Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[mattpeto]

Unfortunately, there are many families that save up for Disney. To spend money to go, and there is potential you could get sent away because of a high temperature and you don't have a place to stay, that is not worth doing for some people. If there is a possibility that the hotel won't check you in or ask you to leave early, I think that should be made clear to guests.

Right now, if I were to go, I know I can't go in park if I am found to have a high temperature. Back-up plan is to stay in the hotel. But if I can't go to hotel, that's a problem.

ETA: looking back, I think I misinterpreted the quoted comment to mean going on vacation instead of temperature check. But for my response, I still think this could be a concern for some families.

Honestly, if you are the type of vacationer taking your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disney or you hit it every 3 or 4 years, this is not the time to go. I mean people have to know that, right?

If you are a local or a regular visitor and can deal with the heat and the masks, it might make the risk worth it if you really want a more intimate park experience.

 

[MouseEarsMom33]

I'm basing my comments on Hard Rock Hotel. If they are doing temperature checks, then it is likely Disney may too, seeing all the precautions they are making.

 

[gatechfan99]

disney hasnt Even said they doing temp checks on check in. Only going into parks.

Recognizing that Disney hasn't officially mentioned this yet, I will say that, if true, this could be one of the biggest problems from a PR standpoint that Disney could walk in to.

It doesn't stretch the imagination to see a big family of 8 with Grandma and Grandpa fly in from across the country to check in together at 11 at night, only to find one of the kids has a temp of 100.5 from some GI bug, but the whole family got denied entry and had to scramble to find an ER (which only lets the kid and one parent in) and have the other 6 and all their luggage try to figure out where they can stay in the wee hours of the morning. Sounds like a really bad story on the local news that goes viral quickly.

If Disney finds a fever and says, you can check in but can't get a "cleared to roam free" wristband until you've gone somewhere to get a Covid test, ok. But personally, I'm not going to freak out if I'm staying in a resort and someone is allowed to check in and stay in their room with a fever. Maybe that just comes from having more of a comfort level with illness since I work in a hospital, but it seems like all these other measures are designed to give you a little reassurance if something like that happens.

 

[gotomu212]

Well Disney hasn't really "executed" its plans yet. Also, all Universal had to do was deal with the logistics of the parks and CityWalk. They don't control the hotels, Loews does.

I'm not saying Disney is perfect or even that they are going to get it right, but it seems as though they are trying to be comprehensive in their plans to reopen instead of doing things on an ad hoc temporary basis. Based on legit reporting, they are completely overhauling their reservations systems (for resorts, parks, FP, ADRs, etc.) instead of just trying to force their existing systems to deal with the new reality in a way that might not work going forward. It seems as though Disney is trying to do it right the first time, which simply takes time. Sure, it's guaranteed that there will be glitches, and they may make wrong choices in their planning, but at least they are trying to do it holistically instead of just fixing leaks as they pop up.

WDW is a much more complicated beast, BUT a lot of that is also tied to how complicated they’ve made planning in comparison to Universal. I’m a big fan of both, but hands down Universal is easier to understand and plan- restaurant reservations 2 days to 2 weeks out, stay at an express pass hotel so no FP plans, and the hotels are 3rd party managed but are interconnected with the park (and I’d think there would be more complication with a 3rd part management as opposed to sole control), and Universal has 3 parks opening to WDWs 4.
Personally it feels like Disney is having to reinvent and completely overhaul because things had gotten so complicated- and they have the added problems of DVC and the guest recovery missteps they made.

 

[skeeter31]

Recognizing that Disney hasn't officially mentioned this yet, I will say that, if true, this could be one of the biggest problems from a PR standpoint that Disney could walk in to.

It doesn't stretch the imagination to see a big family of 8 with Grandma and Grandpa fly in from across the country to check in together at 11 at night, only to find one of the kids has a temp of 100.5 from some GI bug, but the whole family got denied entry and had to scramble to find an ER (which only lets the kid and one parent in) and have the other 6 and all their luggage try to figure out where they can stay in the wee hours of the morning. Sounds like a really bad story on the local news that goes viral quickly.

If Disney finds a fever and says, you can check in but can't get a "cleared to roam free" wristband until you've gone somewhere to get a Covid test, ok. But personally, I'm not going to freak out if I'm staying in a resort and someone is allowed to check in and stay in their room with a fever. Maybe that just comes from having more of a comfort level with illness since I work in a hospital, but it seems like all these other measures are designed to give you a little reassurance if something like that happens.

That family of 8 with grandma and grandpa shouldn’t be flying across the country to go to WDW this summer. They aren’t opening these parks this summer for normal vacations.

 

[Lord Fantasius]

So you think the union wants face coverings due to the demands of a handful of hypochondriac members.

No, I think in the current situation face coverings are very much warranted for CM's, regardless of whether the union wanted them or not, as I'm sure it's the Corporate lawyers that are making it mandatory at the moment. The union probably came in and said, ok, if you are requiring face masks then you will provide them and they will meet these requirements. What I was trying to lead to (and probably did a bad job on my segue) is, that later, once face masks become optional and Disney starts back up with live performances, it is only going to take one or two constantly complaining individual(s) that say they can't perform now because they're afraid of catching something, or gets sick, etc., etc., and then Disney is going to bend over backwards to meet the demands of that one or small group of individuals...every office has one or more of those types of employees, and no matter what Disney does in this situation, it's almost a lose-lose for them at this point until the laws catch up to provide protection for employers.

Right now, Disney is ripe for lawsuits from both within and without. If you require masks to be worn by all CM's and guests, attendance is going to stay low as there will be very little entertainment and Disney will lose money on the parks as people will stay at their resort as it's too much hassle to go to the parks as the return on entertainment value is so small...which will then spiral down leading to a decline in the budget for upgrades, which leads to further decline, which eventually leads to WDW morphing into a 47 square mile Disney-themed retirement village. Or families, especially, are going to tire of wearing masks outside and on the rides, and if Disney tells the CM's they can to take off their the masks so they can sign and dance and perform, guests are going to complain about being exposed to the virus and tell everyone it's not safe to go to Disney, and then all we'll be left with is 47 square miles of River Country.

 

[gatechfan99]

That family of 8 with grandma and grandpa shouldn’t be flying across the country to go to WDW this summer. They aren’t opening these parks this summer for normal vacations.

The first video of people I saw going in to Legoland yesterday at opening was what appeared to be a grandma in a scooter with a grandchild in the lap. Yes, I don't know where they came from, but the point is people are still going to be coming, even if others think it's a bad idea. Not to create too much of a hypothetical, but there will not be universal cancellations by otherwise healthy families that had months ago bought all their Disney tickets and plane tickets for mid-late July. I'm just saying it only takes one who is ready to cause a problem to create a viral social media scene with that kind of bad press. They need to think of an alternative other than, sorry, you're out on the street, hope those plane tickets didn't cost you too much.

 

[Anthony Vito]

I think you see the long breaks when one series finished in 5 and the other one finishes in 7. I'm pretty sure if all go to 5 they move on to the next series quickly but I'm not an NBA expert.

(Not to get too far down this road, but it could be relevant as to whether the dates the NBA are there are hard dates or flexible) You may be right - I have been trying to remember and honestly can't, and it doesn't seem like a research rabbit hole I feel like going down. I think the Finals though are usually set in advance since they are on network TV, I think they try to have the dates down well in advance. So if both conference finals ended in 4, you might still have the Finals start on the same date. again, I could be wrong, and the conference finals for at least one of the teams have gone 7 for several years now (I'm pretty sure the Warriors were taken to 7 games for each of their conference finals series - I know 2016 OKC took them 7, 2018 and 2019 Rockets took them 7, can't remember 2017).

Edit: I was wrong - 2019 Warriors swept conference finals over the Blazers; played Rockets in conference semis and that went 6, not 7. Checked 2017, that was a sweep of the Spurs. Cavs only went 5 in their conference finals. There was a full week until Finals started.

 

[cakebaker]

That family of 8 with grandma and grandpa shouldn’t be flying across the country to go to WDW this summer. They aren’t opening these parks this summer for normal vacations.

Is there some restriction Disney has put in place that would prevent a family of 8, including grandparents from visiting? They are opening for anyone who cares to go. So the situation used as an example could absolutely happen.

You may think someone shouldn’t visit, but WDW certainly has not given any indication that’s what they think.

 

[Rebma512]

Some on another thread were discussing their room code changed. I think it’s under Resorts - I cannot remember the thread sorry. But yes others were talking about it.

Thank you, I’ll look around. The odd thing is(maybe not so odd considering what I’ve heard of Disney IT) my room reservation code hadn’t changed. Dining plan still in tact too, along with park hoppers on tickets

 

[OhanaWoman]

I think once universal opens this week and people start taking off their masks because of the heat, Disney will change the mask required rule for their parks when they open. Thank goodness universal is opening soon so disney can see the effects of the new rules before they open and adjust accordingly

 

[PixarBall]

I think once universal opens this week and people start taking off their masks because of the heat, Disney will change the mask required rule for their parks when they open. Thank goodness universal is opening soon so disney can see the effects of the new rules before they open and adjust accordingly

They won’t change the rule if universal can’t handle enforcing it. Cases are going up in every state that has opened early and these protests will probably make the cases rise even more. I don’t think masks will go away at the earliest until a vaccine is here. Seems like Disney springs and city walk haven’t had any major issues handling it anyway.

 

[Krandor]

I'm basing my comments on Hard Rock Hotel. If they are doing temperature checks, then it is likely Disney may too, seeing all the precautions they are making.

Disney has all the online check-in stuff which is even better to use now so I don't see temp checks on check-in. Temp checks before you get on a bus with a bunch of strangers? very possible.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1268002834613596160

 

[SaintsManiac]

Did anyone else get a notification from MDE saying something along the lines of (wish I would’ve screen shotted it) your vacation has been effected please contact tour TA. I have AKL booked for sept 28-oct 6. Cash. Originally booked in April and re booked with free dining (Recovery) for sept. Everything still looks the same in MDE haven’t actually checked on the computer, I know sometimes they can show diff things. Got the notification around 6 cst. Thought for sure I’d see a swarm of ppl talking about it here.

I did and my trip is May 2021. I don't think it means anything.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I am really curious how Disney is going to do this at their hotels.

They are big on wanting you to use online check-in and go straight to your room. They dont want people in the lobbies.

Again, the only thing I can think of is the guard house at every resort. Well lets see.....

I would guess they will have certain entrances open/manned, if they do this, or have checkpoints along walkways to entrances. Getting your temp taken is very quick, luckily.

 

[Krandor]

The first video of people I saw going in to Legoland yesterday at opening was what appeared to be a grandma in a scooter with a grandchild in the lap. Yes, I don't know where they came from, but the point is people are still going to be coming, even if others think it's a bad idea. Not to create too much of a hypothetical, but there will not be universal cancellations by otherwise healthy families that had months ago bought all their Disney tickets and plane tickets for mid-late July. I'm just saying it only takes one who is ready to cause a problem to create a viral social media scene with that kind of bad press. They need to think of an alternative other than, sorry, you're out on the street, hope those plane tickets didn't cost you too much.

Do we even know that Unversal is saying "sorry you can't stay at the hotel" to people who fail temp checks at check-in? And if there is going to be a social media eruption from somethnig likethis, it will happen to universal in the month they are open before disney does.

I think you are creating a problem that doesn't yet exist and likely won't.

 

[Krandor]

I think once universal opens this week and people start taking off their masks because of the heat, Disney will change the mask required rule for their parks when they open. Thank goodness universal is opening soon so disney can see the effects of the new rules before they open and adjust accordingly

I disagee. What I'm honestly expecting is people are not going to follow the rules well which is going to result in numbers NOT continuing to drop. Maybe not a big spike but at least a long plateu which then isn't going to result in places saying "oh well drop the restirctions" but resulting in us needing the restrictions for a longer period of time.

None of these restrictions are fun and none of us like them but if we can do them for a short period we can start to get rid of them. If we don't, they are here for a lot longer.

 

[Eric Smith]

Do you like Harry Potter? They did a truly awesome job with that.

I found my brief UO trips much more relaxed compared to Disney, might be worth it for a few days if you reach a point where you just wanna get away and forget the world for a few days. I also found their RPR and SF properties nicer than Disney’s. (And the service at RPR was waaaay beyond Disney’s standards.)

I have never done more than 1 park day and 2 hotel nights but this crap going down with Disney (the CL thing with no notification & no answers has me steamed- I don’t believe that person will turn out to be a one-off) has me thinking a few days at UO might be really nice. I’d love a shot at the new Hagrid’s ride...

Why is the club level thing such a source of frustration? They’re not able to provide the service so they’re refunding the difference. Seems fair

 

[Eric Smith]

WDW is a much more complicated beast, BUT a lot of that is also tied to how complicated they’ve made planning in comparison to Universal. I’m a big fan of both, but hands down Universal is easier to understand and plan- restaurant reservations 2 days to 2 weeks out, stay at an express pass hotel so no FP plans, and the hotels are 3rd party managed but are interconnected with the park (and I’d think there would be more complication with a 3rd part management as opposed to sole control), and Universal has 3 parks opening to WDWs 4.
Personally it feels like Disney is having to reinvent and completely overhaul because things had gotten so complicated- and they have the added problems of DVC and the guest recovery missteps they made.

That happened because a lot more non-local people want to go to Disney World than Universal. Universal is a locals park so it lends itself to less planning.