Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[MusicalAstronaut]

I am not trying to be snarky. I’m truly trying to understand. Who pushed hard to reschedule for June? Was it the free dining offer for rescheduling after June 1? Disney is closed “until further notice.” At this point, NO future trip is safe. Should they have stopped letting people reschedule altogether until there was a plan? Some believe this. Would that have been a preferable solution?

Also, let’s say they do announce they are closed until September as you suggest, but it turns out they can open in July. Wouldn’t all the people who had to cancel all their July & August dining and FPs be upset they had to cancel things they didn’t need to? People who moved their flights, etc. I can already see all the angry posts about it.

Every cast member I spoke to when I called to book the free dining. The CM’s who told me to buy my tickets ASAP to book fastpasses for June. It’s too late to say September or whenever which was my point. They shouldn’t have let (encouraged) people to book for June/July/whenever.
And you can be snarky, I don’t care. I can also be unhappy that the opening isn’t happening as soon as they’d originally hoped. My anniversary trip to Paris was cancelled, my birthday trip, my best friend’s wedding have all been cancelled. I go into work wearing a mask past protestors every day. This is barely a drop in the bucket of disappointment/frustration, but I can still be bummed.

 

[Jrb1979]

Every cast member I spoke to when I called to book the free dining. The CM’s who told me to buy my tickets ASAP to book fastpasses for June. It’s too late to say September or whenever which was my point. They shouldn’t have let (encouraged) people to book for June/July/whenever.
And you can be snarky, I don’t care. I can also be unhappy that the opening isn’t happening as soon as they’d originally hoped. My anniversary trip to Paris was cancelled, my birthday trip, my best friend’s wedding have all been cancelled. I go into work wearing a mask past protestors every day. This is barely a drop in the bucket of disappointment/frustration, but I can still be bummed.

Agreed. What they should have done is not allow anyone to rebook their cancelled trips til they open and not offer free dining. It would have not upset as many people.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Certainly doesn’t help now (and I feel bad for anyone who may have a June trip that doesn’t happen), but until we actually see Disney up and running successfully it might help future guests to have a healthy dose of doubt as to whether a trip may actually happen, regardless of what Disney is offering or even saying.

I know people have given a lot of grief when people are “negative” but I call it realistic and it hurts a bit less when things are cancelled, IMO. I’m personally mentally preparing myself for schools to not go back in the fall. My “Disney trip” if you will, since we aren’t rescheduling our lost trip yet.

 

[westie55]

Agreed. What they should have done is not allow anyone to rebook their cancelled trips til they open and not offer free dining. It would have not upset as many people.

I respectfully disagree. Disney doesn't have a crystal ball. Anyone who books a vacation during a pandemic while the parks are closed indefinitely knows he is taking a risk. The fact that June looks to be out now is not due to ANY deceit on Disney's part. Their hopes for a quicker return to safety didn't happen. This pandemic is out of everyone's hands. I have a trip booked in July and August as a back up. November will be my next attempt if those don't work. I know ALL dates in the next year+ are in question especially if a 2nd wave hits. If I can't go, I won't blame Disney one bit. To those who are angry or feel deceived, I am sorry for the loss of your trip. I lost my April trip and it stinks. I know how that feels. Still, try to see the situation for what it is: a continually evolving public health emergency, not a plot against Disney customers.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Every cast member I spoke to when I called to book the free dining. The CM’s who told me to buy my tickets ASAP to book fastpasses for June. It’s too late to say September or whenever which was my point. They shouldn’t have let (encouraged) people to book for June/July/whenever.
And you can be snarky, I don’t care. I can also be unhappy that the opening isn’t happening as soon as they’d originally hoped. My anniversary trip to Paris was cancelled, my birthday trip, my best friend’s wedding have all been cancelled. I go into work wearing a mask past protestors every day. This is barely a drop in the bucket of disappointment/frustration, but I can still be bummed.

Of course you can still be bummed! I’m bummed for things, big and small, important and trivial. This is a major life disruption. Stinks all around.

They really need to take care of the phone CM situation. I think they could have offered a summer rescheduling offer if CMs clearly stated a disclaimer that they are hoping to open this summer, but due to the unprecedented and unpredictable nature of the situation, a date hasn’t been announced and is subject to change. Phone CMs should not be editorializing and saying dates are safe when they haven’t been announced. They just shouldn’t.

 

[Jrb1979]

I respectfully disagree. Disney doesn't have a crystal ball. Anyone who books a vacation during a pandemic while the parks are closed indefinitely knows he is taking a risk. The fact that June looks to be out now is not due to ANY deceit on Disney's part. Their hopes for a quicker return to safety didn't happen. This pandemic is out of everyone's hands. I have a trip booked in July and August as a back up. November will be my next attempt if those don't work. I know ALL dates in the next year+ are in question especially if a 2nd wave hits. If I can't go, I won't blame Disney one bit. To those who are angry or feel deceived, I am sorry for the loss of your trip. I lost my April trip and it stinks. I know how that feels. Still, try to see the situation for what it is: a continually evolving public health emergency, not a plot against Disney customers.

Its one thing for Disney to allow reservations like Universal is doing but to offer free dining to encourage people to book is where I differ.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Of course you can still be bummed! I’m bummed for things, big and small, important and trivial. This is a major life disruption. Stinks all around.

They really need to take care of the phone CM situation. I think they could have offered a summer rescheduling offer if CMs clearly stated a disclaimer that they are hoping to open this summer, but due to the unprecedented and unpredictable nature of the situation, a date hasn’t been announce and is subject to change. Phone CMs should not be editorializing and saying dates are safe when they haven’t been announced. They just shouldn’t.

Right? As much as we joke about phone CMs it’s a problem. It’s always been a problem to be fair. Right now they need to all be saying nearly word for word what Disney has on their own website and leave it at that.

Springs is phased opening starting May 20, we are accepting reservations for July 1st on, although there is currently no planned opening date announced. No ma’am, sorry Mickey does not live at or visit Disney Springs. No, no ma’am, I also have no personal information from my boss Mickey when the parks are opening. Sorry ma’am, Mickey doesn’t like me getting his guests hopes up by giving my guess on dates. Have a magical day.

 

[Janet McDonald]

They need to be transparent and totally honest. Just closing the June dates for booking still doesn’t fully specify. If June is not going to open at all go ahead and say it. If they aren’t totally sure, and closed bookings to reduce capacity because they are trying to open sometime in June THEN JUST SAY THAT!! I am not insisting them open any certain day at all. Just be totally honest about what they are thinking instead of keeping people’s hopes alive and money tied up. I have to schedule my days off way in advance and already moved once and my boss was gracious. And moved flights. Spent hours perfecting dining plans and fastpasses passes TWICE. We are blue collar. My money doesn’t grow on trees and my time is valuable as is everyone else’s in the same boat.

 

[yulilin3]

Can I just remind people that all of your frustrations are valid and venting here might be helpful to get it all out, BUT if you really want to have any sort of impact then email Disney directly
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com
I did and this is the automatic response

Thank you for writing to us. We sincerely appreciate your loyalty to Disney and value the time you took to share your thoughts. Walt Disney World Resort is temporarily closed at this time and as a result you may experience a longer than normal wait time for a response. Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to assisting you. Sincerely,

 

[jade1]

I respectfully disagree. Disney doesn't have a crystal ball. Anyone who books a vacation during a pandemic while the parks are closed indefinitely knows he is taking a risk. The fact that June looks to be out now is not due to ANY deceit on Disney's part. Their hopes for a quicker return to safety didn't happen. This pandemic is out of everyone's hands. I have a trip booked in July and August as a back up. November will be my next attempt if those don't work. I know ALL dates in the next year+ are in question especially if a 2nd wave hits. If I can't go, I won't blame Disney one bit. To those who are angry or feel deceived, I am sorry for the loss of your trip. I lost my April trip and it stinks. I know how that feels. Still, try to see the situation for what it is: a continually evolving public health emergency, not a plot against Disney customers.

100%. And all offers and packages don't change any of this. If they do open, those offers are nice to have. But as you explain perfectly, be prepared to be cancelled with this going on.

 

[dismom58]

In my opinion, if someone is so terrified of this virus that they can't feel safe unless everyone around them is wearing masks....and it is that important to their sanity...then that person should not be going to Disney World. Wait for the vaccine.

Just checked our DVC site, they are allowing booking still on June 1. The release didn't say that they were cancelling existing bookings (yet), just that new reservations would be now from July 1. I wonder if they do open in a limited capacity, maybe they think that they reached it between DVC and what has already been booked...

That’s what I was thinking. That everything is stopped until they figure it out.
Also, the timing coincides with the day that Shanghai Disney sold out in one day. Maybe they realize that there will be demand & they need to start weeding some ppl out.

This is a very valid point! We had two June trips I canceled in April one First weekend one last ! I didn’t want to commit till we got an idea how they would reopen and what availability of parks etc would be so I made an Oct ressie for food and wine! Now I don’t know if that will go and if they will even do any festivals this year! If not my last shot is first weekend in Dec to see the Christmas decorations! Hopefully that one won’t coinside with a second wave

 

[woody337]

They need to be transparent and totally honest. Just closing the June dates for booking still doesn’t fully specify. If June is not going to open at all go ahead and say it. If they aren’t totally sure, and closed bookings to reduce capacity because they are trying to open sometime in June THEN JUST SAY THAT!! I am not insisting them open any certain day at all. Just be totally honest about what they are thinking instead of keeping people’s hopes alive and money tied up. I have to schedule my days off way in advance and already moved once and my boss was gracious. And moved flights. Spent hours perfecting dining plans and fastpasses passes TWICE. We are blue collar. My money doesn’t grow on trees and my time is valuable as is everyone else’s in the same boat.

This nails what the problem is.........its all about communication. Disney needs to explain WHY June is blocked now, WHY they encouraged June bookings. All of the un-needed speculation would clear up if they just gave us some info. I know they cant predict the future, but these trips are expensive, the fans pay it for the experience, that includes being truthful and honest.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

To be fair to Disney, and it’s somewhat semantics but still, they took reservations starting June 1 (including the free dining), but they never gave tentative opening dates for anything. Universal did I believe and closed until May 31, Disney just had June 1 where bookings started back up but were calling themselves closed indefinitely.

They still could be opening up June 1 or anytime in June in some capacity. I think a week into May might just be too early to make a definite call one way or another. The nature of vacationing fairly early in this pandemic is going to be a lot of uncertainty and possible changed plans. Might also be a good idea for early guests to think of contingency plans if they decide to go parks first and open without some/all resorts, if only certain parks open, etc. You may not get a ton of warning to make a decision if they end up opening in this way when they finally do.

And as an aside (steps on soapbox), please if you end up going and are traveling from out of state don’t be that person who tries to get around or flat out ignores a quarantine, either in Florida or at home when you return. COVID-19 is serious even if you don’t personally care to treat it as such, and your actions can seriously harm others. Not all rules are meant for breaking. (Steps off soapbox)

 

[cakebaker]

Every cast member I spoke to when I called to book the free dining. The CM’s who told me to buy my tickets ASAP to book fastpasses for June. It’s too late to say September or whenever which was my point. They shouldn’t have let (encouraged) people to book for June/July/whenever.
And you can be snarky, I don’t care. I can also be unhappy that the opening isn’t happening as soon as they’d originally hoped. My anniversary trip to Paris was cancelled, my birthday trip, my best friend’s wedding have all been cancelled. I go into work wearing a mask past protestors every day. This is barely a drop in the bucket of disappointment/frustration, but I can still be bummed.

I too bristle when someone acts as though being upset over all this is wrong just because there are other things in the world that are more wrong. We all have bigger problems and that's probably what makes this "little" problem feel even worse. We can't even catch a break anywhere it seems and it's sad, depressing and frustrating. I wouldn't even call my feelings being bummed. We outright cried our eyes out when we lost our March trip. My grandson, still to this day, leaves the room when we talk about WDW. He didn't even know about the June trip just so he wouldn't go through it again. He doesn't know we've added on days in July, just in case. And yes, that makes him priviledged and I don't care. His feelings, our feelings are valid. He's 8. The world's problems aren't his and they shouldn't be at his age.

I'm not upset about Disney "encouraging" bookings by offering free dining. But then, that wasn't a factor for us. Our June trip was booked before our March trip was, we just added to it after the cancellation and weren't interested in free dining. I can see where a lot of people would think offering free dining was a really good sign they intended to be open. I thought it. I think they did intend to, but without being sure, it got an awful lot of people's hopes up when clearly, they weren't sure they could. I'm glad they allowed us to book in June, just in case, but offering discounts did give the impression that they'd likely be open. Of course now, after the fact, they're saying that it's no indication they'd be open. That little blurb would've been helpful back when they put the offer out. And yes, I'll be emailing them too.

Off my soap box and on to griping about the ridiculous state of FP availability!

 

[Sandiz08]

Yeah I agree, more communication. Closed or unsure for the month of June, just come out and say it. What they say for June will have an effect for July and so forth so they are treading lightly, not good enough in my book from a customer service standpoint when your customers are dropping thousands into your laps.

 

[vinotinto]

Not sure if this means anything BUT, I had 3 reservation requests from TP reservation finder for beaches and cream all of the sudden become available for June 14th this past Thursday within moments of eachother. I wonder if this means they were opening up availability or truly multiple people cancelled at the same time (which I have never had happen using TPs res finder). ALSO, to add to speculation of EPCOT potentially not reopening, all EPCOT area Disney owned resorts (Boardwalk, BC, YC) have a significant discount in comparison to all other deluxe resorts on property with the Florida resident deal. Just some things I have noticed while planning for a June 14th one-night trip at BC. We have AP’s and were able to get FPs for EPCOT but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything either. We are content with a resort-only stay if that is in the cards! Forgive me if this should go elsewhere, just thought I might share my experience!

Interesting. that certainly adds to the speculation about parks opening in phases, with Epcot opening last.

 

[LSUmiss]

THISTHISTHIS. Just say it’ll be closed June so we don’t have to move things again!

Right b/c I have June & July booked. June is a much better time for us, but I can go in July if needed. But I need to move flights etc. Just put out a statement like we are working toward a June opening, but the situation is fluid...or...we will definitely be closed til at least July. Just say SOMETHING!!

 

[Farro]

I don't think anything means anything- certain places still accepting reservations, bigger discounts other places, nothing other places.

All it means is Disney is like everything else in the country - at the mercy of the virus as to when it can open. I'm sure they just don't know.
I'm sure they want to open tomorrow if they can.

They have to take into account virus statistics, local government restrictions, public perception.

Honestly, if I had a tripped booked at all this entire summer, I would move it. Probably to next year at this point.

Summer activities, concerts, fest are cancelled everywhere this summer, not sure theme parks would be any different at this point. I didn't think here we'd be closed for the summer, yet here we are.

 

[SierraT]

If they are going to cancel June 1 through the remainder of the month, I wish they would just do it now so I can work on other vacation plans. Ha!

 

[KBoopaloo]

Yeah I agree, more communication. Closed or unsure for the month of June, just come out and say it. What they say for June will have an effect for July and so forth so they are treading lightly, not good enough in my book from a customer service standpoint when your customers are dropping thousands into your laps.

Didn’t someone from Disney say just this week that just because they are booking for June it doesn’t mean they will be open? Wasn’t that reported from one of the Orange County meetings? I think it’s likely that when they made the free dining offer for stay starting June 1 they really did believe they would be open then but somewhere along the line it became much more unclear. Maybe they should have announced that sooner or instructed phone CMs to emphasize the unknowns about June dates when people were rebooking but in recent weeks the message from the Disney execs has been “we don’t know and decisions are made day by day” but it seemed like a lot of people have been unwilling to accept that and were thinking the date was set.