the NBA has already ensured that all players will be tested and quarantined prior to arrival and then tested daily upon arrival. And they will be self contained in a bubble when on property. Apples and oranges.

 

[cakebaker]

Will this apply to the NBA players? It better be equal for all people staying on property.

Of course not. They are making Disney a fortune. Of course you’ll get the argument that they’re being kept in a bubble with absolutely no way to get out and about. And to that I say, sure they are.

 

[peaceluv&mickeymouse]

Of course not. They are making Disney a fortune. Of course you’ll get the argument that they’re being kept in a bubble with absolutely no way to get out and about. And to that I say, sure they are.

Exactly.

 

[jarestel]

I don't want to sound like a windbag but folks, please let's not crank ourselves up by imagining all sorts of bad things that "might" happen. (There's plenty of time for cranking later on if need be) For now let's try and be patient and see what happens as Disney announces more details over the next week or so. My suspicion is that most of our worries will prove to be groundless, but as always, time will tell. Good luck to all!

 

[cakebaker]

I don't want to sound like a windbag but folks, please let's not crank ourselves up by imagining all sorts of bad things that "might" happen. (There's plenty of time for cranking later on if need be) For now let's try and be patient and see what happens as Disney announces more details over the next week or so. My suspicion is that most of our worries will prove to be groundless, but as always, time will tell. Good luck to all!

Pretty much all we have to do here is look at the dribbles of information being released and try and decipher them. This is a rumors thread after all. There are plenty of threads discussing settled details.

For me, looking at worst case scenario has turned out to be pretty accurate.

 

[jenjersnap]

Officially? Unfortunately, I don’t think it has been confirmed. But Remy posted yesterday that they would be considered regular existing tickets and several phone CMs (I know, not very reliable) have said the same to various posters here on disboards.

Do we still not know if an AP voucher counts as tickets?

 

[jenjersnap]

Thanks for the reminder. In my family, we call that “borrowing trouble”. It certainly has been difficult to avoid while we wait!

I don't want to sound like a windbag but folks, please let's not crank ourselves up by imagining all sorts of bad things that "might" happen. (There's plenty of time for cranking later on if need be) For now let's try and be patient and see what happens as Disney announces more details over the next week or so. My suspicion is that most of our worries will prove to be groundless, but as always, time will tell. Good luck to all!

 

[cakebaker]

Do we still not know if an AP voucher counts as tickets?

Nothing official in regards to park entry or ap previews. That’s the boat I sit in right now.

 

[Rosanne]

Perhaps it has something to do with processing credit cards.

Someone I know who works for another company, usually in their call center, and he says they cannot process credit cards, while working at home, even while logged into their company system.

Interesting possibility. If that is the case and I had to modify to something way more expensive than my ASMo resort was (which, is, frankly... anything and everything) would they just hold my smaller original RO deposit I put down for ASmo and have me pay the remainder (house payment size) for the rest of the stay since they can't run my CC?

I have plenty of room on my CC as I never carry balances so I'm not worried about it ... just wondering.

 

[disneyfan150]

I think it will be on phases. Like onsite gets 2-3 days, then offsite gets 2-3 days then tickets go on sale for the days inside the 30 day window.

Reading too many threads and my brain is mush. Do you mean 2 - 3 day reservation window to make all reservations for the nights of the onsite stay or only be able to make 2 - 3 days of reservations total or something different?

 

[Krandor]

Reading too many threads and my brain is mush. Do you mean 2 - 3 day reservation window to make all reservations for the nights of the onsite stay or only be able to make 2 - 3 days of reservations total or something different?

More the former. Something like for stays starting before July 18 onsite can do park reservations June 20-22 and offsite June 23-24. Onsite with no tickets can buy tickets June 25-26 and then June 27th tickets go on sale to general public. Onbiously made up dates since depends on when the reservations system goes online. But basically different windows for different groups.