Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

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If after the dust settles a bit and they still haven’t made things right with all the impacted people, then I’ll be disappointed in them.

I think in time it will come. If you read between the lines of the sources, it appears the storm is not done yet. Possible they need to cancel all resort reservations and then they’ll rebook those free dining guests with a new deal. Who knows.

As a passholder who wants better than what they’re offering officially at this point, and an impacted guest from March, I am patiently waiting until they can even publicly say what they’re doing with certainty before I expect them to be able to begin to fix things for all of us. And I do think they will in some fashion, especially if approached politely on an individual level. This is where they can shine and gain people’s trust back. Theyre in the demolition phase right now, it’s going to look worse before it looks nice again.
I can’t disagree with anything you say. I applaud your patience. It’s just that I am fresh out I guess. And I am sure that once the dust settles they will come back with something. But here’s the thing: in all my years going to WDW (starting in 1975) I always could count on them to do the right thing right away. Not after they wrecked things. So for all the reasons I’ve been posting the past few weeks I believe they have handled this really poorly. For example, why not offer the 35% at the same time you yank the free dining? They just seem, I don’t know, off in everything they say/do. In my business when a customer loses confidence in my service I am in trouble.
 
I need some reassurance as I may have done something really stupid.
When Disney announced the reopening dates I moved our DVC resort reservation from July 6-16 to July 13-23.
Next I go on MDE and cancel all our dining reservations and fast passes because why not we’re not going to be there those dates and I’ll need to make new ones anyway.
Now I Disney has no reason to contact me saying they have canceled my reservations and they will be in touch. Does this mean I won’t get to make new ones when they become available. I have tickets linked and a DVC resort reservation. Real smart move huh? I had no idea or I would have never canceled them.
Thanks for any thoughts or insight.
 
If after the dust settles a bit and they still haven’t made things right with all the impacted people, then I’ll be disappointed in them.

I think in time it will come. If you read between the lines of the sources, it appears the storm is not done yet. Possible they need to cancel all resort reservations and then they’ll rebook those free dining guests with a new deal. Who knows.
I hope you’re right. In Disney’s history, you’re right. Even recently, when our Memorial Day trip had the “not gonna happen” writing on the wall and we pushed our cruise to next year and made it two weeks in WDW (and moved from POP to CR) weeks before the free dining offer was made, TWDC reaches out and “made it right,” adding the offer to our package.
When we pushed the cruise past our OBB expiration date by almost 6 months, DCL allowed us to keep our benefits AND reached out to apply the 25% OBC to our newly booked cruise. They didn’t have to do either, but did.
We sent our cancellation request to our TA tonight. I sincerely hope that when Disney actually wants us back, as a collective “us,” they continue the history of recovery they have demonstrated in the past.
 


I can’t disagree with anything you say. I applaud your patience. It’s just that I am fresh out I guess. And I am sure that once the dust settles they will come back with something. But here’s the thing: in all my years going to WDW (starting in 1975) I always could count on them to do the right thing right away. Not after they wrecked things. So for all the reasons I’ve been posting the past few weeks I believe they have handled this really poorly. For example, why not offer the 35% at the same time you yank the free dining? They just seem, I don’t know, off in everything they say/do. In my business when a customer loses confidence in my service I am in trouble.

I know nobody likes this, but it’s unprecedented. They are apparently switching over to an entirely new system to handle this, so I’m assuming that is why they’ve got to hit everything with a wrecking ball before it can be fixed.

This is unlike anything they’ve had to recover and fix in the past, both in scale and type of issue.
 


all due respect but why do they have to revoke the free dining for those who had it? First off when they offered it to us they combined it with an up sell in resort/length of stay. And we got it. Give to get. We could live with it. But we were loyal. Did not take our money out. Put more in. Why can’t they just say “hey, we’re sorry this didn’t work out. Tough times, you know? But hold on to that perk until you can use it again. Our way of saying thanks for hanging in with us”. That’s just good customer service. Its like when a restaurant screws up and they tear up the check. I am def going back to that restaurant. WDW is being arrogant in thinking we will all go back like sheep.

I think because it’s easier for them to say “No Dining Plans” and take it out of the equation entirely then try to manage a percentage of guests who could feel duped because they feel like they aren’t getting the full value of the promo due to limited capacity/closures/restrictions.

I hope they offer those impacted something that restores faith in their customer service. And if they don’t, shame on them.

I really think they shot themselves in the foot by not initially closing “until further notice” and continuing to take reservations as if operations would be normal when they reopened. They should have shut off the ability to make new reservations, ADRs, and FP+ selections when they closed and until opening plans were in place. Because they let things pile up, they’re thinking is that the only way to make things fair across all guests is to start from scratch.

We’ve never seen anything like this. Disney is usually a well oiled machine humming away with only slight hiccups. They’re effectively changing their entire operating processes in months that have taken decades to put in place.

My hindsight comment wasn’t a dig at you or anyone who rebooked with the free dining promo, but it’s easy to get worked up about decisions made in the past and forget that we didn’t know what we know now, then. I hope Disney sorts it out for you and everyone impacted by it.
 
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To those upset:

Wait until you get your “more information” email from Disney about your reservation. I believe they will make a new offer to impacted guests.

If you cancel on your own before that, they probably won’t do anything for you.
Just wondering if Disney has made any statement regarding park tickets refunds? - full refund - not a credit that you can use at a later date
I purchased my tickets on May 16, in order to make my FPS.
I find it hard to believe that Disney did not know about this change in operating procedures prior to May 16
 
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I can’t disagree with anything you say. I applaud your patience. It’s just that I am fresh out I guess. And I am sure that once the dust settles they will come back with something. But here’s the thing: in all my years going to WDW (starting in 1975) I always could count on them to do the right thing right away. Not after they wrecked things. So for all the reasons I’ve been posting the past few weeks I believe they have handled this really poorly. For example, why not offer the 35% at the same time you yank the free dining? They just seem, I don’t know, off in everything they say/do. In my business when a customer loses confidence in my service I am in trouble.
100% agree. I'll be honest that's what's kept us coming back for years; knowing they're going to do the right thing without a hassle for their customers...but that has been COMPLETELY lost. I'm shocked that they're trying to now have us pay rack rate with no free dining on an offer we accepted 9 months ago...completely despicable and sleazy.
 
This policy could change in July August etc. Things change rapidly. It just makes sense to cancel it all for now. I mean so many people said just cancel it all so we don’t have to wonder every week so I guess this makes it easier for everyone, though it sucks
Yeah, it just makes sense to cancel ppls free dining when they agreed to pay rack rate and whatever tix combination they were required to and now only allow them to suck it up and pay way more than what was previously agreed upon or cancel????.... Yeah that makes total sense :sad2:
 
Question - to those cancelling trips this summer due to the mandatory mask rule, where are you coming from? I’m from Massachusetts where the expectation is you don’t leave your house to walk your dog without wearing a mask. So this whole mandatory mask thing literally is no different than what we are dealing with right now, plus the uncomfortable Florida heat added to it. But I get that and am prepared for that extra element.

I’m interested in understanding if people cancelling due to this are from states where mask use is more flexible or not as vastly used.
We are not cancelling at this point - However, I'd love to cancel due to mask use. We feel we can't though because we have dvc points expiring and AP's expiring and once the school year begins, we cannot go back until mid-Dec. Neither our dvc points or AP's will be any good so we are forcing this trip even though it is far from ideal.
We are from CO and masks are used about 50% of the time for us and only when we actually enter a store. Certainly not wearing one to walk a dog or go for a hike, which we do almost daily. All my family is from TX and they pretty much never wear a masks. Not to church or the store or the restaurants that have been open already for weeks...
 
Denver CO here (technically a suburb outside of Denver)... Masks were mandatory, and I wore it every time I went out. Not ideal but following the rules... and we don't have humidity like FL does so I can't even imagine how uncomfortable it will get. Our trip got cancelled because it was scheduled the end of June into July so parks wouldn't have been open nor would have POP apparently. But even if we had a later date in July scheduled with all the restrictions just wouldn't fit for my family. We will try again in Nov or Dec.
We are Denver suburb too and masks are not mandatory for us. My dd works at Target and she estimates it is about 50%. I'd say the same for what I see. Only store by us that is mandatory is Costco. Restaurants now too, from what I understand, when not eating or drinking. We are dining out tomorrow night. I can't wait!
 
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Excuse me if this has already been talked about tonight but did anyone notice that this says mask on everyone 2 years old and up, but when they gave the reopening plan presentation I thought they said 3 and up. 497722
 
Wow, what a gut punch when, after making dinner and watching a movie with the family, I sat down to catch up with the dis news and this thread had 40+ more pages.

Can’t say I am not disappointed at losing our perfect adrs (we had two Cali Grill brunches planned, guys! 🥺). Like others, this will be my fourth attempt at booking adrs without an actual trip materializing so far and I feel somewhat pessimistic about being able to re-book some of our high demand restaurants when the new system rolls out. Just my intuition, I hope I am wrong.

And now, after the rumors a couple pages back, I am anxious we won’t get into DHS which is the only dealbreaker my family has.

*Deep breaths*. To paraphrase Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow is another day. Please don’t let it be a dumpster fire.”
 
Wow. I go to bed early and all sorts of craziness happens.

Cancelling all the ADRs and FP sucks, but that’s really the only way to makes things work. If restaurants are only going to be running at <50% capacity, you cannot have all the current reservations showing up. I think the crowd levels will be so low that the lack of FP won’t matter much.

Lowering the age for masks, however, is insane. Even though I cancelled my summer trip already, if we were planning on still going, I could probably get my 16 and 8 year olds to wear a masks. My 2.5 year old? Never. She’s still a baby and now in her terrible twos. I can’t even keep ponytails in her hair.

Maybe Disney is trying to discourage people with young children from visiting the parks this year...
 
Wow. I go to bed early and all sorts of craziness happens.

Cancelling all the ADRs and FP sucks, but that’s really the only way to makes things work. If restaurants are only going to be running at <50% capacity, you cannot have all the current reservations showing up. I think the crowd levels will be so low that the lack of FP won’t matter much.

Lowering the age for masks, however, is insane. Even though I cancelled my summer trip already, if we were planning on still going, I could probably get my 16 and 8 year olds to wear a masks. My 2.5 year old? Never. She’s still a baby and now in her terrible twos. I can’t even keep ponytails in her hair.

Maybe Disney is trying to discourage people with young children from visiting the parks this year...

Think they are encouraging a lot of people not to come and it’s probably for the bestZ Cases are going up with reopening small stores. Imagine when theme parks open. Broadway won’t be opening until 2021. Be happy we are getting anything.
 
That original rumour had 35% off for those who got cancelled and were on free dining.

I think they likely will see some incentive for rebooking, even if it isn’t that exact offer. And 35% off is a great offer IMO. Especially if they let you apply it wherever you want.

Not really. In just about any other normal time, you may see 15-25-30% off room-only rate. Sometimes even up to 40%. Now, I understand that this is not a normal time, and those discounts may be gone for the foreseeable future.

But considering many of these people probably got a discount on the original cancelled reservation, this isn't really THAT much of a deal. And considering the rack rates may go up significantly (may, I don't know), these people even with a 35% discount may be paying more to go. So, really, they are getting no goodwill gesture for their inconvenience at this point. Disney did right by offering people a reparation for their trips being cancelled. Also not letting Disney off the hook here; remember that it was Disney who waited until days before to make a decision on cancelling. So, having strung many of these people along until the last minute, it's the least Disney could do to offer the dining promotion.

Now, if it is 35% off PLUS free dining, I'd say great. If it was 35% off the whole package, including tickets, including dining, I'd say fine. But 35% room discount really isn't that much of a gesture. Now, listen, I know Disney doesn't HAVE to do anything. But, considering how they strung along so many people until the very last minute in the first place, PLUS booking a package that they now are not honoring...35% seems low to me.




Side note: Early Morning Magic appears to no longer be on the park hours calendar, except for July 11th, which is weird. MNSSHP is still there, so take that for what it's worth. Not sure if that's a good sign for MNSSHP. I think we all expected EMM to not be happening; but the fact that some hard-ticket events are still on the schedule...I dunno.
 
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