Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Skippyboo]

I have multiple ticket issues that are impacted by the operational changes. My wife and I have activated annual passes, which now expire in March 2021. We bought seven day park hoppers for the kids. Normally, we buy annual passes for all of us, but their college schedule didn't allow for multiple trips this time.

We originally had reservations for May 12; those were cancelled, of course. So I guessed an opening date and picked a July 10 arrival. "Missed it by that much," as Maxwell Smart would say. We are DVC members staying at the GF.

Because no parks will be open on our arrival day, I would like to reduce the kids' tickets by a day. The park hopper option that I paid for is also no good. One potential problem is that I bought the kids' tickets from UT.

As APs, my wife and I could get into a park on July 10, but the kids would be unable to do so. That's unfair to them.

I'll probably end up on hold for two hours, only to be told that there's no way to modify the tickets.

You can get the park hopper cost back. How much is the saving from going from 7 to 6 ? 20 bucks? July 10 is AP preview day so you still have be lucky with the registration and depending on your arrival time you might only get a couple of hours in MK or AK plus the AP preview could have timed entry slots too.

Maybe try UT first before calling Disney?

 

[Ninjagrrl]

From a DVC thread. People will not be able to book 2021 park reservations on Monday.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/new-disney-theme-park-reservation-system.3802866/post-62029052

"... Heard it from a friend who.... Heard it from a friend who.... Heard it from another..."
I'm a 2020 guest, but even if I was 2021, I'd still get on Monday and try. Call 3 CMs get three stories. Nobody has a clue.

 

[Anthony Vito]

I’m good with either of those.!! I hope you’re right. Maybe they’ll have the second party go through the exit possibly?

Of course, if the lines are short enough for the rides, they may just make you wait twice? I mean, some FP+ queues are still 15 minute waits, so if it's only a 10 minute wait anyway, might not be that different from regular rider switch to go through the main queue again.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Does anyone else get a giggle out of the fact that Disney tickets are called Magic Your Way when at this time I most certainly feel like none of this magic is my way?

I literally don't even know where I'm sleeping and I'm paid in full. Explain, Disney.

 

[SaintsManiac]

"... Heard it from a friend who.... Heard it from a friend who.... Heard it from another..."
I'm a 2020 first, but even if I was 2021, I'd still get on Monday and try. Call 3 CMs get three stories. Nobody has a clue.

“Disney’s been messin aroooooound”

 

[TakesFaithTrust&PixieDust]

Skyliner cast members are getting call backs. YAY

 

[Betty Rohrer]

What do you guys think they’ll do with rider switch for parents with kids? Anything at all?

guessing and it is only that but like I have heard DAS is being done. DAS is supposed to be done some way

 

[I_love_Cruising]

Has there been any info on modifying your park reservation? It seems crazy to be locked into something like that so far out.

I've had this question myself, so I hopped on a chat to see what they said. With the usual caveat that these CM's don't always know everything, I was told "Yes, you will be able to modify your Park Choices as long as there is availability"

I finally got my email and it has a link to this.



I assume if I'm able to cancel I should be able to rebook for another park or day. If it's available...

My TA also said that initial reservation must be made on the website and modifications can be done on the app.

 

[Ninjagrrl]

“Disney’s been messin aroooooound”

I was waiting to see who would get it.
We just dated ourselves, lol.

 

[iteachlit]

Will they still have DAS? If so, maybe they’ll do it similar to however they do that.

I'm pretty sure I saw an announcement that DAS would still be in place. Eliminating that could cause some bad PR for WDW.

I have a son (19) on the autism spectrum. He becomes very stressed in large crowds. Light and sounds are triggers for him. We always try to make it without DAS. My son doesn't like to use autism as an excuse. That being said, we have always added the service on the second day. When he was 15, he was irritated by kids swinging the chains in the PoTC queue. It was annoying, but I can ignore it. He can't.

He has indicated that he's not looking forward to wearing a mask, but he is going to do it. If he gets stressed, he will need to go back to the resort.

I wish Disney would have considered later hours because of the combination of heat, humidity, and masks during the day.

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

Disney is so slippery with this. Deliberately I suspect. I took it to mean that you have to do them all at once, but I see why others may interpret it differently.

But here's a thought - what if every time you finalize a reservation, it kicks you back out to the queue again?
I'm doing all mine in one shot. I have each date and park I want written down. If what I want isn't there, I'll grab anything and modify later. Not taking a chance on having to requeue for every reservation.

That's definitely a concern. In my case I have 14 days to play with, so it's a pretty easy decision....grab a handful to make sure I have 2 days each of the tough parks, and then go in for a second round and fill in. I would think though for families with a shorter vacation whose vacation would be ruined if they missed one or two parks, I would snag those, finalize, and start over (praying that the system doesn't actually kick you out at that point),

 

[Skippyboo]

With regards to Virtual Queue, it’s easier for them to keep you in the standby line and then have you wondering around the parks. There are no M&G, large shows for you to occupy your VQ wait time. Plus reduced seating at dining.

 

[JacknSally]

SO.

Just emailed my Dreams Unlimited TA back to confirm we're planning to keep our trip plans, at least at this point, and she emailed me back that since I've confirmed with her, she'll be able to confirm my trip with Disney on Monday. She said I should hear back from her Monday evening with my new resort.

We're booked for POFQ 12/1-12/5 so I was really surprised by this. I didn't expect them to already be moving December reservations, but I guess that confirms they aren't planning to open any non-DVC resorts for the rest of the year? IMO it wouldn't make sense to go ahead and move December reservations if there was a chance the original booked resort might be open by then. But, what really makes sense nowadays?

Also, for everyone wondering about where they'll be sleeping for summer trips, based on this, I would think you'll be finding out this week!

Slightly disappointed - we were really looking forward to POFQ. We were just going to stay at All Star Movies again to save money but decided to splurge on POFQ for this trip. Looks like we should've gone with the cheaper resort after all. Oh, well. No way of knowing that when we booked back in January! Honestly, at this point we'll just be happy if we're even able to go. We can't afford to spend more than the POFQ rate, so we'll be playing DVC roulette instead of making change requests.

I did ask her if they've given TA's any info regarding the PIF window (usually it's 30 days before check-in but right now it's 7 days before)... this may already be known info for everyone else, but she said the 7-day PIF date applies to reservations through 9/30/20 right now, but that doesn't mean it won't be extended.

 

[Miffy]

So now I'm picturing waiting in a standby line for FoP for like 3 hours, then waiting for 2 hours for KS, and basically spending the entire day in line for whatever popular attraction I want to go on. Gee, that sounds like a swell WDW trip. I never thought I'd say this: but please bring back FP+!!

 

[SaintsManiac]

So now I'm picturing waiting in a standby line for FoP for like 3 hours, then waiting for 2 hours for KS, and basically spending the entire day in line for whatever popular attraction I want to go on. Gee, that sounds like a swell WDW trip. I never thought I'd say this: but please bring back FP+!!

It’s not going to be that crowded.

 

[Ninjagrrl]

DAS has been confirmed by Disney Disability Services. I trust those CMs more than the regular phone ones. It would be more than a PR nightmare, it would be a potential ADA violation. This isn't like the masks, where public health and safety takes precedence. If the park is open to guests there has to be an accommodation.
(We use DAS, and our youngest is autistic as well as physically handicapped. We think the mask rule is a good thing.)

 

[WonderlandisReality]

Will they still have DAS? If so, maybe they’ll do it similar to however they do that.

DAS remains unchanged. There was a screenshot from Disney Disability services or Guest services floating around about a week ago saying it would be the same

 

[AmberMV]

I finally got my email and it has a link to this.

View attachment 502508

I assume if I'm able to cancel I should be able to rebook for another park or day. If it's available...

My TA also said that initial reservation must be made on the website and modifications can be done on the app.

Did your TA say whether you or the TA is to make the park reservation? Does it matter?

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Skyliner cast members are getting call backs. YAY

Disney is literally just playing with my emotions at this point.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I have 4-day Fl resident tickets that I want to use on 4 separate dates. I have resort reservations booked for the first three dates in 2020 but not the fourth. I was planning on going for the last time in January 2121 and was going to either figure out lodging for that later or just drive there and back in the same day since it's only a little over an hour away.

I'm hoping to reserve the first three days of our tickets on Monday since I have resort reservations for those dates, and wait until the following week to reserve the fourth park date with the "tickets only" group. Do you think it will let me do that? I'm worried about the "reserve all your ticket days at once" statement.