Pete said something on the 03/28/20 live show that got me thinking....

[Sevenwords]

Pete pointed out that Disney painted themselves into a corner with such a large staffing from the college program. Now when they open, they may have staffing issues. Mix that with the fact that they will likely need to play it safe and tamper their reopening for safety and logistical reasons. Just thinking out loud here...what if they don't open all 4 parks at WDW right away? If they only open 2 immediately, the staffing and logistical issues are more manageable. After stay home orders are lifted, yes people will be exploding for Disney, but some people will also still be skeptical of large gatherings. Only opening 2 parks could also allow EPCOT to stay closed for a little longer and make up some lost construction time. Maybe this is crazy, but it is an idea that could solve a few issues for the re-open.

 

[rteetz]

I think everything is on the table. Several rumors suggest not opening all four parks. Other suggest only opening certain attractions.

 

[Heather07438]

Yeah I don't what's going to happen but my guess is large gatherings of people are going to be the last frontier to re-open. How that works for WDW... ? Just don't know. They'll try to open as soon as feasible but they have more to work out than the average company. Even if they manage to overcome and open for the summer, there's the potential for needing to close again next winter. Until more is learned, WDW is in limbo.

Really depends how this plays out. Does flattening work? Did we buy time to discover and prove better treatment to ease the severity for those who do come down with Covid. Do we learn to manage sooner, or later? So may variations to how this can play out.

 

[hertamaniac]

What I could see is that World Showcase will lag in opening if current travel bans are extended/expanded. So I would tend to think that as of this timestamp EPCOT would not be a candidate to open before the other 3.

 

[gharter]

i expect to see them open with the resorts partially filled, restaurants only using 1/2 of their seating. I don't expect to see all the parks open at first.
I also don't expect to see any meet and greets, large crowd shows, nighttime shows, parades to be there at first. May be some time before we see those return.
I think they will also need to use a virtual queue or something to decrease the long standby lines.

 

[yankeesfan123]

What I could see is that World Showcase will lag in opening if current travel bans are extended/expanded. So I would tend to think that as of this timestamp EPCOT would not be a candidate to open before the other 3.

i was honestly thinking the opposite. I was thinking World Showcase to open first, staffed without the use of foreign cast members). You’ll have two major attractions (assuming Rat opens quickly) and absolutely no construction going on or interfering. You also have a dozen or so restaurants and alcohol that are biggg money makers.

 

[KingLlama]

I hope Epcot doesn't reopen until Duffy is fired permanently.

 

[DLgal]

I think they should just shut down Epcot entirely and go all in on the construction projects to hopefully get it done on time. Open the other 3 parks. I can also see them keeping certain resorts shuttered (like maybe keeping one in each category closed, or certain buildings within resorts closed).

 

[rteetz]

I think they should just shut down Epcot entirely and go all in on the construction projects to hopefully get it done on time. Open the other 3 parks. I can also see them keeping certain resorts shuttered (like maybe keeping one in each category closed, or certain buildings within resorts closed).

That’s not really feasible considering there are several attractions that need to be run, and it would still take years for them to all get done.

 

[tguz]

I am not local and Disney is a major vacation that we save for.....I would not vacation at Disney if it were not 100% open. I would desperately try to hold off so we weren't taking a vacation that we know going in would be sub par.

 

[Lumpy1106]

There are an AWFUL LOT of unemployed people already. I don't think staffing will be an issue. Training OTOH? That's another issue.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pete pointed out that Disney painted themselves into a corner with such a large staffing from the college program. Now when they open, they may have staffing issues. Mix that with the fact that they will likely need to play it safe and tamper their reopening for safety and logistical reasons. Just thinking out loud here...what if they don't open all 4 parks at WDW right away? If they only open 2 immediately, the staffing and logistical issues are more manageable. After stay home orders are lifted, yes people will be exploding for Disney, but some people will also still be skeptical of large gatherings. Only opening 2 parks could also allow EPCOT to stay closed for a little longer and make up some lost construction time. Maybe this is crazy, but it is an idea that could solve a few issues for the re-open.

I think it is possible - but I think more likely is all 4 main parks are open, but more attractions and food locations go "seasonal", see shorter hours for all the parks, etc. Also I think meet and greets get adjusted to start and you see things implemented to keep people more spaced out.

I think you just run into issues that people with APs would say they paid for access to 4 parks, and you have sold those 4-park tickets, etc. .... I mean, I think everything is on the table so certainly not impossible, but I just think more likely they all open but more limited

 

[TheMaxRebo]

There are an AWFUL LOT of unemployed people already. I don't think staffing will be an issue. Training OTOH? That's another issue.

yeah, gonna need some extra of those "earning my ears" ribbons for the name tags

 

[kiki02]

I hope Epcot doesn't reopen until Duffy is fired permanently.

yes i still dont get that dude and what is it?

 

[KingLlama]

yes i still dont get that dude and what is it?

EXACTLY

 

[sweetpeama]

Going off two things here 1) when my family and I were on a trip in January 2010 we were heading into the building on Pixar Place in Disney Hollywood Studios where the character meets were along with a few other things like One Man's Dream and The Magic Of Disney Animation with our youngest who was just over 2 at the time in a Stroller As A Wheelchair. We were stopped by a Cast Member to tell us that strollers were not allowed and where the stroller parking was. When I stretched the Stroller As A Wheelchair tag he motioned for us to come over so he could tell us the easiest way to go with the stoller. When we got closer he made two comments about the hat that my husband was wearing from his employer which is a large food service warehouse company. The first comment this Cast Member said was People from Home (come to find out that this Cast Member was from a town about a 4.5-5 hour drive from our town and he actually knew a friend of mine that I went to university with over 15 years before that, life in a town of 2500 if you don't know someone personally you at least know who they are) and that's the company we get our food from here at Walt Disney World one of my roommates works in a food service location. 2) I have seen the ramp up of the number of cases going out on a shift several times over the 13.5 years my DH has worked for this company (he will be there 14 years in mid October this year) including nights that they have had a high number of fire calls (food for wild fire containment camps so the firefighters don't have to exist for weeks on end on MREs) and know that they will work until the trucks are all loaded.
Currently the company my DH works for are not bringing in any fresh food and is using frozen foods where they can especially in their meats to be able to at least keep items in stock longer so when Disney or some of your favorite resturants including some national chains are able to ramp back up to full time business as usual they can stock them up as quickly as possible.
Going off this information I would say that there is going to be a limited menu and chances are for the first week or two choices will be limited not only in what you can have to eat but more in likely there will be very limited sit down options and the menus at the locations that are open will be limited. Personally if I were making ADRs I would concentrate them on breakfast as more of the typical breakfast options can be done with items that are either frozen or come from the dry part of the warehouse. I can also say that unlike those of us in locations in extremely rural states in remotes parts of the country that both Florida and California will get fresh produce and meat that is not frozen and will need to be thawed at the resturant before it can be cooked and served to customers within a very short window.

 

[ChrisFL]

yes i still dont get that dude and what is it?

Duffy wasn't made for EPCOT, he was supposed to be exclusive to Tokyo DisneySea, and the idea is that when Mickey Mouse would go out and explore the seven seas, Minnie gave him a teddy bear to keep him company (or vice versa, something like that). With many cute things in Japan, Duffy's popularity absolutely exploded everywhere in the country it seemed like and WDW execs thought maybe it could happen here too (spoiler alert: it didn't)

 

[kiki02]

Duffy wasn't made for EPCOT, he was supposed to be exclusive to Tokyo DisneySea, and the idea is that when Mickey Mouse would go out and explore the seven seas, Minnie gave him a teddy bear to keep him company (or vice versa, something like that). With many cute things in Japan, Duffy's popularity absolutely exploded everywhere in the country it seemed like and WDW execs thought maybe it could happen here too (spoiler alert: it didn't)

i'm sorry but he needs to go stat

 

[Ross Kratter]

I think they should just shut down Epcot entirely and go all in on the construction projects to hopefully get it done on time. Open the other 3 parks. I can also see them keeping certain resorts shuttered (like maybe keeping one in each category closed, or certain buildings within resorts closed).

They make so much money from the restaurants within Epcot that I don't think they'd ever do that.

 

[PamNC]

I think they'll open all 4 parks at once, if for no other reason than the parks that do open will be very crowded..which we don't want. I think high capacity activities like fireworks where people squeeze in together and parades will not start right away. Also meet and greets... anything where there's a lot of folks and a lot of touching (LOL). any shows where people are packed together really tight - like Fantasmic. Or either they will limit the amount of folks allowed into Fantasmic. I also think Pete is right about more virtual queues. Perhaps they will also lower the capacity allowance per park.

Just my thoughts... that's all.