Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Mit88]

The timing of the COVID uptick and social upheaval obviously haven't helped but I think it's more a case of Disney dropping the ball on what they can control.

Even with masks, I would have gone if they had park hopping.
But if you take out park hopping then for someone who is a huge Disney fan and coming from far away, it's not worth it to come now.

Limiting the hours also makes it less appealing to come. If they had full nighttime hours then I could come and telework during the day and hang out at the parks at night.

And also keeping the prices high for everything when they are already are high and nickel and diming everything makes it a poor value to come right now when all you get is a crippled Disney experience.

I absolutely agree that the lack of all of those options makes the experience less magical and less cost effective for guests. But I cant agree that Disney dropped the ball. They need to be as cautious as possible. Masks, Park hopping, nighttime entertainment, etc is just not possible for the footprint of WDW. Even 5,000 people in the hub for fireworks would be a s-show.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

Struggling I think is a more appropriate word than desperate. If they were desperate, we’d know it. Sorry for anyone who loves Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Rivers of Light, those were both likely to be taken away soon with or without the pandemic. To me, desperate would be trying anything in their power to entice guests to make future bookings. Pump up the hype for the 50th early and try to get people to book summer 2021 stays

Their Q3 report is going to be ugly, really, really ugly for Disney. Universal’s was atrocious even with having the parks open for 3 weeks at the tail end.

I think it's more resigned and they are past the desperate we have to do something. Kind of like when the Titanic was sinking and they ran out of lifeboats and the remaining people just accepted their fate and listened to the orchestra.

I think they feel that everything is out of there control right now with alot of states having the 14 day quarantine thing and the uptick in Florida but like I said the reality is they made a bunch of missteps.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

I absolutely agree that the lack of all of those options makes the experience less magical and less cost effective for guests. But I cant agree that Disney dropped the ball. They need to be as cautious as possible. Masks, Park hopping, nighttime entertainment, etc is just not possible for the footprint of WDW. Even 5,000 people in the hub for fireworks would be a s-show.

You can keep the park open without fireworks or shows.

Personally it would allow me to telework during the day and then hit the parks at night.
It's also alot cooler at night as well rather than during the burning heat and sun during the day where you get all stinky and sweaty and sunburned.

 

[Mit88]

You can keep the park open without fireworks or shows.

Personally it would allow me to telework during the day and then hit the parks at night.
It's also alot cooler at night as well rather than during the burning heat and sun during the day.

I’d like to see MK and DHS swap hours. I’m just not sure they’ll raise the amount of operating hours when many people are leaving in the middle of the day.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

I’d like to see MK and DHS swap hours. I’m just not sure they’ll raise the amount of operating hours when many people are leaving in the middle of the day.

The primary reason you would leave in the middle of the day (if you aren't local) is that you want to rest at your hotel and then come back out at night to the parks. (which you can't)

This indicates that the majority of the visitors are local, if they are indeed leaving in the middle of the day, which means they come to the park and then leave and go eat somewhere else or at home and aren't pumping in $$$ to Disney, the Disney food or resorts.

 

[KayMichigan]

It's too bad they won't discount the tickets, I think they'd get more people coming if they weren't charging full price even though you're not getting the full experience.

 

[JacknSally]

It's too bad they won't discount the tickets, I think they'd get more people coming if they weren't charging full price even though you're not getting the full experience.

I’m not sure “more people coming” is actually their goal right now, though. Especially more non-locals.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

It's too bad they won't discount the tickets, I think they'd get more people coming if they weren't charging full price even though you're not getting the full experience.

If I were in charge then I would have a park hopping option and guaranteed park admission for those who stay at the Disney resorts and agree to only stay in the WDW Disney bubble.

We would accomplish this by having no parking at the resorts for guests. And they would have to take a special resort only bus to and from the parks. *If you do drive to WDW we would have a special parking lot (say AK parking lot) where you could park your car and unload your things and then a special bubble Magical Express would take you to your resort.

As part of the bubble you would have to go directly from your resort to the special Disney resort bubble buses. If the guard or camera catches you trying to uber or taxi then you would lose all park hopping privileges for the remainder of your stay.

The other advantage of this for Disney is you would be forced to eat Disney food and buy Disney things as you couldn't leave the bubble.

 

[AmberMV]

From a poster at wdwmagic:

 

[skeeter31]

If I were in charge then I would have a park hopping option and guaranteed park admission for those who stay at the Disney resorts and agree to only stay in the WDW Disney bubble.

We would accomplish this by having no parking at the resorts for guests. And they would have to take a special resort only bus to and from the parks. *If you do drive to WDW we would have a special parking lot (say AK parking lot) where you could park your car and unload your things and then a special bubble Magical Express would take you to your resort.

As part of the bubble you would have to go directly from your resort to the special Disney resort bubble buses. If the guard or camera catches you trying to uber or taxi then you would lose all park hopping privileges for the remainder of your stay.

The other advantage of this for Disney is you would be forced to eat Disney food and buy Disney things as you couldn't leave the bubble.

I would never, ever go to Disney if I couldn’t park my car at my resort. Being able to park right in front of my building at OKW is a joy and being able to bring whatever I want is most important to me and a ton of others. And Disney would never, ever do this.

 

[JacknSally]

From a poster at wdwmagic:
View attachment 515260

I “wow” reacted to this but I am 0% surprised by any of it.

 

[WonderlandisReality]

From a poster at wdwmagic:
View attachment 515260

There was something a few months back that if a contact tracer could link the case back to someone and they did something intentionally negligent like this there could be legal ramifications

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It's too bad they won't discount the tickets, I think they'd get more people coming if they weren't charging full price even though you're not getting the full experience.

Well, they did discount for Florida residents.

Would be interesting if they did like a "buy 2, get 2 days" or something like Universal sometimes does

I don't see the ever lowering just the per day pricing but they could do some sort of "special"

 

[midnight star]

Well, they did discount for Florida residents.

Would be interesting if they did like a "buy 2, get 2 days" or something like Universal sometimes does

I don't see the ever lowering just the per day pricing but they could do some sort of "special"

I wonder if they could do something like what DL has done, where passholders can bring friends at a discounted rate? I have a DL pass, and when I would bring my friends with these tickets they would always drop more money on food, merchandise, and upcharges (i.e. Fantasmic meal), because they were paying a cheaper ticket.

 

[The Pho]

There was something a few months back that if a contact tracer could link the case back to someone and they did something intentionally negligent like this there could be legal ramifications

Some have actually been charged with terrorism for intentionally coughing on others.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

From a poster at wdwmagic:
View attachment 515260

What a jerk, yet unsurprising and I’m sure not alone. This is why Disney needs to be “over the top”. Selfish jerks went to Disney before, selfish jerks still come now. Can’t trust people to do the right thing.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

I would never, ever go to Disney if I couldn’t park my car at my resort. Being able to park right in front of my building at OKW is a joy and being able to bring whatever I want is most important to me and a ton of others. And Disney would never, ever do this.

I think that's a small price to pay during these times in order to enjoy park hopping and full Disney Hours.

 

[skeeter31]

I think that's a small price to pay during these times in order to enjoy park hopping and full Disney Hours.

Park hopping and longer hours will return. They’re not gone forever. What you propose would be extremely restrictive and incredibly difficult to police. Just because it would work better for you doesn’t mean it’s the way to go.

 

[Marthasor]

They have an NBA experience at Disney Springs, and ESPNZone on the boardwalk gets very busy during playoff season, thats where I usually go for the games on my May/June trips and its usually a 1-2 hour wait just to sit at the bar. So I’m not sure they’re not the targeted demographic. Not to mention the games that are on ESPN/ABC probably arent as expensive to advertise on as say NBC or CBS.

But as @Friendlyadvice2 said, there are advertisements going on in certain areas and they might just be careful not to advertise to residents in areas that would need to quarantine

NBA Experience is closed right now so zero reason to try to dangle that via TV ads during NBA games right now and, sorry, no one is flying to WDW to watch playoffs at ESPN on the Boardwalk. These are things people do if they live locally or happen to be at WDW at the time. Have you ever seen Disney parks ads during ANY NBA game? I haven’t. I see beer commercials, pizza, Apple Watch, Nike, computers, cars, tires. NBA fans are not disney parks’ demographic.

 

[skeeter31]

I think that's a small price to pay during these times in order to enjoy park hopping and full Disney Hours.

And you also have to realize, reduced park hours are more for cost reduction than for a safety aspect. By closing earlier and opening later Disney doesn’t have to pay CMs as long.

Your plan would require the hiring of more bus drivers (who require specialized training) in order to provide all that busing. There are a lot of resort guests that utilize their cars to get to and from parks, this would require them all to use the buses. Bus stops would be completely overcrowded (even more so now with social distancing). They probably wouldn’t even have enough buses to handle the demand.