Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Vern60]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/10/disn...st-members-who-find-new-jobs-before-december/

Not a fan of this at all.

 

[runjulesrun]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/10/disn...st-members-who-find-new-jobs-before-december/

That's a bummer for cast members who might have been able to "double dip" so to speak to maybe help catch up after a rough time. It isn't unusual though in the marketplace for severance to end if new employment begins during the severance period.

 

[runjulesrun]

Any guesses on if AOA will reopen Nov 1? My guess is yes given how crowds appear to be increasing but maybe I'm overly optimistic?

 

[Aimeedyan]

Just got back from another quick trip (we booked a standard studio at SSR and were upgraded to a 1 bedroom newly renovated preferred!) so a few random thoughts:

I am bummed about Chef Mickey's - we had breakfast there again this morning and it's SO GOOD and a great (Disney) value. Thankfully we'll get to eat there a few more times before the changeover. Until we can actually meet the characters, I'm not forking out the increased price.

We spent the morning at MK and it seemed like a normal October day. The baby care center was SLAMMED - and we visited the center on Thanksgiving Day last year! There was a wait to change diapers, a wait for the nursing room, and a wait for the feeding space. There was just one CM working when we arrived and he was frazzled and snippy. Another CM came in shortly after and she said this was the most people they've seen in a long while. The tiny hallway was full of families waiting so we changed and got out of there.

Thankfully the walls surrounding the first aid and baby care center are now down so there was a nice breeze since many of us were sitting outside feeding bottles. Bonus was that we got to see the villians, pooh and friends, and the cadaver dan's go by while on a bench!

Disney Springs yesterday was busy as expected; 35 minute wait for World of Disney around 3pm and waits at every other store, but mostly only 10 parties deep. Mask compliance seemed fine - it probably helped that it was quite cool and breezy so people weren't struggling as much. I have avoided it on weekend evenings but I had lunch and dinner there since we could walk and I felt okay. Sure, I was brushing elbows with people occasionally but logically I know that's really not risky behavior with what we know now. It's nice to see live music at DS again, too!

Photopass studio IS open - they told me their hours are 2:30pm-10pm. You can do the virtual background or the traditional. We walked right in. Such great staff working there and they really want people to come see them!

Did y'all know they redid the line for Buzz? I think we rode it about a month ago and this was new. The door to the moving walkway has moved completely and the line is reworked inside. My guess is they were trying to increase the indoor queue?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Not a fan of this at all.

Ouch. Like I get it the idea- not paying them if they’re getting paid by someone else- but to me the optics of this are even worse than 100% executive salaries while terminating thousands of employees.

And what an awful time to look for employment! Holiday jobs are already snagged by the beginning of Dec and who needs extra help when America hits OMG-I-SPENT-TOO-MUCH-AT-XMAS-AND-I’M-BROKE January? In light of the timing this is an ESPECIALLY crappy move to me

 

[Sarahslay]

View attachment 530161

School starts next week, so I wouldn’t take anything away from these Monday afternoon wait times

Honestly, if you told me these were the wait times from my trip at the end of August I would have believed you....because this is exactly what it looked like that weekend at times. Rope drop, ride the rides, eat the foods, take the naps, ride the rides some more after the crazy is gone, sleep the sleeps, repeat.

 

[Brianstl]

Ouch. Like I get it the idea- not paying them if they’re getting paid by someone else- but to me the optics of this are even worse than 100% executive salaries while terminating thousands of employees.

And what an awful time to look for employment! Holiday jobs are already snagged by the beginning of Dec and who needs extra help when America hits OMG-I-SPENT-TOO-MUCH-AT-XMAS-AND-I’M-BROKE January? In light of the timing this is an ESPECIALLY crappy move to me

The bad thing isn’t the pay part, but losing their severance means losing healthcare during the waiting period with the new job.

 

[Dentam]

I wonder if Disney is going to just ramp up the attendance cap and offerings at WDW now since they are allowed to by FL's governor and they've maybe given up on making headway with CA's? Try to make money where they can? I think this would be a mistake, public health-wise, but I could see the pressure to do so.

 

[Eric Smith]

I wonder if Disney is going to just ramp up the attendance cap and offerings at WDW now since they are allowed to by FL's governor and they've maybe given up on making headway with CA's?

I really don't think they're going to increase the cap at Florida any time soon. The parks can't really handle it with the current ride capacity limitations.

 

[Dentam]

I really don't think they're going to increase the cap at Florida any time soon. The parks can't really handle it with the current ride capacity limitations.

I'm talking about increasing everything, including ride capacity limits. FL's governor has said he encourages theme parks to go to full attendance again. I think this would be a huge mistake, like I said, but I just wonder how Disney will approach this now that CA seems to be a lost cause with Iger quitting the task force and the governor not budging. Just a thought going through my head tonight.

 

[Erica Ladd]

Hoping to get to a chef Mickey’s before the characters - and price increases!!!

 

[Brianstl]

I'm talking about increasing everything, including ride capacity limits. FL's governor has said he encourages theme parks to go to full attendance again. I think this would be a huge mistake, like I said, but I just wonder how Disney will approach this now that CA seems to be a lost cause with Iger quitting the task force and the governor not budging. Just a thought going through my head tonight.

I think all the hotels closed both on-site and off point to little need to increase capacity much if at all.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm talking about increasing everything, including ride capacity limits. FL's governor has said he encourages theme parks to go to full attendance again. I think this would be a huge mistake, like I said, but I just wonder how Disney will approach this now that CA seems to be a lost cause with Iger quitting the task force and the governor not budging. Just a thought going through my head tonight.

They’re gonna have to increase ride capacity given the reports of lines on weekends

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think all the hotels closed both on-site and off point to little need to increase capacity much if at all.

They’re walking a tightrope. If they increase to the point they look like a cesspool a decent amount of those of us coming to visit from out of state might bail. And those travelers are where the money is at. My fam is looking at dropping about $6k on just tickets and hotels for our week in Nov but if it’s crowded as hell we will bail. Some crowds are expected and fine but 2 hour ride waits (or packed TS venues)? Hard pass. Disney can try to squeeze out what they would have made on us out their APs but it ain’t gonna happen

 

[Broncho52]

Any guesses on if AOA will reopen Nov 1? My guess is yes given how crowds appear to be increasing but maybe I'm overly optimistic?

We are scheduled to stay there nov 7-14. I just did a mock booking for the same dates and it is showing no availability at AOA. Seems strange as I can’t imagine they are sold out. Makes me think it may not be opening in time.

 

[one_cat]

I'm talking about increasing everything, including ride capacity limits. FL's governor has said he encourages theme parks to go to full attendance again. I think this would be a huge mistake, like I said, but I just wonder how Disney will approach this now that CA seems to be a lost cause with Iger quitting the task force and the governor not budging. Just a thought going through my head tonight.

I don’t think it would make much difference. Pretty much anyone who wants to go to the parks at this point can get a reservation.

 

[runjulesrun]

We are scheduled to stay there nov 7-14. I just did a mock booking for the same dates and it is showing no availability at AOA. Seems strange as I can’t imagine they are sold out. Makes me think it may not be opening in time.

Interesting. I just looked also and you are right, nothing available and it does seem strange given how much availability there was last time I looked (last week). Something to keep an eye on. We are there Nov 6-10.

 

[skeeter31]

Interesting. I just looked also and you are right, nothing available and it does seem strange given how much availability there was last time I looked (last week). Something to keep an eye on. We are there Nov 6-10.

Yeah it’s definitely looking bad for AoA. I just tried some random dates in November and December and no availability at all for AoA. And the pop up about constantly changing hotel availability and possible closings comes up. I wonder if they’re not going to open or only open a small portion of the rooms (maybe Little Mermaid only). But going by booking availability, it doesn’t look like 11/1 is happening.

And it seems to be the same for CSR now as well. Checked some dates in November and December, and no availability at all with the same pop up. ???

 

[runjulesrun]

Yeah it’s definitely looking bad for AoA. I just tried some random dates in November and December and no availability at all for AoA. And the pop up about constantly changing hotel availability and possible closings comes up. I wonder if they’re not going to open or only open a small portion of the rooms (maybe Little Mermaid only). But going by booking availability, it doesn’t look like 11/1 is happening.

And it seems to be the same for CSR now as well. Checked some dates in November and December, and no availability at all with the same pop up. ???

Interesting for sure. The pop up has been happening every time I look at a resort that is scheduled to open but hasn't yet. Given how crowded the parks seem to be getting, it would be so surprising if they didn't open. I would be interested to see where they move us to though. We are in a family suite and with a 22 yo son and 17 yo daughter, we have to have 3 beds wherever they put us. That plus the 2 bathrooms is why we booked where we did.

 

[Dentam]

I don’t think it would make much difference. Pretty much anyone who wants to go to the parks at this point can get a reservation.

I haven't been keeping track as much since we got back from our trip - is HS not consistently at full capacity anymore? It sounds like based on reports I've seen that crowds have increased though since our Labor Day week trip and HS was at capacity every day of that week along with all of the parks on the weekend if I remember correctly. It seems like Disney has maybe already increased the limits and I just wonder how much more they will continue to do so.