Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[xuxa777]

The NBA signed a $24B, 9-year TV contract with ESPN and Turner.

Yup and that is why they are going to play there most likely, also why they quickly put in the NBA experience last year

 

[KBoopaloo]

That’s my question. It’s getting quite ridiculous. If wdw isn’t ready to give a time frame, then they at least need to say why not.

They have though? They keep saying their decision will be driven by data and not a date. I know no one wants to believe it but I 100% believe that they have multiple working plans and each one’s likelihood changes by the day. This is true in my own organization where we are waffling between multiple potential reopening dates. One seems to be the most likely but is far from being set in stone and we will not discuss any of them publicly until we are more certain. We truly thought we were working towards one date this week and now that appears to be a bit upended and we are back to a lot of .

 

[FCDub]

There is absolutely no way they will hold off getting the engine started on opening and churning revenue just to play the league out. That is something that can 100% be self contained.

Ok.

 

[xuxa777]

Uh ... because there’s a once-in-a-century pandemic going on that literally not a single person alive has been tasked with responding to before?

Seems like a decent reason for not knowing when they’re going to be able to open again

Not a once in a century pandemic, more like a once in the history of the world reaction to a pandemic, nut your point is still true.

 

[Sandiz08]

Disney and Universal wanna outdo each other with the opening.. No doubt about it. It's on their minds. Even if its by a week

I’m seriously thinking it’s about that, so others don’t steal their ideas, but why ?, during a pandemic, transparency and safety first.

 

[AmberMV]

It's pretty clear that WESH tv did not know their cameras and mics were still on

 

[yankeesfan123]

But what about my MLS? Those teams have even more players than an NBA team. I know the MLS was rumored to start earlier than NBA, but I’d think they’d overlap to some extent.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

If one of y’all would just call up Disney and see what the latest opening date rumor is from one of the phone CMs it would help solve this mystery for all of us.

 

[Jroceagles]

Yup and that is why they are going to play there most likely, also why they quickly put in the NBA experience last year

But would they delay guests for the NBA? I doubt that

 

[planecrazy63]

Not a once in a century pandemic, more like a once in the history of the world reaction to a pandemic, nut your point is still true.

To be clear we have had 3 pandemics in the last 102 years, all of which affected more people than COVID-19. Nothing against the response and won't debate the response, but we do need to admit in history (recent) there have been large pandemics.

 

[KBoopaloo]

So these sports league will bring in more than 19 mil a day?

With reduced capacities they won’t be making $19 million a day from guests at the start. Also a lot of the procedural changes for safety will require them to staff more than they normally would for the capacity they are likely allowing in so their profit will be less as a result of that. Without CPs they will also be filling staffing holes with generally higher paid regular staff which will reduce profits again.

 

[jenjersnap]

Just one piece of it: I imagine some furious DVC owners if Disney chooses the NBA over opening in a timely fashion. Next year’s availability is already screwed, I just don’t see them making it worse.

 

[planecrazy63]

Orange County Mayor stated in Q&A just now that they expect all reopening plans to be submitted and he will be reviewing for compliance to CDC recommendations. He said he is waiting final recommendations from the task force tomorrow after close of business.

 

[Tandy]

With reduced capacities they won’t be making $19 million a day from guests at the start. Also a lot of the procedural changes for safety will require them to staff more than they normally would for the capacity they are likely allowing in so their profit will be less as a result of that. Without CPs they will also be filling staffing holes with generally higher paid regular staff which will reduce profits again.

I understand that - I know they will not be making that much but they cannot get to that without getting the wheels in motion. They will not put that off for something that at this point is not negotiated

 

[cakebaker]

Orange County Mayor stated in Q&A just now that they expect all reopening plans to be submitted and he will be reviewing for compliance to CDC recommendations. He said he is waiting final recommendations from the task force tomorrow after close of business.

I missed that, thanks! Maybe they’ll submit, but we won’t know what the details are....until it leaks, which should within minutes of submission. lol

 

[Jroceagles]

NBA is reporting they are near a decision with WDW as the front runner.

I think that will be on conjunction with a phased opening

 

[andyman8]

While the NBA/MLS certainly would bring in big bucks for WDW, I doubt they’d let this seriously affect their timeline for park reopenings. It certainly would have a small impact, but given the capacity restrictions that will need to be in place upon reopening, they won’t have a shortage of hotel rooms. It’s been speculated that some of the Disney Resorts may remain closed for some time even after the parks reopen (kind of like what happened after 9/11). Having a resort full of people not going to the parks certainly beats the alternative of having an empty one. Given the hole they’re in at the moment, they’re going to want any revenue they can get, so if it’s possible to have parks reopen and to have the MLS/NBA play there, they’d go for it in a heartbeat.

They have a lot of gray area. I am not completely sure how they are included in all this since Reedy Creek is basically its own entity. They are within parts of Orange and Osceola county but they don't always have to follow all of those rules.

I remember the Governor in one of his press conferences referencing Disney being included in the parks having to submit their plans like everyone else. It wasn’t in the context of Reedy Creek though. It was offhanded a bit, but I’d imagine that would be the case because Orange County has the final say over the parks since they’re within their county. With Reedy Creek acting as essentially a coalition of two cities, that would only afford them the same rights and authorities as any other Florida municipal city. There are certain things Reedy Creek hasn’t been able to do in the past since they’re not a county. Florida’s laws are pretty thorough in the differing abilities and rights of a county versus city. In the “full phase one” guidelines, it specifies proposal go the county, not the city. The County has always had final say in the past, so I don’t think this would be any different. That’s my thinking on it at least.

 

[brich330]

After these rolling cancellations & lack of transparency (Even with some of it being out of Disney’s control), if they publicly announce they’re going to hold off the opening, so the NBA can have the property to themselves, it would be a breaking point for a lot of people. Yes, Disney is a business, and their shareholders come first. However, Disney is also a brand and social media would have a field day with that. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but I think it would be a bad PR move and definitely a bad guest recovery move. If my money is not good enough for you, there’s another park in town.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I have not gotten cancelled for June 10 yet...but I'm pretty sure it is coming. I think I may just miss the opening by a week.

I'm starting to think that too. June 12 sounded safe when we were thinking June 1st, and now I'm wondering if they'll do the 15th. I keep looking to see if June 12 VAH is cancelled, though I think the emails will go out first.

 

[LSUmiss]

Why not = COVID-19 pandemic.

Well last I checked, Seaworld is also experiencing a pandemic.