Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[rteetz]

I’m starting to think fireworks and park hopping will be off the table until a vaccine.

I think park hopping could return prior to that.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It'll be a wait and see what will come first. Adding hours or adding entertainment. Either one will mean Disney spending more money than what they are now. Either one will help spread the crowds.
Personally I hope they add entertainment, of course it won't really help Epcot or MK but would work wonders at DHS and AK

yeah, Disney is trying to maximize potential profits and so far seems their take is to reduce expenses vs maximizing revenue (basically the marginal additional dollar of adding capacity, extending hours, brining back entertainment/fireworks/parades/etc in order to increase attendance and thus revenue isn't worth it to them yet) ... so if they do any of those things then they are seeing that more $ would be generated than they would be putting out to provide those extra hours or services

Which I think largely comes when more people are willing to travel from further away and stay on property and do so for longer periods of time ... also when they can maybe increase capacity at restaurants and other money making things (I think reopening Savi's is first example of this really)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think park hopping could return prior to that.

at least in a limited fashion - I think they could allow park hoping to EPCOT today if they wanted to (and if by "they wanted to" I mean if "they thought it would bring in enough extra $ to make it worthwhile" ... so far that doesn't seem to be the case)

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I’m starting to think fireworks and park hopping will be off the table until a vaccine.

I could see that indirectly just because the not high enough demand (due to COVID) leads to the shorter hours and the decreased spending that are possibly keeping those two things away.

I do think even if there’s never a successful vaccine they will return though, because eventually for one reason or another that are too OT here people will come back.

 

[gottalovepluto]

While Disney’s safety level is enticing, there are still those for whom air travel is anxiety-producing. My daughter just spent a week at Disney, including the crowded Labor Day weekend and yesterday’s “packed” EPCOT. She’s on her way home and said that the first and only time that she and her friends felt unsafe was onboard American Airlines, where they’re packing passengers in like sardines again and not enforcing mask rules.

It’s beyond Disney’s control but with as long as major carriers demonstrate such disregard for the health of their passengers, it will be a very long time before a lot of people will feel confident to fly to Orlando.

Yeah. I won’t touch AA or UA until this is done. DL all the way right now for me. (And I’m disappointed Southwest isn’t extending their distancing past Halloween yet.)

 

[karen4546]

Why couldn't they do fireworks after the park closed AND have some video set up during the day to capture guest experience and then show all that on the resort tv? It could be easily done and put together by 9-10 pm each night. Who wouldn't like to see their face on the resort tv from somewhere during the day have the most magical day EVER !?

I hardly ever stayed in the parks to watch the fireworks. I would either watch from my resort, TOTWL, POLY beach or dessert party viewing.

I don't know what phase FL is in, but Louisiana went into phase III on Friday.

 

[gottalovepluto]

It was mentioned earlier, and I agree, that package delivery would go a LONG way to increasing my spending. Even pickup prior to leaving. Not walking around with a dozen bags or more is so nice in “normal” times.

Without package delivery my spending will be cut in half for sure. I won’t lug that stuff around with me as I am prone to leave stuff behind and have neck issues (so the less I lug the better my day goes physically). Many times I ask myself do I really want this? And what puts my over the edge is resort delivery. Like I’m sure I’ll get stuff but if I don’t want it bad enough to go back and find it after my day that’ll be Disney’s loss and only a few items will make that cut. They can sell the stuff to an AP holder for 30% off instead

 

[gottalovepluto]

Why couldn't they do fireworks after the park closed AND have some video set up during the day to capture guest experience and then show all that on the resort tv? It could be easily done and put together by 9-10 pm each night. Who wouldn't like to see their face on the resort tv from somewhere during the day have the most magical day EVER !?

I hardly ever stayed in the parks to watch the fireworks. I would either watch from my resort, TOTWL, POLY beach or dessert party viewing.

I don't know what phase FL is in, but Louisiana went into phase III on Friday.

They won’t make money on the fireworks that way.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

They won’t make money on the fireworks that way.

I wonder if they would ever do like a hard ticket to see fireworks - or like "everyone pays for the dessert party"

 

[mattpeto]

I could see that indirectly just because the not high enough demand (due to COVID) leads to the shorter hours and the decreased spending that are possibly keeping those two things away.

I do think even if there’s never a successful vaccine they will return though, because eventually for one reason or another that are too OT here people will come back.

I completely agree with you. I would say the world won’t have a very long leash if a vaccine is not successful, but I’d give it a a year or two before that scenario unfolded.

at least in a limited fashion - I think they could allow park hoping to EPCOT today if they wanted to (and if by "they wanted to" I mean if "they thought it would bring in enough extra $ to make it worthwhile" ... so far that doesn't seem to be the case)

It seems like a good revenue opportunity for park hopping at Epcot, but I guess it’s not profitable enough to keep the whole park open into the evening. They’d rather you just go to Disney Springs right now.

 

[yulilin3]

It seems like a good revenue opportunity for park hopping at Epcot, but I guess it’s not profitable enough to keep the whole park open into the evening. They’d rather you just go to Disney Springs right now.

it wouldn't be that hard to keep Epcot open just for dining. Just like they're doing at the parks now that have restaurants taking people in after closing.
They clear the parks as usual while people are dining and then just a few CMs stay behind and walk each party straight to the exit or in Oga's case to the exit of SWGE for another CM to escort the party out of the park. Not a huge amount of CM needed for that and I'm sure they will make enough money to justify it staying open

 

[twinmom13]

My kids and I arrived yesterday and headed to MK around 3:00. It was very crowded, much more crowded than I was expecting. We went last year in mid-October and two years ago in the last week of November, and it was at least as crowded as those two times. I didn’t feel unsafe, however, because mask usage was excellent and it was not hard to avoid crowds. If there was a crowd somewhere, we didn’t go there. If we had to pass close to someone momentarily, we did it but didn’t linger. Most people kept their distance well in lines. I only saw a few people not following mask rules, and the ones I did see were immediately approached by CMs in all but one case.

Despite the crowds and generally high wait times, we bought ears, had a snack, and were able to ride Splash, BTMR, Buzz Lightyear, Splash again, 7DMT, and Winnie the Pooh between 3:00 and 6:00. Those last two were helped by a sudden torrential downpour. Either some people left the line because of the rain or the posted wait time was inaccurate, because we thought we wouldn’t even get on 7DMT until after 6, but we were somehow off just before. We hurried over to Pooh and got on just before it closed. We then visited the gift shop and strolled around the castle (which was absolutely gorgeous) before our 6:50 reservation at Be Our Guest. It was our third visit, but by far the best. Everything was delicious, and it was a treat getting to leave the park after dark with the castle and Main Street lit up.

 

[dislee1164]

Hi all - been away from the boards for about a month, so I’m sure I missed a lot. Have 2 trips coming up, one being over New Years (Epcot NYE has become a family tradition).

With the recent announcement of Christmas changes/cancellations, etc, has there been any talk of New Years Eve entertainment?

I don’t see how they justify parties in the parks if they cancelled MMVMCP, but it’s not like all of WDW will be shut down - so what will they do? Smaller resort only celebrations?

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts!

 

[twinmom13]

Today we went to AK. We got there at 8:30 and headed straight for FoP, which was already running. We ended up riding FoP twice, Dinosaur twice, Expedition Everest three times, Triceratops Spin twice in a row, and Kali River Rapids once, as well as stopping for two snacks and lunch and visiting what seemed like every open gift shop, all before 3:00. Crowds were light before noon, then exploded after noon, along with wait times. Like the day before at MK, however, I didn’t feel unsafe — masks and distancing were even better than the day before.

The bulk of the crowd definitely seems local or at least offsite. The Magical Express was not crowded, and neither were the AK buses or the monorail. We have had basically no wait for transportation, and the resort does not seem crowded. I have high hopes for HS tomorrow.

 

[Sarahslay]

Narcoosee’s is reportedly opening later this month!

Have we heard anything about Victoria & Alberts? That's what I really care about since DH and I were supposed to go for our anniversary in early July but obviously that didn't happen. Just keep trying not to get my hopes up that it will open sometime shortly after GF, in time for our Thanksgiving trip, I don't want to get all excited and then not be able to go (which is why i've stayed away from really researching if it might reopen). It's getting close to ADR day and I just really want a few more places like that to open up.

 

[Mit88]

While its fun to speculate, and talk about rumors, much of what has been revealed recently have not been rumors prior to being announced. 3 weeks ago even projections on the castle was something that wasn’t possible. It was even talked at length that starting this upcoming week that EPCOT and AK would be closed 2 days a week. While I’m not saying Hopping and/or fireworks in some form will be back any time soon, I still say March 2021, it wouldn’t come as an absolute shock if in a month we see more things added to the experience, especially if crowds continue to come into the parks.

 

[Sarahslay]

While Disney’s safety level is enticing, there are still those for whom air travel is anxiety-producing. My daughter just spent a week at Disney, including the crowded Labor Day weekend and yesterday’s “packed” EPCOT. She’s on her way home and said that the first and only time that she and her friends felt unsafe was onboard American Airlines, where they’re packing passengers in like sardines again and not enforcing mask rules.

It’s beyond Disney’s control but with as long as major carriers demonstrate such disregard for the health of their passengers, it will be a very long time before a lot of people will feel confident to fly to Orlando.

I drove down two weeks ago and even that was anxiety inducing when I had to stop for gas and my one restroom break. Actually, driving down was fine since I left early enough that a lot of people weren't out and about, but driving back I had the most anxiety when I had to stop. I didn't drive because I didn't feel safe, I actually fly with Delta and had no problem flying with them, they just kept moving my flight around that it really cut in to my already shortened day. I figured driving might feel a little safer, I do have to get gas weekly anyway after all, but for some reason when standing on the other side of a gas tank with a big dude coughing on the other side I got filled with anxiety. I'm not sure I could handle a packed plane either, but I can say the most stressful part about a Disney vacation is definitely the travel, and something a lot of people are going to have to come to terms with.

 

[chicagoshannon]

They really need to do something about the quick service situation. It shouldn't take an hour to get food! Opening the other restaurants would help. I know some say they let you in to order but they really don't. They weren't even letting anyone close to Pinocchio today unless you were already in your arrival window.

Lines were long everywhere but the food situation was the worst.

 

[SarahC97]

They really need to do something about the quick service situation. It shouldn't take an hour to get food! Opening the other restaurants would help. I know some say they let you in to order but they really don't. They weren't even letting anyone close to Pinocchio today unless you were already in your arrival window.

Lines were long everywhere but the food situation was the worst.

And once you do go in when your order is ready, finding seating is a bit of a nightmare.

 

[Marthasor]

Have we heard anything about Victoria & Alberts? That's what I really care about since DH and I were supposed to go for our anniversary in early July but obviously that didn't happen. Just keep trying not to get my hopes up that it will open sometime shortly after GF, in time for our Thanksgiving trip, I don't want to get all excited and then not be able to go (which is why i've stayed away from really researching if it might reopen). It's getting close to ADR day and I just really want a few more places like that to open up.

I'm going to assume that until FL puts indoor restaurant capacity back to 100%, we aren't going to see V&A opening. I could be wrong, but I don't see how 50% capacity is financial viable seeing as capacity is limited in there already. My plan was to go there for my 50th birthday in mid-November, but I've all but given up on it. My ADR day was yesterday and I decided to go with Spice Road instead. Not V&A, of course, but most of the seating is outdoors, the food is good and I can happily stare at Spaceship Earth during the meal. After 6 months of covid, I'm getting used to the lemons-into-lemonade scenario. Honestly, anything at WDW for my birthday would be absolutely terrific at this point!