Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Disdreamprincess]

What a difference a day makes

 

[AmberMV]

Remember when we fought with each other all day yesterday about AP extensions? Well, Disney sure rocked everyone's world right off the bat this morning.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I'm really surprised that it seems 2020 room only onsite guests are being lumped in with the general public for ticket purchases. You would think that there would be a priority given... it's easy to get more $ from people already opting to stay inside the bubble.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

All this before lunch. It is definitely going to be a buckle up day.

 

[constanze]

It said something about having "options" for people with hoppers but the page it redirected to doesn't mention anything about them (yet) ...

I'm still hoping they let us have a "hopping" option to evening Epcot for the festival...I know it's a longshot...but what the heck...a girl can dream.

 

[FinallyFL]

I already have to take a battery pack to keep my phone from dying while I'm in the parks. No way do I want to have to use it for anything else. Although without FP+ I guess the only thing I'd need it for after I get into the to park is for payment.

 

[Leigh L]

Is it in 2021? Per the website: "If you have a room-only reservation at a Disney Resort or other select hotel for a stay in 2021, please call the Disney Reservation Center or call your travel professional beginning on June 24 to upgrade to a vacation package with tickets—and then make your theme park reservations."

Could it be that phrase means "soon"....as in plan your vacation now and "then make" ---- as in a window closer to your trip ---- your theme park reservations?? Could this just be poor wording on Disney's part as they scramble to get everything together?

How are their systems going to handle everyone booking at once on Monday? Seems staggering 30-60 days out would make sense?

 

[Pens Fan]

Would you be willing to purchase an AP? You can still do that now. I'm in the same boat. I have a resort reservation at the FW Cabin this December, but no tickets. I'm guessing (and hoping) that by purchasing an AP voucher this weekend that I will be able to make park reservations on June 22 along with anyone else who has a resort reservation and an existing ticket or AP. If I don't get the park dates and arrival times that I want and/or over the next few months, it looks like the park experience won't be worth going, I will just cancel my resort reservations and activate my AP voucher in a future year.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I did think of that. However, it's not for me. It's for my son and his friends. My son definitely would buy an AP as we are DVC, but he's the only one that actually has tickets. I can't see the others forking out that kind of cash as they probably won't be back again within a year. The only reason they could afford it now is we were giving them the free room using our points.

 

[Eric Smith]

I hope you're right. But here's the thing. These are four recent college grads dealing with an abysmal job market and limited funds. We are happily helping them out by giving them the room free of charge using our DVC points. But I can't in good conscience advise the three that don't have tickets to buy them on the off chance they might actually get into a park for more that 2 or 3 days for the week they plan on being there and probably several hours after opening if they can get in at all.

I get it. Everyone has a sad story. I've tried to stay out of this thread and let things just happen, but this has kind of thrown me for a loop.

For those of you with tickets, I actually am happy for you. I hope you get the slots you want have a magical vacation.

That all makes sense and it’s a bad situation. If they don’t have tickets yet, you should at least be able to know what the reservation availability is like by the time they are able to buy tickets again.

 

[Yooperroo]

We have 17 days booked starting July 10. We certainly don't want to be there 17 days with the number of restrictions/limited experiences. But we'd entertain going for a week. I was hoping to get information about our resort stay and whether we can modify our existing stay before having to make reservations.

 

[Raggou]

Still havnet seen an answer to this so im guessing we dont know?

So the most important thing is missing
What page will be used to actually make the reservations? Does anyone know the page that we will need to logon to on Monday or whenever our turn to reserve is?

 

[Ninjagrrl]

Could it be that phrase means "soon"....as in plan your vacation now and "then make" ---- as in a window closer to your trip ---- your theme park reservations?? Could this just be poor wording on Disney's part as they scramble to get everything together?

Oh no you did not just go there, lol!

 

[koszmok]

How do people already have tickets for their 2021 trips? Are these tickets bought originally for a 2020 trip that now work for 2021 due to the date extension?

Nope. You can buy tickets only in the UK for 2021. And in theory my ticket will be valid until 12/31/21 I bought it before Disney started to stop selling tickets which are valid for after 09/26/21. They said they will honour the tickets which were bought until now (they stopped selling it 2 days ago on Wednesday).

 

[Searc]

I wouldn’t expect big resort news or anything today.

Who says Disney doesn't read this board?

 

[alison228]

Finally caught up and decided to just give up on a 2020 reservation after our cancelled trips and this news!
Anyways, getting ready to book a trip 6/28 for February. I NEVER book this far in advance. Did it say for AP's if they can only reserve a maximum amount of park reservations per month or anything like that? I'm wondering if it's worth getting AP's for the 2 trips I'm planning next year (Feb and Oct/Nov), or if I should hold out and just get a ticket package considering there may not be hopping by February.

 

[rteetz]

Shipping out complimentary Magicbands is simply a nightmare right now.

This is one headache Disney can eliminate in 6.5 months and I'm sure the logistic team is popping Champaign bottles as we speak. The Magicbands is loved by Disney vacationers and won't go away unless there is something better.

R-E-L-A-X

I’d say the bands are somewhat mixed on terms of “love.”

I truly do see this as the beginning of the phasing out of them. Not now but say 2022-23ish.

I think Disney Genie is the future and they are gearing up for it.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

A major possible plus side to reservations sticking around that has been mentioned a few times, the possibility they allow you to join a virtual queue before entering the park, with a valid reservation.

 

[Grnl706]

How do people already have tickets for their 2021 trips? Are these tickets bought originally for a 2020 trip that now work for 2021 due to the date extension?

I had a 2020 trip I purchased tickets for that are good until 2030 that I purchased from the Military Base I work at and Shades of Green. Those tickets aren't date based.

 

[msdaisy]

I’m am certainly excited about the reservation system. I will be even more excited when Disney tells me where I will be staying. Is all hope lost for resort news today?

 

[mmackeymouse]

I think we did have a pretty good idea this was not going to be temporary and possibly even an accelerated shift to what they wanted to do anyways (Genie?).

I am optimistic that when capacity is no longer an issue, park reservations are no big deal.

Perhaps, perhaps not.

GETTING the reservation might not be a big deal, the difficulty of getting the reservations may or may not improve.

But if "timed entry" is permanent, that would be very disappointing and maybe a dealbreaker for us.

But, what would be a big deal is for people who come down wanting to come and go as they please, have a more relaxed vacation, DVC members who are used to popping in the parks as they desire. Is Disney really going to take away the ability to have a relaxed "no plans" kind of vacation?