Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[TakesFaithTrust&PixieDust]

I don’t understand why people are being so hard on Disney for not knowing exactly what to do in a situation that literally NO ONE has experienced before.
I had an April vacation booked (non-Disney). It was canceled with a week’s notice and they $750 of my paid in full balance and still have not refunded the difference.
I had a June Disney vacation booked. They canceled with three weeks notice, and I already have 100% of my money back.
The difference in these two companies? It made me much more likely to rebook with Disney who has been more understanding of the unprecedented situation and is trying to go with the flow. (In fact, I’ve already rescheduled for July but will likely postpone as I would like for my nephew’s first trip to have character meals and meet & greets, and I don’t see that happening for several months)
I read their response as a company who is trying to open as soon as safely possible and disappoint as few customers as they can.

What would you rather they do? No matter what they say or do, people will criticize it, so of course they’re staying quiet. They’re working with a week at a time so as to keep as many reservations as they can. They’re canceling DVC later than cash reservations because they’re probably going to open DVC properties sooner.
There is no perfect answer or plan right now and people in general need to learn to be more empathetic.

All just my personal opinion of course.

I understand the disappointment many feel on how Disney is handling this unprecedented situation. When we were raising our kids part of the fun of a WDW vacation was the planning. My kids kept a countdown calendar until WDW time. What I find confusing is how easy it seems to be for many to switch to UO. I say that as a UO annual pass holder. To me Disney is a very unique enterprise. Their objective is to make as much profit as possible, just like any other business. What’s different is that to achieve this objective, they market (sell) their product of “magic” and “dreams”. Even their cruise line follows this theme. I believe many guests go for the rides, food, etc. What I’ve never found anywhere else is that feeling I get when I’m walking down Main Street and see the castle in the distance. I feel that I’m home. Nothing wrong with UO but for me it’s just not Disney. I could do both but never just UO without Disney. Guess I’m just a Disney nut

 

[fatmanatee]

I don’t understand why people are being so hard on Disney for not knowing exactly what to do in a situation that literally NO ONE has experienced before.
I had an April vacation booked (non-Disney). It was canceled with a week’s notice and they $750 of my paid in full balance and still have not refunded the difference.
I had a June Disney vacation booked. They canceled with three weeks notice, and I already have 100% of my money back.
The difference in these two companies? It made me much more likely to rebook with Disney who has been more understanding of the unprecedented situation and is trying to go with the flow. (In fact, I’ve already rescheduled for July but will likely postpone as I would like for my nephew’s first trip to have character meals and meet & greets, and I don’t see that happening for several months)
I read their response as a company who is trying to open as soon as safely possible and disappoint as few customers as they can.

What would you rather they do? No matter what they say or do, people will criticize it, so of course they’re staying quiet. They’re working with a week at a time so as to keep as many reservations as they can. They’re canceling DVC later than cash reservations because they’re probably going to open DVC properties sooner.
There is no perfect answer or plan right now and people in general need to learn to be more empathetic.

All just my personal opinion of course.

I don't envy the position they're in. Having a major breakout (even if it's less likely than it was in March) would be catastrophic. That's the fear.

 

[tallguy001]

The day Disney feels the need to follow the lead of Six Flags is the day I sell DVC and cancel our AP

 

[cakebaker]

What I find confusing is how easy it seems to be for many to switch to UO.

This is my problem too. I'm not trashing Universal, but the only thing the two parks have in common is they both have rides. It's a completely different experience and I want the WDW experience. Going to Universal won't fix that. I wish it did. I suppose those switching enjoy Universal as much as they enjoy Disney.

 

[axfather]

Reminder off topic posts will be deleted. This notice is also in the first post. The topic is in the title, pretty simple. This is not the place to discuss medical aspects of the virus, whether masks work or not, and so on.

Praise the Lordy....thanks.

 

[thingaboutarsenal]

This is my problem too. I'm not trashing Universal, but the only thing the two parks have in common is they both have rides. It's a completely different experience and I want the WDW experience. Going to Universal won't fix that. I wish it did. I suppose those switching enjoy Universal as much as they enjoy Disney.

I'm in that camp but my situation is really different. My vacation time is always June and July and we live in Florida. We have WDW AP and haven't been to UOR since before Harry Potter. Our extended family is coming to stay at Ft. Wilderness so instead of booking a vacation somewhere else we decided to stay and do a Disney summer. The switch to UOR is purely because if Disney isn't open, we can't sit around the house for two more months. We need something to do or we will go insane.

 

[LSUmiss]

I don’t understand why people are being so hard on Disney for not knowing exactly what to do in a situation that literally NO ONE has experienced before.
I had an April vacation booked (non-Disney). It was canceled with a week’s notice and they $750 of my paid in full balance and still have not refunded the difference.
I had a June Disney vacation booked. They canceled with three weeks notice, and I already have 100% of my money back.
The difference in these two companies? It made me much more likely to rebook with Disney who has been more understanding of the unprecedented situation and is trying to go with the flow. (In fact, I’ve already rescheduled for July but will likely postpone as I would like for my nephew’s first trip to have character meals and meet & greets, and I don’t see that happening for several months)
I read their response as a company who is trying to open as soon as safely possible and disappoint as few customers as they can.

What would you rather they do? No matter what they say or do, people will criticize it, so of course they’re staying quiet. They’re working with a week at a time so as to keep as many reservations as they can. They’re canceling DVC later than cash reservations because they’re probably going to open DVC properties sooner.
There is no perfect answer or plan right now and people in general need to learn to be more empathetic.

All just my personal opinion of course.

But if the parks aren’t open, a lot of ppl don’t want to still keep their DVC stay. My cousin’s DVC room hasn’t been cancelled, but they cancelled everything else. She should have gotten the courtesy of the impacted trip email.

 

[axfather]

I still want to know if anyone has any good guesses what (if anything) Disney management will pitch at the meeting this week with Orange County? I think this is the week I decide whether to cancel or not. I can't wait much longer as the trip is scheduled of the end of June. Rank speculation, wild guesses, inside knowledge, logic, intuition, are all welcome....for me, I hope/guess they will set a date (which is subject to change) even if far in the future.

 

[imjustafatkid]

But if the parks aren’t open, a lot of ppl don’t want to still keep their DVC stay. My cousin’s DVC room hasn’t been cancelled, but they cancelled everything else. She should have gotten the courtesy of the impacted trip email.

We have had to reschedule twice through DVC, and have had no issue modifying our reservation through our DVC member portal.

 

[cakebaker]

I'm in that camp but my situation is really different. My vacation time is always June and July and we live in Florida. We have WDW AP and haven't been to UOR since before Harry Potter. Our extended family is coming to stay at Ft. Wilderness so instead of booking a vacation somewhere else we decided to stay and do a Disney summer. The switch to UOR is purely because if Disney isn't open, we can't sit around the house for two more months. We need something to do or we will go insane.

I can understand living locally and doing just that. We live 1800 miles away and there's no way I'm investing what it costs just to get to Orlando and not getting to go to WDW. We have planned to take 1 day to visit UO for my grandson, but we normally don't go at all. He was 2 the last time we went and he's 8 now and itching to ride the thrill rides. If we don't get WDW, we'll just plan some other kind of trip, closer to home just to get away for a while.

 

[Sadeesmom]

But if the parks aren’t open, a lot of ppl don’t want to still keep their DVC stay. My cousin’s DVC room hasn’t been cancelled, but they cancelled everything else. She should have gotten the courtesy of the impacted trip email.

And if your cousin has any ADR’s booked, she should have gotten emails as they were canceled. It’s not like they’re keeping it a secret as they cancel, they’re just not making a big deal with a weekly press release.
I don’t see how anyone can have a vacation booked anywhere this summer and NOT realize it will be impacted....

 

[SierraT]

I just received a survey from Loews Sapphire Falls, so they must be preparing their employees for questions they may receive. I don’t think they’ll get much out of my responses because we are super easy to please. Anyway, it basically asked about mobile ordering, housekeeping, what I expect to be different, and which services and amenities should be available.

 

[JenBush]

What I find confusing is how easy it seems to be for many to switch to UO.

I have a WDW vacation booked for July, but I also have a back up UO trip booked. It’s easy for me to switch since I already have flights booked and I don’t want to deal with airline credits. I never do both WDW and UO in one trip. My last trip to Orlando I did UO, this summer was supposed to be WDW, but if WDW isn’t open I’ll be drinking Butterbeer at UO

 

[shoegal9]

I will keep my DVC stays even if the parks are closed. As of now I have a long weekend at the end of June, so I wouldn't mind flying down just to relax, maybe sit at the pool if they are open, eat a meal or 2 at Disney Springs, and maybe visit (gasp!) Universal. Some of us DVC members go often enough that the parks aren't our main focus. I just need to get out of my house.. but the parks being closed would be sad.

My 10 day Polynesian/Beach Club trip in September, however, I may modify the length if the "limited experiences" are too much. I waitlisted Beach Club (which came through) specifically for Storm-a-long Bay and F&W, so that would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[mom2rtk]

But if the parks aren’t open, a lot of ppl don’t want to still keep their DVC stay. My cousin’s DVC room hasn’t been cancelled, but they cancelled everything else. She should have gotten the courtesy of the impacted trip email.

Even if the parks are open, it could be without fireworks, shows, parades and characters. That's the biggest part of the Disney difference to me, so without those things, why not give UO a try?

 

[Violetspider]

I will keep my DVC stays even if the parks are closed. As of now I have a long weekend at the end of June, so I wouldn't mind flying down just to relax, maybe sit at the pool if they are open, eat a meal or 2 at Disney Springs, and maybe visit (gasp!) Universal. Some of us DVC members go often enough that the parks aren't our main focus. I just need to get out of my house.. but the parks being closed would be sad.

My 10 day Polynesian/Beach Club trip in September, however, I may modify the length if the "limited experiences" are too much. I waitlisted Beach Club (which came through) specifically for Storm-a-long Bay and F&W, so that would be a deal breaker for me.

We have a 10 day DVC stay this year, having banked points from last year. The tweens wanted a full SW:GE experience, so our trip would need to be shortened to 5 days if those experiences aren't all available.

 

[Spridell]

But if the parks aren’t open, a lot of ppl don’t want to still keep their DVC stay. My cousin’s DVC room hasn’t been cancelled, but they cancelled everything else. She should have gotten the courtesy of the impacted trip email.

I do think there will be a fair amount of people who would still use their DVC even if parks weren't open.

Wouldnt be crazy amount but I think would be more than people actually think

 

[DisFitz]

I understand the disappointment many feel on how Disney is handling this unprecedented situation. When we were raising our kids part of the fun of a WDW vacation was the planning. My kids kept a countdown calendar until WDW time. What I find confusing is how easy it seems to be for many to switch to UO. I say that as a UO annual pass holder. To me Disney is a very unique enterprise. Their objective is to make as much profit as possible, just like any other business. What’s different is that to achieve this objective, they market (sell) their product of “magic” and “dreams”. Even their cruise line follows this theme. I believe many guests go for the rides, food, etc. What I’ve never found anywhere else is that feeling I get when I’m walking down Main Street and see the castle in the distance. I feel that I’m home. Nothing wrong with UO but for me it’s just not Disney. I could do both but never just UO without Disney. Guess I’m just a Disney nut

For me, it's because those things I find add so much to the magic - characters, parades, fireworks, the "bubble" - are rumored to be missing in the early days of Disney opening. I never identified UOR with those things, so my UOR trip will be mostly the same, plus masks.

 

[Hummingbird]

I hope Disney uses this as an opportunity to change the WDW trip planning process going forward, as the 180 days dining reservations and the 60 day fast pass reservation is difficult under normal circumstances to plan. I hope this has opened their eyes and they now see the need to uncomplicated the planning process as any disruptions can create major issues.Whether it is virtual queues, the Disneyland Max Pass or even the old paper fast passes are better than the current fast pass system in regards to having to make operations changes on Disney's end. The current planning they require does not give them much room to make changes on their end.

This is something I've been thinking about over the last couple of weeks. I wonder how/if this is going to impact/change the way planning is done. It's no secret that I've had my issues with the amount of planning it takes now, so for me (and this is selfish I know) I really hope this cuts back on the need to plan things so far out in advanced.

 

[Farro]

This is something I've been thinking about over the last couple of weeks. I wonder how/if this is going to impact/change the way planning is done. It's no secret that I've had my issues with the amount of planning it takes now, so for me (and this is selfish I know) I really hope this cuts back on the need to plan things so far out in advanced.

I would think it would make the need more intense. People competing for fewer slots for dining/restaurants. At least until things are reopened to full capacity.

Unless you can access virtual queues ahead of time, I don't especially love them. At least not how it was working RoTR. I don't want to have to get to a park everyday before opening for the chance I might get into a virtual queue....can you imagine doing that for every park? Our trips would have to be 2 weeks long.

I hope you can still schedule ahead, but place in a queue for that time instead of fast pass or whatever. Someone can make that work.