Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Fido Chuckwagon]

All of the people who have decided not to travel to WDW are doing the right thing, because it will make it safer for those of us who definitely are going to have fewer people there. It allows more spacing in the parks and the restaurants.

I remember back in February having this same discussion with another poster who was really happy that her April trip was going to be so much less crowded because of all the idiots like me who were not going to go to the parks and cancelled our trips for “just a little flu.”

 

[marinejjh]

Rumor is that Disney isn't planning on opening until after Labor Day.

 

[Marionnette]

It doubles there testing numbers overnight and would make them have almost 20% of US testing. It’s obviously lab dumps but that doesn’t diminish anything. It just means there should have been higher totals over the last week or so.

No. It doesn’t diminish anything. Every one of those numbers represents a person who has to deal with being infected. But what lab dumps do, is it makes it difficult to assess the current situation.

Depending on studies you wish to accept, the doubling rate of COVID-19 is between 1.5-3 days during its peak rate of infection. Doubling rate is the number of days that it takes to double the number of new cases. So, if on Monday you had 10 new cases, and on Tuesday, you had 12 more, and then on Wednesday there were 20 new cases the doubling rate would be 2 days.

On 6/23, Florida reported 3,286 new cases. The following day there were 5,511 and then on 6/25 there were 5,004, followed by 8,942 yesterday and 9,636 today. These numbers seem alarming, and I don’t want to dismiss their relevance, but the virus is acting as expected when a society is not in complete lockdown mode. As much as I want to see Disney open back up, the trend is enough to raise more than a little bit of concern.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It was totally irresponsible and completely selfish of them to take a trip when they were feeling under the weather. That kind of stupidity is why we have outbreaks. If you are not feeling well stay home, don’t go to work and don’t take a vacation.

I took it to mean they starting feeling under the weather the last day of their trip, so when they were traveling home, not when they were starting their trip

 

[wombat_5606]

Interesting. Last night I still saw people queing outside the store. Maybe it just isn't busy enough yet today for the outside que.

Has anyone seen employees at Disney Springs wearing face shields?

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Bars opened the same day as Universal. Universal requires masks and social distancing. Bars not so much.

Bars are absolutely terrible too. It doesnt’ make a crowded theme park with people from all around the country any less terrible.

 

[Wreckem]

Bars are absolutely terrible too. It doesnt’ make a crowded theme park with people from all around the country any less terrible.

Universal hasn’t been crowded.

 

[AmberMV]

Rumor is that Disney isn't planning on opening until after Labor Day.

Where?

 

[SensesFailed]

Man, Florida had plenty of examples to look at when it comes to the virus from the Northern states and they still screwed up. Pathetic, simply pathetic. With all the information out there and the examples set by other states on how to try and mitigate this, they have fumbled the ball. Disney and all these theme parks can say what they will require and what they are doing, but as evident by the numbers, people are dumb and will continue to do dumb things.

 

[andyman8]

To address the family that tested positive, it’s very likely they had contracted the virus before they arrived, based on the timeline provided by the OP. However, we can’t let that fool us into a false sense of security. This just means that at least one member of the family was likely a pre-symptomatic spreader while at WDW. This is what concerns WDW management: someone already carrying but not showing symptoms. That I figure potentially exposes a number of CMs and guests at WDW, so this is why the face coverings requirement and physical distancing will be so, so important, and instances like this will be the test of that. When the parks reopen, this is just going to be even more important. You’ll have high-touch areas like ride vehicles (which they’re not going to be cleaning between uses) that everyone will have to come into contact with.

 

[JacknSally]

Interesting. Last night I still saw people queing outside the store. Maybe it just isn't busy enough yet today for the outside que.

The distance markers are still on the ground outside so I definitely think they plan to use the system again should numbers dictate it! It just doesn't seem to be as stringent as it was in the first few days.

I have 30 trips to WDW under my belt and this one threw me! I looked it up and couldn’t find it. What is MiSiMD?

Move It, Shake It, MousekeDance It - it's the parade in Magic Kingdom!

Has anyone seen employees at Disney Springs wearing face shields?

I have not. All of the Springs CMs I've seen in vlogs and livestreams have been wearing just the standard masks.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Rumor is that Disney isn't planning on opening until after Labor Day.

You're going to have to do better than that.

 

[Mit88]

Uh Oh. WDWMagic is getting hit with a 2nd wave of the Mask debate. Its only a matter of time before the Disboards get hit with another spike

 

[gwynne]

You're going to have to do better than that.

Absolutely. Details! We need details!

 

[KBoopaloo]

That’s exactly what I thought too. Not just Universal, a lot of area attractions opened around that time as did small businesses and bars that depend on tourist traffic. Florida was beginning to head south before we could look at those openings as the cause, but they are certainly contributing now. Disney has to be seeing that correlation as well.

I keep thinking about this too especially with the median age of positive tests going down. It made me wonder if a lot of these positives are coming from theme park and restaurant and hospitality workers who returned to work in the last month. Think about how cramped the kitchen areas are in a lot of QS places. Seems like a lot of the workspaces for service industry workers are ideal for spreading something like this. And a lot of these younger workers often live with roommates in smallish apartments which is also a prime spot for spreading.

 

[andyman8]

FYI Mayor Demings on MSNBC just now that he does not plan on delaying their reopen at this time. He also said that if these mandates work and we don’t keep seeing these increases, “We may still be able to do that safely.” If hospital capacity is reduced, he said “we may have to make another decision.” So like we’ve established, it’s clear they’re monitoring the situation and will make whatever decision they deem necessary.

 

[cakebaker]

Mayor Demings on MSNBC right now in regards to WDW- “If we can contain the virus with the new policies in place, they may still be able to open”....If we continue to see hospitalizations increase, we may have to make other choices”....He said more, not much of it encouraging.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Remember when everyone said Disney was stupid for not opening with Universal? Giving Universal all the chance at the almighty dollar for a whole month!

They don't look stupid now.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Yes things opening create more cases. This is not news. Do you have scientific data to support that claim beyond what we already know?

We aren’t Disney execs here. This isn’t our call. You seem to be venting the same things over and over and it’s not really productive.

I think it’s important that people who don’t realize what is going on at least be exposed to it. The exact same thing happenned in February. If people read this thread who have money tied up, and still have time to cancel and get that money back, then they’ve been helped, just like people who realized what was coming back in February and had time to cancel their March and April plans. There will certainly always be people who won’t believe it till it actually happens of course.

 

[Brianstl]

New Jersey had their spike earlier than Florida.

The highest number of cases New Jersey ever had was around 4,300, back in April.

Florida is having astronomical numbers of cases, months later when we have much more knowledge than when New Jersey was dealing with their cases.

You are ignoring the population when you say Florida has tested more people. Nope. New Jersey is the 4th highest state in the nation for testing per 1 million of population. Florida is about 11th.

I will agree that you can't put Florida in the same league as New Jersey. New Jersey is better.

I am not ignoring population. I am pointing out that you can’t compare the total positive number of cases between the two states when one state has tested 30% more people. Florida has a lower infection rate and a more than 11x lower death rate than New Jersey. Yeah, New Jersey has handled COVID better.