Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Mit88]

This isn’t just about loyal customers. This is also about safety. Yes it may not look good to have the NBA there but they will be safer there than in each home arena. Guests unfortunately are entitled and think they are above the rules and Disney is concerned about that. If they weren’t I think you’d see more ambition to open up sooner.

Theres two different spectrums to this. Disney getting the NBA to play at WWoS has validity, and has for almost 2 months. The part where they wouldn’t be able to open the parks to guests is the rumor that I’m referencing.

 

[atricks]

If the NBA comes it won't stop any general reopening and has nothing to do with it, Disney Springs is already open and if anything the NBA will pretty much take over Wide World of Sports and probably Coronado Springs Resort. We'll likely find out more about Disney reopening plans on Wednesday (same day as the big manned launch).

I did Disney springs last night and it went pretty well from our vantage point.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I suppose the good news is with the beginning of Universal's reopening on June 1 and the NBA announcement coming up, we are very likely to hear something from Disney soon. I would find it very odd if they let Universal open without even making their own announcement first.

Hopefully, the next week or so brings us all some solid news from Disney itself so we can argue about what parts of the actual plan we don't like instead of what parts of the whispers from a friend's-sister's-cousin's-coworker's-dog groomer's-best friend's-aunt we don't like

 

[rteetz]

That’s all well and good, but they need to make a statement to that effect. Up until now, Disney has been cancelling reservations week by week which gives the impression that they are close to opening. If not, why not just cancel a month at a time and quit stringing people along?
If the NBA comes on property and Disney pushes their opening way back, it will look like Disney is pushing the guests out of the way to cater to the NBA. I doubt most people who had vacations scheduled this summer would be willing to give them up so that the NBA could finish their season.

Because no plans have been finalized. The NBA could pull out suddenly and then Disney could change their reopening plan a bit. I think they are waiting to finalize that before announcing any sort of reopening plan.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Does it help to look at it from the perspective of they’re wanting to stay closed longer anyways and the NBA deal possibly helps facilitate that?

I don’t think they would delay opening *because*of the NBA.

 

[cakebaker]

Rumors are there to fill a conversational narrative by the party that believes it.

This, exactly. But I’m skeptical and I don’t believe the ones I dislike or the ones I like. I think those that talk don’t know and those that don’t talk, do.

 

[rteetz]

Theres two different spectrums to this. Disney getting the NBA to play at WWoS has validity, and has for almost 2 months. The part where they wouldn’t be able to open the parks to guests is the rumor that I’m referencing.

I never said they wouldn’t be able to open with the NBA there but I think people are expecting all four parks and the resorts to open and people can fly down and have their vacations. I don’t think we are at that point.

 

[Jrb1979]

Rumors are there to fill a conversational narrative by the party that believes it. Those that didn’t believe Pete it any rumor of June 1st were the first ones to to jump on this current rumor and present it as fact. Same goes for me not believing this rumor. I do know that this rumor would make a lot more people angry at Disney on a PR standpoint than if they had opened on June 1st with masks.

Basketball is popular on a worldwide scale, especially come playoff season. But they’d be risking a lot having the NBA being their only moneymaker in the hopes that people don’t get bored with there being no fans in attendance (the crowd excitement adds a lot to playoff basketball) and the fact that a lot of people watch sports at bars during the summer, bars that won’t be open, or able to house a lot of people. The NBA would also be competing with baseball, hockey, and towards the tail end of the playoffs, NFL and NCAA football. NBA coming back isn’t a guaranteed money generator from a marketing standpoint. It could be big, but it could also backfire. Let’s not forget that not every game is on ABC or ESPN, TNT would also be banking in on these games being played. So it’s not like ESPN would have nightly content. This is also the same company that offered the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) $0 at first to broadcast their games. They finally caved and made a deal just to have content, and it worked for a couple games, and now their ratings are very small. Obviously the NBA and KBO are two different things with different American audience popularity. But there’s a chance that Disney is thinking the public’s desperation for sports to return is higher than it might actually be.

I don't equate the two. I look at it that Disney is using the NBA to make some income til they do open the parks. Disney's biggest concern through all this is keeping guests safe as best as they can as well as enforcing in the Disney way. So far since to opening of Disney Springs it hasn't gone as good as they hoped.

 

[princesscinderella]

I definitely think the NBA at Disney is a done deal. It was reported about the deal today on the abc nightly news, they wouldn’t be speculating on it on a news program owned by Disney, they just aren’t ready to release all the details yet.

CSR is the best choice to house the NBA in a closed bubble, it’s their largest resort built for conferences so there’s plenty of hotel rooms, meeting rooms for press conferences, great pools, nice trails and with the addition of the tower more restaurant choices too. It’s a beautiful resort and the tower lobby is awesome.

I also would not be surprised if Disney sends some of their research team undercover to the Universal parks when it opens to see what social distance protocols, mask rules, sanitation policy, etc. are working and what’s not. I know I would.

 

[andyman8]

I think rumours from reliable sources likely contain some grain of truth. I absolutely believed Pete’s June 1st info was good info at some point, things just changed. Im treating rteetz’s the same. There is probably some grain of truth there or at the very least he’s getting wind of real ideas that are being floated around. Whether they materialize or not is anyone’s guess.

Now do I treat random posters who know a guy who knows a guy the same way? No. Unless they work at the DVC call center .

This. Disney is a very large and dynamic company and most fans don't really really understand just how vast, segmented, and compartmentalized it is. You can have several well-placed sources, but in most cases, it just takes one executive to shut it down (and/or unforeseen circumstances like an economic slowdown or a pandemic). We see this happen all the time with WDI.

For example, it's entirely possible that Pete was talking to reliable sources in WDW but it came down to a decision by just one or two people miles away (Chapek and Iger) to stand down on the June 1 reopening and that was it; June 1 was not happening. I'm not saying this is what happened; it's just an example of how this stuff plays out, especially with Disney. My only issue with Pete's rumor was the repeated use of the phrase "hard deadline," because quite clearly, those don't really exist right now.

I absolutely trust Ryan's rumor. If Disney and the NBA are both publicly commenting on this (which is getting attention from almost all major news outlets, not just sports-focused outlets), it is safe to assume that a Disney-NBA deal is more likely than not at this point. While they absolutely could go forward with a full-scale reopening even with the NBA there, it also makes sense, with what has been explained, why they wouldn't. The NBA deal may very well offset any of the urgency they *might* have felt (I'm not really sure they felt it) from UOR and other nearby parks reopening and it certainly buys them some time if they're not comfortable with compliance at this point.

That said, do I think they're going to keep absolutely everything but DVC resorts and DS closed until the NBA clears in September or October? No, I don't. If every other amusement/theme park around the country is operating or has announced a reopening at that point and WDW, one of TWDC's largest cash cows, still hasn't even identified a reopening timeline, Disney will have a lot of very angry shareholders who will be long past the "high" of bringing the NBA into WDW. That's not to mention how the CMs and the state government feel. This deal probably would kill any last-ditch hope that WDW is opening in June or before/around the Fourth of July.

 

[LSUmiss]

This isn’t just about loyal customers. This is also about safety. Yes it may not look good to have the NBA there but they will be safer there than in each home arena. Guests unfortunately are entitled and think they are above the rules and Disney is concerned about that. If they weren’t I think you’d see more ambition to open up sooner.

Or if they couldn’t get money from any other source, I bet they’d be less concerned about safety then too.

 

[tfiga]

There is no one who loves Disney more than I do. We have gone every year since my youngest was two. He is now 18. He booked a trip as soon as 2020 opened up and is supposed to go June 28th. He has worked for two years including graduation money to pay for his dream trip. I do not have any issues with Disney doing what is best for their company as I want them to succeed and prosper, but I am very upset about the lack of communication. Although I understand they may not be certain on when they are opening, I do believe they know more than three weeks in advance when they are not going to open. If the current plan is July 1st give those who are booked for June that information. Although I am frustrated with Disney more than that, I am disappointed because I feel like the place I love and am loyal to does not value their guests they way I though they did.

 

[SierraT]

I do not watch basketball, don’t like it at all and with the exception of Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant I couldn’t give you a name of a current pro NBA player (I’m an NFL kinda gal). My husband just said Disney could very feasibly stay closed all summer with the NBA as their sole source of income. I thought it was an interesting comment. Of course, he could be saying it because he doesn’t want to go to Disney in the summer. Sneaky bugger if so.

 

[Brianstl]

Does it help to look at it from the perspective of they’re wanting to stay closed longer anyways and the NBA deal possibly helps facilitate that?

I don’t think they would delay opening *because*of the NBA.

The NBA deal won’t keep them closed longer. It would change what resorts are open but they will open the parks when they think they are ready. Negotiations with the NBA could be holding up the opening announcement but it isn’t going to change what the day will be. The NBA isn’t a revenue replacement for Disney. The NBA is to stop the ad revenue bleeding on TV and cable.

 

[TDSAXX]

I do not watch basketball, don’t like it at all and with the exception of Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant I couldn’t give you a name of a current pro NBA player.

Well neither of them is a current NBA player.

 

[vinotinto]

I thought I was super confused this morning with the new “Secure Circuit” reopening rumor, but now I’m *really* confused.

We know that Disney is holding CSR for (probably) the NBA. It’s been blocked off since these rumors started. It’s near the WWoS and it’s easy to control / secure the entrance to keep them in their bubble. It has restaurants, gyms, pools, bars, etc. And, it has 1,915 rooms. So, why is it that people think that Disney won’t open the rest of the resorts and the parks if the NBA is at CSR? 1,915 rooms should be plenty.

Also, why would their families come with them? The entire Disney room is smaller than their kitchen at home. These families are used to having Rec rooms/home gyms, etc. And at home, they can go wherever / do whatever they want / visit whoever they want. If they come to WDW with the players, they are going to be locked down in their Disney bubble for months. Why would they choose that?

 

[LSUmiss]

Is it possible Disney is quite concerned with the possibility of multiple openings and closings?

Maybe they are choosing the slow open to allow a better chance of opening and staying open.

I'm not an NBA fan either. I'm a sad college baseball fan.

Me too & a cautiously optimistic college football fan.

 

[cakebaker]

Definitely! If our trip fizzles out for July I'm going to try to recoup the money I just spent for my latest Platinum AP. It isn't validated yet and I'm going to need that $1,200+ to invest in a new vacation for this summer.

Same here. I have a Plat AP voucher I would’ve validated in March and a pocket full of gift cards. But those spend at DLR too so we’ll just have to see how it all unfolds.

 

[Jrb1979]

The NBA deal won’t keep them closed longer. It would change what resorts are open but they will open the parks when they think they are ready. Negotiations with the NBA could be holding up the opening announcement but it isn’t going to change what the day will be. The NBA isn’t a revenue replacement for Disney. The NBA is to stop the ad revenue bleeding on TV and cable.

No it doesn't change their opening day. I do think having the deal with the NBA makes it so they don't feel they have rush to open. They can stick with their plan as money will be coming in.

 

[cakebaker]

Watching Yulillin’s stream from DS and she’s seeing about 90% compliance with masks and saw a CM stop a guest and make them put their mask on. Says most everyone is maintaining social distancing.