Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[nkosiek]

Yep agreed. Epcot could certainly become more limited as it doesn’t seem food and wine is working. I just don’t think they close half the park and leave the other half open.

I think part of that problem is, at least 2 weeks ago when I was there, they didn't have all the booths open...and heck some of the booths didn't even have what they said they would (seriously, no fruit salad at the one). I was disappointed to say the least in that regards.

 

[Brianstl]

I think the only thing that will help is getting FL off the "hot spot" list.

Right now many people just can't or won't travel to FL.

So their pool of customers is limited to locals. And the only way to get more of them is to drastically reduce resort rates. But even that may not be enough. I don't know why they haven't tried that yet, though.

I have no doubt Disney wants to offer drastic discounts to the general public outside of Florida. I think they are holding off on that because they fear a PR backlash of some people saying that Disney is doing everything they can to encourage travel during a pandemic,

 

[mattpeto]

I think if Disney was exploring any of those four options mentioned on the Magic board there would have been far more TBD determined dates for resort openings in their only days old announcement. CBR wouldn't be opening today and they wouldn't be opening Yacht Club in just over three weeks. Those opening mean they have at least enough reservations in the system to keep operating like they are now.

Scaling back park operations even more has the likely potential to put WDW under even more financial stress. It will lead to massive cancelations of reservations and tell those on this fence about booking a trip not to come.

What they need to do is find ways to generate the most income possible from the guest they do have on site. I am shocked they have not yet brought dining plans back in some form. Dining plans are a big money makers for Disney. From all reports about restaurants at the parks/resorts, it doesn't sound like having dining plans would over stress the system. Disney would just need to make clear that dining locations are far more limited than normal.

They gotta get back the locals. That's their only ticket right now and fill up Epcot World Showcase.

 

[TropicalDIS]

I think it is becoming clear that BC and BWI won’t open this year if things don’t pick up. I’ll also add that the Poly could be delayed again if bookings don’t pick up. If the bookings aren’t there, then Disney may well push visitors to those resorts that are already open.

 

[Farro]

I think (I know you were all waiting) that at most, some parks may be closed on certain days.
Regarding hotels, rather than open just MK resorts (happen to be all deluxe) - maybe one deluxe in each resort area, 2 moderates and one or two values.

Then everyone can still play.

 

[Wreckem]

I definitely think more people would travel if they didn't have to bunker down at home for 10-14 days. I'd suggest that's the #1 factor of poor attendance so far...

I actually disagree. There are multiple factors and that’s not the top one. The top one is the economy.

1. Consumer spending on non essentials has cratered. It’s terrible. Period. And it’s not recovering anytime soon. This is not a temporary blip.
2. Around 50million people have filed for unemployment since we began this mess. Over 30million are currently collecting benefits. They expect 10-15million of those job losses to be permanent. Currently about 1/3 of mortgages aren’t being paid and about 20million rentals are behind on rent. They expect over 10million evictions to occur in the next couple months.
3. Polling suggest the vast majority of people aren’t willing to fly right now. Most people are staying close to home and driving. And when they are vacationing they are doing so on the cheap.

 

[Brianstl]

Yep agreed. Epcot could certainly become more limited as it doesn’t seem food and wine is working. I just don’t think they close half the park and leave the other half open.

Food and wine isn't working because there isn't park hopping. People who in the past would spend the day at another park and then go to food & wine during the evening can no longer do that. Disney is losing tons of revenue because they haven't figured out a way to bring back a limited form of park hopping at least for EPCOT.

 

[dlavender]

I have no doubt Disney wants to offer drastic discounts to the general public outside of Florida. I think they are holding off on that because they fear a PR backlash of some people saying that Disney is doing everything they can to encourage travel during a pandemic,

Could be true, even the FL resident resort discounts are nothing to write home about.

I know they are in a tight spot, and may have figured that even if they lowered pop to $90/night it wouldn't have an appreciable effect with the PR tradeoff.

 

[Wreckem]

Food and wine isn't working because there isn't park hopping. People who in the past would spend the day at another park and then go to food & wine during the evening can no longer do that. Disney is losing tons of revenue because they haven't figured out a way to bring back a limited form of park hopping at least for EPCOT.

Would it really be a net add to revenue though? Having people park hop to Epcot to eat really just shifts dining revenue from the other parks to Epcot.

 

[Princess Merida]

We plan on returning to Florida two more times this year. Once in October (since only virtual learning here in Chesapeake, VA) and once in December. I am currently booked at a Universal hotel with an AP discount. I really wanted to be at Disney, but we have used all of our DVC points this year and looked at a value at Disney and it's almost double what a 2 bedroom at Dockside is costing for those dates. If they offer any room discounts I would likely move to Disney as I trust them the most. Our stay there during covid was great and I felt that Disney did a wonderful job operating during this awful time.

 

[Wreckem]

We plan on returning to Florida two more times this year. Once in October (since only virtual learning here in Chesapeake, VA) and once in December. I am currently booked at a Universal hotel with an AP discount. I really wanted to be at Disney, but we have used all of our DVC points this year and looked at a value at Disney and it's almost double what a 2 bedroom at Dockside is costing for those dates. If they offer any room discounts I would likely move to Disney as I trust them the most. Our stay there during covid was great and I felt that Disney did a wonderful job operating during this awful time.

I stayed at Royal Pacific when things started to surge again at the beginning of July. Universal has fantastic protocols in place on site. You have nothing to worry about.

 

[MrsBooch]

I actually disagree. There are multiple factors and that’s not the top one. The top one is the economy.

1. Consumer spending on non essentials has cratered. It’s terrible. Period. And it’s not recovering anytime soon. This is not a temporary blip.
2. Around 50million people have filed for unemployment since we began this mess. Over 30million are currently collecting benefits. They expect 10-15million of those job losses to be permanent. Currently about 1/3 of mortgages aren’t being paid and about 20million rentals are behind on rent. They expect over 10million evictions to occur in the next couple months.
3. Polling suggest the vast majority of people aren’t willing to fly right now. Most people are staying close to home and driving. And when they are vacationing they are doing so on the cheap.

I'm not discounting the veracity of what you've written but i would argue that the people most affected by this economic downturn are not the percentage that typically spends money on Disney vacations.

As far as the bolded portion - yeah - a lot of people aren't comfortable flying. That's part of it I'm sure.

 

[wombat_5606]

A few might travel if that happens but the big thing which many will start feeling soon is lack of disposable income. Many won't be able to afford a vacation let alone a Disney one.

I think that is very likely when you look at the local APs. Floridians are underpaid to begin with and there are millions looking at absolutely no income in just a matter of days.

 

[nkosiek]

Would it really be a net add to revenue though? Having people park hop to Epcot to eat really just shifts dining revenue from the other parks to Epcot.

The thing about it is, if they actually had the booths open at Epcot, that would provide a LOT more options to eat than are currently available in the other parks (MK has Pecos, Pinocchio's, and Cosmic Ray's, and forget about DHS)...plus AK closes at 6, so it's not like it's a real dinner hotspot.

 

[Jrb1979]

Could be true, even the FL resident resort discounts are nothing to write home about.

I know they are in a tight spot, and may have figured that even if they lowered pop to $90/night it wouldn't have an appreciable effect with the PR tradeoff.

The other tradeoff is how big a discount can they give when they need the money. They really are in a hard spot right now. They really need resort guests more then AP holders as resort guests tend to spend more. The hardest part is many just can't afford big trips right now. All parks and tourism is going to be hurting for a few years.

 

[andyman8]

thoughts on latest rumors from the poster on other site? It was buried within a larger thread discussing upcoming lay-offs - the entire thread sounds worrisome, but I also don't even pretend to understand financials.

Likelihood of these scenarios? Poster said decision would be made soon.(mentioned by WDWpro):

MK and MK resorts open only (most dire)
Rotating AK and DHS days open
Making Epcot an afternoon only park
Temporarily shutting down Future World entirely

All I’ll say is consider the source.

 

[Farro]

I'm not discounting the veracity of what you've written but i would argue that the people most affected by this economic downturn are not the percentage that typically spends money on Disney vacations.

As far as the bolded portion - yeah - a lot of people aren't comfortable flying. That's part of it I'm sure.

Everyone keeps saying that, but it's just not the truth. I know many people (myself included) who have had 10% or more pay-cuts. Mine is in effect until November, others until end of year and others until "the economy comes back". Not to mention furloughs, loss of PTO time.

Everyone is affected and it's hit our vacation/non-essential budget.

 

[nkosiek]

Food and wine isn't working because there isn't park hopping. People who in the past would spend the day at another park and then go to food & wine during the evening can no longer do that. Disney is losing tons of revenue because they haven't figured out a way to bring back a limited form of park hopping at least for EPCOT.

I wonder if they could program (I'm sure they could, but WOULD they) you MB to scan blue at rides, so you'd only be able to go to Epcot for food/shops? That way, rides wouldn't be available to people hopping over but food still would be. Small upcharge on it, say $5/day.

 

[Brianstl]

Would it really be a net add to revenue though? Having people park hop to Epcot to eat really just shifts dining revenue from the other parks to Epcot.

They aren't going to be losing dining revenue at other parks. It would give some people a place to spend their money for three hours after AK closes or the two hour after MK closes.

 

[andyman8]

Regarding Park Hopping: I don’t think they’d limit it to Epoct. When it comes back (that’s a when, not an if), expect it to look like getting a fourth FP+ in a different park. That said, I wouldn’t expect that to come back right now.

While anything is on the table at the moment, I’ve also been told that none of the attendance numbers floating around message boards and podcasts are not accurate. There are very few people who could give you those hard numbers right now, and they’re not sharing them with CMs.