Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[HuskieJohn]

NBD but my Disney Springs reservations at Raglan Road for 6/23 are no longer on MDE. I however have not received an email of cancellation. I am thinking that MDE has the same issue as the FP+ did yesterday.

 

[Tandy]

Right. It's clear to me Disney really wants to reopen as soon as it is possible to do so. That means, they don't want to cancel people in the next XX number of week/months because then they may miss on bookings when they reopen.

And can ya'll imagine what a disaster it would be if they cancelled all the way to XX date and then they reopen? People are complaining about the last-minute cancellations, but I think it would be much worse to get cancelled and then it turns out that they are able to open.

Disney is at this point a ski resort waiting on it to snow. Why would they cancel reservations a month out when it could snow next week

 

[courtney1188]

Calling isn't necessarily what's being asked here. A simple email will do. And yes, that's do-able.

What? They were responding to a post that literally said they were upset about finding out through email.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My ADR for Morimoto Asia in DS on 6/5 was just cancelled. I'm not sure if Morimoto Asia is operated by Disney. If so, that seems to be an indication that they may not be planning on opening the Disney owned restaurants until after that at least...

I suspect Disney blanket cancelled all ADRs made through them so anyone who still intends to go to DS during this time should contact the restaurant direct.

 

[andyman8]

They can control crowds with limited hotels and park tickets for reduced capacity. The holiday won’t have anything to do with capacity other than hitting it sooner on a holiday weekend versus a random day.

But one would assume they have more resort rooms booked on property, requiring more capacity than, for example, a random weeknight in August. I don't think they're going to pick random reservations to cancel just so they can be open on the Fourth. Anyways, Fourth of July is generally the second busiest day of the year behind NYE; common sense says there's no way they'd open up and start testing these new protocols on a weekend which has some of the highest demand for the year. Yes, they could limit it, but they'd be putting just-implemented systems like park reservation systems under ridiculous pressure.

They also don't want people rushing the park when it first opens. If people see "Disney World reopening for Fourth of July" on the news, you could have a whole slew of people (some not even aware that a reservation would be required) showing up, given that many Americans will get a long weekend that weekend this year.

I also say this as someone with a Fourth of July trip planned. I'm not cancelling, but I'm very aware that the trip is more likely than not to be cancelled. Unfortunately, I absolutely don't see them opening on or right before Fourth of July weekend. If they want to be open for it, they'd have to open in mid-June so they could test and adjust their new protocols and work towards ramping up capacity a bit. It would be an absolute disaster if they, for example, opened June 29 with one park operating at even a third of its capacity. There would be lots of logistical issues plus angry guests. I think a lot of Disney fans are underestimating the true extent of changes we're going to see in the parks. It's going to be a very different experience, and you don't just iron the kinks out of that overnight.

 

[tinkerhon]

Curious - has anyone had their Fireworks Dessert Party booking ( if you had one, obviously ) cancelled ?
( Via email, or maybe disappearing from MDE?)

(For dates AFTER June 6-7) - or whatever the most recent cancellation dates are? I have the Garden Party booked for July and pretty sure that's not happening

 

[Mark Thornhill]

Safe to say Disney is not leading the charge. I personally assumed the Universal and smaller parks like Six Flags would wait for Disney to see what they do. Obviously not the case and good for them.

It’s not about who’s opening the earliest. It’s about communication. I feel for everyone on here. As for DVC, the idea that they are cancelling reservations only a week out is ludicrous.

I have two contracts with DVC. BLT and AKL. Just agreed to sell to third party and waiting to see if DW will match. Got a crappy price for them but don’t care. Shame.

 

[zemmer]

Curious - has anyone had their Fireworks Dessert Party booking ( if you had one, obviously ) cancelled ?
( Via email, or maybe disappearing from MDE?)

(For dates AFTER June 6-7) - or whatever the most recent cancellation dates are? I have the Garden Party booked for July and pretty sure that's not happening

Mine is still showing in MDE and I haven’t received a cancellation email for June 24.

 

[tinkerhon]

Mine is still showing in MDE and I haven’t received a cancellation email for June 24.

Thanks much !

 

[Tiki Birdland]

I disagree. If people want to speculate on when they can go, let them. That way you have an idea of demand and you can space out reservations. It's very valuable data and probably why they said any capacity they open at they can fill. Disney is doing it with a very minimal reservation fee and a very liberal cancel at any time and we'll give you your money back policy. Honestly, it's up to people not to go crazy when indefinitely actually means indefinitely.

I've got to get advanced approval for holidays. Taking reservations says, "We'll be ready for you then".

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Thank you for the info. I'm perfectly fine by myself at Disney. Just wasn't too sure about UO. I love HP, so I've been wanting to go. I was waiting for when I finally move to Florida, but I think that maybe too long of a wait as selling a home in Illinois is pipe dream right now.

I agree that USO is also super fun as a solo. It's almost more so, especially if you stay on property. Their hotels are great & some are walking distance to the parks. Since you park hop through CityWalk or on the train, there's less of the planes trains & automobiles hassle (or monorails, busses, and boats) when you're just staring at your phone alone waiting to get to the next park. I like that they have more single rider lines too! I do feel like USO is sort of like DLR - you can get a ton done in a day or two. That being said, multiday tickets are cheap compared to Disney and I seriously love their "deluxe" resorts.

 

[Tiki Birdland]

What? They were responding to a post that literally said they were upset about finding out through email.

This issue here is advanced warning. A week advance warning isn't sufficient

 

[Brianstl]

Safe to say Disney is not leading the charge. I personally assumed the Universal and smaller parks like Six Flags would wait for Disney to see what they do. Obviously not the case and good for them.

It’s not about who’s opening the earliest. It’s about communication. I feel for everyone on here. As for DVC, the idea that they are cancelling reservations only a week out is ludicrous.

I have two contracts with DVC. BLT and AKL. Just agreed to sell to third party and waiting to see if DW will match. Got a crappy price for them but don’t care. Shame.

I think the week out canceling of DVC is for legal reasons. If they cancel further out and the state tells them timeshares can open in a week they have probably put themselves in legal jeopardy when it comes denying people the right to use their property.

 

[jknezek]

I've got to get advanced approval for holidays. Taking reservations says, "We'll be ready for you then".

We're in the middle of a pandemic that shut down the world in an unprecedented manner. If you want to try and book a vacation while it was still going on, you took your chances. Maybe it pays off for some, clearly it didn't pay off for others. I'm just amazed that people thought Disney had some magic crystal ball a couple months ago, especially after they basically panic closed on short notice. Disney took a gamble, the people who booked took a gamble, and both lost to some degree.

The place only FEELS magical, it doesn't actually have a magic mirror.

 

[e_yerger]

This issue here is advanced warning. A week advance warning isn't sufficient

Considering that Florida is already in their opening phases, I think a week at a time makes sense. We have to understand that Disney also wants to open as soon as they can because they are hemorrhaging money right now each day they are closed. If they cancel months at a time, and then the first week of June the Governor is like "EVERYTHING IS OPEN WOOPIE!" then Disney is SOL on all those reservations they cancelled.

 

[Hjs33]

Disney has announced that they have come to an agreement with unions on the safety measures for workers related to opening of Disney World. One step closer.....

 

[e_yerger]

Disney has announced that they have come to an agreement with unions on the safety measures for workers related to opening of Disney World. One step closer.....

link??

 

[tink2424]

Safe to say Disney is not leading the charge. I personally assumed the Universal and smaller parks like Six Flags would wait for Disney to see what they do. Obviously not the case and good for them.

It’s not about who’s opening the earliest. It’s about communication. I feel for everyone on here. As for DVC, the idea that they are cancelling reservations only a week out is ludicrous.

I have two contracts with DVC. BLT and AKL. Just agreed to sell to third party and waiting to see if DW will match. Got a crappy price for them but don’t care. Shame.

I feel for you! They really haven't handled the DVC members very well. I think everyone understands this pandemic is unprecedented but transparency is key. They really could be putting out videos with some information of what they are doing behind the scenes to ensure that they can open safely for visitors and to restore jobs to their employees and not really say when. They could also do what someone here stated a few pages back and say they are trying to open but with where things stand right now they can't. Communication is really key even if you have nothing definitive to share. Just show that you genuinely care and are trying to do the right thing.

DVC is also interesting since you would expect them to be the most loyal of their fanbase as they "own" a piece of the mouse. Either way I think Disney fans will not look back on this period as Disney handling this properly...

 

[Krandor]

We're in the middle of a pandemic that shut down the world in an unprecedented manner. If you want to try and book a vacation while it was still going on, you took your chances. Maybe it pays off for some, clearly it didn't pay off for others. I'm just amazed that people thought Disney had some magic crystal ball a couple months ago, especially after they basically panic closed on short notice. Disney took a gamble, the people who booked took a gamble, and both lost to some degree.

The place only FEELS magical, it doesn't actually have a magic mirror.

Next you are going to tell me disney can't control the weather.

 

[Farro]

Next you are going to tell me disney can't control the weather.

No, they can't.