Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[osufeth24]

The point of wearing masks outdoors is so if you're within 6 ft for a period of time, the likelihood of transmission goes down, so seating every row wouldn't bother me and I wish they would during the real busy weekends

Now, do I want someone sitting right next to me on Soarin? No, but someone sitting right behind me on 7DMT? Sure, don't care

 

[andyman8]

The point of wearing masks outdoors is so if you're within 6 ft for a period of time, the likelihood of transmission goes down, so seating every row wouldn't bother me and I wish they would during the real busy weekends

Now, do I want someone sitting right next to me on Soarin? No, but someone sitting right behind me on 7DMT? Sure, don't care

Well, theoretically, since both CMs and Guests are all wearing masks, you wouldn’t need the plexiglass at the cash registers in the stores or at the snack carts but they’re still there anyway. The idea is to create as many barriers to transmission as possible to minimize the risk. That’s why the guidance has been to wear a mask and social distance. Add to that the complication that just because you feel comfortable being within six feet of somebody doesn’t mean that other person feels comfortable. In this specific case, I’m not sure it’s fair to say “then just get up and leave,” because the park has signs everywhere promoting physical distancing of six feet between parties. It seems counter-intuitive to then assign Guests positions violating that guidance. With something like a theme park (where its business depends on perception), an operator wants to at least be perceived as taking as many precautions as possible, not just getting by with the bare minimum and certainly not contradicting themselves. That’s why I don’t see Disney following UOR’s lead here. Also, it should be noted that some of this reporting is based on one photo. I’d want to wait for more consistent reports before coming to a conclusion.

 

[brockash]

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.

We had an after hrs reservation at dhs this past Wed and didn't end up getting out of the park until close to 9 and they had tons of workers and buses just waiting for us...they asked where we were going and had us get on the 1st bus we came to and told the driver where to go...it was excellent service and would make us want to book after hrs adrs in the future...I was a little concerned at first, but it was great. - I will say this was the first week of them handling this and I do feel that they err on the side of caution and providing the most/best service at the start of something so they may tone it down a little in the future, but it was great when we used it.

 

[KBoopaloo]

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 think we even saw this with the very cautious way the Bubble has been run. There were questions after weeks and weeks of negative tests in the Bubble about why the players were still having to wear masks everywhere since it was clear they were all COVID free at that point but the answer was that they were still coming in some contact with non bubble people even if it was brief - mostly Disney and Mears CMs. And frankly watching all the vlogs I was surprised to see the compliance stay so high on masks as time went on. In one vlog from Narcoosee’s you could hear an NBA employer in the background say something like “No, you can still eat together here but just spread out more next time.” Yes, this was a joint effort with the NBA and the NBA was mostly running the show but both the NBA and Disney clearly wanted to send a message about how safe they were being and it worked. MLB is in much better shape now but when they were flailing around canceling games for the first few weeks of the season, you saw so many people shaking their head saying “The NBA handled this so much better.” Disney never wants to be the organization people are shaking their heads over especially when it comes to safety or perceptions of it.

 

[LSUmiss]

The point of wearing masks outdoors is so if you're within 6 ft for a period of time, the likelihood of transmission goes down, so seating every row wouldn't bother me and I wish they would during the real busy weekends

Now, do I want someone sitting right next to me on Soarin? No, but someone sitting right behind me on 7DMT? Sure, don't care

Right. I work for a school system & it’s only considered exposure if you were within 6 ft of someone positive for 15 min or more & they weren’t wearing a mask.

 

[JM23457]

Not sure if someone already answered but they did get the union to agree with Disney terms but now Disney just decided to keep them and other cm on indefinite furlough

That is what can happen when people get too difficult with their employer during hard economic times. If the union had been more flexible in the summer, they'd be working right now.

 

[JM23457]

I think that’s likely to happen. As long as they think they can make money on it, they’ll do it.

"If you can dream about making a profit from it, you can do it."

 

[yulilin3]

That is what can happen when people get too picky with their employer during hard economic times.

Not sure what your saying, their union was the one putting safety requirements in the agreement with Disney

 

[JM23457]

Not sure what your saying, their union was the one putting safety requirements in the agreement with Disney

Their union lost them their opportunity to work, is what I'm saying.

Disney wanted them back in the summer, and they (represented by their union) balked because all of their demands weren't met. If they had just agreed, they'd be working now, and despite budget difficulties, it would have been very hard for Disney to remove them as an offering at WDW because guests would expect them.

But since they haven't been part of the WDW experience since reopening & people now don't expect them, it's much easier for Disney to just continue not offering them at all, and save money by not having to pay them.

 

[Mit88]

I’d want to wait for more consistent reports before coming to a conclusion.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1304778024169209856

 

[JM23457]

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.

They keep buses running until everyone gets back to their resort. They know people stay after closing at meals & in line for that final ride.

 

[Brianstl]

That is what can happen when people get too difficult with their employer during hard economic times. If the union had been more flexible in the summer, they'd be working right now.

Exactly. I am a union supporter, but you got to see the big picture and be willing to play ball. In tough economic times you don’t want to give an employer a chance to figure out a way to operate without you and to start to think that your employment there was a non essential part of the operations. Out of sight is out of mind.

The other unions played this much smarter by publicly showing that getting back to work was a top priority.

 

[AmberMV]

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.

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.

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.

While I always do appreciate your viewpoints and bits of info that you share, it looks like it's not just Universal, and it's not just KS that is sitting every seat already. During weekends when both parks are at their busiest, I'd wager that the majority of park guests would rather a 30 min wait and sit every row of a ride over 80 min to sit every other row. It's still blisteringly hot outside, and without going off topic into virus talk I'm really not sure this makes a difference health wise while masks are required at all times.

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.

When I was there last month FoP they did leave a seat between me and the next party, but that's not 6ft by any standard, and like a lot of things Disney does they just probably aren't making announcements about changing ride loading and just doing it.

 

[yulilin3]

Exactly. I am a union supporter, but you got to see the big picture and be willing to play ball. In tough economic times you don’t want to give an employer a chance to figure out a way to operate without you and to start to think that your employment there was a non essential part of the operations. Out of sight is out of mind.

The other unions played this much smarter by publicly showing that getting back to work was a top priority.

The AEU was demanding testing and mask wearing for their members. I agree that testing was a bit too much but totally understand them wanting their members to be able to wear a mask while on the job. In any case many members of the union wanted to return to work, but it boiled down to a stalemate and then of course, Disney deciding they don't want to bring entertainment now. The parks feel pretty empty and devoid of life sometimes without these shows, going from ride to ride is not ideal to many visitors. Hopefully they (Disney) understand the need for entertainment and will be able to bring them back sooner rather than later

 

[AmberMV]

Does anyone who has been to EPCOT in the past few weeks know if Teppan Edo is doing the Hibachi show?

 

[rteetz]

Does anyone who has been to EPCOT in the past few weeks know if Teppan Edo is doing the Hibachi show?

They are cooking at the tables yes. There is plexiglass up.

 

[LSUmiss]

The AEU was demanding testing and mask wearing for their members. I agree that testing was a bit too much but totally understand them wanting their members to be able to wear a mask while on the job. In any case many members of the union wanted to return to work, but it boiled down to a stalemate and then of course, Disney deciding they don't want to bring entertainment now. The parks feel pretty empty and devoid of life sometimes without these shows, going from ride to ride is not ideal to many visitors. Hopefully they (Disney) understand the need for entertainment and will be able to bring them back sooner rather than later

While I agree the safety measures weren’t unreasonable, the ppis right. Disney realized they could operate without them & that is what they’re doing.

 

[Mit88]

Looking at flights in October, I already booked for $90 round trip and thought it was a steal. Now I’m finding $52 round trip flights from the Tri State area. Gonna have to rebook my flights. That’s like 5 churros worth of savings, or 1 drink at Trader Sams, if they’re open

 

[AmberMV]

They are cooking at the tables yes. There is plexiglass up.

Thanks! As long as they are still doing the cooking flair that's all that matters

 

[midnight star]

Looking at flights in October, I already booked for $90 round trip and thought it was a steal. Now I’m finding $52 round trip flights from the Tri State area. Gonna have to rebook my flights. That’s like 5 churros worth of savings, or 1 drink at Trader Sams, if they’re open

The cheap flights are torture saw a round trip flight from LA to Orlando for $129 at one point in October.