Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Spridell]

I agree. It seems to me that it is unlikely they are reopening with buffets with character meets, but all of those can still be booked.

I guess technically you can still do Buffets. On Cruise ships when there is an outbreak of the Norovirus, they keep buffets open but have employees handing out the food to everyone.

I guess you can have CM's there giving the food out at the different stations and allowing certain amount of people up each time.

 

[RWinNOLA]

And Universal did a huge one better than Disney. They said people buying tickets while this was going down could get refunds. Disney said those people can suck it and apply the value to another ticket later.

Right. Also, at Universal you can buy your park tickets the day you arrive because you don’t have all the planning associated with fast passes. You can pay extra for express pass if you don’t want to deal with the lines.

Disney’s fast pass system forces your hand to buy park tickets 60 days in advance. I bought April 20th for a late June trip which seemed reasonable at the time. So I have over $3000 tied up in park tickets (I’m DVC so a package wasn’t an option). If we can’t do Disney this summer, we will do something else, perhaps Universal, and it would be nice to have that money back to spend on vacation this year.

 

[Sarahslay]

I think Disney will not open for a while. Many Regional Theme parks have not even opened yet. Six Flags has yet to open one park. In order for a Disney to open they have to be able to open it safely and make money. They do not want to hire and pay all these CMs if no one is going to show up. With Universal not requiring any type of reservation, I suspect they believe the turn out is going to be very low. They sent out surveys several weeks ago and I bet the surveys showed that people do not want to come even if you paid them. So they figured they do not need to have a reservation system. Six flags and all other major chains have sent out surveys. They know what the demand is, and I think the demand is low for Disney and most theme parks right now and so they do not want to open and pay all theses CM's and no one shows up.

I got a UO survey and that's not what I put, I would go if that's where I wanted to visit this year, and we still may do that depending on what Disney announces as far as when they're opening in relation to our trip (hoping soon so I can plan). Everyone isn't out there goin "no way I will visit, you're nuts, why would I want to do that?!". People will show up, I have many friends and family with booked trips who really want to show up, and I know they're not the only ones.

 

[Kungaloosh33914]

Had to register and jump in with the ‘who cares’ crowd...
NBA? Who cares? As most of the other posters point out, Disney’s second biggest issue is TRANSPORTATION. Aging monorails, iffy bus service- picture each bus at capacity at,say, 10-15 ppl- Disney won’t buy a new fleet of 500k buses to move 15ish people at a time from AKL to a park. Monorail line will be a mile long at TTC. Shuttles from parking lot using every other row, with wind during forward motion potentially infecting all those seated behind. ’that guy’ who won’t wear a mask as he coughs ? 20-30% park capacity? How!?! First come, first served? We will all line up like the maniacs we are at 3:00 am on the highway. All 10,000 cars... Nostalgia is a wonderful balm in these times, but let’s face it- until a vaccine is out there, Disney can ill afford the bad press calling them ‘greedy’ if they open too soon and we get sick. And then sue. Let UO open, see what happens for a week or two, then plan a re-opening using the best practices learned from those who jumped the gun.
Now back to watching my OKW trip on 7 June as it slowly fades away...

 

[whiporee]

Now that I don't have a reason to force myself to be optimistic, I think WDW has decided to wait this one out a while. They are perfectly fine with letting UO group itself with FunSpot and the Eye and Madame Toussad's as the ones desperately wanting patronage and money. WDW is going to wait a while -- probably until after July 4 -- and let themselves be seen as the cautious organization that really cares about you and your family's health.

There haven't been many unquestioned empirical reasons to stay shut beyond June 1, maybe June 8. But from an optics standpoint, the longer the wait the better they look to everyone whose approval they covet. They look better to New York and they look better to Hollywood, and they look better to the people who have decided they'd rather be safer than sorrier in this thing.

As for the NBA, it's not enough people to matter either way. Maybe 4000 people max. But it would give ESPN some content it needs for all of its platforms, and more importantly it would start to set the stage for football to return in August. They can survive without the NBA or MLB for a summer, but if you're talking no football in the fall, that's disaster for a pretty big asset. If they can find a way to get people remembering what they're missing in terms of sports, the appetite for sports to remain closed in the fall will be greatly diminished.

 

[cakebaker]

I guess technically you can still do Buffets. On Cruise ships when there is an outbreak of the Norovirus, they keep buffets open but have employees handing out the food to everyone.

I guess you can have CM's there giving the food out at the different stations and allowing certain amount of people up each time.

It was in the task force recommendations for no buffets or self serve of any kind. While not bound by those, I don’t think Disney would go against them. In the best of times, buffets are a Petrie dish. They could easily turn them into cafeteria style. But it’s the characters coming to the tables that are the issue. You tell a 3yr old she can’t go hug the princesses who walk out and parade through the restaurant. Good luck. lol

 

[Sarahslay]

Had to register and jump in with the ‘who cares’ crowd...
NBA? Who cares? As most of the other posters point out, Disney’s second biggest issue is TRANSPORTATION. Aging monorails, iffy bus service- picture each bus at capacity at,say, 10-15 ppl- Disney won’t buy a new fleet of 500k buses to move 15ish people at a time from AKL to a park. Monorail line will be a mile long at TTC. Shuttles from parking lot using every other row, with wind during forward motion potentially infecting all those seated behind. ’that guy’ who won’t wear a mask as he coughs ? 20-30% park capacity? How!?! First come, first served? We will all line up like the maniacs we are at 3:00 am on the highway. All 10,000 cars... Nostalgia is a wonderful balm in these times, but let’s face it- until a vaccine is out there, Disney can ill afford the bad press calling them ‘greedy’ if they open too soon and we get sick. And then sue. Let UO open, see what happens for a week or two, then plan a re-opening using the best practices learned from those who jumped the gun.
Now back to watching my OKW trip on 7 June as it slowly fades away...

But you're calling out transportation issues that arise when they are running at a higher capacity. Just looking at the availability of rooms in July you can tell there will be less attendance. Any time I ride the bus midday there is rarely another person on the bus, and if there is it's only maybe one family, same with the monorail (I have had a whole monorail car to myself on many occasions midday, even during seriously busy times). I highly doubt we'll see normal operating guest numbers for a while, especially without international travels for the time being, so many of these scenarios aren't necessarily going to be as big of a deal. Are they a concern? Obviously, but they can be worked around.

 

[gwynne]

I guess technically you can still do Buffets. On Cruise ships when there is an outbreak of the Norovirus, they keep buffets open but have employees handing out the food to everyone.

I guess you can have CM's there giving the food out at the different stations and allowing certain amount of people up each time.

JMO-I don't see buffets. Too hard to dish up for each guest and maintaining social distancing. The CM's would have to be like school cafeteria police. Even with a few guests at a time it would be nuts. Please wait. Please go. No ma'am, you have to wait. Ugh.

They might give folks a disposable menu and let them choose, say, up to 5 options at a time. Then the server would bring their food out, pre-plated.

Or they will just change to table service till this is over.

 

[cakebaker]

They are perfectly fine with letting UO group itself with FunSpot and the Eye and Madame Toussad's as the ones desperately wanting patronage and money.

.....and most likely Sea World and almost every other park, water park or entertainment venue of any kind in the area. It doesn’t come off as desperate to me. WDW will stand closed alone. I just find it curious, that ever since the NBA deal seemed to be a near sure thing, suddenly Disney is incapable of opening their doors anytime soon.

 

[Spridell]

It was in the task force recommendations for no buffets or self serve of any kind. While not bound by those, I don’t think Disney would go against them. In the best of times, buffets are a Petrie dish. They could easily turn them into cafeteria style. But it’s the characters coming to the tables that are the issue. You tell a 3yr old she can’t go hug the princesses who walk out and parade through the restaurant. Good luck. lol

Thanks i didnt know that about the task force. Oh yeah and Character interactions, thats going to be gone for a while I think.

JMO-I don't see buffets. Too hard to dish up for each guest and maintaining social distancing. The CM's would have to be like school cafeteria police. Even with a few guests at a time it would be nuts. Please wait. Please go. No ma'am, you have to wait. Ugh.

They might give folks a disposable menu and let them choose, say, up to 5 options at a time. Then the server would bring their food out, pre-plated.

Or they will just change to table service till this is over.

Yeah I can see them doing this also. Every item that is normally on the buffet will be available but it will just be brought to you like table service as much as you want.

 

[vinotinto]

WDW and DL have significantly changed their cancellation and modification policies to ensure no one will lose money on room-only and package reservations. I canceled my package reservation 5 days prior to check-in and received 100% of my money back including my deposit, which, at that time, they were not obligated to refund. If people want to be outraged over travel companies holding on to huge deposits, playing chicken with cancellations and forcing people to either PIF or taking future travel credits, I invite them over to the DCL and ABD threads. WDW could have been major jerks about package deposits and force people to either cancel and lose $200 or reschedule at possibly higher vacation costs so as not to lose $200, but they didn't. If you look around the current climate in the travel industry, what WDW did in modifying their policies is the exception, not the rule.

Agree. I’ve mentioned this before. WDW has been great about providing full refunds compared to other travel companies. NCL cancelled my paid in full cruise on March 13. You have to pay in full 90 days prior to sailing. And then, they made us wait 10 days while they put up a form on their website to request a refund because they were automatically just giving everyone a future cruise credit. I requested the refund immediately, on March 23. It has been 2 months since I filled out the form and they still have not refunded my cancelled cruise. Most everyone in the travel industry is giving a future credit. It is rare to find a travel company that is allowing full payments so close to travel and full refunds instead of future credits.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

But you're calling out transportation issues that arise when they are running at a higher capacity. Just looking at the availability of rooms in July you can tell there will be less attendance. Any time I ride the bus midday there is rarely another person on the bus, and if there is it's only maybe one family, same with the monorail (I have had a whole monorail car to myself on many occasions midday, even during seriously busy times). I highly doubt we'll see normal operating guest numbers for a while, especially without international travels for the time being, so many of these scenarios aren't necessarily going to be as big of a deal. Are they a concern? Obviously, but they can be worked around.

We have also experienced empty buses, monorail cars, and boats as long as we don’t travel in peak times. And who knows what happens to peak times of the day during a phased reopening.

Transportation will require some sort of work around, especially at peak times, but I think it’s solvable, especially if the focus is on distancing guests not disinfecting everything. It might be as simple (although more expensive) as just running a lot more buses, even covering monorail resorts at Epcot and MK, and with lowered crowds that’s enough.

 

[Jrb1979]

.....and most likely Sea World and almost every other park, water park or entertainment venue of any kind in the area. It doesn’t come off as desperate to me. WDW will stand closed alone. I just find it curious, that ever since the NBA deal seemed to be a near sure thing, suddenly Disney is incapable of opening their doors anytime soon.

I think all the NBA deal does is allow Disney to stick with their opening plan as some revenue will be coming in. If the NBA deal didn't happen Disney was probably thinking about rushing their plan.

I do see the plan Rteetz put out happening in some form. Maybe open DVC around the same time the NBA starts but keep parks closed. Maybe end of July open the parks. Hopefully by then more is known about this virus and some restrictions they have planned can be laxed.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Well, you need tickets if you are going to make FPs. And if you are going to the parks you need FPs. So, I don’t see how guests can avoid purchasing tickets now for their July trips.

I personally disagree with the idea that to go to the parks, you NEED to have FPs, but that’s a conversation for another time.

My whole point is that if anyone is booking a trip NOW in the middle of a pandemic with the parks closed until further notice, they should be prepared to apply the value of their tickets to a future trip. If that’s not an acceptable option, then wait to purchase tickets and book FP when the plan is set. I don’t think anyone who is choosing to purchase tickets right now should get a full refund. I would not expect one.

And I do think they should have given people who purchased tickets before the closure an option for a refund.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I have assumed buffets were going to be family style or menu ordering for a while. I think the buffet issue thats harder to solve is the closeness of people in line, not the touching. That’s why I don’t think they’ll go cafeteria style but who knows.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

.....and most likely Sea World and almost every other park, water park or entertainment venue of any kind in the area. It doesn’t come off as desperate to me. WDW will stand closed alone. I just find it curious, that ever since the NBA deal seemed to be a near sure thing, suddenly Disney is incapable of opening their doors anytime soon.

Not to mention Disney is losing a hell of a lot more money than Universal is.

This has nothing to do with being desperate to make money. Workers at the parks are desperate to have a job again and make an income to support their families

If Disney wants to stay closed, they can stay closed, but when every other park becomes open besides them, they will feel the hit.

Nor do I think Disney is going to be known for the organization that cares more about peoples health. They all care about the safety of their guests. I believe so far universal CW has done a better job enforcing then DS has

 

[cakebaker]

If Disney wants to stay closed, they can stay closed, but when every other park becomes open besides them, they will feel the hit.

And no one will ever convince me it’s all in the name of safety. I still believe they’ll open soon, so not going to delve too deep into the whys of opening later, but it’s not to keep us safe.

 

[Jmljasmine]

So I thought I'd test availability too since if we go at all this summer it will be 1 night only for MNSSHP that we bought tickets for prepandemic. I still have my prior reservations that I have yet to cancel so when I try to modify to just the one night, it shows no availability in CR which I want for walking purpose, none in Poly, some in GF but higher rates then I'd pay. And many other resorts no availability. The only ones that are available are a few I have no desire to stay at. If it stays this way and we get the chance to go I guess we'll be off property. I'm starting to think it's not happening though. I really wish they would let us know soon so I can change alternative plans to a better time.

 

[cakebaker]

So I thought I'd test availability too since if we go at all this summer it will be 1 night only for MNSSHP that we bought tickets for prepandemic. I still have my prior reservations that I have yet to cancel so when I try to modify to just the one night, it shows no availability in CR which I want for walking purpose, none in Poly, some in GF but higher rates then I'd pay. And many other resorts no availability. The only ones that are available are a few I have no desire to stay at. If it stays this way and we get the chance to go I guess we'll be off property. I'm starting to think it's not happening though. I really wish they would let us know soon so I can change alternative plans to a better time.

What was your date?

 

[Jrb1979]

And no one will ever convince me it’s all in the name of safety. I still believe they’ll open soon, so not going to delve too deep into the whys of opening later, but it’s not to keep us safe.

A lot of it has to do with money and keeping the Magic. Its a tough balance for Disney more then Universal.