Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Farro]

And I 100% agree with the poster that said not to expect the gingerbread displays at the resorts. Lower your expectations now if you're traveling this November/December.

We were discussing - if things are still this bad come spring with hrs/closures, if NBA there and they have to move us...maybe we would just save more money and spring for the Tower Studio at Riviera in October 2021 (if they ever open booking) or just move again to May 2022.
We were watching video tours of those rooms this morning, it's tiny but adorable. Just the two of us would be fine in it and I want to stay at a Skyliner resort sooooo bad and I don't like the others.

But I hope all this is for naught and we will all be happy on our trips come May!

 

[SaintsManiac]

We were discussing - if things are still this bad come spring with hrs/closures, if NBA there and they have to move us...maybe we would just save more money and spring for the Tower Studio at Riviera in October 2021 (if they ever open booking) or just move again to May 2022.
We were watching video tours of those rooms this morning, it's tiny but adorable. Just the two of us would be fine in it and I want to stay at a Skyliner resort sooooo bad and I don't like the others.

But I hope all this is for naught and we will all be happy on our trips come May!

I am still planning to book for the 50th if/when they let us. Not sure where to stay yet, but if we cancel May that opens up the options to stay deluxe. We were just going to stay at Pop, but I might spring for Contemporary just to be able to walk to the MK on October 1st.

If we have to cancel October 2021 then I am booking March 2022 (Mardi Gras week) and upgrading our tickets to APs to make up for this insanity.

 

[osufeth24]

Just got home from epcot. Future World was somewhat busy (still not that bad really), but man, once you get to world showcase, it's a ghost town. Majority of people in world showcase is in the frozen queue lol (it stretched all the way into China).

I only lasted a hour before I left. It's just so hot (heat index was 109 when I left). Mask or no mask, it's just too bloody hot.

Btw, tried the impossible burger slider at earth eats, first time ever trying one, was pleasantly surprised. That bun is god awful, but everything else was tasty.

 

[Devil13]

As others said the limited ‘everything’ makes it hard for us out of state APs to make the trip. The last straw was being booted out of the Poly (my 3rd hotel for our late August trip) so I cancelled and am getting money back for my APs. Parkhopping at minimum will need to be reinstated for me to even consider our next visit.

The fine line that Disney is walking is tough to manage: To keep people safe they needed to scale back and doing so makes less appealing to go.

They need a treatment/vaccine so bad that I only half-joking wonder if they should sell ESPN to fund research since that will do more for the bottom line more than any other strategy.

 

[Lewisc]

I’ve been thinking that Chapek’s full blaming of Florida cases for the low attendance isn’t sitting right. They stripped park hours, no parades, fireworks, M&Gs. Epcot area resort transport isn’t fun with no boats and having to walk the long way around every time. So many shops and restaurants and resorts closed. QS and places that are open close early. Menus are limited. Perhaps that plays a role too? Paying full price for a less than experience (while necessary) is part of the cause too.

Covid cases increased by a lot after the opening was announced. Disney knows how many guests booked when the re-opening was announced. Disney knows how many canceled when FL went up. Disney knows how few new bookings they got when Covid spiked. People who don't feel safe aren't going to visit.

They also believed there was substantial demand before they opened and they were wrong on that too. Now they are taking drastic measures just a few weeks later because they were wront... so Im gonna go with me probably being more right on this one.

They do believe a positive financial impact is more important right now. I wouldnt argue going full bore open as I do think closing resorts in their entirety is important (dvc bit em on that one though), but keeping your parks open is extremely important right now. Id rather see 3 parks (epcot is a dumpster fire right now) 8 hours a day with everything as opposed to this band aid approach. Some earlier suggested opening epcot to the masses for free and I think thats a very viable approach.

+1

When they decided to open, Florida was around 1,000 daily cases. When WDW opened, it was 10 times that. That’s the biggest factor here and I don’t blame them for not predicting that.

+1

I think Disney should try and open EPCOT to hoppers who have a dinner reservation. After 4p

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I have not, but judging by the pictures and reports I have seen and read, it just seems like either they are letting in more people than they should or capacity is higher than it should be. One or the other.

What I meant by 10K or 30K is....if I, as a guest, know I am going to be in the park with potentially 10K other people, that's one thing. But, if it's going to be 30K other people or 50K other people, that is a vast difference. That is why I think those numbers should be out there...so people can assess their potential risk and make a decision accordingly.

But you have no idea what those numbers mean. As a guest you have no idea how those numbers are absorbed into each park. It’s useless information to the average guest. You can’t accurately “assess” your risk based on a number when you don’t know how it even impacts the feeling in the parks. They will never release those numbers and there’s no reason for them to.

 

[Jothmas]

But you have no idea what those numbers mean. As a guest you have no idea how those numbers are absorbed into each park. It’s useless information to the average guest. You can’t accurately “assess” your risk based on a number when you don’t know how it even impacts the feeling in the parks. They will never release those numbers and there’s no reason for them to.

I agree. Photos and videos from the parks since reopening are what people will use to judge how “crowded” the parks are.

 

[rteetz]

But you have no idea what those numbers mean. As a guest you have no idea how those numbers are absorbed into each park. It’s useless information to the average guest. You can’t accurately “assess” your risk based on a number when you don’t know how it even impacts the feeling in the parks. They will never release those numbers and there’s no reason for them to.

Yeah Disney saying oh we have 15,000 people in the park doesn’t really do much. People in a park are so spread out that it wouldn’t matter much to provide that number. They only did in Shanghai due to the government creating the number.

 

[Lewisc]

I agree. Photos and videos from the parks since reopening are what people will use to judge how “crowded” the parks are.

And some bloggers will cherry pick and show the pictures with crowds. People wearing masks should be able to violate social distancing for limited time intervals. A few minutes by a cashier might not pose a significant risk. Standing next to others for an hour or more for a parade, fireworks or castle stage show is a different risk situation.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I am still planning to book for the 50th if/when they let us. Not sure where to stay yet, but if we cancel May that opens up the options to stay deluxe. We were just going to stay at Pop, but I might spring for Contemporary just to be able to walk to the MK on October 1st.

If we have to cancel October 2021 then I am booking March 2022 (Mardi Gras week) and upgrading our tickets to APs to make up for this insanity.

If you want the CR for the 50th be ready to jump and book as soon as they reopen the ability to do so! I booked before all of this and there were apparently only lake view tower rooms left (all club level rooms & TPV were gone... didn't ask about garden). I don't anticipate a super high amount of cancellations (I'm sure there will be some for financial reasons, but I doubt a mass exodus) for the 50th because I think most anyone who booked that far out for it is a pretty dedicated Disney addict . Seems like CR rooms just went super fast and probably will again.

 

[Dsny4fun]

I feel like just cancelling. I'm tired.

Obviously we can go other places and we do, but I really want to go to WDW. It will be 4 years since we've been there.

I have a trip plan for first week of Dec...we haven't been since 9/17. I have been looking forward to this trip for 3 years but i'm about to give up and cancel too. I'm tired, I'm disappointed...too much closed, too much I'll miss. If I cancel, and I'm pretty sure I will, I won't be booking another trip until Dec 2022. Hopefully life and Disney will be back to normal by then.

 

[mattpeto]

Shameless talking about the Christmas Party at Epcot here, if there are other any idiots like me who like to dream.

 

[cdobert]

We were onsite from July 11th through July 21st. We would have welcomed being able to hop to Epcot for dinner. We are planning on going back in October, staying offsite. There is no incentive to stay onsite with those extremely high rack rates. I know Disney is trying to stop the bleeding but (in my opinion) they are making things worse for themselves in the long term.

 

[StageTek]

We were just going to stay at Pop, but I might spring for Contemporary just to be able to walk to the MK on October 1st.

I wonder how many people are planning this? I was planning a 14 day trip for the 50th with a split-stay at POP/POFQ. But I've always wanted to stay at the Contemporary so I thought 3 or 4 nights there around Oct 1 would be great - then on to POFQ and, maybe a few days at POP to ease some of the cost.

 

[SaintsManiac]

If you want the CR for the 50th be ready to jump and book as soon as they reopen the ability to do so! I booked before all of this and there were apparently only lake view tower rooms left (all club level rooms & TPV were gone... didn't ask about garden). I don't anticipate a super high amount of cancellations (I'm sure there will be some for financial reasons, but I doubt a mass exodus) for the 50th because I think most anyone who booked that far out for it is a pretty dedicated Disney addict . Seems like CR rooms just went super fast and probably will again.

I don't mind the garden wing for a few days. I'm watching so many sites for the 50th booking window to open.

 

[mmackeymouse]

But you have no idea what those numbers mean. As a guest you have no idea how those numbers are absorbed into each park. It’s useless information to the average guest. You can’t accurately “assess” your risk based on a number when you don’t know how it even impacts the feeling in the parks. They will never release those numbers and there’s no reason for them to.

I disagree on this. Those of us who have gone long enough and have gone frequent enough know the numbers and knowing what attractions are closed and what attractions are open can do intelligent deduction of what 10K vs 30K means.

On top of that, again those of us who have been there an an average Disney summer day, who know what the average summer day is can make an educated guess what the numbers are, relative to each other. I've been to the Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day so I know what max max max capacity is. I've also been on an average day, and knowing what the average attendance is, I can safely say 30K would be too much for me.

Yeah Disney saying oh we have 15,000 people in the park doesn’t really do much. People in a park are so spread out that it wouldn’t matter much to provide that number. They only did in Shanghai due to the government creating the number.

No that number may not mean much to the "average" guest. It may not mean much to a first-time or sporadic guest. But for the ones going right now, the die-hards, the lifers....they would be able to reasonably deduce what 15K people in the park looks like.

And yes, people in the park are spread out....but they won't be if they up the capacity number to 35-40K (And theoretically, they could, because no one knows the numbers so they could make capacity whatever number they want) ....and to do that without guests knowing about it.....I just don't think it's right, personally.

 

[Spridell]

Just got home from epcot. Future World was somewhat busy (still not that bad really), but man, once you get to world showcase, it's a ghost town. Majority of people in world showcase is in the frozen queue lol (it stretched all the way into China).

I only lasted a hour before I left. It's just so hot (heat index was 109 when I left). Mask or no mask, it's just too bloody hot.

Btw, tried the impossible burger slider at earth eats, first time ever trying one, was pleasantly surprised. That bun is god awful, but everything else was tasty.

Yeah I am going tomorrow, and dont know how long I will last myself with this heat. It has been crazy hot down here this summer. IMO hotter than normal.

 

[AmberMV]

Numbers are trending up in FL again. I know they were lower due to some testing sites being closed for the hurricane. Will be keeping a close eye on this and crowd levels in the next couple of weeks. I'm prepared to pull the plug on my trip if things continue as they are.

No, they are getting better. Hope it continues.

http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/state_reports_latest.pdf

 

[AmberMV]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1292474062158135307

There was that, and also people on FB posting they got stuck outside on Test Track in the blazing sun. It's been...a day....at Disney

 

[rteetz]

And yes, people in the park are spread out....but they won't be if they up the capacity number to 35-40K (And theoretically, they could, because no one knows the numbers so they could make capacity whatever number they want) ....and to do that without guests knowing about it.....I just don't think it's right, personally.

Clearly they aren’t at 35-40K yet and who knows when they will be. They aren’t even filling up to the capacity they have set currently. Disney isn’t increasing that capacity much of at all right now because of that. If people were coming they wouldn’t have delayed hotel openings.