Was DVC required to close its resorts?

[Spridell]

I wrote this in another thread, but I believe both the Orange County and State of Florida orders classified hotels and related lodging as essential services that were exempt from the order to close. If my interpretation is correct, Disney was not legally required to close the resorts.

I happen to think they were correct in closing them, but my opinion is worth what you've paid for it...

Like @Sandisw said and @WilsonFlyer just mentioned, I think Disney used the State of Emergency as their cover for the POS we all signed.

Not faulting them at all for using it. I think its all agreed upon it was the right thing to do and no one would challenge them on that.

Now moving forward when things start to change is what we need to see happens

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think its all agreed upon it was the right thing to do and no one would challenge them on that.

There are a bunch of threads that amount to challenging it, and how if the resorts were open evemn now even if a state were under SAH they'd travel to Orlando for their stay.

 

[crisi]

Or you could argue that in staying open, Disney would have been negligent in the case of someone who was infected during a stay and died. Dying is also not in the best interest of members.

I am talking about legally. Disney does not want to be found legally negligent in anyone's death. We - as the owners of the resorts they would be suing - don't want Disney to be legally negligent in anyone's death.

 

[Brian Noble]

There are a bunch of threads that amount to challenging it, and how if the resorts were open evemn now even if a state were under SAH they'd travel to Orlando for their stay.

Which is very interesting, because I am not seeing the same sentiment by owners of other systems on TUG...

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I do think it would be a really good thing for at least the DVC ones to open to stop the point loss

It will be very interesting if they open DVC resorts but not parks.

As we all know, we are not guaranteed access to the theme parks, our DVC membership only covers accommodations. But how many complaints do you suspect we'll see here from folks who will still lose their points because they aren't interested in a resort-only stay?

If DVC opens first, Disney won't be on the hook for any customer recovery (returning borrowed points, waiving holding, etc.) despite having no parks open. This may staunch the hemorrhaging of excess points flooding into the coming year, but may not do much to improve owners' satisfaction.

 

[Spridell]

It will be very interesting if they open DVC resorts but not parks.

As we all know, we are not guaranteed access to the theme parks, our DVC membership only covers accommodations. But how many complaints do you suspect we'll see here from folks who will still lose their points because they aren't interested in a resort-only stay?

If DVC opens first, Disney won't be on the hook for any customer recovery (returning borrowed points, waiving holding, etc.) despite having no parks open. This may staunch the hemorrhaging of excess points flooding into the coming year, but may not do much to improve owners' satisfaction.

It is a no win situation for sure. No one is denying that.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

If DVC opens first, Disney won't be on the hook for any customer recovery (returning borrowed points, waiving holding, etc.) despite having no parks open. This may staunch the hemorrhaging of excess points flooding into the coming year, but may not do much to improve owners' satisfaction.

And how many will expect "hurricane" entertainment? When the reality is they might just get hurricane food. Box meals.

 

[Sandisw]

It will be very interesting if they open DVC resorts but not parks.

As we all know, we are not guaranteed access to the theme parks, our DVC membership only covers accommodations. But how many complaints do you suspect we'll see here from folks who will still lose their points because they aren't interested in a resort-only stay?

If DVC opens first, Disney won't be on the hook for any customer recovery (returning borrowed points, waiving holding, etc.) despite having no parks open. This may staunch the hemorrhaging of excess points flooding into the coming year, but may not do much to improve owners' satisfaction.

Maybe not, but based on the contract, it specifically states closure must be limited and as short as possible to Protect health and safety of everyone, If it is determined that it is safe to be at the resort,,.ie: no government orders,,,then they could be considered in breach of the contract,

I, for one, would definitely take issue if it remains closed when it appears there is no longer a legal reason for them to do so,

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Maybe not, but based on the contract, it specifically states closure must be limited and as short as possible to Protect health and safety of everyone, If it is determined that it is safe to be at the resort,,.ie: no government orders,,,then they could be considered in breach of the contract,

I, for one, would definitely take issue if it remains closed when it appears there is no longer a legal reason for them to do so,

I agree that they should open as soon as it's feasible to do so. But with a lot of people predicting parks to lso open sooner rather than later, it will irk many to be told "too bad, resorts are open" when they want to cancel because parks are still closed and they expect to get the same dispensation that others got when resorts were closed.

 

[DougEMG]

I wrote this in another thread, but I believe both the Orange County and State of Florida orders classified hotels and related lodging as essential services that were exempt from the order to close. If my interpretation is correct, Disney was not legally required to close the resorts.

I happen to think they were correct in closing them, but my opinion is worth what you've paid for it...

I agree with you. Really the order shouldn't of exempted vacation resorts like Disney or Universal.

 

[DougEMG]

I am talking about legally. Disney does not want to be found legally negligent in anyone's death. We - as the owners of the resorts they would be suing - don't want Disney to be legally negligent in anyone's death.

I don't get this abut suing Disney for catching the virus. You can't sue Disney for catching the FLU and then dieing. For the state safe it is safe to open, then so be it.

 

[LAX]

For those that second-guess DVC's decision to close the resorts, how would anyone be able to travel there with "shelter-in-place" orders in place for many states had they remained open? Even if people manage to get there, how many would then complain about minimal to no service because of a skeleton crew?

LAX

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

For those that second-guess DVC's decision to close the resorts, how would anyone be able to travel there with "shelter-in-place" orders in place for many states had they remained open? Even if people manage to get there, how many would then complain about minimal to no service because of a skeleton crew?

LAX

Travel is not shut down. You can get on a plane if you want. You can get in your car and drive to FL. If any place went with complete shut down in the US with arrests if you leave your house I'm not aware of it. Many places have placed quarantine restrictions if you travel there from elsewhere although I don't know what enforcement is. We have that here in Nevada but it's relying on people to do it vs being under a house arrest situation.

 

[LAX]

Travel is not shut down. You can get on a plane if you want. You can get in your car and drive to FL. If any place went with complete shut down in the US with arrests if you leave your house I'm not aware of it. Many places have placed quarantine restrictions if you travel there from elsewhere although I don't know what enforcement is. We have that here in Nevada but it's relying on people to do it vs being under a house arrest situation.

I wasn't thinking about arrests. But I thought travel is supposed to be for "essential" businesses for states that have shelter in place orders (perhaps I am misunderstanding the order in some states). Does traveling to WDW/DL count as essential? You actually brought up a very good point about enforcement of quarantine restrictions. If DVC were to remain open and many people from different states continue to travel there, including the so called "hot spots", doesn't it defeat the idea of social distancing in hopes of slowing spread of the virus?

LAX

 

[Sandisw]

I wasn't thinking about arrests. But I thought travel is supposed to be for "essential" businesses for states that have shelter in place orders (perhaps I am misunderstanding the order in some states). Does traveling to WDW/DL count as essential? You actually brought up a very good point about enforcement of quarantine restrictions. If DVC were to remain open and many people from different states continue to travel there, including the so called "hot spots", doesn't it defeat the idea of social distancing in hopes of slowing spread of the virus?

LAX

It could, but once the state of Florida, and any local government lifts state of emergency restrictions, IMO, it takes away the legal reason they had to make the decision to shut down,

It then falls to what is an acceptable timeframe to get the resorts up and running. The POS specifically states the “special powers shall be limited to a time reasonably necessary to protect health and safety,,,,”

So, if there are no longer orders in place that activated the use of emergency powers, how long can they take to get a DVC resorts back open? IMO, parks opening isn’t relevant with what to do with DVC.

 

[cm8]

It could, but once the state of Florida, and any local government lifts state of emergency restrictions, IMO, it takes away the legal reason they had to make the decision to shut down,

It then falls to what is an acceptable timeframe to get the resorts up and running. The POS specifically states the “special powers shall be limited to a time reasonably necessary to protect health and safety,,,,”

So, if there are no longer orders in place that activated the use of emergency powers, how long can they take to get a DVC resorts back open? IMO, parks opening isn’t relevant with what to do with DVC.

I totally agree. Maybe it’s time for new management.

 

[crisi]

I don't get this abut suing Disney for catching the virus. You can't sue Disney for catching the FLU and then dieing. For the state safe it is safe to open, then so be it.

Actually, you can - I was on a jury for pretty much that case 30 years ago. One person negligently giving another person a debilitating virus.

 

[Chuck S]

I totally agree. Maybe it’s time for new management.

And you'd suggest who? Marriott, Hilton? And you accomplish that how, exactly? You have to contact every single DVC owner, and hold a legal vote. It would cost at least million $, just to draw up and mail that paperwork. But have at it, if you think it'll go anywhere. Remember, if it doesn't go through, the Membership still would need to reimburse Disney/DVC for any legal fees it may have cost them, and any paperwork filings they may have had to make. And I really think the vast majority of Members are pretty happy overall with Disney/DVC being the management. Plus you'd need to negotiate, on DIsney's terms, for transportation to/from the parks, to/from the airport, and likely merge the properties into another timeshare system.

 

[Sandisw]

I totally agree. Maybe it’s time for new management.

Actually, at this point, I think the management has done a good job with what it has faced,

I was referring to once the government orders change,..which, from what I can find, May 9th...what will DVCM do?

If the June 1st opening comes to pass, I think that would be considered reasonable, If push off resorts to say Aug 1st, with no government orders still in place, then I’d have an issue,

For me, the parks opening should play no role in deciding DVC resort opening, regardless of whether members will feel comfortable.

 

[Spridell]

Actually, at this point, I think the management has done a good job with what it has faced,

I was referring to once the government orders change,..which, from what I can find, May 9th...what will DVCM do?

If the June 1st opening comes to pass, I think that would be considered reasonable, If push off resorts to say Aug 1st, with no government orders still in place, then I’d have an issue,

For me, the parks opening should play no role in deciding DVC resort opening, regardless of whether members will feel comfortable.

From what I can gather down here, the statewide stay at home order WILL NOT be renewed.

Now, i can see some counties hit harder than others extending the order. However, I do not think it will be past june 1. Could be middle or end of may. The counties wont want the backlash of staying closed months and months past the lifting of the state wide order.

So I do think we are looking June for DVC.