Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[vinotinto]

The parks have been closed for 4 months and thats all it took for people to forget Florida weather patterns and how it affects daily ride operations

I don't know if it's that people have forgotten or that the new park hours make it basically impossible to avoid the thunderstorm 12-4 period.

 

[vinotinto]

I do think if they rotate it, so there are always at least 3 parks open and then use that down day for cleaning and maintenance that could be good

I mean, Disneyland wasn't open 7 days a week when it first opened ... So clearly it is what Walt would do

Like others mentioned, I think they will give more availability and offers to APs to entice them to spend $ onsite: resorts, food, merch before closing parks. BUT, I also have to wonder how the reservations are looking for mid-September. Those weeks in the middle have always been slow.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Oh! That makes sense, thank you

the rides you listed are all ones that storms shut down.

 

[yulilin3]

Holy cow just drove past Coronado, 2 Disney security vehicles, one OC sheriff and one black suv parked at regular and service entrances

 

[fla4fun]

I don't know if it's that people have forgotten or that the new park hours make it basically impossible to avoid the thunderstorm 12-4 period.

I know that was me at Epcot yesterday. I went in about 2pm, because I had to work a half day. By 4:30-5:00 ish, it was a monsoon of biblical proportion. Whatever park opens earliest will have the best shot at staying dry most hours it’s open.

I do hope that not all the work for SSE is cancelled due to the virus. I rode today and that track is really getting rough. They need to work on the track even if they leave the sets alone for the time being. They also had someone wiping down ride vehicles at the exit point and were seating parties well apart. Imagination was seating the front row of each car only, but when the cars turn sideways, it felt like the people next to you were closer than six feet (although it could be fine - it’s not like I am carrying around a tape measure).

 

[BorderTenny]

I don't know if it's that people have forgotten or that the new park hours make it basically impossible to avoid the thunderstorm 12-4 period.

It's mostly people checking MDE from nowhere near FL commenting on the simultaneous closures. In their defense, though, there were several times people from afar forgot about the the daily thunderstorms pre-COVID.

 

[Brianstl]

View attachment 510928

But that is applying how Disney operated when Parks and Resorts were operating when they were generating increasing profits every year. Disney is not operating in that world anymore.

 

[fla4fun]

Holy cow just drove past Coronado, 2 Disney security vehicles, one OC sheriff and one black suv parked at regular and service entrances

Someone burst the bubble?

 

[yulilin3]

Someone burst the bubble?

I think it's just standard security

 

[Brianstl]

I do think if they rotate it, so there are always at least 3 parks open and then use that down day for cleaning and maintenance that could be good

I mean, Disneyland wasn't open 7 days a week when it first opened ... So clearly it is what Walt would do

They are going to keep all parks open 7 days a week. To encourage normies to travel to WDW Disney has to convince them that the parks are as safe and operating as normal as possible. Shutting down a park a day doesn’t send people either of those messages.

 

[TakesFaithTrust&PixieDust]

They are going to keep all parks open 7 days a week. To encourage normies to travel to WDW Disney has to convince them that the parks are as safe and operating as normal as possible. Shutting down a park a day doesn’t send people either of those messages.

I agree. By shutting down a park the savings is in the cast pay. The question is does the park generate enough revenue through food and souvenir sales to cover that. If it does there’s no reason to close for a day. Plus this would impact park cast. As it is many areas have not called back PT cast and in some places not all FT. I’d hate to see more cast furloughed. Sadly this is our new normal at the moment. Disney and most other businesses have to adapt how to stay open safely.

 

[only hope]

As a reminder, all APholders are able to request a refund at the moment. It’s not the perfect solution, but I think it’s fair, especially with this morning’s added availability. If that’s not enough, you’re more than welcome to book a Disney Resort (there are plenty of rooms available) for additional availability. I also hope that these changes don’t result in palpable increases in park attendance, especially with what we’ve seen with DHS. As much as this sucks for AP holders (myself included), it’s better than having the parks closed, so Disney needs to be careful about the optics coming out of the parks for the next few weeks. Disney has gone out of their way to say that they’re just shifting availability between the different “buckets,” so given the limits on how many reservations APs can make, I don’t think it will have that drastic of an effect. Mind you, nobody is “blaming” AP holders. If anything, some may be concerned that Disney might get a little too eager further fill the parks.

I know I can get a refund. That's not what I want. I am a local (about an hour away) who normally goes to Disney around 20-30 days a year. It's part of my lifestyle. I know a resort is an option to make obtaining reservations easier, but again, I'm local: I don't need a resort, nor can I afford to do it very often. The annual pass is so expensive nearly all of my "extra" money has gone to that, and my Universal pass. I don't think the situation is fair at all. If Disney had not started the clock on AP's yet while reservations are scarce, or if they were giving us more than a measly 30 day extension to make up for the lack of access we purchased with our AP's, then it'd be fair. Or if the reservation scarcity doesn't last past the first 30 days, including HS, then it'd be fair too, but I don't have a good feeling about this.

 

[only hope]

I feel strongly that each party needs to be reminded when they board the attraction or the bus that they must keep their face covering appropriately on for the entire time. If CMs are proactively telling each party, there will be less excuse to take it off. I am going to send a message to the WDW Communications with this suggestion.

They're not doing this? Every ride I went on at Universal they told us to keep our masks on. This could've changed since I went though. I went a few days after reopening and haven't been back, due to the weather.

I also hate confrontation, but it’s a public safety issue now. Another reason why I would not be using WDW transportation.

When you’re putting people’s health and safety at risk with violating rules, that changes the “rules” of the game and whether it’s proper to confront other guests. This is a major factor in why Disney needs to be ultra strict, if they don’t step in guests will absolutely be confronting each other. Sometimes it will be fine, other times it will escalate.

I feel like both things can be true, people should go expecting to be exposed on some level and that others will be breaking rules, but people should also not go if they do not intend on following the rules 100% of the time.

Yeah, I generally don't like confronting people, though I do on occasion at work (politely of course). Now? I see any customer with an unmasked nose I remind them to cover it up. Most are compliant. Nobody has the right to put other people's health and life at risk. It's always been proper to intervene when harm is being caused, and this is no different, even if the harm is not guaranteed or immediate. I can't be quite so confrontational at theme parks as I have no authority, but if someone near me in a queue isn't wearing their mask other than to get a drink real quick, I will politely ask them to put it on for my safety. If they refuse to comply I will keep a very large distance between us and alert a cm/tm at my first opportunity.

 

[Racheldb]

We have been in the theme parks 2 days in a row now. Yesterday, AK and today we went to DHS. Overall, we have felt pretty safe in the parks. We have been very pleasantly surprised! Just got back to our room after having dinner in Disney Springs this evening. We did not feel safe there. I was very disappointed in mask compliance and social distancing there. There seemed to be a lack of CMs in DS monitoring any of this. Also, the place was pretty crowded in parts. Just my two cents but I recommend not going to DS in the evening. We did go for lunch the other day and it felt so much better. I guess the evening is just a different crowd, and it is less crowded earlier in the day.

 

[vinotinto]

We have been in the theme parks 2 days in a row now. Yesterday, AK and today we went to DHS. Overall, we have felt pretty safe in the parks. We have been very pleasantly surprised! Just got back to our room after having dinner in Disney Springs this evening. We did not feel safe there. I was very disappointed in mask compliance and social distancing there. There seemed to be a lack of CMs in DS monitoring any of this. Also, the place was pretty crowded in parts. Just my two cents but I recommend not going to DS in the evening. We did go for lunch the other day and it felt so much better. I guess the evening is just a different crowd, and it is less crowded earlier in the day.

Originally, I booked Raglan Road. Some reports made it sound less than safe. So, I switched it to Boathouse. Same. So now I’ve switched to Wine Bar George. Is it bad all over? At this rate we’ll be getting QS that night, LOL.

 

[Pickle Rick]

They are going to keep all parks open 7 days a week. To encourage normies to travel to WDW Disney has to convince them that the parks are as safe and operating as normal as possible. Shutting down a park a day doesn’t send people either of those messages.

Never say never.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Originally, I booked Raglan Road. Some reports made it sound less than safe. So, I switched it to Boathouse. Same. So now I’ve switched to Wine Bar George. Is it bad all over? At this rate we’ll be getting QS that night, LOL.

Shannon from WDW Prep had a lovely meal at Paddlefish this week. They felt 100% safe and said the food was excellent.

 

[Mit88]

Originally, I booked Raglan Road. Some reports made it sound less than safe. So, I switched it to Boathouse. Same. So now I’ve switched to Wine Bar George. Is it bad all over? At this rate we’ll be getting QS that night, LOL.

I heard the Hot Dogs at Raglan Road are to die for

 

[DMLAINI]

Can anyone who has been to the parks explain how social distancing is being handled in restrooms? I went to Costco today & there was plexiglass between sinks which I thought was a good idea.

 

[fla4fun]

We have been in the theme parks 2 days in a row now. Yesterday, AK and today we went to DHS. Overall, we have felt pretty safe in the parks. We have been very pleasantly surprised! Just got back to our room after having dinner in Disney Springs this evening. We did not feel safe there. I was very disappointed in mask compliance and social distancing there. There seemed to be a lack of CMs in DS monitoring any of this. Also, the place was pretty crowded in parts. Just my two cents but I recommend not going to DS in the evening. We did go for lunch the other day and it felt so much better. I guess the evening is just a different crowd, and it is less crowded earlier in the day.

I would guess part of it is locals going after work and part is resort guests who went to the parks closing the earliest. I haven’t gone back to DS yet, but I just spent two days at Epcot and felt much safer than I did at the grocery store Tuesday. I know it’s not perfect, but I feel like they are really trying to make the parks and resorts a success. DS is a different animal, since such a large part is third party and people tend to wander without a purpose there. I also wonder if they still have a set maximum occupancy since the resorts reopened. Before, it was limited to how many people would fit in one parking garage. Now they have no idea how many people will come on the buses and I can see where that could cause problems.