Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[hereforthechurros]

I was thinking about that. I remember the days before they closed, people scoffed at the idea of closure . People would post on Facebook "moderator, close this post, it's ridiculous". Even minutes before the closing announcement, phone cm's were saying no plans to close. Here we are at 3+ months later, who would have thought. I don't think it's impossible. At some point, they have to think about the PR nightmare if people infected are traced back to being the parks or cm's are infected.

For the record I was never part of any they won't close discussions. I do think it was necessary at the time. And never say never with delaying the reopening but as business has to carry on responsibly, I do think they have a good plan and are going above and beyond even their own state's guidelines. Before there was no way to stay open and try to predict the spread/severity of the virus; now we know how it spreads and can take precautions.

There's a reason CMs deserve paid testing and time off. There's a reason people must agree to a safety waiver before entering. There's a reason temp checks are being done. If a CM in say, Fantasyland tests positive, I wouldn't be shocked to see attractions shut down for a deep clean and if you had your heart set on Winnie the Pooh that day, sorry but not available. CMs will be distanced like we haven't seen before. If there's more the union can be doing to protect their CMs then by all means.

I guess I look at the PR nightmare side as people didn't have to come to WDW, they chose to come smack in the middle of an active, global pandemic. It would be hard to have sympathy for someone trying to blame WDW, especially if they bring grandma or grandpa or their child with asthma or diabetes during this time. Unless there was blatant negligence going on, of course. WDW hasn't incentivized anyone to come and in fact seems to be trying to keep people away.

 

[SoShiny]

From this morning.

 

[hereforthechurros]

I actually see this quite differently. The difference between now and March is that Disney now has a full COVID-19 strategy in place; policies, warnings, capacity control, etc.

Literally everyone who comes to FL now knows they do so at their own risk. Even more so since it is so widespread and with so much media attention. At this point, how can anyone claim they “caught COVID at Disney” vs. MCO or DS, or Target, or WalMart, etc.

I hear the arguments that “the brand” is priority #1 (look next to my name if you doubt my understanding or sentiment), but there are additional strong voices in the room belonging to risk management and shareholders. I personally don’t see a big longterm risk to the Disney brand by COVID either way. I think this is a battle between risk management and the shareholders, with all the appropriate disclaimers now in place to appease risk management (who were definitely running the show back in March). Canceling another opening, however, will be disasterous for Disney share price.

I’m booked for the 13th-24th of July. If I get cancelled, that money is going towards buying stock at a very deep discount.

Didn't mean to repeat many of these in my post above this All great points. And if there's a delayed opening, look for the stock to fall below $100!

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I didn’t mean to imply that you were lying. My point was that DVC just opened a few days ago. It stretches credibility that a family return (already) and immediately went to get tested so that they had a test result by the 26th. I don’t think you’re lying. I think that your source might be stretching things a bit.

There have been people even on here who talked about how getting tested immediately upon returning home before going about your normal business might be a good idea. Maybe they did that? There are places now where testing is in a good enough place you can get tests out of curiosity if nothing else and get results pretty quick.

 

[KBoopaloo]

What it does mean though is they were at WDW and could have infected others. That’s not near as likely with the parks closed, but it’s not like this will be an isolated incident.

Exactly. Truthfully it doesn’t matter if THEY contracted it at Disney or not. If they contracted it before getting there it only means they were contagious the whole time they were there potentially exposing anyone else they had any contact with during their stay and during their travel to and from. So brushing it off as “they probably already had it” is silly because while it would mean THEY didn’t catch it there, it doesn’t take away the fact that them having it at all exposed other guests. Hopefully they followed the rules and behaved responsibly during their stay and did not pass it on to anyone but these are the kinds of scenarios people need to be thinking about before they move forward with their trips.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Good morning, a heads up for people with disabilities. Universal is changing the language of their mask enforcement. You can read it on UOTeam.com, but here's the info. I would assume Disney might go in the same direction once the parks open
Face Covering Policy Adjusted for ADA Accommodations
posted 6/24/2020
As we continue to implement our new health and safety measures, we are constantly evaluating these procedures and making adjustments as needed to keep the highest levels of health and safety of our Team Members and Guests as our top priority.
We are following CDC guidelines as well as local health protocols, and as such, face coverings are required to visit Universal Orlando Resort. If a Guest does not have a face covering, we have them available for purchase. Face coverings for Team Members are available at Wardrobe. (Please review the Safety Reminders for Those Reporting to Property for complete details.)
Effective tomorrow (Thursday, June 25), Guests who have a disability that prevents them from wearing a face covering must speak to a Guest Services Coordinator who will inform them of the alternate accommodation, which is to wear a face shield during their visit. A white checkered wristband will be given to Guests requesting an accommodation. Please note that face shields are not permitted on certain attractions, and Guests will have to switch to a face covering for those experiences. Attraction details will be communicated to Guests during their accommodation discussion at Guest Services.
This updated accommodation allows us to assist Guests with disabilities that prevent them from wearing face coverings in a way that adheres to our enhanced protocols. We feel this is a great enhancement for both our Team Members and our Guests. For questions, please contact Guest Services.

Eek I hope this doesn't mean people were taking advantage of this to get out of wearing a mask, to where it has become a problem. Good on you Univeral.

 

[courtney1188]

I didn’t mean to imply that you were lying. My point was that DVC just opened a few days ago. It stretches credibility that a family return (already) and immediately went to get tested so that they had a test result by the 26th. I don’t think you’re lying. I think that your source might be stretching things a bit.

Come on now - saying credibility is being stretched and that the source is stretching things is a softened version of saying something is a lie. My source is the father of the family. I know they were going opening day because they were all excited about it. Dad said they started feeling under the weather the day they were leaving (so yeah, probably caught it earlier and brought it with them) and got tested once they were home. Again, here in Michigan you can have results in a half hour.

People seem pretty willing to convince themselves everything will be fine at Disney so they feel safe visiting, but this is a real situation, and I’m sure it’s not the only one like it - so for those who are going, please take precautions even before you get there so you aren‘t the one spreading it.

 

[AmberMV]

Is that your mom about to do a "facepalm" in the background? If you could track down the exact date we could have a piece of history here - none other than the invention of the Disney "facepalm".

Not my mom in the background and don't have the exact date, but I would be 4 or 5 years old so could be 1989 or 1990

 

[Eric Smith]

I still think that the turnaround time from when they may have returned from Disney to getting an actual test result is awfully brief. Unless this family got tested prior to going to Disney, in which case it was extremely selfish and irresponsible of them to go, assuming that this was not an antibody test for prior infection.

I would also assume that they got tested because at least one of them was symptomatic. That would likely mean they were symptomatic either at Disney World or on the way home.

 

[hereforthechurros]

This was from a stay this past week?

If so highly doubt they got it from staying at Disney.

Most likely contracted somewhere before Disney.

DVC has been open four days, and seems they're already home/tested, so no doubt they had it before traveling.

OP as far as you know are they telling people they contracted it at their resort/Disney?

 

[Marionnette]

There have been people even on here who talked about how getting tested immediately upon returning home before going about your normal business might be a good idea. Maybe they did that? There are places now where testing is in a good enough place you can get tests out of curiosity if nothing else and get results pretty quick.

Yes. This I understand. I live in an area that was once a hotspot. Testing is available from private labs if you can’t get your doctor to write a script for one. The instruments that do the half-hour test are limited in number and the assay materials are expensive. The throughput on those instruments is about 2-3 per hour.

Yes, they very well could have done that. Flew down to Florida from Michigan and stayed at a DVC that opened on 6/22. Stayed all of 3 nights. Flew back on 6/25. Got a quick test on 6/26 and had a result the same day. But I’m not buying if that’s what’s selling.

 

[Spridell]

Disney doesn't seem to be slowing down in their plans.......as of now



https://blogmickey.com/2020/06/disney-world-wants-to-resume-stages-shows-union-doesnt-agree/

 

[NWOhiogal]

Dad said they started feeling under the weather the day they were leaving (so yeah, probably caught it earlier and brought it with them) and got tested once they were home.

I think that's going to be a common scenario: You're ready to go to Disney, you start feeling punk the day you leave and think "I've paid a lot of money for this vacation and I'm ready to go, I'm just going to ignore my symptoms and go! It's probably just a cold!"

You go because that money is nonrefundable, darn it, and then when you get home you get tested and...oops.

Think of how many people they may have infected while they were there. In the airport, on the plane, in the hotel. The baggage handler, the maid who cleaned their room, everyone at the resort who touched things they touched. Every sneeze, every cough put COVID particles into the air.

WDW is going to be a petri dish.

 

[KBoopaloo]

Come on now - saying credibility is being stretched and that the source is stretching things is a softened version of saying something is a lie. My source is the father of the family. I know they were going opening day because they were all excited about it. Dad said they started feeling under the weather the day they were leaving (so yeah, probably caught it earlier and brought it with them) and got tested once they were home. Again, here in Michigan you can have results in a half hour.

People seem pretty willing to convince themselves everything will be fine at Disney so they feel safe visiting, but this is a real situation, and I’m sure it’s not the only one like it - so for those who are going, please take precautions even before you get there so you aren‘t the one spreading it.

And people like this are the reason I would not feel comfortable getting on a plane and traveling anywhere right now, Disney or otherwise. People keep talking about personal responsibility in the face of this virus but I can only control what I can control and am at the mercy of how personally responsible other people are when I am sharing space with them. So the cries of “stay in your house of you are scared” really rankle me because I don’t want to stay in my house! I want to be back to some semblance of normal but then I wonder how many people are as selfish and callous as this family who were all feeling kind of lousy and STILL moved forward with a vacation that would expose them to hundreds of other people (thousands once the parks open) and I know that I can be as responsible as I want but I could still end up sick if I end up sitting next to someone like this on a plane.

 

[Princess Merida]

Here at VGF now. Enchanted Rose is closed of course due to new announcement. Splash pad is not open. Visited Gasparilla and the gift shops. They are being very very careful here. Fencing is being put up for the NBA. It’s definitely not pretty. Nice to change resorts mid trip this time due to limited dining and we needed a new pool to hang out in.

 

[courtney1188]

Yes. This I understand. I live in an area that was once a hotspot. Testing is available from private labs if you can’t get your doctor to write a script for one. The instruments that do the half-hour test are limited in number and the assay materials are expensive. The throughput on those instruments is about 2-3 per hour.

Yes, they very well could have done that. Flew down to Florida from Michigan and stayed at a DVC that opened on 6/22. Stayed all of 3 nights. Flew back on 6/25. Got a quick test on 6/26 and had a result the same day. But I’m not buying if that’s what’s selling.

It’s really disingenuous to say “I’m not saying you’re lying” and then say you’re not buying it. Testing processes must be quite different where you are. Here, Walgreens is running drive through test clinics. My dad is a manager there and runs one of them. Takes them 15 minutes to get a result. And these are not super expensive tests. I’m not a new poster here. I’m posting only what I know to be true. What would be the point in me making this up?

 

[hereforthechurros]

Come on now - saying credibility is being stretched and that the source is stretching things is a softened version of saying something is a lie. My source is the father of the family. I know they were going opening day because they were all excited about it. Dad said they started feeling under the weather the day they were leaving (so yeah, probably caught it earlier and brought it with them) and got tested once they were home. Again, here in Michigan you can have results in a half hour.

People seem pretty willing to convince themselves everything will be fine at Disney so they feel safe visiting, but this is a real situation, and I’m sure it’s not the only one like it - so for those who are going, please take precautions even before you get there so you aren‘t the one spreading it.

That's 100% on them.

 

[WonderlandisReality]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/06/disney-world-wants-to-resume-stages-shows-union-doesnt-agree/
sounds like the absence of FOTLK and Nemo is more due to the union than the theatre environment itself

 

[Dentam]

I think that's going to be a common scenario: You're ready to go to Disney, you start feeling punk the day you leave and think "I've paid a lot of money for this vacation and I'm ready to go, I'm just going to ignore my symptoms and go! It's probably just a cold!"

You go because that money is nonrefundable, darn it, and then when you get home you get tested and...oops.

Think of how many people they may have infected while they were there. In the airport, on the plane, in the hotel. The baggage handler, the maid who cleaned their room, everyone at the resort who touched things they touched. Every sneeze, every cough put COVID particles into the air.

WDW is going to be a petri dish.

I took it as they started to feel badly the day they were leaving the DVC resort. But yeah, I could see this scenario happening as well unfortunately. Either way, coming or going, there will be more spread of the virus with increased travel to destinations like WDW.

 

[Farro]

Exactly. Many, if not most, of those who show bad symptoms end up with chronic health problems that they might have forever - bronchitis, brain damage, respiratory and lung, kidney, and liver problems. Permanent loss of taste and smell. This virus is not messing around.

Do we have a source with statistics for this? I know it happens to some because we saw their particular story on news-sites, but you are saying many, if not most.