Rumor about “modified experiences” when Disney reopens (read 1st post for potential modifications being considered)

[Minnie368]

Does anyone know what the hours of operation in SHD looked like when they first opened? I'm concerned by seeing that UO is posting hours 9am-6pm. I know some have said that would be ok because with decreased capacity maybe that will be enough time to see everything you want, or that it'll be nice to end early and go back to the resort and swim. But for my family, especially in the summer, we like the early morning hours and later evening hours because it's so hot midday. That's when we go back and take a nap, swim, etc. We like to be in the park in the evenings because it's cooler. I think I'm going to have to add that to the list of deal breakers for me.

 

[woody337]

I also think it's in their best interests to have more cash on hand. People's deposits and ticket purchases are like an interest-free line of credit. The longer they can hold that credit (making people cancel reservations, or holding the deposit until check-in day, not refunding tickets, etc) the less interest they pay and the more flexibility they have.

And if they are doing this knowing they wont we open is wrong any way you look at it

 

[cakebaker]

I also think it's in their best interests to have more cash on hand. People's deposits and ticket purchases are like an interest-free line of credit.

Of course it is, but that's also exactly why it would be terribly wrong for them to take reservations when they know they won't be open. I'm not a bank to draw funds from. To be clear, I don't think that's what is happening. I think the rumor, as presented, is, ummm...wrong. lol

 

[Mit88]

Traveling now isn’t safe. Those of us traveling have accepted that.

If you’re thinking Disney might be a better safety bet because they’re waiting, I disagree. I think they will have similar safety protocols between all the parks.

Theyre going to open with safety protocols in place whether they open tomorrow, or January. They’re not just going to open the parks to a free for all just because they wait. And the virus will still be present, it’s not going anywhere. You could even argue that it would be worse to open back up in January than it would be to open within the next month or two

 

[BarbLynnM]

"...It's not good enough that they say they're closed until further notice if they know they are not opening..."

Agreed. I've been saying that Disney might not want to project an opening date, but they surely would know that they're not going to open in x amount of time. If they knew in advance that they weren't going to be open for June and, in fact, not until August, then taking reservation, dining plan and ticket money would in my (non-lawyerly) opinion constitute false advertising. If this unlikely scenario was true, Disney would be holding on to monies that may be drawing interest with no intention of providing goods or services. Imagine the class action lawsuits that could stem from that scenario. I just don't see that as happening, as their floors of attorneys wouldn't let that fly.

Perhaps Disney might have a date/range they're shooting for, but I don't think they've had a set opening date at all.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Theyre going to open with safety protocols in place whether they open tomorrow, or January. They’re not just going to open the parks to a free for all just because they wait. And the virus will still be present, it’s not going anywhere. You could even argue that it would be worse to open back up in January than it would be to open within the next month or two

They definitely need to open this summer, get things going and prepare for either a 2nd shut down in January or hours that are even more reduced than normal that time of year. Winter is going to be hard on everyone if we don't get a decent treatment by then.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think the end of August is probably a true scenario, but definitely not the ideal goalpost that Disney is after. I'm reasonably certain there are at least 1-2 that involve an opening prior to then. Late August is more likely a contingency plan if x, y, or z happens. I would imagine they have a number of different scenarios at this point.

That is how look at it - I would think they had a range of potential opening time frames with end of August being a legit one (probably one they hoped wouldn't be the case) and June 1st was a legit one (if a bit optimistic). Then, as things develop they would adapt - Universal opening June 5th is just another aspect they will adapt to

 

[Anna H]

Also of concern to you should be the later it gets into summer the more people will feel safe traveling so the bigger the crowds. As far as theme parks relaxing restrictions, entirely possible. More likely, imho, is that fellow guests will be less vigilant. The longer this goes, the more “over it” some non-affected people will get and the more likely they aren’t as vigilant in washing hands & social distancing- and I’m not just talking guests. Some of the workers will be over it as well.... That logic says visiting sooner rather than later is probably better if you want to hit tightest restrictions...

This is why I kind of hope Disney delays a little bit more than UO but not as long as August. I want everyone to get their vacation though. This is hard and we need more data about how this is most likely to transmit in transient circumstances. I usually think taking my own precautions is enough but my husband caught a cold last time despite being exceedingly careful. Covid is more contagious so that makes me feel like everyone has to comply to make this work. I don't imagine that Disney can open much sooner than the end of June which hopefully will keep most measures in place by August. UO would have the hurdle of being open longer and rules wearing on people over time. I really hope not though. These rules are worth it to me.

 

[Mit88]

They definitely need to open this summer, get things going and prepare for either a 2nd shut down in January or hours that are even more reduced than normal that time of year. Winter is going to be hard on everyone if we don't get a decent treatment by then.

I dont think it will be as bad this winter, but that all depends on the assumption that theres no reinfection due to the antibodies in your system. But there is still a large population that hasn’t contracted it yet which will become more susceptible in the winter. We should be OK until around the end of November, early December, but most big companies like Disney are likely looking into the possibility of closures in the Winter. Which is why I think they’re going to want to take advantage of being open while they can, get their ducks in a row and have a better plan in place just in case they need to close again for a few months

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Not if it’s an AP discount room only. I have an AP, DH doesn’t so I had to buy his tickets outright.

Yes, that's the exception to the rule. PP has the sun and fun discount, so could have made her reservation a package by adding tickets. She got bad info from a CM. What a surprise.

 

[KBoopaloo]

You don’t think Disney has plan A through Z? Why wouldn’t they? They likely have a plan in the case that they need to be closed for the rest of the year. No they don’t want that but better to prepare for such than not too.

Agreed. I know I am beating a dead horse but my extremely minuscule in comparison to WDW visitor facing organization is working with three goalpost dates for planning purposes but multiple dates in between those three dates are all possibilities as well - we are basically using those 3 goalpost dates to run financial forecasts and estimate what resources are needed at different points. There is no way Disney has not been running multiple scenarios -at the very least an ideal best case scenario, a still good but less optimistic scenario, an acceptable but further away scenario and a worst case scenario. I am sure they are also simultaneously working scenarios for what happens if there is a very large spike later in the year after their initial reopening.
End of August seems like a reasonable further off, less than ideal but not quite worst case scenario to me partly because as others have noted the week or two after Labor Day tends to be one the quieter times at the parks (Tuesday after Labor Day 2018 was the emptiest day I’ve spent in MK in many, many years). Opening at what tends to be a quieter time any way can only help them deal with capacity issues.

 

[brockash]

Poster Disneyhead'71 on WDWmagic posted this in regards to Disney being blindsided by Universal.

I'm hearing Universal didn't surprise Disney at all with their June 5th reopening date. Both Disney and Universal were on the Governor's Reopening Committee, they both outlined their plans. Universal said June, Disney said end of August. Disney pushed really hard to have Universal blocked from opening in June, but the Governor and Orange Co. officials like the thought of that Summer tourist tax money, so Universal's plan got approved. Now Disney is back to the drawing board trying to figure out what they can can bring on line by mid-June with their now limited staffing resources.

This is not really a case of Disney being "caught flat-footed" as just the fact that the 2 resorts are in much different situations in regards to the ability to reopen.

Universal is still paying all of their full time employees. All they have to do is schedule them to work, train them on new policy procedures, and fling the doors open. It was in Universal's best interest to get the parks open ASAP and stop paying employees with no incoming revenue.

Disney, on the other hand, sent all their international and college program employees home and furloughed almost everyone else. Not to mention that they require 3 times the staff that Universal needs. It simply going to take longer to get the place ready for guests.

Hearing that it makes a lot of sense on both the NBA front and why they have been vague on what is going on in regards to opening.

This I can see. There's no way Disney didn't know UO plans. I'm sure they would have liked all to just work around their schedule and what worked best for them and perhaps that's what blindsided them. Maybe their ego got a little too big (gasp) and some of the higher ups really did think the entire state would say sure Disney; you tell us when we can open/approve openings etc. To me that's way more believable than that they just had no idea UO was planning on opening 6/1 &5.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I dont think it will be as bad this winter, but that all depends on the assumption that theres no reinfection due to the antibodies in your system. But there is still a large population that hasn’t contracted it yet which will become more susceptible in the winter. We should be OK until around the end of November, early December, but most big companies like Disney are likely looking into the possibility of closures in the Winter. Which is why I think they’re going to want to take advantage of being open while they can, get their ducks in a row and have a better plan in place just in case they need to close again for a few months

I'm really hoping we find out soon whether or not you can get it again. This will be the game changer of course.

 

[Mit88]

I'm really hoping we find out soon whether or not you can get it again. This will be the game changer of course.

Personally, I think we would know by now if you could be reinfected. That doesnt mean you couldn’t be reinfected by a mutated strain of the virus, but with mutation comes weakening, so it would have much less of an affect on people than what is currently happening.

I’m not a doctor or a scientist, I’m just an idiot on the internet with opinions.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Personally, I think we would know by now if you could be reinfected. That doesnt mean you couldn’t be reinfected by a mutated strain of the virus, but with mutation comes weakening, so it would have much less of an affect on people than what is currently happening.

I’m not a doctor or a scientist, I’m just an idiot on the internet with opinions.

We should, but none of the studies are 100% sure from what I've seen. My friend had it, went back to work at the hospital and hasn't been sick again. She's still taking every precaution, though.

 

[TomServo27]

Personally, I think we would know by now if you could be reinfected. That doesnt mean you couldn’t be reinfected by a mutated strain of the virus, but with mutation comes weakening, so it would have much less of an affect on people than what is currently happening.

I’m not a doctor or a scientist, I’m just an idiot on the internet with opinions.

I think the question is probably more of how long do you have immunity.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

And if they are doing this knowing they wont we open is wrong any way you look at it

If they were doing this, they wouldn't have shut down reservations for June or changed their PIF date from 30 days to 7 days. If you want to truly witness this type of unscrupulous business practice, start poking around in the cruise industry where cruise lines are simultaneously marketing summer cruises which will never happen and repatriating crew. Taking deposits and full payments and then, when customers are due full refunds, making them fill out forms and telling them it will take at least 90 days to get their money back. This is not how WDW is operating.

 

[cakebaker]

Something to think on....Starting back in mid April, people were reporting a big change in FP availability. I started paying attention because our window was coming up the end of the month. Top tier rides were booking 4, 5 even 6 days out- much longer than had been normal. This continued right through our booking window. But, our trip was longer so I couldn't really judge availability for the end of our trip, it would appear to have been much better, but that's because I was booking 13 days out.

Then, all of sudden, availability came back somewhat for mid -July- things that are being booked now and in the last week or so. I didn't think of it, just read someone else who did- but it does seem plausible that the low availability for the middle of June could be caused by the intention to reduce capacity and the increase we now see might be them increasing capacity on a weekly basis as they're doing in SDL. Just a thought- go ahead, blow holes in it.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

If they were doing this, they wouldn't have shut down reservations for June or changed their PIF date from 30 days to 7 days. If you want to truly witness this type of unscrupulous business practice, start poking around in the cruise industry where cruise lines are simultaneously marketing summer cruises which will never happen and repatriating crew. Taking deposits and full payments and then, when customers are due full refunds, making them fill out forms and telling them it will take at least 90 days to get their money back. This is not how WDW is operating.

Yeah, we had a July trip scheduled that I cancelled maybe a month ago and we received a full refund of our deposit/payments--which at that point exceed $1000--within a couple of days. Disney is operating in uncertain times, and a wait and see approach is the best they can do.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Something to think on....Starting back in mid April, people were reporting a big change in FP availability. I started paying attention because our window was coming up the end of the month. Top tier rides were booking 4, 5 even 6 days out- much longer than had been normal. This continued right through our booking window. But, our trip was longer so I couldn't really judge availability for the end of our trip, it would appear to have been much better, but that's because I was booking 13 days out.

Then, all of sudden, availability came back somewhat for mid -July- things that are being booked now and in the last week or so. I didn't think of it, just read someone else who did- but it does seem plausible that the low availability for the middle of June could be caused by the intention to reduce capacity and the increase we now see might be them increasing capacity on a weekly basis as they're doing in SDL. Just a thought- go ahead, blow holes in it.

I don’t know. If you look at the dibb, it still looks like most headliners at the end of July are booking at 7 days at least past 60. We took a 7 day trip last year at that time frame and got all the headliners easily. It still looks tough going at the end of July for fastpasses to me.