Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Sandiz08]

I was just asking about Minnie Vans the other day. Hopefully it’s just a split from Lyft and they eventually come back under a different name .

 

[Makmak]

I was just asking about Minnie Vans the other day. Hopefully it’s just a split from Lyft and they eventually come back under a different name .

I’m pretty sure that we can’t share company names, right? But there is good black car service in Orlando with a huge variety of beautiful vehicles (Including giant luxury SUVs) and they provide car seats and boosters. They aren’t as “on demand” as Lyft but if you know ahead of time then it’s very useful. We use them all the time in Orlando.

 

[MrsBooch]

All you people with Magic bands shipping, But mine to check in at Pop on the 17th are still just waiting to ship.

Our magic bands shipped and were delivered - and our stay is in November....

Rumor from the "other site"

Minnie van service is done and not coming back

I wouldn't be surprised though if true.

GUT. PUNCH.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Bummer if the MinnieVan rumor is true. With 2 kids car seat age, we have used it quite a bit on our last few visits.

Our last MV driver in February said there is high demand in the morning for rope drops and early resort to resort travel for ADRs, and also later in the day. Midday is VERY slow. Low demand. I don’t think there was a constant flow of people using MV throughout the day like there is with Uber and Lyft. It sounds like people mostly splurged and chose it when buses would be most crowded. Which was funny to hear, since that’s when we mostly used it too

Bummed about this since we used it and loved it, but not really too surprising, if true.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I don’t believe Minnie Vans will go away forever. How many do they have in the fleet? I just don’t see it being permanent.

Just one more reason to have our own car, though.

 

[Acup313]

Bummer if the MinnieVan rumor is true. With 2 kids car seat age, we have used it quite a bit on our last few visits.

Our last MV driver in February said there is high demand in the morning for rope drops and early resort to resort travel for ADRs, and also later in the day. Midday is VERY slow. Low demand. I don’t think there was a constant flow of people using MV throughout the day like there is with Uber and Lyft. It sounds like people mostly splurged and chose it when buses would be most crowded. Which was funny to hear, since that’s when we mostly used it too

Bummed about this since we used it and loved it, but not really too surprising, if true.

We usually used it when we woke up late and had an ADR at a different resort to get to.

 

[PixarBall]

Who is everyone hammering them?

?? Look under the twitter replies to the park opening topic. Not a single positive comment. Look at the articles and the comments. Only people happy are Disney diehards and the government.

 

[DisMommyTX]

This would quite surprise me actually. Minnie Vans seemed quite popular.

The only thing I can think of is they are trying to make the easy revenue by liquidating the fleet now, making what money they can.

I really want to buy one! Even better, my DD would NEVER ask me to take her to/from school ever again.

 

[HorizonOne]

?? Look under the twitter replies to the park opening topic. Not a single positive comment. Look at the articles and the comments. Only people happy are Disney diehards and the government.

The people negatively commenting I'm going to surmise are not people who regularly go to Disney World. Universal opened in early June, let's see what Disney does. If people are not comfortable to go to the parks, don't go. As long as the CM are ok with guests coming back, let the people who want to go to the parks go. Anyone else worried or concerned, stay home.

 

[JayMunOne]

You know what else would be nice if a lot of you would support your local park as well. I would hate to see local parks disappear.

I live in Hershey and have HP annual passes. My son and I went Monday for a special Annual Passholders only first ride on their new coaster Candymonium (it's basically Mako, which is awesome). On Monday, the park did a great job of temp screening and everyone was wearing masks. However, Mondays opening was just a one ride sneak preview to limited guests.

I reserved yesterday for my son and I to go over and had every plan to, until I saw those same pics everyone else saw online. Not surprised to see some of the locals running around the park without masks. Was very surprised to see employees wearing them in a cavalier fashion or not at all. Yesterday was killer hot in Central PA, but still...I'm curious to see if local news tears them up for this.

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

Carts sounds like quite an expensive investment. Wonder if food wastage is cheaper. But I don’t care how they make it work, I just want my brunch back.

I've had the brunch scheduled for 3 trips in a row, and it's been canceled 3 times in a row. I'm hoping that it will be open for my August trip (2 Sundays to try). I also have a quick weekend in September that has a Sunday, and a trip before a cruise (that will likely not happen) in November that includes a Sunday....so I'm REALLY hoping to experience it sometime this year, LOL!

 

[hertamaniac]

I live in Hershey and have HP annual passes. My son and I went Monday for a special Annual Passholders only first ride on their new coaster Candymonium (it's basically Mako, which is awesome). On Monday, the park did a great job of temp screening and everyone was wearing masks. However, Mondays opening was just a one ride sneak preview to limited guests.

I reserved yesterday for my son and I to go over and had every plan to, until I saw those same pics everyone else saw online. Not surprised to see some of the locals running around the park without masks. Was very surprised to see employees wearing them in a cavalier fashion or not at all. Yesterday was killer hot in Central PA, but still...I'm curious to see if local news tears them up for this.

Was the zoo open as well? I went to college just outside of Hershey and when I wasn't "studying", it was off to HP!

 

[Anna_Sh]

My local park is Busch Gardens and I'd love to support them (especially since I have an AP) but they're doing a lousy job of enforcing mask-wearing so I'm staying away. I'll drive another hour to Universal and (soon) Disney.

I’m a few hours from them too. I was thinking about getting an AP, since it’s such a good deal right now, until I heard they weren’t being strict about mask enforcement. That’s a dealbreaker for me. I trust Disney to do better.

 

[nkosiek]

I live in a “resort city” and the big water park got permission to open but not the water slides. The company made a statement that it’s ridiculous not to allow the slides to open and that they are honoring all annual passes during this time but not “starting the clock” on them until “all features of our park are available.” Just thought I’d share since it’s yet another scenario for annual passes.

A cool way they could have done this is to give APs 7 days over rest of the year, no clock starting until things were back to normal.

 

[Sarahslay]

Bummer if the MinnieVan rumor is true. With 2 kids car seat age, we have used it quite a bit on our last few visits.

Our last MV driver in February said there is high demand in the morning for rope drops and early resort to resort travel for ADRs, and also later in the day. Midday is VERY slow. Low demand. I don’t think there was a constant flow of people using MV throughout the day like there is with Uber and Lyft. It sounds like people mostly splurged and chose it when buses would be most crowded. Which was funny to hear, since that’s when we mostly used it too

Bummed about this since we used it and loved it, but not really too surprising, if true.

My friend that works at WDW said that it is currently suspended because drivers are put in to contact too close to keep them safe from guests (and guests from drivers, 'cause they could always be sick too). She said at some point in the future they'll reevaluate, but for right now they're all saying "suspended" not "shut down". I had a 4 hour drive yesterday and I walked to her about all things Disney for a little over 2 of those, and she honestly believes a lot of these sites are just grasping at straws to keep site visits up and help revenue because most of these rumors are so far out of left field and they're just reading in to things that aren't things that need to be read in to. She also said the castle looks much prettier in person, her roommate is a CM at MK and took some pictures for her, so there's that too lol. I will miss MV though, could never get them early in the morning because they were always so busy, but it was always really nice to get a quick ride for a dinner reservation.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

The people negatively commenting I'm going to surmise are not people who regularly go to Disney World. Universal opened in early June, let's see what Disney does. If people are not comfortable to go to the parks, don't go. As long as the CM are ok with guests coming back, let the people who want to go to the parks go. Anyone else worried or concerned, stay home.

I also would bet most have no idea the lengths Disney is going to to ensure safety.
It isn't like Disney is opening the gates and it is a free for all.

If Disney does not delay, I think it is because they have faith in their changes. If they didn't believe in their plans, then now is the time to delay.

 

[JayMunOne]

Was the zoo open as well? I went to college just outside of Hershey and when I wasn't "studying", it was off to HP!

I believe Zoo America is now open, yes.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hmm I’d be surprised if they did this. I assumed they were making a lot of money on Minnie Vans since they’re usually 2-3x more expensive than a normal Uber/Lift. I wonder if they just weren’t getting used enough to make it worth it?

Maybe more like how projects get categorized as "defunded" - doesn't mean they never, never coming back but just as of now there are no plans nor timeline

 

[wdwoutsider]

Odd

I just got my magic bands in the mail yesterday. Weird thing is I cancelled my trip like two months ago. I double checked I got refunded and was cancelled? Not sure why I got my magic bands mailed out but seems like alot of them arrived yesterday in a mass mailing.

 

[cakebaker]

Exactly how I feel they are all in right now imo no way they aren’t going to open they spent way too much time and effort and money and would have to forlough everyone again.

I don’t think his insider info means much of anything. I think they will open, but I also think it’s just as possible as it ever was that they won’t. I wouldn’t expect much notice at all if they delay opening. I can’t imagine that they aren’t looking at the numbers every day questioning their decisions.