Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Pickle Rick]

If DeSantis gives Disney the thumbs up to open, they will. It means he has given the green light to whatever measures they're going to put in place. WDW will be coming to him with their safety measures that he will have to sign off on, not the other way around.

WDW is the largest private employer in the state of Florida. This isn't a mom and pop restaurant on the corner. And if they're shedding tens of millions every day they are shut down, they won't be closed one day longer than they have to. Now, we'll see what kind of restrictions they may have with regards to attendance and who is let in the parks, but when they're told its OK to open, they will. Undoubtedly. They just need to have the spine to stay open under what will certainly be immense pressure from the lockdown-until-the-end-of-time crowd that wouldn't visit WDW anyway.

Likewise, every other theme park/resort will take the lead from Disney with regards to how to open up. Its not just about WDW...its about Universal. And Sea World. And Legoland. And all of the other large-scale resorts in the state. Its a domino effect.

that’s fine and everything, your opinion is duly noted.

 

[marinejjh]

Rumor and speculation should be kept to the other threads. This thread is supposed to be for the factual information coming from Disney and theme park operators.

Does anyone have any factual information? Most info at this point is all speculation.

I posted a link to factual Disney Cruise Line info not too long ago.

Thanks, probably the only factual info on this thread. Nobody has any idea when Disney will open back up. I'm a betting man and would be will to take a few thousand dollar bet with someone that it doesn't open back up until January.

 

[Pickle Rick]

Yes. That's literally what I'm talking about. People are saying CA Disneyland will open same day as WDW, Gavin Newsom's rules be darned.

I meant that it’s entirely possible WDW doesn’t open right away even if DeSantis gives the ok.

 

[Mit88]

If DeSantis gives Disney the thumbs up to open, they will. It means he has given the green light to whatever measures they're going to put in place. WDW will be coming to him with their safety measures that he will have to sign off on, not the other way around.

WDW is the largest private employer in the state of Florida. This isn't a mom and pop restaurant on the corner. And if they're shedding tens of millions every day they are shut down, they won't be closed one day longer than they have to. Now, we'll see what kind of restrictions they may have with regards to attendance and who is let in the parks, but when they're told its OK to open, they will. Undoubtedly. They just need to have the spine to stay open under what will certainly be immense pressure from the lockdown-until-the-end-of-time crowd that wouldn't visit WDW anyway.

Likewise, every other theme park/resort will take the lead from Disney with regards to how to open up. Its not just about WDW...its about Universal. And Sea World. And Legoland. And all of the other large-scale resorts in the state. Its a domino effect.

If Disney thinks they have a good plan to open up, and DeSantis gives them the thumbs up, I dont think theres any way that Disney says “Nah, we’ll wait a little bit longer”. They’re losing a ton of money every day, even if that 30M number isnt true, I’m sure its not far off, and could even be higher. They’re going to receive backlash whether they open May 15th, or if they open May 15th 2022. There are a lot of people that dont want anything open until theres a vaccine, let alone Disney parks where theres joyful people congregated together in massive numbers.

 

[cakebaker]

I meant that it’s entirely possible WDW doesn’t open right away even if DeSantis gives the ok.

I think it depends on what date they are given that they can open by. If it’s tomorrow , no. But I’m assuming there will be some lead time and they’ll open as quickly as they possibly can. I don’t think it will take them all that long to ramp up. I have no doubt they’ve been putting plans in place all along.

 

[Tedwash]

This may be indirectly related to Disneyland in California. The governing board for the Orange County Fair (Costa Mesa, CA) just announced the cancellation of the 2020 Summer Fair due to Covid 19.

"The fair was scheduled to take place from July 17 to Aug. 16. But because of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s guidelines for physical distancing, the board decided the fair, which last year brought nearly 1.4 million attendees, would not be able to accommodate its usual operation while preserving public health. "
​

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily...s-summer-because-of-coronavirus-board-decides

This doesn't bode well for us hang on hopes for a possible summer opening at Disneyland.

 

[Spaceguy55]

If DeSantis gives Disney the thumbs up to open, they will. It means he has given the green light to whatever measures they're going to put in place. WDW will be coming to him with their safety measures that he will have to sign off on, not the other way around.

WDW is the largest private employer in the state of Florida. This isn't a mom and pop restaurant on the corner. And if they're shedding tens of millions every day they are shut down, they won't be closed one day longer than they have to. Now, we'll see what kind of restrictions they may have with regards to attendance and who is let in the parks, but when they're told its OK to open, they will. Undoubtedly. They just need to have the spine to stay open under what will certainly be immense pressure from the lockdown-until-the-end-of-time crowd that wouldn't visit WDW anyway.

Likewise, every other theme park/resort will take the lead from Disney with regards to how to open up. Its not just about WDW...its about Universal. And Sea World. And Legoland. And all of the other large-scale resorts in the state. Its a domino effect.

I expect WDW will set the bar for not only other parks but also cities, since they are pretty much a small to medium city.

 

[Pickle Rick]

I think it depends on what date they are given that they can open by. If it’s tomorrow , no. But I’m assuming there will be some lead time and they’ll open as quickly as they possibly can. I don’t think it will take them all that long to ramp up. I have no doubt they’ve been putting plans in place all along.

For sure they’ve been brainstorming, likely even before they closed.

 

[JaNelson38]

If Disney thinks they have a good plan to open up, and DeSantis gives them the thumbs up, I dont think theres any way that Disney says “Nah, we’ll wait a little bit longer”. They’re losing a ton of money every day, even if that 30M number isnt true, I’m sure its not far off, and could even be higher. They’re going to receive backlash whether they open May 15th, or if they open May 15th 2022. There are a lot of people that dont want anything open until theres a vaccine, let alone Disney parks where theres joyful people congregated together in massive numbers.

Exactly right. At some point, it becomes pointless to "wait" longer. And at some point, you have to worry about solvency of the company. Even a name as powerful as Disney doesn't have an endless checkbook or balance sheet that doesn't need revenue to offset liabilities.

People still give me funny looks when I tell them that a vaccine is not guaranteed to come, so we best learn to live WITH this, because we may have no choice. Very similarly to how we as a society learned to live with HIV.

 

[jerry557]

Also just to note.... Cruise line and the parks are different species. So don't automatically connect the actions of the two.

The chances any of the cruise lines restart this summer is pretty dire right now. So the cruise line extending cancellations is not a shocker.

 

[rteetz]

Also just to note.... Cruise line and the parks are different species. So don't automatically connect the actions of the two.

The chances any of the cruise lines restart this summer is pretty dire right now. So the cruise line extending cancellations is not a shocker.

While I agree Disney Cruise Line is under the Parks, Experiences and Products division of Disney. This is also a news thread. I broadened the title because some took issue with there being no news and that when cruise info was posted it doesn’t “fit”.

 

[Mit88]

For sure they’ve been brainstorming, likely even before they closed.

They’ve likely been planning for the US parks before Shanghai closed. You dont get to the position theyre in as a company without foresight to see what was going on and what could potentially occur. They probably didnt have the same plan in January that they do today, but I’m sure options were being discussed. They were taking precautions at the parks weeks before they closed down, it just wasnt big enough for people to talk about, it was overlooked because it didnt seem “real” here until the week prior to parks closures.

 

[dina444444]

This may be indirectly related to Disneyland in California. The governing board for the Orange County Fair (Costa Mesa, CA) just announced the cancellation of the 2020 Summer Fair due to Covid 19.

"The fair was scheduled to take place from July 17 to Aug. 16. But because of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s guidelines for physical distancing, the board decided the fair, which last year brought nearly 1.4 million attendees, would not be able to accommodate its usual operation while preserving public health. "
​

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily...s-summer-because-of-coronavirus-board-decides

This doesn't bode well for us hang on hopes for a possible summer opening at Disneyland.

I responded to this on the Disneyland board, the fair is in part being canceled also because of vendor related issues. The fair is like a convention which involved lots of vendors to operate and coordinate. It's different from a theme park reopening.

 

[Searc]

Sarcasm doesn’t help the situation.

One last response and then I'm done with this particular discussion ~ it isn't sarcasm.

 

[J-BOY]

One last response and then I'm done with this particular discussion ~ it isn't sarcasm.

I think you missed that the title of the thread was updated after your first comment.

 

[Searc]

I think you missed that the title of the thread was updated after your first comment.

Oh, I saw it.

 

[DantePD]

If Disney thinks they have a good plan to open up, and DeSantis gives them the thumbs up, I dont think theres any way that Disney says “Nah, we’ll wait a little bit longer”. They’re losing a ton of money every day, even if that 30M number isnt true, I’m sure its not far off, and could even be higher. They’re going to receive backlash whether they open May 15th, or if they open May 15th 2022. There are a lot of people that dont want anything open until theres a vaccine, let alone Disney parks where theres joyful people congregated together in massive numbers.

I could pretty easily see them holding out a little longer. Nothing on the scale of half the year, but a few more weeks anyway.

Disney is super image conscious. They won't run the risk of headlines reading "Second Wave Corona Virus Outbreak at Disney!"

 

[Pickle Rick]

They’ve likely been planning for the US parks before Shanghai closed. You dont get to the position theyre in as a company without foresight to see what was going on and what could potentially occur. They probably didnt have the same plan in January that they do today, but I’m sure options were being discussed. They were taking precautions at the parks weeks before they closed down, it just wasnt big enough for people to talk about, it was overlooked because it didnt seem “real” here until the week prior to parks closures.

was it overlooked, or was your casual guest in denial?

 

[Mit88]

Exactly right. At some point, it becomes pointless to "wait" longer. And at some point, you have to worry about solvency of the company. Even a name as powerful as Disney doesn't have an endless checkbook or balance sheet that doesn't need revenue to offset liabilities.

People still give me funny looks when I tell them that a vaccine is not guaranteed to come, so we best learn to live WITH this, because we may have no choice. Very similarly to how we as a society learned to live with HIV.

People think of Disney as a company that has unlimited money and resources. They charge $200 for a 1 day park hopper, so how could they possibly ever go broke? If you have 10,000 dollars and 30 dollars falls out of your pocket every day for 90 days, it adds up. You might not be living on the streets when you finally put your cash in the bank instead of keeping it in your pocket, but its still money lost. Terrible analogy, I know. But its the only one I could think of on the spot lol

Talk of Vaccine’s and continuous reports on the possibility of one is the only “good” news you see on news stations, thats why people cling on to it being an eventual reality rather than a distant possibility. How many times in the last month have we seen “(so and so) has made strides in finding a vaccine for COVID-19”. First it was Canadians that were “close”, then it was Johnson and Johnson that would have one by Fall 2020 and distributed in Spring 2021, now its Tom Hanks’ sample that will lead to a vaccine. People buy into it as an inevitability because its some of the only good news you’re receiving in a dark time like this. But the truth is, its far from inevitable, and more possible that we never get one.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

So... Nothing released today, I assume?