Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[cakebaker]

that is different then the one I was thinking of but may be misremembering

The confusing thing is, the sources all link back to DPB as the source for that verbiage, but that exact verbiage is not there now- tends to make me think they edited it and removed that portion. Which, btw, would really suck that they put out incorrect information regarding the benefits of having a resort reservation and would also explain why they now say resort reservations don’t guarantee you getting a park reservation.

The jaded side of me says removing resort guests from first access would certainly alleviate their problem with being overbooked and would explain why they started allowing people to move their reservations to a time when It appeared they were scrambling to reduce resort reservations. I dunno, sure seems suspicious to me.

 

[RWinNOLA]

Here’s what I find when looking back

“Beginning May 28, 2020, all dining reservations, experience bookings, Disney dining plan and FastPass+ selections will be cancelled. Guests with existing Resort reservations will have priority access to the new park reservation system when it becomes available. Additionally, when reservations for dining and other experiences resume, Guests who had existing reservations will receive priority access to rebook.”

To me, that clearly says what it says. lol 1) resort guests get first priority to the new park reservation system and 2) for dining and experiences existing reservations have priority. This almost exact quote can be found in nearly any blog you want to read, all saying Disney announced this, but I can’t find it on any official Disney source.

Agree. The initial communication I received was exactly the same. What’s confusing to me is how to interpret the sentence in bold text. I read it as if you had a dining reservation at a certain restaurant, then you would get first priority to rebook there. But, the previous sentence would seem to contradict that particularly for dining reservations in theme parks because you would need a theme park reservation before you could get the dining reservation. It gets more complicated without park hopping because many people probably boos dining reservations at different parks in the same day.

 

[Krandor]

Here’s what I find when looking back

“Beginning May 28, 2020, all dining reservations, experience bookings, Disney dining plan and FastPass+ selections will be cancelled. Guests with existing Resort reservations will have priority access to the new park reservation system when it becomes available. Additionally, when reservations for dining and other experiences resume, Guests who had existing reservations will receive priority access to rebook.”

To me, that clearly says what it says. lol 1) resort guests get first priority to the new park reservation system and 2) for dining and experiences existing reservations have priority. This almost exact quote can be found in nearly any blog you want to read, all saying Disney announced this, but I can’t find it on any official Disney source.

thios is the one I was thinking on. Reservation system only mentioned in regards to people who already had existing tickets. Not clear where it leaves people with resorts but no tickets.

“New Ticket Sales and Hotel Reservations: At this time, we are temporarily pausing new ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel reservations so we can focus on guests with existing tickets and reservations. Existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders will be able to make a theme park reservation before new tickets are sold; we will be reaching out to these guests soon to provide additional details.”

 

[cakebaker]

thios is the one I was thinking on. Reservation system only mentioned in regards to people who already had existing tickets. Not clear where it leaves people with resorts but no tickets.

“New Ticket Sales and Hotel Reservations: At this time, we are temporarily pausing new ticket sales and Disney Resort hotel reservations so we can focus on guests with existing tickets and reservations. Existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders will be able to make a theme park reservation before new tickets are sold; we will be reaching out to these guests soon to provide additional details.”

Yes, that’s the newer version.

 

[Ariel 1715]

I read on here somewhere that the new 60 day window for ADRs would only be for non-park restaurants (so for resort TS or the restaurants in DS) and we'd have to wait to secure park reservations before making ADRs inside the parks. I could be wrong, but think it was mentioned in this thread or maybe the resort change thread?

That would make more sense, but the cast member I spoke to said all your dining reservations could be made at 60 days for length of stay if you are at a Disney Resort...

 

[Sandisw]

I am a little confused with the park reservation system being 30 days prior and the dining being 60. Wouldn't you need to know if you can get into the park before making a park dining reservation??

I think initially, the 60 day window for ADRs won’t be up and running and that will be later on. I also wonder if when that does open up the park reservation will be more.

But, once Disney can being people in the park at a capacity level close to normal...and IIRC, most parks don’t run more tha time 50 to 60% of capacity many days...I don’t see it being s big issue,

IMO, July to September is when people without tickets when their window opens may not get what they want, But, initial reports are you will be able to make an ADR in a park after you have that reserved.

 

[rstevens333]

and this year sprinkle in a pandemic, lack of cultural representatives in the world showcase, and the park having more construction going on than I-4, why would you even waste a reservation/ticket day on it?

Riding Living With the Land ten times in a row!!

 

[rstevens333]

As far as free PhotoPass goes, could they just give out free ride photos and videos? That wouldn't encourage people getting in big lines.

 

[CastAStone]

I am beginning to think that “initial reopening period” is June 22-July 11/15. I am really getting the vibe that this information will be altered for reservations when the parks are open.
I do hope they keep the 24 hour pools, though.

I think Disney will put things in place, do the best they can, and then as they see the implications in practice, will rapidly change on the fly 100 times between now and the end of the year.

Even the information communicated for the initial reopening period I’m sure will change if Disney feels it isn’t working/

Maybe because we are AP, there for 8 days, and while not announced they many limit the amount of times you can visit a specific park. MK is obviously going to be the hardest reservation to get. Also we ABSOLUTELY LOVE when the annoying festival crowd aren't there.

Chapek said number of guests will be a function of ability to maintain 6’ social distancing. So I’m betting that DHS will have roughly half the daily admissions of MK, and will as such be the hardest to get.

...what I’m really wondering is how 25% capacity at the theme parks would compare to about 90% capacity at ONLY DVC resorts and FW if that is all they were to have open during initial phase of theme park opening.

I believe that 25% is too optimistic. Disney has not communicated a number but I’m betting that for MK and AK it’s closer to 15% and even less for DHS.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Buy memory maker.

Yep. The solution already exists. Buy select Photopass photos or memory maker.

 

[mmackeymouse]

Honestly, I think that may be a general rule but logistics for certain situations are different. As you said, GF and Poly share a fitness center so those arriving via walkway for that will not be stopped,

But, I don’t think they want guests from maybe WL to drive or Uber over to simply look around without having a reason...how it plays out in practice, we shall see.

I am going with common sense should apply for those 2 resorts

Not even just those two. Look at the Boardwalk resort area. I can't possibly believe that they would not let people at those resorts be able to use restaurants at both sides of the lake.

Speaking of Boardwalk, for years, it was billed as an "entertainment district." So as such, would people be allowed to use BW for the entertainment options? Or...is it just a resort now?

Wilderness Lodge and FW...they are joined by a walking path.

On the same line, Ft Wilderness is marketed as a recreation spot, not just for guests but for anyone to visit.

Like you said, we shall see.

As far as common sense...to me, most on-site guests usually don't travel to other resorts just to "look around." Some maybe sure. But, usually people go to other resorts and spend money. Whether it's at gift shops, ice cream shoppes, lounges, or restaurants...I just think that most people who go to another resort do have a purpose in mind. Hopefully, Disney realizes that.

 

[Krandor]

I think Disney will put things in place, do the best they can, and then as they see the implications in practice, will rapidly change on the fly 100 times between now and the end of the year.

Even the information communicated for the initial reopening period I’m sure will change if Disney feels it isn’t working/

Chapek said number of guests will be a function of ability to maintain 6’ social distancing. So I’m betting that DHS will have roughly half the daily admissions of MK, and will as such be the hardest to get.


I believe that 25% is too optimistic. Disney has not communicated a number but I’m betting that for MK and AK it’s closer to 15% and even less for DHS.

yeah the international theme park organization released their guidelines (SeaWorld and universal participated but Disney did not) but they even had a formula in there to take the usable square footage of a park and divide by a certain number to determine the capacity at 6 feet separation. I have no doubt Disney will use a similar formula even if it isn’t that specific one for number of guests per park.

 

[hereforthechurros]

With June 11th quickly approaching, odds the "park reservation" system going to be up and running by the first 30 day point for theme park openings?

I’m sure that’s absolutely the goal but Remy keeps alluding to issues.

 

[yulilin3]

Not even just those two. Look at the Boardwalk resort area. I can't possibly believe that they would not let people at those resorts be able to use restaurants at both sides of the lake.

Speaking of Boardwalk, for years, it was billed as an "entertainment district." So as such, would people be allowed to use BW for the entertainment options? Or...is it just a resort now?

Wilderness Lodge and FW...they are joined by a walking path.

On the same line, Ft Wilderness is marketed as a recreation spot, not just for guests but for anyone to visit.

Like you said, we shall see.

As far as common sense...to me, most on-site guests usually don't travel to other resorts just to "look around." Some maybe sure. But, usually people go to other resorts and spend money. Whether it's at gift shops, ice cream shoppes, lounges, or restaurants...I just think that most people who go to another resort do have a purpose in mind. Hopefully, Disney realizes that.

There's not a walking path from FW to WL at the moment, and you haven't been able to just park at FW without a dining or recreation reservation for a while

 

[RWinNOLA]

I believe that 25% is too optimistic. Disney has not communicated a number but I’m betting that for MK and AK it’s closer to 15% and even less for DHS.

Could be. I just threw that out there because I’ve heard it mentioned in speculation.

But really, the main question I have is what it the capacity of just the DVC resorts and FW as that would give us some indication of how the number of resort guests compares to theme park capacity.

If total capacity of those resorts is only 20% of theme park capacity, then one would think you have a pretty decent shot of getting a theme park reservation for most of your days in a resort.

 

[BrianR]

Agree. The initial communication I received was exactly the same. What’s confusing to me is how to interpret the sentence in bold text. I read it as if you had a dining reservation at a certain restaurant, then you would get first priority to rebook there. But, the previous sentence would seem to contradict that particularly for dining reservations in theme parks because you would need a theme park reservation before you could get the dining reservation. It gets more complicated without park hopping because many people probably boos dining reservations at different parks in the same day.

Yeah they already messed this up with the DS restaurants. They cancelled a bunch of ours except for one Wine Bar George, and then just silently opened up reservations in their system to everyone on a location by location basis. Got pretty much all of them back, but if I wasn't checking threads on here all day I probably wouldn't have.

 

[CastAStone]

Could be. I just threw that out there because I’ve heard it mentioned in speculation.

But really, the main question I have is what it the capacity of just the DVC resorts and FW as that would give us some indication of how the number of resort guests compares to theme park capacity.

If total capacity of those resorts is only 20% of theme park capacity, then one would think you have a pretty decent shot of getting a theme park reservation for most of your days in a resort.

DVC had 3200 ”2 bedroom equivalents” at WDW before Riviera opened, I’m assuming that’s closer to 3500 now. That would accommodate about 25,000 guests if they were completely full to capacity. In practice, rooms hold less than a capacity number of guests.

Total theme park capacity in normal time has never been disclosed, but I’ve seen estimates of 320,000 from people who would probably have a pretty good idea.

 

[Cliffside]

i am getting a little concerned about resort capacity. I have a reservation at the Boardwalk villas. DVC is usually full and especially with them moving displaced guests from closed resorts. What percentage of the resort do you think they will be filling to try and keep social distancing and try to feed their guests since there will be many dining options not available. Also if people can’t get into parks or resort hop it might get pretty crowded especially for those without cars.

 

[Sandisw]

i am getting a little concerned about resort capacity. I have a reservation at the Boardwalk villas. DVC is usually full and especially with them moving displaced guests from closed resorts. What percentage of the resort do you think they will be filling to try and keep social distancing and try to feed their guests since there will be many dining options not available. Also if people can’t get into parks or resort hop it might get pretty crowded especially for those without cars.

They can not limit the number of rooms at a DVC resort due to it being a timeshare. There is very specific language in the contract in terms of limits of use that don’t seem to apply once the resort has been opened,

It is why they are opening DVC so much earlier than their own resorts, Disney wasn’t completely in charge of that and legally, once certain government orders were lifted or relaxed, resorts needed to be opened.

So, anyone in a DVC resort, especially once parks open, should be expecting them to be full.

 

[cakebaker]

If total capacity of those resorts is only 20% of theme park capacity, then one would think you have a pretty decent shot of getting a theme park reservation for most of your days in a resort.

Not if they aren't giving resort guests only, priority. You'd be competing with anyone who has an existing ticket.