Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[DGsAtBLT]

I also got the email this morning. Trip was in March, but have tickets.

Fingers crossed this means those of us with past trips and 12/15 expiry are getting auto extended too and won’t need to call!

 

[NJlauren]

I feel like someone at the CDC is already trying to find a way to back off their previous advice while still saving face. Like, "you really should wear masks in a crowded building, but we didn't mean ALWAYS."

Haha! Totally

 

[cakebaker]

Losing discounts = reduced capacity?

Bingo...they’re going for voluntary cancellations rather than having to do it themselves and take the heat. If they make it bad enough, people will give up and cancel. I don’t know why they thought this would fly, although it does work for some.

 

[Eric Smith]

Ready to see news about closed attractions and what they’re doing with APs. If APs will continue to be extended, I’m wondering if I can go activate my purchased but not yet active AP and the clock not actually start. If I can go for “free”, I’ll go depending on the amount of closed attractions. I have a POP reservation for late July.
Speaking of, with no ADRs and no FP and potentially severely limited transportation, I’ll be leaning towards staying off site. I have a feeling many hotels will have dirt cheap rates. One of the biggest draws to staying onsite is the 60 day FP window. With that gone, the premium rates for not-so-premium rooms doesn’t seem like a logical choice currently.

I’m just hoping we can activate ours if APs are frozen. We plan to use them for September, December and April at least.

 

[Jessj0012]

I booked our Christmas trip as soon as I could in August of 2019 and have been planning since before Christmas 2018 (because I know how busy it can be). I booked the whole package room tickets and ddp, we were planning on doing almost all character meals ( have two DDs 2 and the other will turn 5 2 days before we were getting there). Call me naive but I thought for sure by then things would calm down but now that Disney is basically saying ddp is a no go for who knows how long now and saying kids 2 and up for face coverings ( which I think looks bad on their part they changed from 3 to 2, but they were not consistent among Disney platforms because the Disney stores reopening were requiring 2 and up while at the time of that press release Disney springs and wdw were still 3 and up) I don't even know if I should keep our trip. Plus who knows if they will release packages for 2021.

 

[tlmadden73]

I wonder what they will do with people who have current room discounts. I hope we get to keep those. I'm totally on board to still come in all this mayhem, but definitely not at rack rate.

Who knows. Disney doesn't NEED to offer discounts because they don't want to encourage more people to come. They are doing things to discourage people from coming (like requiring masks for 2 year olds).

They should (when the ticket reservation system comes online) be selling tickets at a huge discount since it appears we'll be getting "half" a park with reduced hours for months. But I doubt they will .. again .. they don't want to necessarilly encourage their capacity limits to be hit.

WHo know what the demand for Disney will be after all this mess for the rest of 2020. I am sure a lot of people are just giving up and ready for 2021.

 

[Marissa227]

Well, at this point we have a back up reservation at Universal that is fully refundable if canceled 24 hours before check in so we’re just going to ride this out and see what happens. We’re booked for the Cabins at Fort Wilderness August 23-28 and back up is Loews Royal Pacific kids suite for same price. We also have MNSHHP ticket for Aug 25.

 

[mhautz]

Bingo...they’re going for voluntary cancellations rather than having to do it themselves and take the heat. If they make it bad enough, people will give up and cancel. I don’t know why they thought this would fly, although it does work for some.

It might work on me. I'm 95% sure we're not going, but I'm still waiting for Disney to essentially do it for me and they're probably waiting for me to do it.

 

[disneydreamer1970]

I agree with this. We are scheduled to arrive on July 15th and have not yet received an e-mail.

We are just going to roll with it and see what happens over the next few weeks.

With the inconsistency of who has and has not receievd a cancellation email, my biggest worry is the way to re-book will be a link in a future email that some WILL get and some WON'T (or at least they won't all go out at the same time)... ie. it won't be an even playing field for who gets to re-book and who can't, and many will miss out because the extremely limited # of resort rooms go to those that got the email first.

*IF* they released emails in some sensible order (like in oflrdernof when you booked, or in order of when your trip was) then I could support it. But it seems there is no rhyme or reason to Disney's email distribution.

 

[nashvilleash]

I am glad to know I am not the only one wondering about the orange bird AP magnet.

 

[hertamaniac]

Bingo...they’re going for voluntary cancellations rather than having to do it themselves and take the heat. If they make it bad enough, people will give up and cancel. I don’t know why they thought this would fly, although it does work for some.

Yep....self-imposed regulating. I think only the most loyal guest(s) will be willing to pay a premium for this experience (whatever that means).

 

[MickeyEars]

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.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I am glad to know I am not the only one wondering about the orange bird AP magnet.

I read on one of the passholder groups they’ll be passing out F&G magnets when Epcot opens. Don’t know how true that is!

 

[VeronicaZS]

Am I the only one who’s ok with no FP’s or ADR’s? It sounds like we won’t need the fastpasses so as long as it doesn’t end up meaning that I have to wait 2 hours for everything, I’m cool with old school Disney. With the limited park hours, the only ADR I’d want is Oga’s and I’ve never needed one to get in there anyway (and possibly Skipper Canteen but ditto). If the park closes at 7pm I’ll just get food after once I’m back at the resort or in Disney Springs. If anything this gives me the chance to spend some time there when I’m not coming off of 15 hours in a theme park, haha. It’ll be different, but I don’t necessarily see this change as a bad thing.

Now if ROTR doesn’t open, that may change my mind. Everybody has a deal breaker & that’s mine.

Agree completely. They should keep the 60 day ADR window permanently. 180 days is crazy and encourages reservation hoarding.

 

[tlmadden73]

This entire pandemic has, and will be fluid until it is gone! In another 5 weeks, we might not need masks anywhere. That’s why different states have different guidelines. They are following local data.

That's why I am shocked that Disney is up-ending their system. There could be a lot more data by mid-July that shows this is a lot better than predicted (it already is WAAAAAY better than predicted even with places re-opening for the past month). They definintely seem to be trying to get people to self-cancel by making it an "inconvenient" experience. (Requiring masks for 2 year olds? come on)

I mean .. it is pretty obvious that a LOT of people in the country are done with the virus and are itching to go back to normal lives while still being careful, but a lot of governments, stores, restaurants simply aren't allowing that normalcy yet.

The people will just go where the restrictions are not. The beaches, the woods, the mountains, other local theme parks without restrictions.

 

[mhautz]

Yep....self-imposed regulating. I think only the most loyal guest(s) will be willing to pay a premium for this experience (whatever that means).

Oddly, I think what they've announced so far has made many angry, but intrigued others to think it might be a "pleasurable" experience.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

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.

... According to Disney, only those who were cancelled by Disney get first dibs...

 

[DGsAtBLT]

That's why I am shocked that Disney is up-ending their system. There could be a lot more data by mid-July that shows this is a lot better than predicted (it already is WAAAAAY better than predicted even with places re-opening for the past month). They definintely seem to be trying to get people to self-cancel by making it an "inconvenient" experience. (Requiring masks for 2 year olds? come on)

I mean .. it is pretty obvious that a LOT of people in the country are done with the virus and are itching to go back to normal lives while still being careful, but a lot of governments, stores, restaurants simply aren't allowing that normalcy yet.

The people will just go where the restrictions are not. The beaches, the woods, the mountains, other local theme parks without restrictions.

The fact that they have done something so drastic makes me think they know more than the general public is privy too.

 

[Farro]

I wonder if they will make you pre book a bus time

Wouldn't be surprised. My guess is park reservations will have an entry time as well, so it will probably be tied to that. Kind of like a magical express.

That's going a bit too far if they did.

They should just leave it at if people choose to use their transportation, they may have a to wait a bit longer due to social distancing. No need to make it any harder than that.

 

[hertamaniac]

Oddly, I think what they've announced so far has made many angry, but intrigued others to think it might be a "pleasurable" experience.

Agreed. There will be some that will relish in a park at 20-30% capacity regardless of safety protocols.