Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[constanze]

This seems like the end of the news for the day huh? Was really hoping with the way news was coming that they'd continue with restaurants or resorts....

I know...Disney seemed to be on such a roll...

 

[Carol Jackson]

Governor Desantis just had an excellent Press Conference. Spike in cases due to more testing and contact tracing. Cases are 20 and 30 somethings mostly asymptomatic. Hospital capacity and ICU beds have more capacity than April. It’s business as usual in Florida...wear your mask!

 

[Sandisw]

It'll be interesting to see where you are moved to as DVC has very limited availability in studios for the month of Dec. Plus December is more than 60 days out so that is a factor in how many rooms they can move to the cash system.

If using their own points, or points that were traded for cruises, etc, the 60 day rule does not apply.

It only applies to be used for breakage. Disney owns a lot of points and can book a lot of rooms with them.

 

[brockash]

It amazes me how many people who have reservations for value resorts are disparaging OKW and SSR as if they are not massive upgrades to what they booked. Disney, if they actually move you, are giving you a room that is far superior, in a resort that actually feels like a resort. As a DVC owner, who had stayed in values, moderate, and deluxes, I speak from experience; you should be excited to stay at SSR or OKW as they are really nice upgrades.

Lol...well that's your opinion. Everyone, even those who don't share the same as you are able to have their own opinion. Sure, some book value simply for the lower rate, however some have other reasons and preferences too. Perhaps they really dislike sprawling large resorts which can be a real pain to navigate and deal with...especially with kids/ppl. less mobile. Perhaps they had their heart on a theme of a different resort, maybe they really wanted to the skyliner, or dislike the food at the other resorts etc. Whatever their reason; it's valid. Don't get me wrong; if the booked resort isn't open; I'm definitely happy to hear Disney's doing what they can to take care of their guests, but that doesn't mean someone still can't be disappointed that they're not goinv to be able to stay where they chose. There will certainly be others who will be elated to get to stay at a more expensive resort, but both opinions are valid.

 

[indylaw99]

Today is the first time I have really felt like Disney has dropped the ball on taking care of its customers. This whole new system was announced on a Friday night to take effect early Monday morning. I have annual pass vouchers I bought in February ($4000) plus DVC trips planned for July, October, November, and December. Yet I haven't received a single email about any of this. If I wasn't on this board, I would have no idea any of this was happening. What are the chances the average Disney traveler will hear any of this between last night and when the reservations open Monday morning? And if the reservations fill up for the holiday season like everyone thinks they will, will their trips be completely ruined?

I totally understand making this change for trips between now and the next couple of months because you would likely be watching Disney news closely for upcoming changes. But an October, November, or December reservation? 180 day ADRs and 60 FPs were already scooped up so fast that only the loyalists could get what they wanted. What will 380 day park reservations be like?

I really hope there has just been some weird communications and there will be a rolling window on the park reservations. But all of the language on the official sites point to no rolling window and a lot of disadvantage for APs, DVC who can't even book next summer yet, and people who don't even know this happening.

 

[vinotinto]

Monday is going to be a nightmare. Prepare yourself.

 

[disneyfan150]

I have been trying to find this out over and over too for our September trip. One time I called and all I was told then was to see guest services if that happens. I’m waiting to see what happens Monday with reservations

Same! This entire situation is making me nuts.

 

[Sandisw]

I’m not DVC, but I thought Disney could not move cash guests to DVC rooms until 60 days before. Before that, aren't those rooms mostly reserved for DVC?

They own points and can use those just like any owner so they do not have to wait.

 

[andyman8]

Just an update on a rumor I shared a few weeks ago re: the mask-free "Relaxation Zones." It seems the D Zone-type approach is still what they're looking to do, but I've been told that with the new OC mask requirements, Diamond Horseshoe seems to be out of the running for one of these Zones. TLT seems to be a go, and something in Fantaysland (not sure where) was mentioned as a *possible* replacement. That's all I've heard on that.

Plus December is more than 60 days out so that is a factor in how many rooms they can move to the cash system.

This is a huge reason why I think Disney will start with modifying reservations for the summer months before they address a, for example, December stay. I get the sense they don't want to make firm commitments to what they will or will not operate resort-wise more than a few months out. We should hear more on this either tomorrow or more likely Monday. Seeing which resort guests have gone ahead with park reservations should give them a good idea of who's definitely planning on coming.

And who knows what those rooms will look like. Some of the DVC rooms that Pete showed on his YouTube channel looked in massive need of a refurb. I remember this being the case with Wilderness Lodge.

While I have not personally stayed in every DVC resort, I've stayed in quite a few, and I've found almost all of them to be fantastic. In some cases (like BWV), I find the renovated villas to be nicer than the hotel rooms. In my opinion, BRV is an exception to the norm and is overdue for a renovation at this point. SSR was, in my opinion, in a similar position, but the recent (incomplete) renovations there are outstanding. In fact, the recent villa renovations actually renewed my interest in purchasing DVC.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Thanks to everyone here for all the info and time spent digging for the greater good! Special thanks to @wendow for her time and generosity this morning in helping me navigate ticketing <3

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

Governor Desantis just had an excellent Press Conference. Spike in cases due to more testing and contact tracing. Cases are 20 and 30 somethings mostly asymptomatic. Hospital capacity and ICU beds have more capacity than April. It’s business as usual in Florida...wear your mask!

Good.. I pray you're right.. I have spent the last three hours panicking...

 

[disneyfan150]

180 day ADRs and 60 FPs were already scooped up so fast that only the loyalists could get what they wanted.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, this loyalist lost her ADRs, lost her FPs ( didn't even get FOP which I wanted BTW), doesn't know if she will be able to use her 4 Park 4 Day Magic ticket, and doesn't know where she will be sleeping because the NBA is more important than this loyalists.

You are so right that we are customers. The term "guest" has always bothered me. I don't charge guests in my home $1,000s.

 

[RamblingMad]

Good.. I pray you're right.. I have spent the last three hours panicking...

Go watch season 4 of Legends of Tomorrow. It will make you laugh. It's so over the top ridiculous.

The going line is that cases are going up because we're testing more. Here in AZ that isn't really true. And our governor is finally wearing a mask.

I'm afraid AZ will be added to the list of states that will have to quarantine going to FL.

 

[JacknSally]

It amazes me how many people who have reservations for value resorts are disparaging OKW and SSR as if they are not massive upgrades to what they booked. Disney, if they actually move you, are giving you a room that is far superior, in a resort that actually feels like a resort. As a DVC owner, who had stayed in values, moderate, and deluxes, I speak from experience; you should be excited to stay at SSR or OKW as they are really nice upgrades.

We were able to do a night at OKW and a night at SSR with some DVC friends last fall, and we really loved OKW! It's a beautiful property, and we were blown away by the studio we had! It was great. We did not really enjoy SSR, but it wasn't the worst stay we've had.

For us personally, our disappointment right now is just that we decided to splurge on POFQ for several reasons - bucket list resort, going at Christmastime, 5th wedding anniversary, treating ourselves after losing DH’s mom in February. We’re also thinking this might be our last WDW trip for a while. We waffled back and forth before booking because of the cost of POFQ. We were just going to book at All Star Movies (which we love) but decided to pay the extra this time for this resort specifically. We were also hoping there might be a discount released for our dates as we got closer. We also "knew" we could downgrade to ASMo as a fall back if we got closer to our trip and things were tight. So we’re kind of bummed now that we’re paying garden view POFQ rates to not be at POFQ at all, and there's no fall back option to bring down our trip costs other than "don't go".

Trust me, we fully understand getting a DVC room at POFQ rates is a great deal! We just aren't personally interested in most of the DVC resorts. Even knowing we enjoyed OKW when we stayed there in August, we wouldn't choose to stay there again. Because we're at the top of our budget (especially now with furloughs) we won't be requesting a specific move, so we'll take what Disney gives us.

Had we been booked at ASMo again, though, we wouldn't be disappointed at all by getting moved. But, it is what it is. No way we could've known all of this would be the reality when we booked back in January! We'll see what Disney says Monday and go from there.

 

[one_cat]

Today is the first time I have really felt like Disney has dropped the ball on taking care of its customers. This whole new system was announced on a Friday night to take effect early Monday morning. I have annual pass vouchers I bought in February ($4000) plus DVC trips planned for July, October, November, and December. Yet I haven't received a single email about any of this. If I wasn't on this board, I would have no idea any of this was happening. What are the chances the average Disney traveler will hear any of this between last night and when the reservations open Monday morning? And if the reservations fill up for the holiday season like everyone thinks they will, will their trips be completely ruined?

I totally understand making this change for trips between now and the next couple of months because you would likely be watching Disney news closely for upcoming changes. But an October, November, or December reservation? 180 day ADRs and 60 FPs were already scooped up so fast that only the loyalists could get what they wanted. What will 380 day park reservations be like?

I really hope there has just been some weird communications and there will be a rolling window on the park reservations. But all of the language on the official sites point to no rolling window and a lot of disadvantage for APs, DVC who can't even book next summer yet, and people who don't even know this happening.

I have not received an email either and we usually get all the communication. We even got the survey. We have September and May DVC reservations.

 

[lor]

Hello, days behind on this thread sorry if this has been covered . So as of Monday people with resort reservations and tickets purchased can make park reservations.?? Is that right? I have OKW booked with rented points from a member and I bought park tickets through Disney . I haven’t a clue how we are supposed to do this . I have my resort reservations and tickets linked in MDE . So anyone have a quick summary of how we reserve parks TIA

 

[LSUmiss]

Ok I can’t keep all this straight. I know you can book 2021 on 6/28. Are they allowing any Resort modifications or new bookings for 2020? If so, when is that?

 

[MaC410]

Ok I can’t keep all this straight. I know you can book 2021 on 6/28. Are they allowing any Resort modifications or new bookings for 2020? If so, when is that?

Not sure about resort modifications but new bookings for 2020 will come "later this summer"

 

[hereforthechurros]

Anyone with both park tickets and APs on their account have a plan to differentiate which one to use when making a reservation? We have two trips in MDE and don't want to use the AP vouchers to book anything on the first stay.

 

[rteetz]

Ok I can’t keep all this straight. I know you can book 2021 on 6/28. Are they allowing any Resort modifications or new bookings for 2020? If so, when is that?

Not sure about resort modifications but new bookings for 2020 will come "later this summer"

You can modify to a DVC or Ft. Wilderness resort right now. I’d imagine any other modifications won’t be allowed until they tell us what resorts are going to be open and 2020 opens back up.