Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[MaC410]

Yeah the pictures show 11am i am thinking maybe thats the last slot

If Magic Kingdom is closing at 7pm and I were to get an 11am entry I'd still be pretty disappointed haha. 8 hours in a park is so short for us!

 

[Mit88]

I swear this is what Shanghai has been doing since they opened (time slots). But I also can’t keep straight what is fact, rumour, or speculation so there’s that too lol.

But are their operational hours longer than what is currently scheduled to be at WDW parks? I cant imagine Karens would be thrilled if they got a noon entrance time while Sharon got 9am, but both paid the same price.

 

[KrissyD715]

Do we know that there will be staggered times, or are those just the opening times for those parks? They've already staggered them for Disney. Are 9 and 11 the hours for Disneyland parks?

 

[Spridell]

For some perspective.....

Kennedy Space Center is open everyday from 10am-4pm. Their ticket system has entry times from 10am until 12pm in increments of every half hour.

I guess Disney will do something like this. But missing 3 or 4 hours and still paying full price wont sit well with people.

 

[tlmadden73]

All other major theme parks are doing the same with timed entries. Six Flags and Cedar Fair are doing the same. They don't want everyone to show up for rope drop and make social distancing harder to enforce.

I agree that Disney has a "rope drop" problem that was (in my mind) being alleviated by the Fast Pass system, but then exacerbated by that same system when the "high demand" attractions (like SDMT) were quickly unavailable. The silly Boarding Pass thing for Rise seemed to make it worse.

So .. if you can force people to come later in the day, so be it, but for a place like Disney, they should give you a discount for coming later .. especially if you are forced to if there are no morning slots available.

Though, I will admit . .coming "mid-day" with heavily reduced crowds is probably fine from a what you can get done standpoint. As you "should" (in theory), be able to get way more done mid-day than you would on a pre-Covid mid-day.

 

[cakebaker]

If Magic Kingdom is closing at 7pm and I were to get an 11am entry I'd still be pretty disappointed haha. 8 hours in a park is so short for us!

It’s the price you pay if you go right now I guess. That really makes for an extremely short park day though.

I just hope of they keep the reservation systems as reported they will, the short park hours and staggered times don’t last long. It’s not anything I’m willing to put up with.

 

[wareagle57]

For those of you who have had your AP extended, were they 4 months exactly? Honestly that is extremely disappointing if they aren’t extending them longer than the actual closure, which will be just 4 days shy of 4 months. Universal gave almost an entire month free and they don’t require reservations. I hope this is just an initial extension.

 

[aweehughes]

Shanghai didn’t have slots, they had entry times. I don’t know how “frequent” they are, but you select a time and you can arrive after that time. This IG user got to enter the park after 10:30 on her selected day.

 

[Llama mama]

Shanghai didn’t have slots, they had entry times. I don’t know how “frequent” they are, but you select a time and you can arrive after that time. This IG user got to enter the park after 10:30 on her selected day.

Interesting it just says after 10:30. So you could enter at your chosen time as long as it’s after 10:30. So if you wanted an afternoon arrival because of flights or whatever.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

I know we have to adjust our expectations, but if this system is here for good I hope that people will actually choose the time they want to enter the park and not what will give them the best perceived value just because. I know lots of people like to sleep in on vacation, but we are early morning people and like to be out of the parks by noonish and maybe come back later...If you want to sleep til 11 and you know it, I hope you would choose that later time, but I could see the first time slot being chosen by nearly everyone.

 

[Farro]

For those of you who have had your AP extended, were they 4 months exactly? Honestly that is extremely disappointing if they aren’t extending them longer than the actual closure, which will be just 4 days shy of 4 months. Universal gave almost an entire month free and they don’t require reservations. I hope this is just an initial extension.

How long do people expect APs to be extended?

If it's good a year from activation say you only had 4 months left before Covid happened, closed for 4 months, AP extended 4 months - doesn't that make it right? Why would you be expecting free months?
Or are they not giving enough time back?

 

[Mit88]

For some perspective.....

Kennedy Space Center is open everyday from 10am-4pm. Their ticket system has entry times from 10am until 12pm in increments of every half hour.

I guess Disney will do something like this. But missing 3 or 4 hours and still paying full price wont sit well with people.

If you’re paying $120 (I dont know what normal day tickets cost any more) for each ticket, but only get from 12-7, but someone else gets to be there from 9-7, I could see that being a bigger issue than people think. Other parks like Six Flags dont charge the prices that Disney does, so its apples and oranges even if theyre both using reserved times.

Unless they sell the early time slots as the “NEW extra morning magic” where its a lottery system, or how fast your Fingers/bot work instead of just staying at a nearby hotel

 

[RamblingMad]

What is the point of an Annual Pass at this point??? I would rather have the parks closed then ruin the whole point of Disney World...

The whole point of WDW is to spend hours preparing for a super magical experience, getting there and experiencing your kids melting down and your spouse getting sun burnt while standing in line for hours. You then take a few good instagram photos as your kids glow seeing the Mouse. And all is well in the world.

Disney is a lot of pain and misery with good moments scattered throughout your stay. I guess that’s a kind of magic.

 

[Anna_Sh]

If this is for Disneyland, maybe Disney World has already taken care of it with the staggered opening times for the different parks. Otherwise, it’s going to be tough on people who want to spend all day at EPCOT, with it opening so late already (11 I believe).

 

[aweehughes]

Interesting it just says after 10:30. So you could enter at your chosen time as long as it’s after 10:30. So if you wanted an afternoon arrival because of flights or whatever.

That's what it appears to be. I am trying to find posts/info about the intervals (amount of time between entry times). This worked for SDL, but WDW is a different beast.

 

[Farro]

If you’re paying $120 (I dont know what normal day tickets cost any more) for each ticket, but only get from 12-7, but someone else gets to be there from 9-7, I could see that being a bigger issue than people think. Other parks like Six Flags dont charge the prices that Disney does, so its apples and oranges even if theyre both using reserved times.

Unless they sell the early time slots as the “NEW extra morning magic” where its a lottery system, or how fast your Fingers/bot work instead of just staying at a nearby hotel

Maybe they will tie it into resort stays - get the earlier slots.

They can be really nasty and those with CL resort stays get prime slots, then so on and so on...

 

[RamblingMad]

How long do people expect APs to be extended?

Infinity and beyond, of course. Don’t be silly. No one actually wants to be stuck with expensive APs during a pandemic.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

Maybe they will tie it into resort stays - get the earlier slots.

They can be really nasty and those with CL resort stays get prime slots, then so on and so on...

CL I gone for the time being, though! Knock THEM off the top of the list!

 

[Farro]

Infinity and beyond, of course. Don’t be silly. No one actually wants to be stuck with expensive APs during a pandemic.

But they are extending for lost time right?

I'm confused. I'm very confused today.

 

[tlmadden73]

It’s the price you pay if you go right now I guess. That really makes for an extremely short park day though.

I just hope of they keep the reservation systems as reported they will, the short park hours and staggered times don’t last long. It’s not anything I’m willing to put up with.

True -- I guess no different than paying the same price and not getting things like M&Gs or certain attractions closed, etc.