Disneyland Reopening Speculation Superthread

[Epicnemesis]

Makes a lot of sense to set up in toy story. If the stars align and the parks open within 150 days, the vaccine operations won’t affect the park operations. Capacity will be so diminished that Mickey and friends would be more than enough.

 

[DLgal]

I actually think Maxpass will stay. I think it is very possible free fastpass goes away, though, maybe permanently. The ability to use FP lines will be necessary, I think, since Disneyland doesn't have the wide open walkways like WDW has. They cannot have lines spilling into the walkways here, so I imagine having Maxpass up and running will allow them to use all available queue space more efficiently.

Plus, as mentioned, it is a revenue stream for Disney with basically no additional expense on their part.

 

[DLgal]

Just saw a post on IG from GWL. In response to a question about the Anaheim location, they said it "will open at the end of March."

I thought that was interesting wording. Not "we hope" or "we plan" to reopen. We WILL.

Hmm...

 

[midnight star]

Just saw a post on IG from GWL. In response to a question about the Anaheim location, they said it "will open at the end of March."

I thought that was interesting wording. Not "we hope" or "we plan" to reopen. We WILL.

Hmm...

Hmmm

 

[midnight star]

Gothic Rosie shared this

 

[Vysecity]

I renewed my pass on 3/13/20. It's the only pass still showing on my app . Let's see if I get to use it once...

 

[AZMermaid]

I’m wondering if they’ll just refund all the APs and only take tickets at first. If there’s a reservation system, it gets muddy with APs, although they've made it work at WDW. But, that’s 4 parks with more capacity and less (?) local pass holders.
I saw 2 day tickets at Target a few weeks ago. Are they selling them again or did my Target mess up?

 

[DLgal]

I’m wondering if they’ll just refund all the APs and only take tickets at first. If there’s a reservation system, it gets muddy with APs, although they've made it work at WDW. But, that’s 4 parks with more capacity and less (?) local pass holders.
I saw 2 day tickets at Target a few weeks ago. Are they selling them again or did my Target mess up?

I really can't see them doing this. They will need those APs to come and spend money like they always do.

 

[AZMermaid]

I really can't see them doing this. They will need those APs to come and spend money like they always do.

But do they? Is there enough pent up demand for regular tickets with a SoCal ticket discount to get people in? FL just offered a 4 day ticket for $200 for residents. Will the hardcore still come out, just less often- which may be just what they need to happen. At least in the short term, maybe 6 months or so? It won’t be popular for sure....

 

[DLgal]

But do they? Is there enough pent up demand for regular tickets with a SoCal ticket discount to get people in? FL just offered a 4 day ticket for $200 for residents. Will the hardcore still come out, just less often- which may be just what they need to happen. At least in the short term, maybe 6 months or so? It won’t be popular for sure....

I just don't think they will want to alienate their huge AP following, to be honest. They didn't do it at WDW and the DL AP holders are FAR more invested in the park. Many AP holders would laugh at the idea of buying day tickets. I really think that would backfire spectacularly. I think they will do the same thing WDW did. Extend APs and hold off on renewals until such a time as they can safely increase attendance. There would be no reason to p.o. almost a million AP holders.

 

[dina444444]

I just don't think they will want to alienate their huge AP following, to be honest. They didn't do it at WDW and the DL AP holders are FAR more invested in the park. Many AP holders would laugh at the idea of buying day tickets. I really think that would backfire spectacularly. I think they will do the same thing WDW did. Extend APs and hold off on renewals until such a time as they can safely increase attendance. There would be no reason to p.o. almost a million AP holders.

Wdw has been allowing renewals. They just aren’t selling new APs except in very unique circumstances.

 

[BilboWaggins]

Just saw a post on IG from GWL. In response to a question about the Anaheim location, they said it "will open at the end of March."

I thought that was interesting wording. Not "we hope" or "we plan" to reopen. We WILL.

Didn't they say essentially the same thing last year, when they planned to open in July?

Also, "it will open," could mean other things. Like perhaps they are going to open Main Street, and some shops and restaurants.

I can see things steadily improving, but wishful thinking that we'll be in a high enough tier by the end of March. If we're lucky, the vaccine will start becoming available to the general population in April, and that's only the 1st of 2 shots.

IMO, best case scenario still seems like June. Realistic scenario, compensating for bumps along the way, is mid-July. Exactly a year since their last planned opening. I think there could be enough of a groundswell, that a June opening, or even around Memorial Day is quite possible. It would allow them to have a full summer, albeit with lower capacity. And if things go smoothly with the vaccinations, they could have substantially higher capacity in time for Halloween & Christmas.

Other than Easter, there really are no special events or occasions between now and Memorial Day anyways, so if Disney can salvage everything after the end of May, their bottom line will look good for 2020. Summer, Halloween, Christmas & New Years are the huge money makers for Disneyland.

 

[pharmama]

Didn't they say essentially the same thing last year, when they planned to open in July?

Also, "it will open," could mean other things. Like perhaps they are going to open Main Street, and some shops and restaurants.

The message you were replying to was about the Garden Grove Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) saying they "will" open in March, not Disneyland. It's possible GWL will open before DLR if tiering allows- I'm not sure where they fall....I honestly can't remember if they ever re-opened (only to close again) last year.

And though they're projecting confidence with a "will open" I am sure that they are well aware that date could change.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Same. DME doesn't exist at DL, so don't have to worry about that. But I do wonder about things like magic morning, live shows, parkhopping, etc.

I could have swore that had already been confirmed. DL doesn't have the number of live shows WDW does so not as big of an impact, but I believe the Frozen cast and whatever they had going on back in the Fantasyland Theater are already cut.

 

[midnight star]

I could have swore that had already been confirmed. DL doesn't have the number of live shows WDW does so not as big of an impact, but I believe the Frozen cast and whatever they had going on back in the Fantasyland Theater are already cut.

There are a few "pop up" entertainment with DL. For example, the DL band, Dapper Dans, and people crowd around to watch. Also parades are still a thing. I think they could do a cavalcade like a WDW, but again, our Main Street isn't as big as WDW's. I suspect the rules for crowds will be much stricter here than in Florida.

I'm automatically going to assume no World of Color, Fantasmic, or Fireworks right away.

 

[DLgal]

The message you were replying to was about the Garden Grove Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) saying they "will" open in March, not Disneyland. It's possible GWL will open before DLR if tiering allows- I'm not sure where they fall....I honestly can't remember if they ever re-opened (only to close again) last year.

And though they're projecting confidence with a "will open" I am sure that they are well aware that date could change.

They did not ever reopen. They are classified as a water park.

 

[taaren]

While the parks remain closed:

And the DIS article:
https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/disneyland-to-serve-as-covid-19-vaccination-super-site/

When I saw this article I was wondering if there was an expectation of how long the super-sites would be open since that might affect the reopening of the hotels/Land. Given that this says the goal is to have the entire OC vaccinated by the 4th of July ... this site could be open a long time! I wonder if that would preclude a full opening of DLR while it is being used as a vaccination super-site.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

There are a few "pop up" entertainment with DL. For example, the DL band, Dapper Dans, and people crowd around to watch. Also parades are still a thing. I think they could do a cavalcade like a WDW, but again, our Main Street isn't as big as WDW's. I suspect the rules for crowds will be much stricter here than in Florida.

I'm automatically going to assume no World of Color, Fantasmic, or Fireworks right away.

I would also imagine no Mickey and the Magical Map either. I doubt we’ll see any parades return right away. Maybe they’ll take pieces of the Magic Happens parade to create calvacades? That seems to be what they’ve done at MK. No character meet and greets either which likely means SW Launch Bay will be a relaxation zone like it is at WDW.

Any high touch things in queues and areas will be removed too. That was something I was surprised about (more just bc I didn’t expect it) at WDW- lots of things covered in tarps. Makes me think of our Pixar Ball- probably just won’t turn the water on I guess? I think at DL we’ll see that impact more in Toon Town where you touch a lot more.

The SWGE impact will be most noticeable. At WDW they won’t let you just walk in the marketplace- it’s only one group per store so you have to line up to enter the marketplace and then get in a separate line for each store. Restrictions were most noticeable there sadly, we were bummed. Oga’s Cantina was an odd vibe too being so much more quiet and limited capacity- although some people might like that! Also not all dining will probably be available... but man, I hope that won’t be the case. DL has much better food- I look forward to the food as much as anything else.

I’ll be curious to see if they have to be more strict bc of CA in some areas though. It really was hard to physically distance in many areas in WDW and I’m sure Newsoms team noticed that. And our walkways are often more narrow..

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Not saying all that to be a downer but folks planning to return right when they reopen (more so for us out of state folks) should have realistic expectations on how things will be.

Now I’ll take it regardless- just let me in. All I’m dreaming about is a beignet in New Orleans Square these days.

 

[Becca1007]

When I saw this article I was wondering if there was an expectation of how long the super-sites would be open since that might affect the reopening of the hotels/Land. Given that this says the goal is to have the entire OC vaccinated by the 4th of July ... this site could be open a long time! I wonder if that would preclude a full opening of DLR while it is being used as a vaccination super-site.

I don't think that these sites will be long term as they want to loads of people vaccinated fast but after some time it will be likely that they will change sites to spread out the geographic locations of vaccination sites to get people that don't have easy transportation to the big sites. Disney makes a lot of sense since they have easy access from the freeway and are used to dealing with logistics and large volumes of people.