Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[cakebaker]

How did people NOT see this coming?

First of all, the states that are currently getting hit, never got hit as hard as they could have been in the first place.

Second of all, look at 3 of the states that are getting hit. Texas, Florida, Arizona. What do they all have in common other than none of them getting hit with a ton of cases in Mar/Apr/May....All 3 were among the first to reopen. And none of them required masks in most, if not all state counties.


Now if all of a sudden NY started having a sudden, enormous spike in cases again....Now thats something I wouldnt have seen coming.

This is what I don't get either. We've been watching the numbers rise significantly for some time time. When cases rise exponentially, this is what happens. It putters around and then boom, there's a huge increase and things get out of control. When states don't put safety requirements in place, we get what we're seeing now. This was predictable and it was avoidable and it always has been. I see no way for Disney to open responsibly.

 

[Spridell]

You're confusing people wanting it to open with people thinking it will. I don't know if they should open, but I think they will. WDW is it's own bubble and is already open. They have DVC obligations they cannot ignore. They are doing more than most states as far as masks, social distancing, sanitizing. I think them delaying the closing by two weeks, at least, could very well happen at this point which would give Florida a month from now to get it together and try again.

I agree with this.
Although I still think UNLIKELY, if Disney does delay an opening I dont see it being more than a couple of weeks.

The DVC obligation keeps CM's on property and so does the NBA and MLS.

 

[Mit88]

Disney is more aware of the situation than anyone here is by copy and pasting articles and charts. They’re not ignorant enough to not see what is going on in Florida. This time last week the cases were already on their way up. Yet Disney decided to announce, and set a date for parks reservations starting on monday, and then even continued with APs today. If they were even thinking about delaying the opening, they would have delayed the parks reservation system, and they wouldn’t have reiterated yesterday that they were moving ahead as planned with their reopening. Theres a lot at stake for them as a business between re-clogging the DVC points system, extending APs, putting CMs back into a flawed unemployment system, etc.

Where’s Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens in all of this? Its not like the spike started yesterday. They would be closed by now if this were at all a concern on the theme park’s reopening. Closing things down when they’re in motion isnt the same as shutting the lights off as a small business owner at the end of the night. There are many, many factors that have to go into stopping this moving train. None of us know when Florida will peak...it could be next week for all we know. It wont take the 8 weeks that it took NYC, I know that. Population density will tell you that.

DeSantis doesn’t want to pull the plug on Disney, so its going to be up to Disney. And I dont think they’re going to delay. They’re far too deep into it now to stop. I could be wrong, but I dont think, outside of something catastrophic occurring that they wont re-open on July 11th

 

[Eric Smith]

Does anyone else think that this move is SPECIFICALLY to lower the numbers before WDW is scheduled to reopen?

No, its because the situation is getting out of control very quickly.

 

[dlavender]

Disney is more aware of the situation than anyone here is by copy and pasting articles and charts. They’re not ignorant enough to not see what is going on in Florida. This time last week the cases were already on their way up. Yet Disney decided to announce, and set a date for parks reservations starting on monday, and then even continued with APs today. If they were even thinking about delaying the opening, they would have delayed the parks reservation system, and they wouldn’t have reiterated yesterday that they were moving ahead as planned with their reopening. Theres a lot at stake for them as a business between re-clogging the DVC points system, extending APs, putting CMs back into a flawed unemployment system, etc.

Where’s Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens in all of this? Its not like the spike started yesterday. They would be closed by now if this were at all a concern on the theme park’s reopening. Closing things down when they’re in motion isnt the same as shutting the lights off as a small business owner at the end of the night. There are many, many factors that have to go into stopping this moving train. None of us know when Florida will peak...it could be next week for all we know. It wont take the 8 weeks that it took NYC, I know that. Population density will tell you that.

DeSantis doesn’t want to pull the plug on Disney, so its going to be up to Disney. And I dont think they’re going to delay. They’re far too deep into it now to stop. I could be wrong, but I dont think, outside of something catastrophic occurring that they wont re-open on July 11th

I agree they are smarter than most of us.

I disagree that they saw this coming. I’ve been paying close attention and did not see a 13% positive rate happening with almost 80k tests happening in a single day.

I really hope it comes down. I hope they can reopen. I just have my doubts.

 

[cakebaker]

Yeah I can’t see how the NBA can justify using up all these resources when the states trending in a bad direction very fast. As much as I want basketball back, there’s much more important things at stake here

I can't see how the NBA would want their players to even travel to Florida. They can't put them all in sealed bags and drop them at a resort. Even then, they will interact with staff. There is no way to really protect them completely. The players themselves may just decide playing a game isn't worth the risk.

 

[Tjddis]

That’s good, but our hospitalizations here are started to slowly rise so I hope that doesn’t happen in FL too.

Yeah unfortunately hospitalizations/deaths lag behind positive tests. I can remember early Feb here in NY I was saying the whole thing was overhyped and the numbers were not that bad. We had no testing really back then. And then it took off like wildfire with hospitalizations/deaths. Heck I even proclaimed we were going to WDW in April no matter what...
Now that testing is more available you just can’t in good conscience dismiss the significant presence of this infection

 

[mshanson3121]

So when can the general public book packages for 2021? The first release said the 28th, but then for "fun" I was on the website a couple days ago and had no problem going through the booking process (I didn't finish it) - though I do have tickets in my account. Now this morning I went back to actually try to finish our booking, and it just keeps saying "Sorry we had to duck out".

 

[FinallyFL]

Tell me about it! I have 3 split dvc rental stays that are fully paid for July 21-26. Which are nonrefunable. I guess if DVC stays open and Disney remains closed it will be an all resort stay.

I'll be there with you, July 22-July 29 at BWV.

 

[Spridell]

I can't see how the NBA would want their players to even travel to Florida. They can't put them all in sealed bags and drop them at a resort. Even then, they will interact with staff. There is no way to really protect them completely. The players themselves may just decide playing a game isn't worth the risk.

16 of 302 NBA players have tested positive.

Maybe they will bring it with them. The irony

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29369877/16-302-nba-players-test-positive-coronavirus

 

[chicagoshannon]

So when can the general public book packages for 2021? The first release said the 28th, but then for "fun" I was on the website a couple days ago and had no problem going through the booking process (I didn't finish it) - though I do have tickets in my account. Now this morning I went back to actually try to finish our booking, and it just keeps saying "Sorry we had to duck out".

you can now. I think they had changed it from the 28th and now the 28th is when 2021 tickets sales open.

 

[Mit88]

I agree they are smarter than most of us.

I disagree that they saw this coming. I’ve been paying close attention and did not see a 13% positive rate happening with almost 80k tests happening in a single day.

I really hope it comes down. I hope they can reopen. I just have my doubts.

I’m almost certain that they’ve had analysts that have told them all possible scenarios. Its not like Florida is the first state that has gotten hit. There’s a lot of available data out there to have given them an idea of what could happen. Did they know a 13% positive rate would occur? No. But I’m sure they had it in data spreads that it was a possibility and what they’d do if that occurred.

It will come down. Thats 100% a guarantee. We just don’t know how soon. But as I said, if you look at more populated cities and states that have gotten hit harder than Florida, and see how the states differ in population density, one can assume from there how long it may take. Thats not absolute, none of this is. Doctors and Scientists have been wrong many times in the last 3.5 months. But one can assume Florida will rise, peak, and decline much quicker than NYC.

 

[Arguetafamily]

Disney is more aware of the situation than anyone here is by copy and pasting articles and charts. They’re not ignorant enough to not see what is going on in Florida. This time last week the cases were already on their way up. Yet Disney decided to announce, and set a date for parks reservations starting on monday, and then even continued with APs today. If they were even thinking about delaying the opening, they would have delayed the parks reservation system, and they wouldn’t have reiterated yesterday that they were moving ahead as planned with their reopening. Theres a lot at stake for them as a business between re-clogging the DVC points system, extending APs, putting CMs back into a flawed unemployment system, etc.

Where’s Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens in all of this? Its not like the spike started yesterday. They would be closed by now if this were at all a concern on the theme park’s reopening. Closing things down when they’re in motion isnt the same as shutting the lights off as a small business owner at the end of the night. There are many, many factors that have to go into stopping this moving train. None of us know when Florida will peak...it could be next week for all we know. It wont take the 8 weeks that it took NYC, I know that. Population density will tell you that.

DeSantis doesn’t want to pull the plug on Disney, so its going to be up to Disney. And I dont think they’re going to delay. They’re far too deep into it now to stop. I could be wrong, but I dont think, outside of something catastrophic occurring that they wont re-open on July 11th

This

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Once the NBA starts testing their players it could put their stay at WDW in jeopardy. Any positive numbers will def need to be factored in.. we saw how quickly the league shut things down when a single player tested positive back in March. The NBA may look at Florida as a risky place to place all their players & superstars right now...
There were three MLB training camps on the Gulf coast shut down last week due to substantial numbers of players and staff testing positive - they are isolating right now. The NHL started testing last week as they look to reopening, with a number of positive results as well, some marquee players among them. MLS should already be in Florida, it will be interesting to see what their test numbers show.

 

[SaintsManiac]

So when can the general public book packages for 2021? The first release said the 28th, but then for "fun" I was on the website a couple days ago and had no problem going through the booking process (I didn't finish it) - though I do have tickets in my account. Now this morning I went back to actually try to finish our booking, and it just keeps saying "Sorry we had to duck out".

They went live on 6/24.

 

[rteetz]

Obviously a lot to digest. My only request is we keep this about theme parks, and areas surrounding them. This isn’t the place to discuss what’s going on in PA or NC or whenever else.

 

[mshanson3121]

They went live on 6/24.

So Donald isn't showing up because according to Disney I'm "doing it wrong", but because their IT continues to be crap?

 

[SaintsManiac]

So Donald isn't showing up because according to Disney I'm "doing it wrong", but because their IT continues to be crap?

I didn't read all that hoopla, so I only vaguely know what you're referring to.

I haven't been on the site since I booked my parks yesterday and it was fine then.

 

[rpb718]

If I could only be at BW now - spend a day at the pools and walking around the EPCOT resorts, hit the hot tub, walk over to the YC lighthouse, stare into the water to see the fish moving around between the sunny and shady areas, take a short nap and then in the evening grab a slice or 2 of pizza from the window and possibly a margarita, then head over to B&C take out for a sundae and sit out on a bench watching whatever boats are on the water and other folks milling around while the lights of the various buildings start to sparkle - I would consider it a full day. I can see this so clear in my mind I can almost smell the various EPCOT resort lobby scents.

I think many of you folks need to do this too, go to a happy place now before yet another shoe drops.

 

[Tjddis]

Once the NBA starts testing their players it could put their stay at WDW in jeopardy. Any positive numbers will def need to be factored in.. we saw how quickly the league shut things down when a single player tested positive back in March. The NBA may look at Florida as a risky place to place all their players & superstars right now...
There were three MLB training camps on the Gulf coast shut down last week due to substantial numbers of players and staff testing positive - they are isolating right now. The NHL started testing last week as they look to reopening, with a number of positive results as well, some marquee players among them. MLS should already be in Florida, it will be interesting to see what their test numbers show.

Came out today that 16 players just tested positive