Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[yulilin3]

I've seen posters referencing that the mayor would be announcing a guide/path to reopening today, is that correct? Is there a press conference scheduled? I googled but didn't find anything other than forming a task force.

The governor is speaking today

 

[EmJ]

...

 

[chad_1138]

Do you know what time?

10:30 AM

 

[karen4546]

So you think they should have closed. When do you think they should open again and tell people "your choice if you want to come or not"? Tomorrow? Next week? When is it acceptable to just say "come if you want to and it is on you"?

It is always a person's choice to go or not. It is also their responsibility to use antibacterial wipes and to wash hands.

 

[yulilin3]

Do you know what time?

I don't. Yesterday he spoke at 5pm
ETA saw he's speaking at 10:30

 

[karen4546]

park hours were updated. They now start May 10. Several tours are still on previous days, but they probably just have not removed them yet.

 

[tlmadden73]

The President's plan (while some states may not even consider it) is at least a PLAN .. a goalpost .. a vision .. a HOPE on how and when things get moving again.

Basically it looks like (if Florida adopted these guidelines) that Disney could open in Phase 1 even .. with "strict physical distancing and sanitation protocols"

Now Disney (or Florida) may choose to wait .. but at least they have guidelines of (X days of declining cases) to help them make some decisions rather than the generic "when its safe" target.

Since the re-opening has to be regional, there will probably be areas of the country that shouldn't (though probably no way to stop them) do "non-essential travel". In other words .. Florida probably doesn't want New Yorkers coming down for tourist season for a while.

 

[xuxa777]

Why does phase 1 have to start on May 1st, why not sooner? I heard somewhere the Gov could accelerate this? Also, are these phases required by the US government or are they simply a recommendation?

you are correct it doesn’t , florida has or at the least met most of the gating requirements. Disney wont for all the reason that others have mentioned but it will be sooner than later

 

[charmed59]

Again I have hard time understanding the fear so many have over a disease with as of today they say has a 98.54 % survival rate. I was always under the impression the original stay at home to slow the spread was to gain control so hospitals would be prepared. All info points that we are at the point so it's time to resume normal life.

As of yesterday my county, Sumter, had a total of 117 cases and 11 deaths. That’s a quite a bit below your 98.54% recovery rate.

I live in a really large retirement area. The percentage of people over 65 is staggering. However, these retirees are above average in income, and are an economic engine in themselves. While Disney has stoped construction, here it goes on every day, 7 days a week. They are still selling 5 to 7 new houses every week, sight unseen, closing online.

Now how does this relate to Disney? We are about an hour from Disney. There are tons of individual retirement communities about an hour from Disney or less. Right now these communities have surprised the experts in that the rate of Covid19 is surprisingly low. But it lines up directly with the closing of the central Florida parks. It seems without the parks, the families visiting Grama and Grampa goes way, way, way down.

When they open Disney the visiting grandchildren will go up. If the visiting grandchildren bring visiting Corona Virus the numbers of sick and dying Florida residents goes up. The number of seniors buying new houses goes down. So the parks add to the economy while America’s top selling master community as well as other senior home construction grinds to a halt.

Though Disney and the other parks are needed for the economy, it has to be phased in not to hurt the economy. That’s why the governor has such a hard decision on when to open up things.

 

[TropicalDIS]

Canada/US border to remain closed to non-essential travel for another 30 days.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

WESH website has live TV shot set up on their website and is steaming now...................

No governor yet, but everybody is waiting.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I know Floridans in this thread keep mentioning how lightly hit their area is, and thats true for some of Florida, but South Florida alone has more cases than a large majority of entire states. Im not too excited about packing into a park with those folks until those numbers drop some more.

 

[jlwhitney]

The President's plan (while some states may not even consider it) is at least a PLAN .. a goalpost .. a vision .. a HOPE on how and when things get moving again.

Basically it looks like (if Florida adopted these guidelines) that Disney could open in Phase 1 even .. with "strict physical distancing and sanitation protocols"

Now Disney (or Florida) may choose to wait .. but at least they have guidelines of (X days of declining cases) to help them make some decisions rather than the generic "when its safe" target.

Since the re-opening has to be regional, there will probably be areas of the country that shouldn't (though probably no way to stop them) do "non-essential travel". In other words .. Florida probably doesn't want New Yorkers coming down for tourist season for a while.

It is going to look very different in every area. Even within a state. I would expect the panhandle and NE Fl to open faster than South Florida. I also won't be surprised if as we go and hospitals don't go crazy or death rate gets lowered (which can play out in lots of ways) that most of these guidelines will get pushed aside . But at this point its a start and shows some hope.

I am not sure I expect the theme parkts to open till into Phase 3 and I don't expect to be stuck in phase 3 till a vaccine.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Live now............

https://www.wesh.com/article/florida-coronavirus/32175043

 

[Brett Wyman]

I am not sure I expect the theme parkts to open till into Phase 3 and I don't expect to be stuck in phase 3 till a vaccine.

This simply wont happen. Nothing is going to be closed, with exception of maybe cruises, for the next 18 months.

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

I think it’s interesting that the word liability is not frequently used in this forum yet. While WDW has to first follow federal, state, and local requirements before considering anything, I guarantee that the next concern WDW is facing is liability. What happens if a large portion of their employees contract the virus? So they need to put into place all of the necessary OSHA requirements. What happens if a guest gets sick and spreads it to thousands of guests? They need to put into place procedures for guests now. Let alone the legal ramifications and just simple logistics of reopening. They have likely not restocked food for over a month. They need to do maintenance on all of the rides that have been shut down for over a month. They need to find employees who may not be willing to come back during this situation. They lost their entire college program. This is not just reopening a “business” but it is the reopening of essentially an entire town/city, that has literally been closed off from civilization for weeks. While the new phased guidelines are for reopening businesses, I personally don’t consider WDW a business, it is much more and that is why I believe they will need to consider much more than most. Don’t get me wrong, it will open but it will not be on the phased timeline provided yesterday. Again, just my two cents.

 

[Lvsdisney]

Yeah, it really stinks as this next trip, with a 5 and 2 year old is such a prime age for those experiences. Character meets and character buffets were the name of the game this trip, like I said, because they are at just the right age for it. By the next time we can get back, who knows.

Secondarily, the parades and fireworks would be nice, because they are at that age of wonder and amazement. But, it's understandable if that is a concession that must be made.

I know this is a late response but, although I think 5 is pretty magical, we were just at DL and , my daughter at 6.5 year old was still enamored by the characters! She couldn't believe she got to meet Ariel, Snow White, and Cinderella in one shot and also WOULD NOT leave the park until she got to see Minnie! The magic is still there even though she is older!

 

[rteetz]

This thread will now only be opened when there is a theme park related news item.

 

[rteetz]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/04/seni...o-orange-county-task-force-to-reopen-economy/
https://blogmickey.com/2020/04/bob-iger-added-to-california-task-force-to-reopen-economy/

 

[lilypgirl]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/04/seni...o-orange-county-task-force-to-reopen-economy/
https://blogmickey.com/2020/04/bob-iger-added-to-california-task-force-to-reopen-economy/

Is this positive news in term of Disney opening in the near future.