Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[hereforthechurros]

What cocktail did you order him to make you this time?

Not enough cocktails to forgive this mistake!

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Uniqlo info, kind of. An unofficial page I believe.

https://www.facebook.com/116376351716049/posts/3139122156108105

 

[cakebaker]

I really don’t want to see people surprised and devastated if they get cancelled on last minute, it is not a fun feeling. They are moving forward with the opening, there is a lot that has been set in motion that they would have to pull back, all that is true, but please nobody take that as an 100% guarantee they are opening the parks July 11.

I know from experience it’s much better to prepare yourself for it to happen than to be blindsided by it. 23 hrs before Disney closed, we had no idea they would. Our car was packed and ready to roll. For our late June, early July trip, we kept it from my grandson and I never let myself get too excited, losing that trip was much easier.

Just don’t assume because Disney says they are staying on course, that they will. They may open as planned, but we might find out the day before opening, that they aren’t. They aren’t great at giving advanced notice.

 

[AmberMV]

Does anyone else find it confusing that, on one hand, the U.S. CDC says masks help and on the other hand the European CDC says masks make things worse?


https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/questions-answers
This affects Disneyland Paris, where I recall it was proposed in their reopening plans that ages 9+ would be to wear a mask. But so much of the debate here has circled around mask wearing, and no global consensus has been made on mask efficacy? Disney is private property and they can require whatever they wish to, but debating masks vs. no masks in general seems to not have any point IMO.

 

[dlavender]

I didn’t see anyone last week say that it would be a quick little outbreak and be gone by June 26th either.

Exactly

 

[Wreckem]

Orange County had a 25% increase in daily cases. It didn’t double. Florida as a state had an 80%. You will see restrictions at a regional and local level. Orange County isn’t at the point it needs one. We will see if they do in two weeks.

 

[Ryan King]

Does anyone else find it confusing that, on one hand, the U.S. CDC says masks help and on the other hand the European CDC says masks make things worse?

View attachment 504436
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/questions-answers
This affects Disneyland Paris, where I recall it was proposed in their reopening plans that ages 9+ would be to wear a mask. But so much of the debate here has circled around mask wearing, and no global consensus has been made on mask efficacy? Disney is private property and they can require whatever they wish to, but debating masks vs. masks in general seems to not have any point IMO.

The masks don’t protect you from getting infected. They work to help the infected from infecting others. So it only works if everyone wears them.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I’ve been following along with WDW Prep School today. Shannon is not there, but she’s getting live reports from someone onsite. Mask wearing around the resorts is not being strictly enforced. This is an issue that must be addressed if they plan to reopen as scheduled.

 

[Mit88]

This is the last I'll say about this. You may have been paying close attention (and I'm sure Disney has been too), but the vast majority of people weren't. Disney has always been cautious and very, very mindful of public perception (even when that upsets some fans). When you ask any Disney executive, "What do you think is your company's most valuable asset?," every one will always answer their brand. The brand "Disney" means something to many people and the company goes to great lengths to protect it and its integrity. That sometimes means upsetting people, reversing plans already in motion, and turning down money-making opportunities. Just look at all of the contracts they had to buy themselves out of to get Marvel characters off slot machines and other "vice" items. But that brand integrity is one of the reasons that the majority of the general public routinely rate Disney very high in favorability. The way the company sees it: their caution may lead to short-term losses but long-term (more valuable) gains. While there is certainly an argument to be made that WDW management has lost sight of some of that long-term thinking strategy, I do genuinely believe that the importance of brand integrity remains front-and-center in the minds of TWDC leaders.

I can tell you that there was Leadership (at relatively high levels) within WDW that were moving full speed ahead for an early June reopening (remember they had booked people with those packages), but ultimately, word came down likely from Burbank that that wasn't happening anymore. The decisions and work of thousands of people can be undone by the decision of one or two people in Burbank. That's just how the modern Walt Disney Company works, especially during these uncertain times. My *guess* is they're trying to wait it out to see where this goes and where public perception goes (which became a lot harder with the DL news), and then they'll make a decision. Just because they're proceeding with park reservations as planned doesn't mean top executives are certain they're opening on 7/11. To build on your hurricane example, even after a named storm is forecasted for Florida, they still take bookings, allow dated park ticket purchases, take FP+s and in-park dining reservations. They wait until they're absolutely certain that it will be a threat to safety to announce any park closures. That doesn't mean that they weren't monitoring the situation and considering it beforehand; they just wait until they know for almost certain that it won't be a good idea to be open those days. Again, I'm not saying they're not reopening on 7/11, just that anything is possible and we can't draw any extent of certainty away from anything until they're actually open.

Of course anything is possible. That’s why we’re in this predicament in the first place. But until I see something concrete, I believe they are opening on July 11th/15th. I don’t know how many people need to say that Disney is planning to move forward with their reopening, yet many people are still fighting those words and say they won’t. Not that they might not. They won’t. They didn’t say they still planned on reopening 2 weeks ago. They said it yesterday and today when cases have continued to rise. They could absolutely backtrack, but until they give us any reason to believe they will, I don’t believe they will

 

[Arguetafamily]

Of course anything is possible. That’s why we’re in this predicament in the first place. But until I see something concrete, I believe they are opening on July 11th/15th. I don’t know how many people need to say that Disney is planning to move forward with their reopening, yet many people are still fighting those words and say they won’t. Not that they might not. They won’t. They didn’t say they still planned on reopening 2 weeks ago. They said it yesterday and today when cases have continued to rise. They could absolutely backtrack, but until they give us any reason to believe they will, I don’t believe they will

Precisely.
Furthermore, if Disney was to push forward opening, again, I firmly believe Universal would close all three of it's related themeparks. They are smaller, yes, but they still have a large capacity for people, not including the fact, Volcano Bay is a water park and doesn't require masks while in the water, slides, lazy river etc. - My family was just at the water park in Las Vegas, NV on Sunday, we were at many times shoulder to shoulder while waiting in lines and in the lazy river.

 

[cakebaker]

Of course anything is possible. That’s why we’re in this predicament in the first place. But until I see something concrete, I believe they are opening on July 11th/15th. I don’t know how many people need to say that Disney is planning to move forward with their reopening, yet many people are still fighting those words and say they won’t. Not that they might not. They won’t. They didn’t say they still planned on reopening 2 weeks ago. They said it yesterday and today when cases have continued to rise. They could absolutely backtrack, but until they give us any reason to believe they will, I don’t believe they will

I suspect had Disney been asked back in March, the day before they closed, did they plan on closing, the answer would’ve been no. I don’t think they know yet and they’re not about to open the possibility and have mass cancellations. I doubt we’ll know anything right up to the moment they announce being closed, IF they do indeed close.

 

[Sandisw]

Seems like this really puts DIS in a really difficult situation. As long as the NBA is there they cannot shutdown DVC which makes it tough to not open the parks, as this would lead to mass cancellations at the resorts. Then they would essentially be keeping all the DVC resorts running with hardly anyone in them. That would be a huge money trap.

Well, for DVC owners, since parks isn’t part of the deal, we pay to run the resorts regardless...legally, they have to be opened as soon as they can.

Now that they have, there just isn’t going to be anything that gets them shut down and I do believe that the NBA deal definitely keeps it from happening For owners.

 

[2letterwords]

I live outside of Tampa. The amount of people acting like it's no big deal bothers me to no end. Hardly anyone is wearing masks/wearing them properly and definitely no social distancing going on. I said I would attach a pool noodle to my hat to wear around so people wouldn't get close but apparently that might ruffle some feathers. Since Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco County mandated masks in every business I think that'll help.

Like this?

 

[VeronicaZS]

Do we know when people with tickets only (not AP) and no hotel reservations can make park reservations?

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Perhaps, I just didn't see the doubling happening so fast, and I don't think you did either. Perhaps you did...

I don't think they should or will make any changes to their plans until another week of data, if any. Will be interesting to watch.

It’s the problem with exponential growth. It’s not a problem until it is. It happens really really fast. When hospitals get overwhelmed, that will happen really really fast too.

 

[Krandor]

It was...they don’t have to be ordered...but under emergency powers they do need a state of emergency to be declared. It is stated that way.

Again, I do not think DVCM shuts them down because if NBA is on property but if they tried to, they would have many owners, including me, taking issue with it.

Not going to derail the thread...but even Given today’s numbers, it makes little sense to close DVC for owners...it makes it much worse in the long term anyway.

Parks, different story.

And to put things in perspective as well. Two MLS teams are on property now. I know they are not staying in direct disney resorts but pretty close. So the teams are starting to show up now.

 

[andyman8]

That I don’t get paid for.

I do really think that @rteetz and @yulilin3 (for her work over on TPA&S) deserve a huge thanks and round of applause for all their hard work and patience in keeping this a friendly, on-topic discussion. I can't imagine they ever expected to be moderating a discussion about something like this, but they've done a wonderful job!

And be sure to check out Yulady (@yulilin3) on the DIS Unplugged channel! She's awesome! And Ryan (@rteetz) has been on the podcast a few times as well if you want to put faces to names! He's awesome too!

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Uniqlo info, kind of. An unofficial page I believe.

https://www.facebook.com/116376351716049/posts/3139122156108105

Nice to see a responsible corporate citizen. Sad that they’re showing Disney up.

 

[JacknSally]

Like this? View attachment 504444

Have you seen the one restaurant (I think it was?) that has basically little-kid walkers (the round kind that you set a toddler in the middle of so they can "walk" around) that are tables on wheels. So you stand in a hole in the middle of the 3ft round table on wheels so you're always 6ft away from others.

Disney, look into this for Food and Wine. Fixes the social distancing problem AND the table/trashcan-top problem!

Edit: Found it! Disney just needs to make them a little more magical, lol.

 

[Spridell]

It was...they don’t have to be ordered...but under emergency powers they do need a state of emergency to be declared. It is stated that way.
As I said, I had a lengthy conversation with them about their legal authority to close.

Again, I do not think DVCM shuts them down because if NBA is on property but if they tried to, they would have many owners, including me, taking issue with it. Remember, NBA is at GF which is the same location as VGF...

Not going to derail the thread...but even Given today’s numbers, it makes little sense to close DVC for owners...it makes it much worse in the long term anyway.

Parks, different story.

Right

If they decide to delay park openings they will keep dvc open with a skeleton crew like they are now. People will still show up even if parks are closed. I know I was there all week this week and people were at the resorts.