Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[BrianR]

I know someone posted in the TPAS board that they were at AK this morning and it wouldn’t let them book another park day, stating they had already reached their limit of 3 park days. And once you enter for a day, it doesn’t let you cancel that day, since you’ve already used it. It keeps it active on your MDE in case you return to that park later in the day.

It would be fun to try this if you go to AK, and then at 6:01 PM or whenever it's "closed" for the day to see if it'll let you pick up Epcot that day (subject to availability).

 

[anthony2k7]

It would be fun to try this if you go to AK, and then at 6:01 PM or whenever it's "closed" for the day to see if it'll let you pick up Epcot that day (subject to availability).

There's definitely a few things to try regarding timings.

Although discussing breaking rules is banned here so perhaps best to not continue talking about it here.

 

[EmJ]

I disagree with your assessment as it’s 143,000 test results. As a Floridian I watch this very closely. Each of us is entitled to our opinion and I can respect yours. Only time will tell us if we’re at a peak or not.

You're right, only time will tell. For what it's worth, I do hope you're right and I'm wrong. Be safe out there everyone.

 

[koszmok]

There is next to no chance this will work when Disney has been so vocal about there not being park hopping right now. If it worked it would only be a glitch and it would be rectified quickly.

Most likely this is how park hopping will work though once that returns to being available. Plus doing this as a “work around” would be against Disney rules and thus really can’t be discussed on this board.

I still think there might be a chance. They won`t sell park hopping option because they can`t guarantee park hopping

But. If your ticket is a park hopper and you`d hope from AK to EP (from next week) you can spend more money in the parks which would be good for them ... If you can manage to get from one park to another...

Tricky because if they won`t provide park to park transportation only own/rented car uber etc would work

I guess we will found out once someone will try it

 

[LSUmiss]

I can see why FL’s numbers are up. Just spent the night in Panama City & I was surprised by the lack of social distancing & non mask-wearing. I thought it was bad in my area. Most ppl didn’t have on masks & then would try to cram in the elevator with you . Most of the time I was able to avoid it, but there were a couple times ppl shoved themselves in when we were already in there. I’m glad to be out of there & looking forward to more compliance at wdw. The masks issue doesn’t bother me as much if you’re not close to me. But in an elevator w/o a mask, come on?!!

On a separate note, I wonder if parks will be even less busy during the week since the weekends are usually the most crowded days anyway?

 

[Jessica Geisler]

According to a post in this thread yesterday a CM did exactly this yesterday.

That was me! I saw it! I sent guest services a private message on twitter to hunt down the PhotoPass worker headed to break at 1:30pm and tell her kudos for her stern-ness.

 

[skeeter31]

I still think there might be a chance. They won`t sell park hopping option because they can`t guarantee park hopping

But. If your ticket is a park hopper and you`d hope from AK to EP (from next week) you can spend more money in the parks which would be good for them ... If you can manage to get from one park to another...

Tricky because if they won`t provide park to park transportation only own/rented car uber etc would work

I guess we will found out once someone will try it

Well considering the direct quote from the WDW website: “At this time, Guests are able to select one park per day; visiting more than one park per day is temporarily unavailable due to attendance limitations,” it is clear they don’t want this to be an option right now, and continued discussion about how to circumvent it is against the rules of DIS.

 

[wareagle57]

Has anyone heard any updates on new attraction completion times since the restart after covid shutdown? Are we just speculating that major projects will be ready for the 50th celebration in Oct '21 or has there been actual press releases/interviews with details? My biggest concern is Tron as our family is (was) using this as a benchmark attraction for our next return trip. If it isn't going to be ready by end of Sept, we may have to rethink our tentative plans to visit in Sept.

I’d expect Rat to be delayed by about the length of the closure. The things further out like Tron and Guardians will probably be able to make up the time or at least a much smaller delay.

But who knows. Places like Busch had Iron Gwazi ready to go right before the closure. Now no word on all when if ever it will open this year. Theme parks are being advised b financial advisors not to open their new shiny toys until attendance increases since the point of adding new rides is to make money. We may not see Ice Breaker or Iron Gwazi this year. A little different, but Universal opened their new Borne show. I don’t think the big boys (Disney/Universal) will delay things due to crowds but others might.

 

[onatrek]

I know not everyone is a DISer, but I can't imagine that anyone that is planning on going to Disney isn't watching what is happening either on social media or the news.

Well what was getting the most press on the news, especially tabloid news, made it look like it was jam packed because most of those quoted Carlye.

No matter how great and empty the parks look to those of us who love Disney, what's getting traction in the media is more anything crowd based that looks like Disney shouldn't have reopened or any other problems (like if that vlogger ends up being outed and in something that goes viral on SM and then ends up in MSM will almost certainly also do, trying to show people going to WDW sick or such)

In the meantime, here's a sampling of what was getting traction on MSM SM accounts and articles, as well as more tabloid-esque ones. Obviously there's other stuff, but this is the stuff that gains views, then circulates widely because people start retweeting, reposting, commenting (mostly in outrage) because that's what is "selling" right now.

I'm just selecting the ones I saw being posted most often on accounts or sites I read, and they were sourced from these, but there are many others (local MSM sites just don't tend to get broader retweets b/c the same articles get personalized by each local news site and so they all seem 'new' thus not seemingly getting as high of view/retweet/repin/etc. numbers)

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/20...opens-as-floridas-coronavirus-cases-skyrocket
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/ne...stancing-proves-tricky/ar-BB16CnlU?li=BBnb2gh
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ce-as-walt-disney-world-reopens-idUSKCN24C0Q4
https://www.tmz.com/2020/07/11/disn...19-coronavirus-cases-social-distancing-masks/
https://deadline.com/2020/07/disney...me-videos-the-shining-the-shining-1202983541/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...d-reopen-coronavirus-cases-surge-Florida.html
While many show other images showing fewer crowds, most highlight and focus on the pictures and/or comments Carlye made from outside the MK yesterday.

In a weird way, though, that might be good...if what really was gaining traction in MSM and SM was the empty crowds, Disney could then be getting tons of press about people being irate about being turned away.

Current world circumstances have Disney, like most everything else, in a weird balancing act it seems!

 

[koszmok]

Well considering the direct quote from the WDW website: “At this time, Guests are able to select one park per day; visiting more than one park per day is temporarily unavailable due to attendance limitations,” it is clear they don’t want this to be an option right now, and continued discussion about it is against the rules of DIS.

I don`t feel it`s breaking the rules but I get what you are saying.

The quote also says due to attendance limitations so I would think If the limitation is still not reached that day it won`t be breaking the rules providing the ticket you have is a park hopper.

For my understanding the quote means at the time of making the reservation you can only select one park per day.

I might be wrong though....

 

[Helvetica]

I’d expect Rat to be delayed by about the length of the closure. The things further out like Tron and Guardians will probably be able to make up the time or at least a much smaller delay.

But who knows. Places like Busch had Iron Gwazi ready to go right before the closure. Now no word on all when if ever it will open this year. Theme parks are being advised b financial advisors not to open their new shiny toys until attendance increases since the point of adding new rides is to make money. We may not see Ice Breaker or Iron Gwazi this year. A little different, but Universal opened their new Borne show. I don’t think the big boys (Disney/Universal) will delay things due to crowds but others might.

My local Six Flags has already put their new 2020 ride into storage and they've changed over the signs in the park to advertise it for 2021. I think that's the same for a lot of the regionals, especially for flat rides that can easily be put into a warehouse.

I also know that Silver Dollar City has went ahead and opened their new river rapids ride, but they were well into building it last year. I think a lot of it's going to depend on what's being built, how far along it is among other financial considerations.

 

[BrianR]

Eh, if anyone can walk up (based on availability) and get a day of ticket at full price on separate media (card) and wants to pay for it, then do it again at park #2, I wouldn't be surprised that they would be able to and Disney would be fine with it.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I’d expect Rat to be delayed by about the length of the closure. The things further out like Tron and Guardians will probably be able to make up the time or at least a much smaller delay.

But who knows. Places like Busch had Iron Gwazi ready to go right before the closure. Now no word on all when if ever it will open this year. Theme parks are being advised b financial advisors not to open their new shiny toys until attendance increases since the point of adding new rides is to make money. We may not see Ice Breaker or Iron Gwazi this year. A little different, but Universal opened their new Borne show. I don’t think the big boys (Disney/Universal) will delay things due to crowds but others might.

I really hope they can "make up time in the air" for Tron and Guardians like a delayed flight...lol Rat would be fun but Tron looks crazy awesome. I hope we hear some official timing info by the end of summer for trip planning. Life is just so...... right now. Other than our trip to Folly Beach(which is for relaxation and exploring so not much to plan) in Oct, I don't have anything to plan right now and planning vacations is my happy place It takes me away from the haze of covid, politics, crazy people, and general day-to-day hum drums.....

 

[rteetz]

Eh, if anyone can walk up (based on availability) and get a day of ticket at full price on separate media (card) and wants to pay for it, then do it again at park #2, I wouldn't be surprised that they would be able to and Disney would be fine with it.

Definitely especially because that means more money for Disney.

 

[wombat_5606]

Current world circumstances have Disney, like most everything else, in a weird balancing act it seems!

Yes, Disney is D***ed if they do, D***ed if they don't.

I think that people that really want to go to Disney are going to go, no matter the news coverage.

I think people that are on the fence will read or scan those news items and if they think the virus is a problem, they may change their minds. Then there are those who don't think the virus is an issue and will see those same articles and think it's being overblown.

The bottom line could be that what the girl took a picture of and posted, actually happened. What people make of that, whether it is the writer of the article or the person reading it, can't be controlled.

 

[anthony2k7]

I’d expect Rat to be delayed by about the length of the closure. The things further out like Tron and Guardians will probably be able to make up the time or at least a much smaller delay.

But who knows. Places like Busch had Iron Gwazi ready to go right before the closure. Now no word on all when if ever it will open this year. Theme parks are being advised b financial advisors not to open their new shiny toys until attendance increases since the point of adding new rides is to make money. We may not see Ice Breaker or Iron Gwazi this year. A little different, but Universal opened their new Borne show. I don’t think the big boys (Disney/Universal) will delay things due to crowds but others might.

Iron Gwazi and ice breaker have both got liens on them or whatever they are called havent they? (Legal blocks stopping the parks opening them)

 

[Anna_Sh]

Do we know if anyone will be streaming from the previews at EPCOT tomorrow? I really want to know if they’ll be using mobile order at F&W and if the bakeries (France and Norway) are really closed.

 

[skeeter31]

Definitely especially because that means more money for Disney.

Right, if someone wants to buy separate 1 day tickets to visit 2 parks in a day, I’m sure Disney would let them, and that wouldn’t be considered hopping.

 

[Hettie]

While many show other images showing fewer crowds, most highlight and focus on the pictures and/or comments Carlye made from outside the MK yesterday.

This is what I’ve seen just scrolling through news articles, also the DFB photo with the 7DMT queue cluster is a popular lead story photo. I saw many posters here predict that Disney would get bad press no matter how or when or under what circumstances they reopen and it seems they were correct. I didn’t doubt that it would happen either, but being able to watch the live feeds and reports, then seeing how various media outlets reported just solidified my general distrust of media. They sought out the few incindiary photos from the first days of reopening and prominently displayed those, regardless of the story content, although some of the stories were absolutely scathing and absolutely oozing with agenda.

 

[Mit88]

I can see why FL’s numbers are up. Just spent the night in Panama City & I was surprised by the lack of social distancing & non mask-wearing. I thought it was bad in my area. Most ppl didn’t have on masks & then would try to cram in the elevator with you . Most of the time I was able to avoid it, but there were a couple times ppl shoved themselves in when we were already in there. I’m glad to be out of there & looking forward to more compliance at wdw. The masks issue doesn’t bother me as much if you’re not close to me. But in an elevator w/o a mask, come on?!!

On a separate note, I wonder if parks will be even less busy during the week since the weekends are usually the most crowded days anyway?

I've grown so accustomed to people being 100% compliant with masks and distancing in my area that I’m almost interested, but also worried to see the non-compliance. Which is weird since that was just normal every day life 120 days ago. Its different hearing that these areas are bad with these simple practices, but I imagine its more daunting to see it in person