Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[DisSurfer878]

I’m guessing.. guessing. that all guests who booked summer trips before this covid nightmare began will be taken care of by disney somehow - could be upgraded, now if possible or later if necessary.. pretty sure something will be done, if past history is the predictor.

For those who made new bookings once covid hit hoping for the best - that could be a technicality that may not be ignored. Time will tell.

For those who rebooked using the free dining for previously cancelled spring trips - disney made good once - there is no reason to think there isn’t a new offer coming if your trip is affected.

Phase one will not last months if the viral spread is managed or contained. Once phase two hits it should mean more resorts and additional parks.

Disney needs a way to test the waters - what was posted allows that and allows things to be modified both good and not so good. Guest safety has to be the priority or the PR nightmare created could damage the standing of the company.

I have to feel the same way. There are plenty of people who booked for June/July back in 2019 before we even had reports of Covid coming out of China. Seems incredibly unfair to just say "tough nuts" to those folks especially.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

My brain hurts from all of this today.. lol

I have a virtual cruise I should get back to.. a distraction Something lighthearted & uncomplicated!

 

[rteetz]

There is a disney statement (perhaps a shareholder video chat?) happening May 5/20 there may be more info about how things will be moving forward then from an official standpoint

Disney’s earnings report is May 5th.

 

[Jacq7414]

I have to feel the same way. There are plenty of people who booked for June/July back in 2019 before we even had reports of Covid coming out of China. Seems incredibly unfair to just say "tough nuts" to those folks especially.

We booked July 4 2019 . I’ve been planning for so long. I’m really sad. I had a really good plan and dining reservations for this trip. I was so excited.

 

[godisney14]

Absolutely, but a company like Disney reopening their parks for the first time in 3 months, in a situation where there’s going to be a lot of “They’re opening too soon” backlash, I think this situation is much different than typical leaked information

not to mention there are tons of travel agencies on the phone with Disney at all hours, especially this weekend with the looming possibility of announced plans sometime this week, you don’t think any of those agents would have been able to get ahold of this type of information?

im not saying none of this is true, as I said in that post, phone operating CMs will likely know everything there is to know before an official statement is released in order to fulfill the questions that guests have when they inevitably get bombarded with calls after the announcement is made

From my experience, people working in customer support over the phone for the vast majority of companies generally have less knowledge of upcoming information and the validity of rumors than loyal followers of the brand. In fact, I’d put my money on the people making a living as Disney trip planners than the phone CMs.
I’d be pleasantly surprised if Disney was somehow uniquely different in that aspect.

 

[wdwlver]

Well if this true then I’m totally cancelling my July trip. Thanks for the info.

Same. We are DVC scheduled for BCV 7/30-8/8. What CM described sounds awful.

 

[sghokie]

My brain hurts from all of this today.. lol

I have a virtual cruise I should get back to.. a distraction Something lighthearted & uncomplicated!

Ha, maybe there should be one of those memory implant places like that movie Total Recall.

 

[katmigordon]

Can we talk about having a secondary test if surface temps are high?
Several folks with kids here have talked about issues with kids & Surface vs core body temps. And then on top of that I just found out from my Doctor that when a woman has a hot flash her surface temp can go up anywhere between 5 and 7 degrees, not the core - just the surface temps. Disney denying women of a certain age the ability to access what we paid for would be a really bad practice.

please dont restart the argument about if taking temps makes a difference or not

 

[Kadorto]

Well this entire thread is made up of us self-proclaimed experts, giving our thoughts and predictions.
Rteetz keeps us on topic when we stray, but of course it's going to be a bunch of people giving their opinion on any nugget of news we get about reopening.
It's not supposed to be where we discuss how deadly the virus is...

And for those that do.. please stick to the facts!

 

[e_yerger]

Can we talk about having a secondary test if surface temps are high?
Several folks with kids here have talked about issues with kids & Surface vs core body temps. And then on top of that I just found out from my Doctor that when a woman has a hot flash her surface temp can go up anywhere between 5 and 7 degrees, not the core - just the surface temps. Disney denying women of a certain age the ability to access what we paid for would be a really bad practice.

I posted this 14 days ago........... my opinion still stands. Lets not bring up this temperature conversation again. It’s off topic and we’re gonna get the thread shut down again.

 

[mhautz]

Just something stupid but gives me reason to speculate: Maybe it's just my app, but I just noticed that on my Disney World app it stopped showing park hours on the front page. When I checked as recently as a couple days ago, it was still showing hours information (or more accurately it showed Magic Kingdom was "Closed" for the day) and clicking on it allowed you to view the calendar of future park hours. This is a minor detail, but in a world where all we have is little pieces of information, I still can't help but think this doesn't happen unless Disney specifically chose to remove this information from the app. My speculation is that this suggests Disney is not planning on opening any time soon. The current calendar shows the parks open on May 17th and because they don't want to "officially" over-extend their closure for several reasons (to allow flexibility if things get better and also to spread cancellations so they can be better managed), they would just prefer to hide the information so nobody reads too much into it. Of course, this info is still on their website, but it's not as easily accessible.

 

[e_yerger]

Just something stupid but gives me reason to speculate: Maybe it's just my app, but I just noticed that on my Disney World app it stopped showing park hours on the front page. When I checked as recently as a couple days ago, it was still showing hours information (or more accurately it showed Magic Kingdom was "Closed" for the day) and clicking on it allowed you to view the calendar of future park hours. This is a minor detail, but in a world where all we have is little pieces of information, I still can't help but think this doesn't happen unless Disney specifically chose to remove this information from the app. My speculation is that this suggests Disney is not planning on opening any time soon. The current calendar shows the parks open on May 17th and because they don't want to "officially" over-extend their closure for several reasons (to allow flexibility if things get better and also to spread cancellations so they can be better managed), they would just prefer to hide the information so nobody reads too much into it. Of course, this info is still on their website, but it's not as easily accessible.

I’ve found that Disney is trying to find new ways to use one of their assets (MDE app) in a way to continue traffic and usage. Showing parks hours is useless to all users current (since the parks are closed), so they are using high traffic areas of the app to show other things that users will find valuable now.

tldr: i wouldnt worry about it too much

 

[Farro]

Just something stupid but gives me reason to speculate: Maybe it's just my app, but I just noticed that on my Disney World app it stopped showing park hours on the front page. When I checked as recently as a couple days ago, it was still showing hours information (or more accurately it showed Magic Kingdom was "Closed" for the day) and clicking on it allowed you to view the calendar of future park hours. This is a minor detail, but in a world where all we have is little pieces of information, I still can't help but think this doesn't happen unless Disney specifically chose to remove this information from the app. My speculation is that this suggests Disney is not planning on opening any time soon. The current calendar shows the parks open on May 17th and because they don't want to "officially" over-extend their closure for several reasons (to allow flexibility if things get better and also to spread cancellations so they can be better managed), they would just prefer to hide the information so nobody reads too much into it. Of course, this info is still on their website, but it's not as easily accessible.

Maybe they are tweaking to update when ready with new hours, probably shortened days and not all parks opening at once.

 

[yulilin3]

Just something stupid but gives me reason to speculate: Maybe it's just my app, but I just noticed that on my Disney World app it stopped showing park hours on the front page. When I checked as recently as a couple days ago, it was still showing hours information (or more accurately it showed Magic Kingdom was "Closed" for the day) and clicking on it allowed you to view the calendar of future park hours. This is a minor detail, but in a world where all we have is little pieces of information, I still can't help but think this doesn't happen unless Disney specifically chose to remove this information from the app. My speculation is that this suggests Disney is not planning on opening any time soon. The current calendar shows the parks open on May 17th and because they don't want to "officially" over-extend their closure for several reasons (to allow flexibility if things get better and also to spread cancellations so they can be better managed), they would just prefer to hide the information so nobody reads too much into it. Of course, this info is still on their website, but it's not as easily accessible.

You mean this is gone from your front page?

 

[abnihon]

Well thanks to all this craziness I now have 3 different reservations booked for July 11-19! Lol.
BLT/Kidani split stay using points I rented for April trip. I can cancel this one by May 27th with minimal penalty so may do that unless DVC only resorts is the official word. I just don’t want to be locked into a DVC rental again with this fluid situation.
So booked a back up Beach Club room and now a Wilderness Lodge room in case MK area only resorts is for real.
Maybe will end up doing split stay if both are open.
I’m all over the place!
But at least I’m covering all my bases! Lol.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

2. It kinda bothers me that they are saying MK area resorts only.... so only deluxe. I feel bad for people who have trips booked at moderate & values that may have their vacations cancelled because only the expensive resorts are open. Doesn't seem fair to me. (and before anyone starts, I know life's not fair - but it doesn't seem very "Disney" to me)

I think that if MK is the ONLY park that will be open, it makes sense for MK resorts to be open, from an operational perspective - opening the property up one area at a time rather than scattered about.

What the CM said today does line up with rumored phases, but still ... I wouldn’t do anything major until something is confirmed. Maybe he is right, maybe he enjoys speculating.

I think the thing to remember is that this truly is unprecedented (I know, most overused word right now), and no matter how they phase things in, it will be unfair to some.

Sadly, many things may not feel like Disney for quite some time

 

[mhautz]

I’ve found that Disney is trying to find new ways to use one of their assets (MDE app) in a way to continue traffic and usage. Showing parks hours is useless to all users current (since the parks are closed), so they are using high traffic areas of the app to show other things that users will find valuable now.

tldr: i wouldnt worry about it too much

Yeah, I know. I just found it curious because it's been there for a month now. The other thing is that I can't seem to find another way to find that info in app.

I have just been checking the closed dates recently out of morbid curiosity to see what the "official" stance is. I also check because we have some tickets that start on May 26th and a re-scheduled trip for July 11th, so I'm just waiting for Disney to update the calendar so they are they are officially closed on May 26th so our tickets can convert to anytime tickets in time for our 60 day window. Which of course seem ridiculous since even planning for a mid-July trip feels like an exercise in futility.

You mean this is gone from your front page?

Yep. I shouldn't be surprised if it's just me.

 

[Farro]

You mean this is gone from your front page?
View attachment 490670

Try opening it again. I had that too, closed my app, reopened and it was gone! Just happened.

 

[Jrb1979]

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242289281.html
From the article Movie theatres and no in person sports will be opening in phase 1. That pretty much confirms no Disney opening in phase 1.

 

[LSUmiss]

Whats the timeline for additional phases ?

Also, can someone explain why No Fast passes?

To me it makes more sense to be fast pass only.