Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[BadPinkTink]

Virgin Atlantic resumes flights to Orlando July 20th

https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/walt...to-resume-flights-to-orlando-from-july-20.htm

Just because the flights are resuming, don't expect the usual huge numbers of UK and Irish just yet. Both the UK and Irish Governments have implemented a 14 day quarantine in the last week. The airlines and the Governments are battling over this, as the airlines want it removed in order to save the summer tourist season.

Many UK and Irish have cancelled or rescheduled their Florida holidays due to the uncertainty.

 

[AmberMV]

New speculation topic: Will resort room discounts be a thing of the past or will they return with the reopening of the reservation system?

 

[gottalovepluto]

New speculation topic: Will resort room discounts be a thing of the past or will they return with the reopening of the reservation system?

They will return when Disney wants to fill up some rooms. When idk. If they need to drive demand before all hotels are open it's possible we see them as soon as a bit after the new reservation system launches.

I assume at some point in the next 12-18 months WDW will go back to operating all their hotels, they will never fill all that space at their rack-rates and we'll see discounts back to coming out on a semi-normal basis.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

New speculation topic: Will resort room discounts be a thing of the past or will they return with the reopening of the reservation system?

I don't think it would be feasible to completely remove them long term. When there is a need to increase capacity or incentive stays at certain resorts at a particular time, they will return.

 

[Sandisw]

Isn't pool hopping one of the guaranteed rights of both blue and white card DVC members? You can't hop to SAB, but everyone can hop to Luna Park. This gives a little hope, too.

No perk is guaranteed. They can remove those at any time, Right now, the ability to go to Luna Park is for all guests, DVC or not

 

[AmberMV]

They will return when Disney wants to fill up some rooms. When idk. If they need to drive demand before all hotels are open it's possible we see them as soon as a bit after the new reservation system launches.

I assume at some point in the next 12-18 months WDW will go back to operating all their hotels, they will never fill all that space at their rack-rates and we'll see discounts back to coming out on a semi-normal basis.

I don't think it would be feasible to completely remove them long term. When there is a need to increase capacity or incentive stays at certain resorts at a particular time, they will return.

So normally in June they release the next batch of room discounts, so do we think that the room discount release normally done in June won't happen for a while? i.e. to cover the rest of 2020?

 

[gottalovepluto]

So normally in June they release the next batch of room discounts, so do we think that the room discount release normally done in June won't happen for a while? i.e. to cover the rest of 2020?

I don’t see it happening soon. I would think they’d want to get opening dates for some of their other resorts, open rack rate reservations, see how it goes, and then fill in any extra space via discount.

 

[mdjen28]

Trying to decide if we should pull the plug on a Labor Day weekend trip. Planned to do mostly out of Park stuff like resort hop visiting some of our favorites. We have rented DVC points (with insurance) so I have to pull the plug by 7/20 if we don't go. Since WDW won't have been open long by then to be able to gauge if our trip is worth it do you think we will even be allowed to resort hop? Currently looks like you can't get into a resort unless you have a dining or room reservation. Understand transportation will be severely limited so that may be a deal breaker too. Sorry if this is a repeat I couldn't find a similar question elsewhere.

 

[bernina]

Something else that's distinct for FW is that like in the one bedroom and larger DVC spaces, the Cabins have their own kitchens, and RV campers do as well. This limits demands on TS and QS dining...

This also provides more options if folks are forced to quarantine due to illness, not passing temperature checks, etc. If you come down with Covid like symptoms on your trip, not only can you not go to parks, DS, etc. You also won't be able to fly either. Once they open more hotels I bet they will hold some kitchen rooms in inventory in case they need to move a guest from a standard hotel room due to quarantine.

 

[The Pho]

News

Six Flags Over Georgia opens on June 15th

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

So normally in June they release the next batch of room discounts, so do we think that the room discount release normally done in June won't happen for a while? i.e. to cover the rest of 2020?

I would expect a delay from the normal timeline. Too much is still up in the air right now.

I wouldn't be surprised to see increased discount availability once normal capacity resumes considering the economic impacts of the virus and how many people are still concerned about travel. The travel industry is going to take a hit from this, which generally results in discounts to drive demand. However, I wouldn't expect to see those until it is safe to operate at a normal or near-normal capacity.

 

[hereforthechurros]

They will return when Disney wants to fill up some rooms. When idk. If they need to drive demand before all hotels are open it's possible we see them as soon as a bit after the new reservation system launches.

I assume at some point in the next 12-18 months WDW will go back to operating all their hotels, they will never fill all that space at their rack-rates and we'll see discounts back to coming out on a semi-normal basis.

A certain travel agency is already offering agency exclusive discounts for CSR and Pop for bookings later this year.

 

[Leigh L]

New speculation topic: Will resort room discounts be a thing of the past or will they return with the reopening of the reservation system?

I was hoping to get one for November (I lost a PIN code for May reservation), but honestly, I don't expect to see one (still hoping though!) if the capacity is still pretty restricted, thus not a lot of excess inventory.
Eventually, I think they'll come back once capacity is back to normal, they'll want to fill those rooms.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

A certain travel agency is already offering agency exclusive discounts for CSR and Pop for bookings later this year.

Room blocks are a whole different beast. I'm talking direct from Disney bookable discounts.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Room blocks are a whole different beast. I'm talking direct from Disney bookable discounts.

I'm aware, but I was still surprised to learn there were any discounts to be had regardless. And I checked for over Christmas. No one knows when regularly scheduled public discounts will come back.

 

[gottalovepluto]

A certain travel agency is already offering agency exclusive discounts for CSR and Pop for bookings later this year.

Those are under a contract they’ve taken out with Disney, probably inked before pandemic went down. Alas they are completely unrelated to normal discounts.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I'm aware, but I was still surprised to learn there were any discounts to be had regardless. And I checked for over Christmas. No one knows when regularly scheduled public discounts will come back.

It's just that the process for getting a block discount does not necessarily reflect the same demand patterns Disney would be looking at to determine if it wanted to offer a similar discount in the same timeframe. A block like that in itself creates an artificial demand spike for a time period by booking out x rooms, which are then later filled.

Basically, it's usually an awesome discount (which I've totally used) but not a good proxy for what Disney might do regarding discount timing in this situation.

 

[SarahC97]

I was thinking about this whole thing more this morning (especially my “why Ft. Wildnerness cabins?” question), and I think the answer to all of this has been right in front of our faces the whole time.

I think this entire thing is related to transition to the new booking system that will replace the MDE app. I think all this chaos is the result of data migration into that system that is not going well. The migration plan was almost certainly designed to go week-to-week, as no way you can move all Disney data at once.

Think about it, what’s the first thing you do when you need to migrate data over and you have concerns about integrity, what is the first thing you do? Stop new data from coming into the system. Result: all new room, dining and ticket purchases suspended indefinitely. DONE.

What’s the second thing you do? Reduce the amount of data you need to migrate. Result: FP and ADR completely wiped out. DONE.

What’s the third thing you do in this situation? Move as much data as possible into systems that won’t be impacted by the migration. What’s special about both DVC and Ft. Wilderness? Separate booking systems from MDE. Ft. Wilderness campgrounds is also one non-DVC WDW property you can use points for. Result: move all reservations to DVC resorts or Ft. Wilderness. DONE.

The last thing? Manually backup all data and set a date for migration. Result: send out emails asking guests if they plan to keep their reservations and warn them that lack of response risks cancellation. Hard deadline of /11 for a response. DONE.

So my best guess is they are planning on turning on this new reservation/booking system on the 11th. Fingers crossed it works well because time is running out.

Edited to change date for the reservation response to 6/11, rather than 7/11. I’ve forgotten what month I am in!

So are you thinking once they turn on this new system, other resorts can come online too?

 

[Chris Ehlers]

I sure hope so. Disney was a major local employer and that has gone down with the CP. I´m not sure on the details on Flamingo Crossing )how many people it houses= but having Disney build that brand new, I´m not sure if it will hold the same amount as the other 3 building did

Flamingo Crossing has 10,000 New Dorms being built and its not finished yet they are being built for Free thru a partnership with ACC and Disney will manage and Staff

 

[tlmadden73]

They will return when Disney wants to fill up some rooms. When idk. If they need to drive demand before all hotels are open it's possible we see them as soon as a bit after the new reservation system launches.

I assume at some point in the next 12-18 months WDW will go back to operating all their hotels, they will never fill all that space at their rack-rates and we'll see discounts back to coming out on a semi-normal basis.

Fun to speculate (what else do we have to do? )

In my opinion, demand may perk up sooner than later .. the sheer amount of people going to local tourist destinations (beaches) and the massive amount of people protesting (in close quarters) shows that MOST people are not afraid of the virus anymore.

Just after the "normalcy" of the last few weeks (here locally), my family feels like we could safely head down to Orlando like we originally intended in mid-June, except find a different hotel and go to LegoLand, SeaWorld and Universal instead of Disney .. since those are open .. and probably going to be not very crowded for the next month or so. But I don't think we will yet. Too many restrictions (for the same price) at this point. The restrictions (not the virus) are going to keep me away this summer.

But .. if Disney (and the other parks) decides to keep the masks and social distancing restrictions in place into the Fall? Then I think Disney could see low demand from people just deferring their vacations until things are "normal" (i've heard from several families that plan a "once every few years" trip that they are just going to hold off for now. .. but I still doubt Disney would offer discounts since they wouldn't want to hit those max capacity limits.

Only time will tell unfortunately.