WDW COVID-19 Operational Changes- Reservation System-Rope Drop Procedures

[HokieRaven5]

A little personal story about the need for personal accountability
My DD just sent me a text, she was working at MFSR, in the main holding room where you can take a picture on the Dejarik chess board table. Anyways she was calling the color crews to line them up to send them on to the ride. I kid had his recruitment card (the ones that tell you if you are pilot, engineer, gunner) in his mouth.
My DD asked him for it, he just put his chin up, my daughter asked him "you're not even going to take it out of your mouth huh?" the kid shook his head no. My DD had to pull the card out of his mouth....all the while the parent was right next to him just seeing the whole thing unfold

Have no doubt about that at all. My friend was there in mid February and sent a snap story with a girl (who looked to be around 10-12) holding onto one of those small lizard looking things (couldn't identify species) and almost looked to be torturing it to a point, parents were also right there letting it happen. No washing or sanitizing of hands after release of it, just went about her way in line for ToT

 

[leeniewdw]

I will say this -- I felt exactly the same ('please don't close before I get there")....until today. Now I'm very much balancing what is wise and how much my trip is going to be impacted by my fixation on washing, wiping, gelling. My anxiety is nothing compared to people with a serious illness, but boy I can only imagine how giddy I would be right now if not for the virus.

Anyway -- I found my "please please please" has turned into "are we doing the right thing" (we leave tomorrow).

 

[mantysk8coach]

The whole thing is so frustrating. I head to WDW Saturday, so should be out of my mind with excitement right now, but instead am having a mild panic attack expecting a closing announcement to pop up any second. I would hope if they do shut down, they at least give some kind of advanced notice, or just a slow “wind-down” before full closure.

This. We’re supposed to leave on 3/23, and the joy and anticipation has already been sucked out of it. Today is the first day I’ve really come to terms with the possibility this may not happen.

I will say this -- I felt exactly the same ('please don't close before I get there")....until today. Now I'm very much balancing what is wise and how much my trip is going to be impacted by my fixation on washing, wiping, gelling. My anxiety is nothing compared to people with a serious illness, but boy I can only imagine how giddy I would be right now if not for the virus.

Anyway -- I found my "please please please" has turned into "are we doing the right thing" (we leave tomorrow).

Yep, today has been the turning point for me too for many of those reasons. We’re young and healthy and would likely recover just fine, but neither myself or my DH could miss three weeks of work should one of us get it and needed to be quarantined. Or what if we’d pass it to our older parents? Or what if we’d get there, and the government decided to suspend air travel and we’re stuck? Going and pretending everything is normal is off the table. I feel like we should postpone until there’s not a cloud hanging over the trip. But we needed this vacation and cancelling would suck. I just don’t know what to do.

 

[TresGriffin]

I found my "please please please" has turned into "are we doing the right thing".

I'm not scheduled to be down there until April 20th and I'm having the same conversation with myself.

 

[erc]

I'm not scheduled to be down there until April 20th and I'm having the same conversation with myself.

You all are not alone. My wife suggested we just go ahead and cancel and postpone to later so that we can really enjoy the anticipation instead of being consumed with anxiety about whether we should do it or not. This is supposed to be a magical experience not one full of dread.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We were supposed to leave on Tuesday for a week at WDW, but we decided, today, to reschedule. We live 10 miles from the New Rochelle containment zone and, as of today, every public and private school in our area is closed for at least the next week, some two weeks. Although my DS12's spring break starts Monday, they have closed his school as of tomorrow. With all of the announcements of NCAA being played without fans, conferences being cancelled, etc., especially given what is happening in our area, I can't in good conscious possibly contribute to the spread by going to FL or bringing it back to an already vulnerable population. At this point, I will move our reservation to, perhaps, May and hope for the best. On a positive note, we will get full credit for our flights and there is no change fee for our WDW package. Thank goodness I didn't pull the trigger on those Cirque du Soleil tickets!!!

 

[disprincesspatty]

I get that there isn’t a correlation from disease prevention perspective, but I feel like there is a very strong correlation from a PR and corporate responsibility perspective. Around me in SC, we have very few cases (9 with no deaths compared with FL having 28 with 2 deaths - per USA Today) but schools and colleges are closing and/or cancelling all kinds of events.

Florida has many more retirees that travel. That with the more elderly makes it completely different.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

You all are not alone. My wife suggested we just go ahead and cancel and postpone to later so that we can really enjoy the anticipation instead of being consumed with anxiety about whether we should do it or not. This is supposed to be a magical experience not one full of dread.

DH says we will wait until next month to make a call on canceling. I have a health issue and I’m always careful but this is making me a bit nervous. Not much fun if wiping everything down and taking precautions at every venue if others are not doing the same. We also have reservations in Nov. Bad enough that I’m also a shareholder and the the market is tanking due to a germ. Takes the joy out of looking forward to going.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

I’ve got a trip coming in April that at this point I’m expecting them to close the parks for. Frankly, it seems amazing that they haven’t closed Disneyland yet given the bans in place across California on large gatherings. What’s a bigger gathering of people than Disney parks? Then once they close, or are forced to close, Disneyland it seems like it would just be a matter of days before they did the same at Disney World.

I think the domestic Disney brand is a political consideration for those in power. Closing WDW with no end in sight in particular would cause many thousands of families to have to cancel upcoming vacations, and the parks and the whole vacation industry (including cruises) that's grown up around them in Florida is a big American industry to have to close down. Particularly when you consider that Florida is a swing state. I think they want to avoid government mandated shutdowns of something so popular and profitable until it's an absolute, obvious necessity.

 

[mckennarose]

DL Paris just cancelled both nighttime shows Illuminations and SWGC THIS is a very possible route for WDW, they could still have the parks opened but close the big nighttime shows

I would hope if they do shut down, they at least give some kind of advanced notice, or just a slow “wind-down” before full closure.

Like I mentioned before they could easily just cancel nighttime spectaculars where a large group of people is gathered for a period of time

I mean it would be a win win for Disney at this point. While still trying to minimize any spread they keep the parks open, they save tons of money on fireworks and other things that put on the shows and people might feel safer or better taken care of

I completely agree with all these. From what I'm observing here since our first virus case only 5 days ago, there are definitely what seem to be "stages". First, everything seemed to be carrying on as normal, with just the immediate schools around a pocket of cases closing for a few days, out of precaution. Then events started cancelling, including St. Patrick's Day parades, school sporting events, choir events, and more school districts. Now the colleges are switching to online instruction for the remainder of the semester, my daughter's college included and we're not in the county with cases.

I think if Disney did close, there would be some clues or advance notice in just what else is happening in Orlando with schools, events, etc. I believe they would stay open, but try to minimize risk by eliminating crowds as much as they could by cancelling shows, fireworks, etc. before they had to close.

DH says we will wait until next month to make a call on canceling. I have a health issue and I’m always careful but this is making me a bit nervous. Not much fun if wiping everything down and taking precautions at every venue if others are not doing the same.

We have some time also, before we decide to continue. I have a feeling we will know sooner rather than later, just by the speed this is spreading and the effects that happen quickly.

We've talked about the very real possibility if one of our family gets sick while down there and needs medical attention and to be quarantined. Or with the way things are progressing here the possibility that we could also be quarantined and not be able to leave. These are newer things that we're thinking about, but it's still a wait and see, which is frustrating.

 

[Mango7100]

I will say this -- I felt exactly the same ('please don't close before I get there")....until today. Now I'm very much balancing what is wise and how much my trip is going to be impacted by my fixation on washing, wiping, gelling. My anxiety is nothing compared to people with a serious illness, but boy I can only imagine how giddy I would be right now if not for the virus.

Anyway -- I found my "please please please" has turned into "are we doing the right thing" (we leave tomorrow).

In the same boat...we are supposed to drive down Saturday. This weekend I was convinced we were going...the NCAA tournament was a big decision because you know they did this as a last resort and will lose tons of money. I live in a city with a large university and we have no cases yet but the university closed today until at least April 3. Even though I am in the low risk group, I worry about being part of the problem and spreading it to my community or my parents in their 70s. I am trying to balance being paranoid/letting my anxiety run wild and thinking about my social responsibility. I am normally so excited about a trip, and now I feel whatever decision we make will be wrong...

 

[MermaidMommy]

FYI, for those traveling from Europe - except for the UK - the US has now banned all travel to and from Europe for 30 days. The UK is excluded from the ban.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

After everything today, I'm 100% convinced disney will close at somepoint. I mean, the NBA just suspended their entire season. It's bound to happen.

I hope sooner than later. Being in limbo with a trip in less than 2 weeks really sucks.

 

[dawnball]

Have you actually been tested yet?

I'm really trying not to start this thread down a rabbithole, particularly not a rabbithole where strangers try to second-guess my personal health decisions or bug me about my test results. I posted so that people had a sample, not because my experience is particularly representative. I think if I was at WDW (to pull this back on topic) that I'd be nervous about being diagnosed on vacation, because it would probably mean quarantine across the country from my home. Flying home sick isn't a better option, even if I felt physically up to it.

Exponential growth is sneaky, so I think it makes sense for people to have contingency plans. Not because they -will- get sick, but because they -might- get sick, and it's much harder to decide what to do when you're worried about your (or a loved one's) health and trying to cope with the logistics of being sick in a hotel room.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

A friendly request/reminder...

This thread is for virus-related discussion specific to WDW and the theme parks. This is not a global news or virus discussion thread and when we go too far down various discussions not specifically related to the parks, that will be considered off topic and may be deleted.

One of the main goals of the the TPAS forum is to be a helpful home/resource for WDW trip planning. To that extent, topics best suited for this thread include WDW trip planning questions, what the parks may be doing on account of the virus, how people are handling trip changes, ticket changes, refunds, etc. These are all helpful topics as those of us with trips try to determine our options.

There are countless threads on the Community Board where people can discuss every angle of Coronavirus.

Thank you.

 

[mantysk8coach]

Well...I think today’s events have officially been the nail in the coffin for anyone going in the near future....

 

[RAL710]

Our weeklong stay starts Saturday. Family of 4.

We are still planning on going but the wife and I have agreed upon the following to mitigate our risks:

1. We have cancelled our flights and will instead drive the family SUV. It's about a 9-10 hr drive, but at least this way we can avoid a potential quarantine or grounding of flights out of ORL. We can also bring along our entire treasure trove of cleaning supplies, masks, purell,..etc

2. We cancelled all of our buffet dining reservations.

3. We will either walk to parks or take uber/Lyft/MinnieVans to and from. We are staying at BWV and only planning one day each at MK and AK. We will avoid monorail, buses, ferries..etc

4. We will only do 5 park days instead of 8 and will not go to any parks on days with EMH. We will replace these with resort days. Maybe drive to Disney Springs

5. We will try to avoid peak times at the parks (except for one try at ROTR boarding passes).

6. We may leave early if things go sideways quickly.

Too draconian? We are open to suggestions.

 

[Spridell]

Well...I think today’s events have officially been the nail in the coffin for anyone going in the near future....

I will be at Epcot monday as planned. I am a local and have no fears of going.

Wash my hands and stay proactive the entire time.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Well...I think today’s events have officially been the nail in the coffin for anyone going in the near future....

If we're classifying late April as near future I still have plans on going with my family even with all of these surrounding shut downs.

Still not that worried to be honest, I'll keep washing my hands and maintaining my already limited contact with people.

 

[Dawneesue]

thanks for this. I sincerely hope you are correct. We are going unless the parks close. We are comparatively young and healthy, no one has any underlying conditions that put them at risk. (all my issues are orthopedic)

Same here!