Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[gottalovepluto]

I wonder if that includes all the pots and pans in the DVC villas too. At least you could order paper cups, plates, utensils, but I’m wondering what they’ll about cookware. If they remove cookware, it will force more people who would normally cook some meals in their villa to go eat in public.

DVC might not have to run under the same guidelines for hotels seeing as those rooms are timeshares?

 

[EmJ]

50% seems really high to me. Really high. Not sure if they are counting CMs in that number.

But if you look at max capacity as 100,000. And "average" capacity as 60,000. Even on the low number, 50% is 30,000 inside the Magic Kingdom, which just seems like way, way too many to try social distancing and virtual queues with.

I was expecting 10,000 per park maybe 15,000. 30,000 is just too much.

I know like many people, my decision on whether to keep our trip depended on what all would be open and closed. But, this is equally troublesome for keeping our trip. I am not sure I could go forward with 30,000+ in park attendance.

Disney is between a rock and a hard place on this one. Many people have said that they would not visit the parks unless "everything" (or nearly so) is running. It costs a lot of money to run "everything", which means they need a critical mass of ticket-buying guests to pay for the CMs, maintenance, training, and overhead. Maybe 50% attendance is what they need just to run.

They could cut it down to something a lot lower, but then they would likely have to cut ride, attraction, shopping, and dining options proportionately, which also makes everyone twitchy. So they can't win.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Absolutely, and it’s much more than what’s being discussed out here in California, which is essentially nothing.

I’ve come to the conclusion DLR is so far from opening it’s not even funny

 

[whodatdare]

So, what would one of these "average" days (say 45000) be in terms of of number on touring plans, etc.? A five? A 7?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thought this was helpful We were a wish family and went to give the kids the world. We just got a email from them saying they expect to be closed till Saturday June 27th after communicating with there theme park partners

please see the important message from Give Kids The World President and CEO Pamela Landwirth below;

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a challenge for everyone and impacts each of us in ways we never anticipated. It is so hard to believe that the Village has now been closed for 6 weeks. While we don’t know what will happen next, we are working on plans for how we will reemerge from this crisis. One thing is for sure…we will get through this together and be stronger on the other side.

At this point we anticipate that the Village will remain closed through Saturday, June 27, at which time we will reassess the situation. We are communicating closely with our wish granting and theme park partners as well as other trusted advisors to help guide us in our decision-making.

If you are scheduled for volunteer shifts May 1- June 27, we will cancel your shift and reach out to you to confirm. If you would like to log into Volgistics and cancel your shift(s) on your own, feel free to do that. We will be sure to keep in touch regarding any updates and when we will begin to reopen shifts and welcome families back to the Village. If you have any questions regarding your scheduled shifts, please email our Volunteer Services team at volunteer@gktw.org.

Please know that I continue to hold you all close to my heart and hope that you and your loved ones are safe, healthy, and staying engaged.

With love and gratitude,
Pam
President and CEO
Give Kids The World
Phone: 407.396.0770

Those poor families and kids. That’s going to be a very difficult program to restart anytime soon given who they’re hosting.

 

[TwoMisfits]

50% seems really high to me. Really high. Not sure if they are counting CMs in that number.

But if you look at max capacity as 100,000. And "average" capacity as 60,000. Even on the low number, 50% is 30,000 inside the Magic Kingdom, which just seems like way, way too many to try social distancing and virtual queues with.

I was expecting 10,000 per park maybe 15,000. 30,000 is just too much.

I know like many people, my decision on whether to keep our trip depended on what all would be open and closed. But, this is equally troublesome for keeping our trip. I am not sure I could go forward with 30,000+ in park attendance.

I would love to know how they'll handle an MK leaving scenario with 25,000 people at the same time, let alone 50,000...it's a mob scene already without having to accommodate worry about germ transmission...

 

[jerry557]

I would love to know how they'll handle an MK leaving scenario with 25,000 people at the same time, let alone 50,000...it's a mob scene already without having to accommodate worry about germ transmission...

If no firework show, it likely won't be that big of a mob.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If no firework show, it likely won't be that big of a mob.

It will be with any kinda shorter hours...or when any kinda storm is approaching at the end of the night...

 

[cakebaker]

They can do what they feel is best. The guests will have to deal with it.

Yes, they can do whatever they want but guests don’t have to deal with it. They can say no. Disney has to find a balance between safety and the guest experience or they’ll open and no one will come- at least not in the numbers Disney needs to make opening worthwhile. I have no doubt making modifications guests can live with is their goal.

 

[mmackeymouse]

Disney is between a rock and a hard place on this one. Many people have said that they would not visit the parks unless "everything" (or nearly so) is running. It costs a lot of money to run "everything", which means they need a critical mass of ticket-buying guests to pay for the CMs, maintenance, training, and overhead. Maybe 50% attendance is what they need just to run.

They could cut it down to something a lot lower, but then they would likely have to cut ride, attraction, shopping, and dining options proportionately, which also makes everyone twitchy. So they can't win.

I get it. I don't necessarily agree that 50% is "needed" to run. After all, they make $100+ for limited-attraction After Hour events. But I understand the rock and hard place thing.

Would I want to see a half-open park? Gosh no. But, between the two, I would choose half-open over dangerously, impossibly full every time.

 

[Pickle Rick]

Yes, they can do whatever they want but guests don’t have to deal with it. They can say no. Disney has to find a balance between safety and the guest experience or they’ll open and no one will come- at least not in the numbers Disney needs to make opening worthwhile. I have no doubt making modifications guests can live with is their goal.

I dunno, if this has taught me anything, it's that a lot of people just want Disney period, just in some form. I think people will go.

 

[cakebaker]

I would love to know how they'll handle an MK leaving scenario with 25,000 people at the same time, let alone 50,000...it's a mob scene already without having to accommodate worry about germ transmission...

Guests never all leave at the same time. They can control the number of guests in the hub watching fireworks. They can control the flow into the area after fireworks to control exit crowds. In reality, they're never going to constantly have a 6 ft spread between guests, but coming in closer contact for a few minutes outdoors isn’t the same as hours together indoors. It can be done. They can’t eliminate everything and expect guests to actually come.

 

[Brianstl]

I would love to know how they'll handle an MK leaving scenario with 25,000 people at the same time, let alone 50,000...it's a mob scene already without having to accommodate worry about germ transmission...

I am sure they have reviewed all kinds of crowd behavioral studies and crowd management studies before they came up with these numbers. Disney and Universal have done all kinds of studies on these things over the years that I assume they would have share with the working group while working on the guidelines.

 

[cdurham1]

We had a trip planned starting May 17th. I have all great fastpasses, etc. I haven't bothered cancelling anything yet. May 16th happens to be the last day Disney has "officially" cancelled from what I can tell.

Now, all of a sudden, I am wondering if they might try opening starting May 17th with an ultra low capacity (maybe 10%) and only let in people that still have existing plans. They will need some sort of soft open to start ramping up crowds, right? Seems like a reasonable way to see how crowds are going to behave with the new "normal."

They haven't been allowing plans before June 1 for a while now. I wonder how many people still have plans on the books right now for May 17th to June 1st.

 

[mshanson3121]

Guests never all leave at the same time.

????

I've got several night time experiences at Disney that say otherwise. Does literally every single person leave at the same time? No. Do the vast majority? Yup. Especially at AK, HS, and EP. It's often literally a shoulder to shoulder mass of people.

 

[mhautz]

Here's an idea to reduce capacity while still making sufficient admissions, just do something like Disney After Hours, multiple times a day? Maybe 9-noon, 1-4, 5-8, 9-12? It's so ridiculous it might work!

 

[mhautz]

We had a trip planned starting May 17th. I have all great fastpasses, etc. I haven't bothered cancelling anything yet. May 16th happens to be the last day Disney has "officially" cancelled from what I can tell.

Now, all of a sudden, I am wondering if they might try opening starting May 17th with an ultra low capacity (maybe 10%) and only let in people that still have existing plans. They will need some sort of soft open to start ramping up crowds, right? Seems like a reasonable way to see how crowds are going to behave with the new "normal."

They haven't been allowing plans before June 1 for a while now. I wonder how many people still have plans on the books right now for May 17th to June 1st.

That was always my hope until I finally rescheduled my May 26th trip a couple days ago. If our flights wouldn't have been effectively cancelled (a three hour flight became two four hour flights with a two hour layover in between), I would have stuck it out just in case. As we enter May without any sign they are taking back on non-essential cast members, I just don't know if they could if they want to.

 

[RamblingMad]

????

I've got several night time experiences at Disney that say otherwise. Does literally every single person leave at the same time? No. Do the vast majority? Yup. Especially at AK, HS, and EP. It's often literally a shoulder to shoulder mass of people.

Then you have lines to all of the transportation. And if you drove, you then have to take additional parking lot transportation to your car. It’s a big production to get back to ones hotel.

 

[cakebaker]

????

I've got several night time experiences at Disney that say otherwise. Does literally every single person leave at the same time? No. Do the vast majority? Yup. Especially at AK, HS, and EP. It's often literally a shoulder to shoulder mass of people.

There have been times yes, but the really huge mass of humanity happens when the crowd from the fireworks is dispersing. Once that thins out, exiting gets more manageable. Limiting the number allowed in the hub and Main Street during fireworks would fox that. My comments were in regards to the MK only. Haven’t given any thought to the other parks, but I’m sure Disney has.

 

[randumb0]

50% capacity is way too high. The Haunted Mansion line would back up to Thunder Mountain. I don't expect Disney to adhere to this