Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Mit88]

You are correct, but companies operate losing money all the time, see all the tech companies. Uber has yet to make a profit, lost $1.2 Billion in Q4, Q2 2019 lost $5.2 billion in just three months and may never make a profit. Yes, Disney is differnet than Uber and Disney needs to open asap but does have more runway than most think.

Yes, they have a lot of runway, but its not an endless runway. Bleeding money just because other companies arent turning quarterly profits isnt a smart strategy

 

[BryGuy415]

Attendance will not be an issue, especially operating at 50%

I contend their hesitation is their fear of being associated with a spike in Coronavirus cases. Cruise Lines will take years to recover from this because of their association of the spread. They could open tomorrow and people will flock...how do they open without being blamed for the inevitable spike in cases we will see - that's the question to answer.

 

[Mit88]

I contend their hesitation is their fear of being associated with a spike in Coronavirus cases. Cruise Lines will take years to recover from this because of their association of the spread. They could open tomorrow and people will flock...how do they open without being blamed for the inevitable spike in cases we will see - that's the question to answer.

People will be looking to blame them no matter when they decide to open. They could open back up in 2022 and people will write articles claiming that the virus will return because Disney opened back up.

If they truly fear the backlash of a possible spike in numbers because they opened their parks back up, then theyre probably better off selling the company

 

[LSUmiss]

And the next spike will be a LOT worse, because hospitals are low on supplies. If there's a spike everything will slam shut again and won't open until September at the earliest. Did we learn anything from the 1918 flu pandemic? Maybe not!

For me the saddest result of all this is the loss of the "Disney Bubble". Many people go to Disney World to escape reality. Hard to do that when everyone's wearing masks and keeping social distance! And it might be like that for years to come.

I’ve been thinking about this part. We are booked in June & will most likely still go IF they’re open & there are a few things that will be deal breakers so we are waiting to see what wdw will do. But I started thinking about the bolded last night & how sad it is b/c it’ll be so different from what it was on last trip just this past Feb/March. Lower crowds will be better, but it’s just a reminder of how things have changed so much in such a short period of time .

 

[Mit88]

I’ve been thinking about this part. We are booked in June & will most likely still go IF they’re open & there are a few things that will be deal breakers so we are waiting to see what wdw will do. But I started thinking about the bolded last night & how sad it is b/c it’ll be so different from what it was on last trip just this past Feb/March. Lower crowds will be better, but it’s just a reminder of how things have changed so much in such a short period of time .

It’ll be strange, but temporary. Certain things will change forever, but nothing that will make the Disney experience lose its magic forever. That’s how I personally feel, and to me, it’ll suck to see the major changes in place if my trip in June still takes place, but there would have to be excessive changes (more than mandatory “M” word, no fireworks/parades, no FP) for me not to go if I’m able to.

 

[DLgal]

I contend their hesitation is their fear of being associated with a spike in Coronavirus cases. Cruise Lines will take years to recover from this because of their association of the spread. They could open tomorrow and people will flock...how do they open without being blamed for the inevitable spike in cases we will see - that's the question to answer.

It would be near impossible to trace ANY given case of this virus or even an outbreak directly to any specific theme park. There are just way too many other places a theme park visitor can acquire the virus en route to the park. Think about it. How do you know whether you got the virus in your hometown before you left? Your home airport? The airplane? MCO? And for locals, how do you know you didn't get it at the supermarket that week? I mean, I am local to Disneyland. I go out once a week now to get groceries. If Disneyland opens tomorrow and I go, and then get sick anytime in the next 14 days, I could have just as easily gotten the virus at the supermarket during my weekly run. There is no way to really know.

A cruise ship, where everyone is sharing the same space for days on end is completely different.

 

[gottalovepluto]

An extremely third party person (friend of a relative that is high up in park operations) has told us that right now WDW is preparing for 8/1 open and DL for 1/1/21. They indicated that this was influenced by local govt: FLA gov wants to open CA not so much. Person was not sure this would be announced today. Thought it was more likely statement made about no opening date being set yet would stand. For what it’s worth. Which is admittedly not much. It does make sense to me and seems consistent but who knows. Would they withhold that timeline from investors?

I love people predicting 1/1/21 reopening dates How stupid of Disney would it be to open on New Years Day 2021? (a Friday next year so this would guarantee the most packed opening weekend basically possible)

If they don't want to tank their stock and be accused of fraud (they're still selling non-refundable tickets for the parks this summer and DLR this year) they'll stick with "no date yet but we want to open as soon as possible in a safe matter".

 

[DLgal]

I had a dream a few weeks ago that Disneyland would open on June 18, so that is what I'm going with.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Sheltering billions of people will only get more difficult as the temperature gets warmer. In NY we’ve maybe had 5 days over 60 degrees and outdoor activity spots are already crowded. With consistent warm temperature, it’ll get worse and worse because the options stay slim while the people going outside increases.

Don't think you'll have trouble with that this weekend!

 

[Krandor]

It’ll be strange, but temporary. Certain things will change forever, but nothing that will make the Disney experience lose its magic forever. That’s how I personally feel, and to me, it’ll suck to see the major changes in place if my trip in June still takes place, but there would have to be excessive changes (more than mandatory “M” word, no fireworks/parades, no FP) for me not to go if I’m able to.

Yeah some of the things like minimizing touch points and sanitizing things well in between people using it are procedures and thought processes I hope say around because it will also help with spread of other things too. Things like social distencing and trying to avoid cfrowds are things that will be temproary and eventully lessen and go away mostly.

 

[Tjddis]

People will be looking to blame them no matter when they decide to open. They could open back up in 2022 and people will write articles claiming that the virus will return because Disney opened back up.

If they truly fear the backlash of a possible spike in numbers because they opened their parks back up, then theyre probably better off selling the company

All due respect do you see any reasonable difference between complaints in 2022 and complaints after about 2 months where almost 70000 people died? I’m in no way advocating closure until 2022 or even 2021 but can we agree it’s not completely unreasonable from a public health stand point to say it’s a little too soon?

 

[Krandor]

All due respect do you see any reasonable difference between complaints in 2022 and complaints after about 2 months where almost 70000 people died? I’m in no way advocating closure until 2022 or even 2021 but can we agree it’s not completely unreasonable from a public health stand point to say it’s a little too soon?

Exactly. A couple of weeks of actual declining numbers is not a lot to ask for.

 

[yulilin3]

Exactly. A couple of weeks of actual declining numbers is not a lot to ask for.

and hopefully we will see that. IF they decide to open on June 1st that's a whole month where they can see number trends. IF they focus only on getting Fl visitors we have been declining since April 1st, that's a month of data and then add this month.

 

[Mit88]

All due respect do you see any reasonable difference between complaints in 2022 and complaints after about 2 months where almost 70000 people died? I’m in no way advocating closure until 2022 or even 2021 but can we agree it’s not completely unreasonable from a public health stand point to say it’s a little too soon?

Who determines when its not too soon for a place like Disney to open up? At some point business sense has to come into play. They’re not losing a couple of dollars in this time period, we’re literally talking about Billions of dollars being lost. I can’t stress enough that that is not good. I’m not downplaying the virus, I have left my home 3 times to get groceries since March 13th, so I’m taking this very seriously, but at some point livelihoods come into play. The well will run dry for unemployment. Then what? Homelessness in masses becomes the norm because people don’t want the economy reopened. I never said Disney should have been opened already, or should open tomorrow. I don’t disagree that right now it’s a little too soon, but life needs to move forward at some point. There’s no way we can wait until the virus is dormant. Small businesses are closing for good left and right. Those are jobs that people don’t have to go back to

 

[gottalovepluto]

All due respect do you see any reasonable difference between complaints in 2022 and complaints after about 2 months where almost 70000 people died? I’m in no way advocating closure until 2022 or even 2021 but can we agree it’s not completely unreasonable from a public health stand point to say it’s a little too soon?

Why don’t we wait on that never ending argument until we have a date to judge Disney from our armchairs?

 

[Jrb1979]

Who determines when its not too soon for a place like Disney to open up? At some point business sense has to come into play. They’re not losing a couple of dollars in this time period, we’re literally talking about Billions of dollars being lost. I can’t stress enough that that is not good. I’m not downplaying the virus, I have left my home 3 times to get groceries since March 13th, so I’m taking this very seriously, but at some point livelihoods come into play. The well will run dry for unemployment. Then what? Homelessness in masses becomes the norm because people don’t want the economy reopened. I never said Disney should have been opened already, or should open tomorrow. I don’t disagree that right now it’s a little too soon, but life needs to move forward at some point. There’s no way we can wait until the virus is dormant. Small businesses are closing for good left and right. Those are jobs that people don’t have to go back to

There is a big difference in small businesses, restaurants, and the places that are opening to opening places of large gatherings like theme parks. If people could follow social distancing and wearing masks when they can't be 6ft apart we could open everything now. Its sad the government had to put this measures in place cause people can't voluntarily do social distancing.

 

[Mit88]

There is a big difference in small businesses, restaurants, and the places that are opening to opening places of large gatherings like theme parks. If people could follow social distancing and wearing masks when they can't be 6ft apart we could open everything now. Its sad the government had to put this measures in place cause people can't voluntarily do social distancing.

So Disney waits until people don’t need to socially distance or wear masks. Sorry, Disney, you cant open until the virus is gone, which may be never

 

[DisneyWishes14]

It would be near impossible to trace ANY given case of this virus or even an outbreak directly to any specific theme park. There are just way too many other places a theme park visitor can acquire the virus en route to the park. Think about it. How do you know whether you got the virus in your hometown before you left? Your home airport? The airplane? MCO? And for locals, how do you know you didn't get it at the supermarket that week? I mean, I am local to Disneyland. I go out once a week now to get groceries. If Disneyland opens tomorrow and I go, and then get sick anytime in the next 14 days, I could have just as easily gotten the virus at the supermarket during my weekly run. There is no way to really know.

A cruise ship, where everyone is sharing the same space for days on end is completely different.

You seem to be forgetting about the thousands of CMs who work in the WDW parks and are around tens of thousands of guests every day. Could they trace it back to a WDW park? Maybe not, but if they have numerous CMs getting sick, it will be bad for WDW on many levels.

 

[DaBourques4]

I posted this last week or so, but my cousin is high up in Seaworld & they are preparing for 7/1 opening at the latest but shooting more for mid June opening. She said Universal & WDW are all working toward trying to open around the same time.

I've heard the same from others who work at Disney (not in the parks, but that's all I'll comment).

 

[Jrb1979]

So Disney waits until people don’t need to socially distance or wear masks. Sorry, Disney, you cant open until the virus is gone, which may be never

Not at all. I think they need to take their time in opening and Mickey has to grow a set and enforce the rules they put in place.