Disneyland Reopening Speculation Superthread

[CrimsonRave]

So yah I agree with what a lot of people are saying. I bet they can turn all of the Disneyland features on with a single click in the reservation system. I have a feeling when it is decided it will be activated within a couple of days to allow enough time for hotel guests to get in.

I am thinking they allow booking in this order:
1. Onsite hotel guests
2. Good neighbor or selected hotels
3. AP pass holders
4. Ticket holders

The goal for this year will be a lot like WDW. You have to get the people have paid this year in. Onsite hotel people paid for the hotel, their for common thought would be they need to buy food, and snacks, and etc... AP holders come and go, might buy some food, but someone traveling out of state to a Disney hotel is where they make some money.

For the question on kids going to school... Here in Texas the governor said students will be back in school. I don't feel that way, the county I live in has had exponential grown in cases (right around 5x in less that 4 days) of course we have a college town and almost none of them are taking safety measures. With that I don't think our schools open on time. My wife goes back to work in her school district in 2 weeks, so I will have to work from home. Hoping they allow me to.

 

[EmJ]

I see what you are saying....but also think about how amazing the theming is in SWGE. It’s incredible!! It’s totally worth hanging out in. So many cool photos and to walk around without a ton of other people is a major plus. I still can’t get over walking in and seeing the Millennium Falcon. Yes, it would be a bit of a bummer to miss all the stuff. But it’s also a great excuse to come back again

Understood. I’m really just more perplexed than anything and wanted peoples’ thoughts on why the marketplace was closed. Much like WWoHP, the shopping seemed to be half the experience of being there, plus they were regularly selling out of some very high priced merch. If the shops are small and closely spaced, that could be our answer. On the other hand, if the rumor of no boarding groups is true, then everyone is going to rush to ROTR, at least in the morning hours, and they aren’t going to really have anywhere to go except the walkways.

 

[EmJ]

Were you looking at WDW website at this? Or was it somewhere else that I missed? It could be that perhaps the website hasn’t updated yet.

The marketplace in SWGE is small and some of the shops are tiny. And they’re some of the best ones too... But it really is one of the best parts of SWGE.

Yes, the list of open attractions at HS included only ROTR, MF:SR, Dok Onders, and Droid Depot. I forgot Droid Depot in my post above, so that’s another shop for individuals interested in droids.

I would love if DL is different than WDW in this regard, or if the marketplace shops are added to the list later. Or if they could at least open Oga’s, but the dining information hasn’t been released yet.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I would love if DL is different than WDW in this regard, or if the marketplace shops are added to the list later. Or if they could at least open Oga’s, but the dining information hasn’t been released yet.

I am really hoping they just haven't given all the information yet! I love the marketplace area of SWGE, it's such a part of the overall theme. Fingers crossed.

On a side note, when I talked to the Grand today about our hotel reservation the CM I was talking to did mention that they'll have hand sanitizer available to use before you get on and exit an attraction. So rather than wiping rides down, this is what it sounds like they'll do instead. Which makes sense! I'll be curious to see if they nudge people to use it before they get on or not. Either way, when we get on rides we just won't touch our faces, etc. until we get off. Same philosophy as when I'm in store... hands off the face!

 

[Aurora0427]

It will be a nightmare, honestly. This is being discussed all over the country, including in my state. In reality, some kids will go to daycares, neighbors’ houses, or grandma’s. Some might have nannies. Older kids might stay home alone or hang out with friends. Some kids will watch a LOT of television (our current plan). Some parents will work late into the night and on weekends to try and keep up (also our current plan). Some parents might have to quit their jobs.

Though, my school district superintendent said at the last board meeting that current guidance from the health department is that it may be RISKIER to do a hybrid schedule than 5 days per week in school, BECAUSE OF the high probability that kids will be interacting with other children from outside the school at daycares, social activities, etc., on their days “off”. I’m following this issue really, really closely (even more closely than Disneyland updates, ha!) and honestly think we will see most kids return to school 5 days per week, except perhaps in the worst hit areas, which will probably have to use full-time distance learning. The alternatives just aren’t practical when you start getting into the nitty gritty. The hybrid schedule is a huge problem for teachers too, who would have to teach in person and online and likely have their own kids. Plus, you aren’t keeping anyone that much safer if the same teacher is in front of both cohorts of kids each week.

Agree with everything you just said. Kids need to be in school. I’ve been researching this like crazy, and the overwhelming feelings from pediatricians across the country is that it is more detrimental to children if they are NOT in school. People are making these decisions based on emotions, not data, and they aren’t taking into consideration anything other than “omg! I don’t want my kids to catch COVID!”

We’ve considered a full time homeschool program for next year because we are moving anyway, and I’m hesitant to pay tuition because I think there’s a huge chance our county health officer is going to freak out and close schools or make them implement distance learning, and I think my kids would get a better education with a program designed for homeschool. But we are undecided.

Highly recommend every parent read Toronto Sick Kids Hospital’s guidelines for the reopening of Canadian schools.

Anyway. I’m way off topic. We have a reservation at the GCH for September 6, we are flex AP holders, and I’m just sitting here wondering how in the world this is all gonna work out. Is it 2022 yet?

 

[Aurora0427]

Apologies if this has been asked.... is it normal that our GCH reservation doesn’t show up under my profile in the Disneyland app? Our annual passes are there, but no hotel reservation. Just wondering how this will work with the rumored reservation system. It’s all connected with WDW.

 

[midnight star]

I am really hoping they just haven't given all the information yet! I love the marketplace area of SWGE, it's such a part of the overall theme. Fingers crossed.

On a side note, when I talked to the Grand today about our hotel reservation the CM I was talking to did mention that they'll have hand sanitizer available to use before you get on and exit an attraction. So rather than wiping rides down, this is what it sounds like they'll do instead. Which makes sense! I'll be curious to see if they nudge people to use it before they get on or not. Either way, when we get on rides we just won't touch our faces, etc. until we get off. Same philosophy as when I'm in store... hands off the face!

I too really hope the marketplace in SWGE will be open. That is one of my favorite parts.

 

[crystal1313]

Apologies if this has been asked.... is it normal that our GCH reservation doesn’t show up under my profile in the Disneyland app? Our annual passes are there, but no hotel reservation. Just wondering how this will work with the rumored reservation system. It’s all connected with WDW.

Ours don’t either. I only see our reservations if I log into Disneyland.com

I think that the DL app is different in that regard compared to the WDW app.

 

[amyg1975]

Apologies if this has been asked.... is it normal that our GCH reservation doesn’t show up under my profile in the Disneyland app? Our annual passes are there, but no hotel reservation. Just wondering how this will work with the rumored reservation system. It’s all connected with WDW.

Disneyland App does not support hotel reservations (I asked the same!).

 

[mlggator22]

Agree with everything you just said. Kids need to be in school. I’ve been researching this like crazy, and the overwhelming feelings from pediatricians across the country is that it is more detrimental to children if they are NOT in school. People are making these decisions based on emotions, not data, and they aren’t taking into consideration anything other than “omg! I don’t want my kids to catch COVID!”

I'm a teacher and a parent of a high schoolers, and I can tell you that the distance learning has been detrimental to their learning. It doesn't work for 85% of the kids. The kids need to be in the classroom. I get the risk of having them there, but we can have measures in place to reduce risk.

The one big concern I have is enforcement of the rules. My school has been terrible about enforcing any rules. They do not want students sent to the office or sent home. I have to go through a bunch of steps and a series of sometimes serious infractions before I can send any student to the office.
So my concern is, what if a student refuses to wear a mask?

Still, kids need to be in the classroom. They need to be learning. I think parents also needs kids in school so they can return to work. We just need to do with precautions in place.

Outside of that, I am eager to return to Disneyland. We have reservations for my daughter's birthday on July 25th. We will also be celebrating belatedly my son's birthday. He was really hoping to spend birthday money at Savi's. So we are a bit disappointed there.

 

[DizMe]

If DLR follows WDW's protocol for park reservations, then people with on site reservations can reserve a park for "their entire stay." Does that mean number of nights you're staying? For instance, If I fly in on Mon and out on Thurs, stay 3 nights at GCH, am I allowed 3 park reservations or 4? Is it based on number of nights you're staying or number of days you're there?

 

[disneychrista]

If DLR follows WDW's protocol for park reservations, then people with on site reservations can reserve a park for "their entire stay." Does that mean number of nights you're staying? For instance, If I fly in on Mon and out on Thurs, stay 3 nights at GCH, am I allowed 3 park reservations or 4? Is it based on number of nights you're staying or number of days you're there?

If they fool follow the same as early entry it would be the day of arrival through the day of departure, so 4 days for a 3 night stay.


edited: to correct word

 

[teruterubouzu]

I'm a teacher and a parent of a high schoolers, and I can tell you that the distance learning has been detrimental to their learning. It doesn't work for 85% of the kids. The kids need to be in the classroom. I get the risk of having them there, but we can have measures in place to reduce risk.

The one big concern I have is enforcement of the rules. My school has been terrible about enforcing any rules. They do not want students sent to the office or sent home. I have to go through a bunch of steps and a series of sometimes serious infractions before I can send any student to the office.
So my concern is, what if a student refuses to wear a mask?

Still, kids need to be in the classroom. They need to be learning. I think parents also needs kids in school so they can return to work. We just need to do with precautions in place.

Outside of that, I am eager to return to Disneyland. We have reservations for my daughter's birthday on July 25th. We will also be celebrating belatedly my son's birthday. He was really hoping to spend birthday money at Savi's. So we are a bit disappointed there.

Yes. My sister is a teacher and she doesn't know how they will actually enforce social distancing, much less reduce the number of students she would be in contact with each day. It's important that kids have access to a proper education, but it can't be at the risk of teachers and staff.

 

[wingednike]

I've cautiously been out and about after work and on days off. No guarantees this will be implemented by Disney but here's what I've seen.

1) Knott's Berry Farm Marketplace. The main parking entrance is closed; cars are guided to a side entrance. Employees asked if I were there for curbside pick up or dine in, then directed me where to park.
Everyone was wearing a mask and tables were set out in the street although inside dining was allowed. The interior passages connecting the shops to each other were blocked off. Employees are there to assist with ringing up purchases but customers scan and bag their own items. The employee stayed behind a plexiglass barrier. Annual pass discounts can be applied.

2) Buffets. I went to one restaurant for take out and the previously self-serve is now please wait while employees serve it to you...a little like an elementary school cafeteria. I also received notice from Universal Hilton on how they will serve their buffet. It also used to be self-serve but now diners will remain in their seats and their food will be brought to them. I'm not sure if this means dim sum style where carts are brought to tables or if diners check off their choices from a list and staff bring it out on plates.

 

[Kelly014]

Yes. My sister is a teacher and she doesn't know how they will actually enforce social distancing, much less reduce the number of students she would be in contact with each day. It's important that kids have access to a proper education, but it can't be at the risk of teachers and staff.

I’m an elementary school counselor...the idea of trying to get K-5 kids to wear masks or social distance, or both, sounds like a literal nightmare. It’s impossible. But kids need to be in school, distance learning is so difficult and such a burden for so many families. On the other hand, I don’t want to put people at risk. We have kids with health issues in our school. Kids may live with adults who have health issues. Staff may have health issues. So basically, there are no good options

 

[Karin1984]

For those wondering what it is like to visit a theme park with all the measures in place. Below I've written a sort of trip report about my experiences in the Netherlands.

This weekend I visited the Dutch equivalent of Disneyland: Theme park Efteling. I've written more often about their Covid-procedures before they could reopen. The park has reopened on May 20th, and is at about 30% capacity now. (one park, 3 hotels, open 365 days a year, average 5.3 million guests a year)

So below my experiences and their procedures, maybe they will be the same for Disney, maybe they will differ, but I am sure all parks that haven't reopened yet, are looking carefully at the parks that are.

- A few weeks ago, Efteling released a video with instructions in Dutch. Last week they released the same video with instructions in French, English and German. The borders have reopened for many countries within Europe. And Efteling is expecting guests. We heard several people from Belgium and Germany around us.
Most signs in the park with instructions were in English as well.

Reservation system:
- Everyone with a hotel reservation doesn't need to make a reservation for the park.
- The reservation system is divided into 3 parts: AP holders, Guests with tickets without dates, Guests with no tickets at all. Each of these groups have a cap on how many are allowed in.
- Originally AP holders could only make one reservation at a time, now that's up at 2 or 3 (as I understand it, I am not an AP holder at this park). And also , originally they were very strict with the caps in the ticketing system. Now if the other two ticket groups aren't sold out on the day off, the AP holders can make a last minute reservation using those spots.
What we see in Europe, where there are many parks that have a huge local fanbase (also Europapark in Germany) that there are many complaints to what the options are for AP holders in terms of reservations, or restrictions, etc. and several parks have changed their procedures after reopening. Also one smaller park in the Netherlands gives meal vouchers to their AP holders. Some for Efteling are in below list, but one other thing they also did was prior to the opening for a new coaster this weekend, they had previews for AP holders outside opening hours to spread the crowds.

At the hotel:
- At the entrance there were one-way marks, plus signage with the guidelines as stated by our CDC.
- Didn't use it, but pool was open, but you had to make a reservation for 45 minutes.
- Our room was on the second floor so we took the stairs, they had signs to indicate that the stairs were also one-way.(sign could have been better, not everyone understood)
- Of course, screens around the reception desk etc.
- Normally there is a breakfast buffet included with your hotel stay. Now they have solved it by having a mini buffet at your table. A selection of different breads, spreads, cheeses and meats. They came by to ask if you wanted eggs and how. They came by with a trolley for water, juices, milks, these people also had extra breads and spreads etc. with them on their trolley. If they didn't have something, or you wanted more, you could simply ask. Coffee & tea was self service.
Of course all tables were spread out.
- For dinner, they had the menu available online after scanning the QR code (available in 4 languages). They put our drink orders on the far end of the table, or used a serving table, and we could get it from there.

In the park:
- Officially they only want you to go with people of your household. No one asked or cared. There were tons of groups of friends or families with all the grandparents, children & grandchildren who surely do not all live in the same house.
- At all entrances, on squares, big areas etc. there were signs with the CDC guidelines.
- Plenty of handsanitizers everywhere, near entrances and exits of rides and on squares. They have just replaced them to a system that is foot operated.
- Several paths were closed off, or made one-direction.
- Table service restaurants took reservations, but also had space for walk ups, there were queues created outside the restaurants. With the foodcourts some restaurants were closed to have less people inside at the same time.
- Extra bathrooms (festival style, but the deluxe ones) are brought in as they only let in one family at a time. It wasn't ideal, but it kept the queues down at the bathrooms.

- This park uses red & white tape to indicate the 6ft in all queues, also outside the regular queue. 6ft red tape, 6ft white tape, 6ft red tape etc. Stand at the white tape only.
- Some queues went backstage or in circles. It was done quite subtle. It was mostly done on the railings etc.
- Maybe even too subtle, as we saw so many idiot guests not understanding: Stand at white tape only. And even if they didn't understand the system, it was clear they weren't keeping 6ft distance. When people queue, they are programmed to stand as close as possible (or they were talking to each other or staring at their phone)
We kept our distance between the group ahead of us, creating a bigger gap if necessary. And sometimes we had to tell the people behind us, stand only next to the white tape.
We didn't run into any issues with other guests when we told them the rules.
- The problem was not that the rules weren't clear, it was about people not following the rules. Sometimes CMs tried to help out and say something over the intercom to alert the people in the queue. But with an improvised queue going through the woods or parking lot etc. there is no intercom there.
- Some times there was a CM walking in the queue (at the same pace as the guests) cleaning the railings.
- In cattle pen queues they had put up plastic screens. It is not the prettiest solution, but I felt better by the screens being there than when you stand shoulder to shoulder
- For certain rides with long pre-shows, for a Disney equivalent, let's take the elevator in the Haunted Mansion. In the elevator are several tape-circles with a number in it on the floor, all 6ft apart. Before entering the CM assigns your household a number, you go to the circle that corresponds with your number to watch the preshow from that point.
Now that I think of it, I would say that with this principle, max 4 households could fit into the elevator at once.
- Wait times were pretty accurate. As they can now more accurately guess the amount of households.

- No single riders
- No fastpasses (Efteling only has 1 ride with a reservation system )
- No requesting certain rows. (I did ask at some, and most CMs were very strict with this.)
- There was enough space kept between the guests once you were on the ride by leaving empty rows.
- My one concern was the cleaning of the carts between guests. Of course you are only there for a few minutes in a ride, which is nothing when you queue for an hour and you can't keep your distance. So it is 'fine'? What they did was for example in a coaster, and a cart has 2x2 places. Seat 1 and 2 in the front of the cart, seat 3 and 4 in the back. In the first ride they only fill seat 1 and 2, and in the next ride, they filled up seat 3 and 4.
Cleaning carts between guests is practically impossible in continuous loops like Haunted Mansion.
- On one coaster it wasn't allowed to bring your bag, it was obligatory to use a locker (for free) or leave it with a non-rider.

- The other issue we ran into Sunday morning was entering the park. All hotel guests have 30 minutes early access. The park opens for hotel guests at 9:30. Around 9:00 - 9:15 we could get in and were stopped before we could get to the rides, and waited there for rope drop at 9:30. There was no 6ft distance here, some people tried, but getting close to the front was more important. My friend felt uncomfortable and wore her mask (masks aren't required here). The park hadn't implemented anything to solve this (probably because it's only 15 minutes in the morning and we are in the open air. Studies say, it's less contagious when you are in open air)

- Normally in this park you can get in a queue 1 minute before closing time and still ride. However, as they had special evening openings for AP holders on Saturday, the park had to be cleared and several rides closed 15 - 30 minutes before closing time. The park for day guests closed at 6pm, AP holders had access again from 7 - 11pm in May & June.
- Normally in July & August the park is open till 11 and there is a big summer festival each weekend with loads of entertainment. When you are a day guest you had access for the entire day. They have now decided to split it up in 9am - 6pm and 7-11pm (40 euro for day, 25 euro for night). It's not ideal, but it was the best they probably could do. The other option was to decrease capacity for the entire day.
- As a result: in July & August hotel guests do not have early access.

- Most of the streetmosphere entertainment was cancelled. There were 2 small shows in an open air theater, with limited capacity. Same principle as the queues for rides with red & white tape on the seats.
- The big show (knights, horses, ravens, dragons etc.) is cancelled. However, from July 4th there will be a reworked version. A 10 minute show, instead of 25 minutes. Same amount of shows in a day. I don't really understand their reasoning on this. As it's also an open air theater. Maybe this measure is more for the actors than for the audience.
- Efteling has a fountain show at park closure normally. Now they perform it several times a day. As it doesn't get dark till 10:30pm at the moment, that was no problem, you wouldn't see the lights anyway. It's around a huge lake with plenty of options to keep your distance. There were some tape lines to indicate where you could stand. Before the show started, they announced some safety procedures over the intercom around the lake.

For those worried about the atmosphere. I wasn't bothered by all the measures in the park. As mentioned it was quite subtle how the distance was kept in queues etc. it didn't influence the atmosphere in the park for me. Also in themed queues, I wasn't bothered by it. In themed queues it was mostly on the floor. And I do not stare at the floor constantly.
As said, masks aren't required here. So I cannot really say if seeing everyone with masks would make a difference to me. (I have a reservation for Disneyland Paris late next month, masks will be required there)

Those are my thoughts on my visit to a theme park! It was good to ride some coasters again and to have a night out of the house. But I was tired when I got home on Sunday night. Being surrounded by so many people after being 'isolated' for such a long time does something to your brain. Too many impressions ;-)

Let me know if you have questions. I have some pictures & videos, but they are not uploaded yet. Let me know if you want to see how it looked.

 

[CastAStone]

Welp, booking park reservations for WDW has been a predictable disaster. Here's hoping they work out the kinks before they open the Disneyland system!

Oh man, I made myself laugh.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Disneyland Daily posted a step by step of getting her park reservation for WDW and when it prompted her to pick an arrival time there was only one time (the duration of park hours) to pick. So maybe they’re not having you pick a certain time after all?

 

[CastAStone]

Disneyland Daily posted a step by step of getting her park reservation for WDW and when it prompted her to pick an arrival time there was only one time (the duration of park hours) to pick. So maybe they’re not having you pick a certain time after all?

At Walt Disney World they are not. There was something published at some point that led people to believe this would be different at WDW vs DLR.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

When people queue, they are programmed to stand as close as possible (or they were talking to each other or staring at their phone)

Ain’t that the truth. Our Trader Joe’s is still limiting store capacity so there’s often a line you have to wait in and people get all frenzied about it. I’m always like ‘back it up please!’ A friend of mine says she just lets out a little fake cough and that gets people to give you space.

I think we all need to prepare ourselves that if you go to the parks you’re going to run into people that will not be giving you space properly and/or won’t be wearing masks correctly. I have to tell myself that I can’t get frustrated about it and let it ruin our trip. You can’t control other people’s behavior and I think theme parks bring out a sort of ‘frenzy’ mentality in many.