Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Eric Smith]

And? Your statement makes zero sense to me. The more activities they have available, the more places there are for people to go. It will absolutely help the pool situation. I’m not sure why you would be against opening more things up?

You said those things would fix the pool capacity issue. That wouldn't be the case. For the things that cost extra money, people would just complain about that.

 

[AvidDisReader]

So, in your opinion, Disney's bottom line trumps the satisfaction of the people who provide the money for that bottom line. Isn't that the very definition of corporate greed?

My company lost a bunch of money too from the lockdowns, but one of our top goals in returning to "normal" was to make sure the clients don't receive worse customer service. Can Disney say that?

This is the classic Catch 22. People want more opened up because they are paying for first class vacation but not receiving it. Disney is not opening up more because they are bleeding money and trying to make it to break even. If we take a step back the truth will be obvious, there is no correct answer to this situation at this time.

 

[Eric Smith]

Maybe someone mentioned earlier and I missed it, but is it just feature pools where people are experiencing wait times? Or are the other pools also affected?
If it's just the feature pools, they could figure out activities and things to draw people to the other pools. (Show a movie(/sing-along) at the pool, music, etc. There are creative people who could figure things out.) Granted, it would involve more CMs and probably other expenditures, so not sure they'd want to do that. But it *could* be done.
My kids also always enjoy the lawn activities at the Poly. Are there places they could hold similar things at the other resorts? (Put down tape to mark distancing, put on some music, have hula hoop competitions etc.)

I haven't seen a cohesive story about which pools were at capacity and how long they were at capacity. Most of this seems to be based on posts in Facebook groups.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

You said those things would fix the pool capacity issue. That wouldn't be the case. For the things that cost extra money, people would just complain about that.

I didn't say it would fix it, I said it would HELP.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

The pool situation is a really bad look. It looks like Disney was caught by surprise which, how? They know how many rooms they have booked.

And not having rooms ready at check in? That's not a great look either. Sounds like they were probably understaffed too. I'm sure they'll learn and be better prepared in the future.

If anyone wants to read the trip reports for themselves, most are in the DISboards FB group. It's called "DISboards on Facebook"

 

[J-Dog]

You said those things would fix the pool capacity issue. That wouldn't be the case. For the things that cost extra money, people would just complain about that.

But it doesn't have to be binary. Or black-and-white. A sliding scale would still improve things. If they opened that stuff up, and pool waits went from 3 hours to 1 hour, I would bet that there would still be complaints, but at least there would be less complaints.

 

[Eric Smith]

But it doesn't have to be binary. Or black-and-white. A sliding scale would still improve things. If they opened that stuff up, and pool waits went from 3 hours to 1 hour, I would bet that there would still be complaints, but at least there would be less complaints.

They could also put people on a time limit in the pool. Give people two hours and then have them leave to make room for more. Part of the problem is probably because people set up for all afternoon which means others can't come in to the pool.

 

[zacharyleo34]

As I said earlier, one easy solution would be to open more things at the resorts to spread crowds out. If your pools are at capacity, you should have other options available for your guests.

Like what, if I may ask? So like for example - if Pop's pools areas are at capacity (bad example because honestly I don't know what they offered previously) what ~else~ could they do? This isn't in jest, I'm just curious as to how this would hypothetically work.

Options being like having the pools at closed resorts open? Or options like other COVID safe activities offered?


EDIT: asked and answered, I missed the back and forth!

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I haven't seen any trip reports about Blizzard Beach at all which I would hope means it hasn't been too overwhelmed with people during spring break? That's my backup plan for everything this summer- heat, masks in heat, crowds... and now pools at capacity. Run away to the waterpark!

 

[Lewisc]

What do you expect Disney to do? They obviously can't build new pools all of the sudden. They're not going to cut down on distancing because there would be pictures and videos on all major news outlets showing how reckless Disney is being by crowding unmasked people in and around pools.

I'm quoting you but this is intended more as a general post regarding what Disney could, can, do. People who pay $$$ for a resort stay expect that pools will generally be available. I can understand the main (feature) pool being at capacity but all the quiet pools as well
Some ideas:

1. Resort capacity could be limited so common areas such as pools can accommodate guests.
2. Pools at closed resorts could be opened and used as overflow.
3. Complimentary admission to water parks
4. Give affected guests a credit as some kind of compensation.
5. Give affected guests a room rate reduction
6. Simply tell the guests to "pound salt" Blame Covid. Tell them they shouldn't have come if they weren't willing to accept the modified experiences.

There are things Disney can do. Disney isn't willing to spend a nickle.

 

[HokieRaven5]

I haven't seen a cohesive story about which pools were at capacity and how long they were at capacity. Most of this seems to be based on posts in Facebook groups.

Most of it seems to be centered around Pop Century too. None of the dining options there are closed.

The arcade and bike rentals at Pop are the only standard amenity offered not currently operating.

The other problem is that the Big Blue Pool over at AoA is currently closed for refurbishment until sometime in April 2021. What's to stop people staying at AoA from walking over the bridge to come over to the pools at Pop

 

[zacharyleo34]

They could also put people on a time limit in the pool. Give people two hours and then have them leave to make room for more. Part of the problem is probably because people set up for all afternoon which means others can't come in to the pool.

I'm not sure you can actually enforce this? Without something very specific in place (which even then, I can't really imagine what that would look like) it would be about folks remembering/the honor system.

 

[samsonjs]

I'm not sure you can actually enforce this? Without something very specific in place (which even then, I can't really imagine what that would look like) it would be about folks remembering/the honor system.

my city park did this: sign up for a two hour window, come any time during that window. Kick everyone out when that window is up, and the next group can come in. I think that would be the only option for scheduling time frames.

I really would hate that though. Fingers crossed that it’s a kink that Disney is working to out. It’s not fair to their CMs to have to manage yet another covid restrictions that I guarantee will lead to angry guests if it isn’t just a one time occurrence.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I haven't seen a cohesive story about which pools were at capacity and how long they were at capacity. Most of this seems to be based on posts in Facebook groups.

We were at FW over spring break (last week). We don't spend our vacation time at the pool so I can't say for sure, but I never noticed much activity around the pools. Although I also felt like this year was cooler than spring break last year; I don't know many southerners who would've been comfortable at the pool in early morning or evenings. I wonder if it was just a few specific pools (SAB, the one at Coronado,...?)

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I see what your saying but you don't know that for sure. It couldn't hurt for Disney to do something - have CMs organize kids on the lawn somewhere for games or such while waiting or anything else. Disney was KNOWN for its customer service and your telling me that they couldn't come up with something to keep people safe & provide entertainment?

Disney is just floating by on its reputation and has been for years now. I think most of us are now finally coming to the conclusion that they don't really care about guests. They care about money. The funny thing is that by caring about guests and putting their satisfaction first they will get more money. But they will drive people away with all this nonsense. They are doing this to themselves.

We should probably just agree to disagree on Disney not caring about the guest experience. I don’t think they’ve only been floating on reputation for “years” - we have had over the top guest service on all of our our 5 trips between 2016 and 2020, and I’ve been going there 35+ years. Still so happy with our decision to purchase DVC a while back.

I think people traveling during a pandemic should be adjusting expectations accordingly. None of what is happening here is a surprise, Disney warns about all of the limited experiences. And it is no doubt a modified experience at the moment.

Our family loves the CM organized lawn games/playtimes too but I just don’t see Disney providing the high touch things like hula hoops, parachutes, balls, etc. That, plus the group games/play can be tricky with kids from all different families not distancing, etc. I don’t really think those things are doable right now.

 

[Eric Smith]

I'm quoting you but this is intended more as a general post regarding what Disney could, can, do. People who pay $$$ for a resort stay expect that pools will generally be available. I can understand the main (feature) pool being at capacity but all the quiet pools as well
Some ideas:

1. Resort capacity could be limited so common areas such as pools can accommodate guests.

Disney is already treading water on the parks financially. They're not going to limit resort capacity because the pools filled up.

2. Pools at closed resorts could be opened and used as overflow.

In most situations, this wouldn't work. Unless it was possible to walk from an open resort to a closed resort, people wouldn't go for this. I don't think many would want to wait for a bus, jump on a bus, swim and then repeat the process while wet just to go to a pool.

3. Complimentary admission to water parks

I don't see this being a realistic option.

4. Give affected guests a credit as some kind of compensation.

How do you know what guests are affected? Do you give it to every guest at the resort whether they were actually going to go to the pool or not? Do you prorate it based on how long the pool was actually at capacity?

5. Give affected guests a room rate reduction

The information that pool offerings could be reduced is listed on the Disney website. The website also goes out of its way to tell you that there are COVID restrictions in place. The pool possibly filling up is a risk that people took whether consciously or unconsciously.

6. Simply tell the guests to "pound salt" Blame Covid. Tell them they shouldn't have come if they weren't willing to accept the modified experiences.

I don't think Disney is telling anyone to "pound salt", but it's not Disney's responsibility to compensate people for this issue. The pools are what they are. SAB filled up in the pre-COVID times. Disney is a popular destination, there are crowds which may impact your experience.

 

[Eric Smith]

We were at FW over spring break (last week). We don't spend our vacation time at the pool so I can't say for sure, but I never noticed much activity around the pools. Although I also felt like this year was cooler than spring break last year; I don't know many southerners who would've been comfortable at the pool in early morning or evenings. I wonder if it was just a few specific pools (SAB, the one at Coronado,...?)

The explanation above about the AoA pool being closed so people may be walking over to POP Century would make sense. It's also possible that more people are trying to go to the pools because they don't want to pay to go in to the parks.

 

[Eric Smith]

We should probably just agree to disagree on Disney not caring about the guest experience. I don’t think they’ve only been floating on reputation for “years” - we have had over the top guest service on all of our our 5 trips between 2016 and 2020, and I’ve been going there 35+ years. Still so happy with our decision to purchase DVC a while back.

I think people traveling during a pandemic should be adjusting expectations accordingly. None of what is happening here is a surprise, Disney warns about all of the limited experiences. And it is no doubt a modified experience at the moment.

Our family loves the CM organized lawn games/playtimes too but I just don’t see Disney providing the high touch things like hula hoops, parachutes, balls, etc. That, plus the group games/play can be tricky with kids from all different families not distancing, etc. I don’t really think those things are doable right now.

The CMs during our trip in December were amazing. We've also had very positive experiences with Disney customer service before that as well. I don't see a huge issue in that department. I think due to COVID, there are going to be issues that are going to upset people and that is unavoidable. Disney has mitigated some like using the park pass system so that people aren't turned away at the gate like they were at Universal over the weekend.

 

[Moliphino]

The explanation above about the AoA pool being closed so people may be walking over to POP Century would make sense. It's also possible that more people are trying to go to the pools because they don't want to pay to go in to the parks.

Pop and AOA don't share pools. Someone from AOA's magic band wouldn't get them into one of the pools at Pop.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Pop and AOA don't share pools. Someone from AOA's magic band wouldn't get them into one of the pools at Pop.

There are no longer complimentary magicbands though, and having not been there in a while are they enforcing that at Pop during the Covid operation?