Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[sullivan.kscott]

Lou Williams had to sit ten days. A ten day sit period would put house out until the middle of the next round if he team would advance, but he has been booted no matter what his team does. So the same protocol is not being followed.

Fair point. I’m inserting my LeBron fan bias into the argument and eliminating Houston as a forgone conclusion.

 

[Brianstl]

Fair point. I’m inserting my LeBron fan bias into the argument and eliminating Houston as a forgone conclusion.

Part of me thinks the NBA might have inserted their LeBron bias (really a tv ratings bias) in this decision. Just make sure there is no way the Rockets comeback.

I half expect the NBA finds something to suspend Kawhi for before this game is over.

 

[yulilin3]

HHN Rumor Update

Universal went live on social media for about 45 seconds on both YouTube and Facebook, just showed the spinning globe. Typically they only go live when they have an announcement. Obviously this could be absolutely nothing and a mistake. Or they could have made a mistake getting ready to actually have a livefeed.

Also hearing the houses MAY be free, used purely for an attendance boost. Might be free for certain AP holders, or free for everyone. That wasn’t clear

Universal announced today that TM are blocked out from bringing guests on Saturday and Sunday from Sept 19th through October 31st...i guess the wait continue

 

[SMRT-1]

Have they been refunding existing hoppers without people having to call and ask for it? (I'm not sure - just asking).

No. You have to explicitly request a refund. Our December 2020 tickets are still showing as hoppers.

 

[Mit88]

Universal announced today that TM are blocked out from bringing guests on Saturday and Sunday from Sept 19th through October 31st...i guess the wait continue

‘I saw that too. Obviously it could get canned before they make it official like they did with the event itself in July. But I just think it’s going to happen, in whatever form it may take. They’d reel me in with just 2 houses. There’s nothing going on haunted wise around here.

 

[pixieprincess925]

MK has dining reservations for an hour after close. Anybody know how you get back to the TTC or your resort? Theoretically transportation stops an hour after park close.

 

[JacknSally]

Have they been refunding existing hoppers without people having to call and ask for it? (I'm not sure - just asking).

I have not yet gotten a refund/lowered package price for my hoppers for December. I haven’t sought one out yet, either.

 

[tramps’lady]

MK has dining reservations for an hour after close. Anybody know how you get back to the TTC or your resort? Theoretically transportation stops an hour after park close.

buses should run to TTC or resorts. we were told they would get us back to where we needed to go. have fun

 

[Tinksbff]

Its now $62 for adults, the same as BOG, so Im wondering if the Princesses will be now just waving from the balcony... sort of like Beast just walking thru the room and waving

I haven’t yet seen any princesses on the balcony. During the afternoon, the stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella, appear on the back balcony of the castle. They are micced and talk to each other as well as to guests standing below.

 

[michellej47]

I have not yet gotten a refund/lowered package price for my hoppers for December. I haven’t sought one out yet, either.

I never got one for my November trip, but when the discount for the southern states came out, I rebooked my trip to another resort and it took my PH away.

 

[Krandor]

No. You have to explicitly request a refund. Our December 2020 tickets are still showing as hoppers.

so if Disney decides no hopping on 1/1 they don’t owe any refunds? That is what I thought. we cant assume no ticket refunds means hopping is back 1/1.

 

[Mit88]

so if Disney decides no hopping on 1/1 they don’t owe any refunds? That is what I thought. we cant assume no ticket refunds means hopping is back 1/1.

Right now, as far as we, the public know, park hopping IS back on January 1st, 2021. Will that stay true? Highly unlikely. I would love for it to stay true, with my AP expiring March 23rd, and my DVC use year being March, I may book a trip. But I dont see it happening, unfortunately. Maybe by March it’ll be back, but too late for me to find a good deal on a flight, I’m sure.

But because right now, the information we have in hand is that park hopping will be back as soon as January 1st, they’re going to have to make an announcement prior to that date letting potential guests know so they can either change plans, or cancel and ask for a refund. I would guess somewhere in early to mid December is when we’ll get word from Disney or from a reliable source that park hopping will indeed be delayed. I’m not sure how long they’d delay it because they’re probably still going to want people to buy park hoppers for trips beyond January, so maybe its a month to month rolling cancellation, or stick to their new standard 2 week rolling cancellation that they’ve been using for resorts on both domestic coasts.

 

[gottalovepluto]

What’s going on at Epcot that they need to be open that late for, he says Harmoniously.

Im kidding. It probably just makes more sense to open at noon than 11 and keep the 8 hour Park day

Restaurants want the dinner crowd > lunch crowd. Surprised they’re waiting until end of Nov to do this.

 

[gottalovepluto]

And the girl probably lost her job.

100% she lost it. Can’t imagine Disney would risk keeping on someone who knowingly violated their protocols.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Seems like a stupid reason to send a player home. The woman is allowed to have close physical contact with every player in the bubble, but this close contact gets the player kicked out of the bubble.

Oh come on. Prior to this the contact was public and masked. Inside a player’s room the contact is unknown- and any responsible risk mitigator knows to assume the worst.

 

[SMRT-1]

so if Disney decides no hopping on 1/1 they don’t owe any refunds? That is what I thought. we cant assume no ticket refunds means hopping is back 1/1.

I never said that they aren't giving refunds at all, or that they don't owe refunds, just that currently, you have to contact Disney and tell them that you want a refund. Since 2020 tickets have had their expiration extended to 9/26/21, some people might choose to keep the hopper option on their tickets to use sometime next year when hopping could be back, so Disney can't just automatically refund all 2020 hoppers.

Also, I don't see anyone assuming that the current hopper refund policy means that hopping will definitely be back 1/1/21, so I'm not sure where you're getting that idea. It's definitely possible that park hopping might not back on 1/1/21 and in that case those who bought hoppers should be eligible for refunds, but Disney most likely won't announce the refund policy for 2021 hoppers until it's actually necessary.

 

[yulilin3]

100% she lost it. Can’t imagine Disney would risk keeping on someone who knowingly violated their protocols.

Im pretty sure, if she was with the actual testing people, she's advent health, but still probably fired by advent health

 

[osufeth24]

Does the skyliner start at 9 (give or take) for the whole thing, or is it just to run to HS? For my staycation we're staying at Riveria for the last day. We have a 915am Res to Ale & Compass then going to Epcot. Would like to be able to just take the skyliner over, but didn't know if they'd be running it to that area then

 

[Makmak]

Yesterday on flight of passage they didn’t skip seats between our party and the next. I was pretty surprised. There was a problem at ride start and we were “locked in” our seats for awhile. I’m not claustrophobic but.....that was pretty anxiety inducing and meant we were close together for longer than the typical ride duration.

 

[andyman8]

I'll take lower wait times if it means every row on a ride is sat instead of every other row. With little children in tow the shorter the waits the happier the children and thus the happier the parents.

I’ll have to disagree. Not a good trend. In my experience, UOR has been a bit more lax (Labor Day weekend for example) with these protocols than Disney has. Given where we’re at, if there’s not six feet between me and the next Guest, I’m not riding. I wouldn’t expect to see Disney formally follow suit. They know that the most important element of this reopening is keeping stories of “I went to Disney and got COVID-19” out of the headlines.

A little thing to keep in the back of our minds will be is Disney getting desperate? With DLR shuttered indefinitely their only domestic money maker is WDW. The longer this goes on the more internal pressure there will be to start getting more aggressive like their competition is.

I don’t really think Disney is in a “desperate” enough position where they’ll start making decisions based on short term gains. Just look at Labor Day Weekend as an example. They could’ve packed the place like UOR, but they stood their ground on the reservation system and you didn’t see the same social media backlash directed towards them as Universal took on. Disney has always been about “brand integrity” and “long-term vision,” and while I’ll be the first to admit that they don’t always live up to those values they espouse, I think in a situation like this they’ll stick to their conservative intuitions, believing it will pay long-term dividends.

It was not an accident/coincidence that WDW made a key part of their reopening messaging “reopening responsibly/demonstrating how to reopen with health and safety front of mind.” UOR didn’t really emphasize that (their messaging was more “welcome back”). WDW looks at their reopening not just as a resumption of some of their operations but also as a national example of how to reopen safely and responsibly (that business and public health can coexist right now). WDW leadership seems quite proud that in TWDC’s talks with the CA Gov, executives are pointing to WDW’s reopening as a “case study” in how to reopen amusements safely. While I’m not “in tune” with all the DLR reopening chatter and plans within the Company, the attitude I get seems to be that they’re confident progress is being made. More to the point, as long as the California Gov. is watching, I wouldn’t expect Disney to rock any boats or make any drastic changes.Anyway, the credit lines they’ve secured I’m sure are bringing them a level of comfort as well.

I wouldn't be so sure. When Disney opened mid July, on the Safari at Animal Kingdom they were sitting every other row or several rows in between parties, even with partitions. I went last month and they were sitting every single row. Masks required on all rides so really, what's the difference? And there was no uproar about every row being sat. I think it will happen sooner than you think park wide.

KS has been unusual. During the initial reopening, they were seating every other row with (inadequate) partitions, but my understanding is that Leadership for that attraction is now trying to seat every other row when that’s possible. After my first ride back on KS the day after reopening, every time I’ve ridden it has been every other row filled. Living with the Land is the only attraction I’m aware of that is consistently seating every row.

That said, on any ride without partitions, the CMs (and area Leadership) are absolutely not supposed to be seating every seat. That comes from the top, but that might not stop some zealous Leaders from doing it to boost their Efficiency numbers. If you encounter this, you can always ask to wait and have six feet between you and the next party.