Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[DonMa]

Well ahead of you.

You are really silly. Have fun

 

[Mit88]

I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the poster that asked "what is funny?" Don't know why the quote feature didn't work.

Im still wrong quite often.

I said Disney would open the parks on June 1st because of the recovery offer. Obviously I’m doing something wrong because people seem to want to argue with me. I’m just trying to think and talk positively about things in a gloomy time. Even if I’m wrong about my opinions, I still like looking on the bright side

 

[osufeth24]

Im still wrong quite often.

I said Disney would open the parks on June 1st because of the recovery offer. Obviously I’m doing something wrong because people seem to want to argue with me. I’m just trying to think and talk positively about things in a gloomy time. Even if I’m wrong about my opinions, I still like looking on the bright side

It's clear this pandemic has brought the worst out in many people/things/etc (from all sides)

 

[DonMa]

"Agree to disagree" is a concept lost by many on these boards. Like Ryan has said, when there's no news people fixate on certain topics and will squeeze an argument out of them for whatever reason.

You are a great poster. Love your work. It was a simple discussion about why they were not advertising. I have knowledge in that area. I tried to share. I am done

 

[Lewisc]

Its really not though. If airlines weren’t running, and Disney was only allowing Florida residents to visit the parks, then sure. But at the end of the day, a recession or recession + pandemic its still the choice of the consumer to make the decision themselves.

Intended more to members reading this thread then specifically to you.

For a lot of potential guests it isn't the consumers choice. I've read 10-15% of Disney guests are international. Travel rules, quarantine requirements and lack of flight options exclude those guests. AFAIK guests from NY, and a few other states, aren't welcome in FL unless they quarantine. Disney has said those guests are not welcome at WDW until they quarantine. Other potential guests are subject to quarantine rules when they return.

We've all seen drug ads with disclaimers and mention of side effects. I doubt Disney wants to have to add those kinds of disclaimers to their ads.

I've been saying for months Disney fan sites are way overestimating demand.

 

[rstevens333]

Yeah. Here in MA as of August 1, we're required to quarantine 14 days if we visit an unsafe state - Take a guess if Florida is on that list. I would be so much more likely to take a controlled chance on a trip if not for the massive post-trip time cost.

 

[Mit88]

Intended more to members reading this thread then specifically to you.

For a lot of potential guests it isn't the consumers choice. I've read 10-15% of Disney guests are international. Travel rules, quarantine requirements and lack of flight options exclude those guests. AFAIK guests from NY, and a few other states, aren't welcome in FL unless they quarantine. Disney has said those guests are not welcome at WDW until they quarantine. Other potential guests are subject to quarantine rules when they return.

We've all seen drug ads with disclaimers and mention of side effects. I doubt Disney wants to have to add those kinds of disclaimers to their ads.

I've been saying for months Disney fan sites are way overestimating demand.

To be fair, many people, even “insiders” were under the assumption that when Disney opened their doors that mandatory quarantine requirements would be lifted, at least on the Florida end. I think people underestimate the amount of people that go to Disney from the tri-state area. More often than not I see at least 1 AP magnet on cars in every parking lot. So maybe the “demand” wasn’t there because of the restrictions, but I’m not so confident the interest wasn’t. No way to really know unless I poll every Disney fan in NY on whether they’d go to Disney right now or not

Disney also doesn’t have to add any disclaimers into any Ads. They didn’t in their “welcome back home” ad the week before the parks reopened. The disclaimer, warnings, etc are all in the “terms of agreement” when you make a park reservation. Whether you read them or not isnt Disney’s responsibility.

 

[Runnsally]

Just zipped through the last bunch of pages. WDW is absolutely desperate for higher spend out-of-state resort guests. No way they’ll be willing to tread water with mostly AP locals much longer. WDW has a much more complicated and higher ceiling business model than Universal and can’t continue this way. They’re totally boxed in by folks inability (quarantine) or reluctance to travel. Unless advance bookings really pick up, additional ride closures, reduction in park hours, etc. is inevitable.

Earnings call this week...hang on to your hats and glasses...

 

[midnight star]

Just zipped through the last bunch of pages. WDW is absolutely desperate for higher spend out-of-state resort guests. No way they’ll be willing to tread water with mostly AP locals much longer. WDW has a much more complicated and higher ceiling business model than Universal and can’t continue this way. They’re totally boxed in by folks inability (quarantine) or reluctance to travel. Unless advance bookings really pick up, additional ride closures, reduction in park hours, etc. is inevitable.

Earnings call this week...hang on to your hats and glasses...

I’m nervous for what they will say about DL Hope they are able to open

 

[TwoMisfits]

Just zipped through the last bunch of pages. WDW is absolutely desperate for higher spend out-of-state resort guests. No way they’ll be willing to tread water with mostly AP locals much longer. WDW has a much more complicated and higher ceiling business model than Universal and can’t continue this way. They’re totally boxed in by folks inability (quarantine) or reluctance to travel. Unless advance bookings really pick up, additional ride closures, reduction in park hours, etc. is inevitable.

Earnings call this week...hang on to your hats and glasses...

Or, as we talked on the NBA thread, maybe if they can't bring the tourists, they can bring the sports teams...we'll see if they can snag another league or if the NBA announces they will go back for the 2020-2021 season (and if it's all the teams, that would be an even bigger spend and footprint from the league)...

 

[Mit88]

Just zipped through the last bunch of pages. WDW is absolutely desperate for higher spend out-of-state resort guests. No way they’ll be willing to tread water with mostly AP locals much longer. WDW has a much more complicated and higher ceiling business model than Universal and can’t continue this way. They’re totally boxed in by folks inability (quarantine) or reluctance to travel. Unless advance bookings really pick up, additional ride closures, reduction in park hours, etc. is inevitable.

Earnings call this week...hang on to your hats and glasses...

This isnt the first time Disney has told people to stay home, dont come.

Let’s travel back...to the year 2019. Galaxy’s Edge. Most hyped expansion in Disney history.

The week after Galaxy’s Edge opened at DL, the parks...deserted. Same for DHS. Sure, some of it was because RotR wasn’t open yet, but Disney told people to stay home, don’t come yet stay home. And people listened.

I dont remember since I’m not usually one for discounts because I dont typically use cash rooms, single day tickets, or eat much on property, but I dont remember any deals that were any better than the usual deals to pull people back to WDW when they realized the demand wasn’t there for Galaxy’s Edge. There were no big ad campaigns for Galaxy’s Edge after it had opened and no one came. No one came because Disney told them not to.

Fast forward back to current day. Disney told people not to come right now. Some have no choice, they literally arent allowed (supposed) to, while others are allowed to. Disney still basically told everyone, not just those in quarantine states “Stay home, dont come”.

So either they want the parks to be the way they are right now (maybe a little more people) or theres no one else to blame but themselves for telling people to stay home. Not that there’s anything wrong with the latter. They should be operating with safety first. But to expect a huge demand while telling people not to come seems counter intuitive.

 

[Mit88]

Or, as we talked on the NBA thread, maybe if they can't bring the tourists, they can bring the sports teams...we'll see if they can snag another league or if the NBA announces they will go back for the 2020-2021 season (and if it's all the teams, that would be an even bigger spend and footprint from the league)...

Owners wont agree to another bubble season until they absolutely have to. So we’re probably looking at another 3 months until they’d have to make that decision. I know Knicks season tickets are on sale for the 2020-2021 season, commercials for them and all. Not that that really means anything other than that right now, they intend to play in their arena’s with fans next season.

The good thing is, they have everything pretty much set up for them to do it again if need be. All they’d need to do is accommodate an additional 8 teams into the mix.

What they can do soon is set up a contract with the NBA to play their yearly mini in-season tournaments that were pseudo confirmed last November. I know Vegas was originally seen as the favorite for those tournaments, but if the NBA is liking what they see from Disney in terms of court’s and amenities, then Disney should be able to strike a deal with them, even if it rotates between WDW and Vegas.

 

[Runnsally]

This isnt the first time Disney has told people to stay home, dont come.

Let’s travel back...to the year 2019. Galaxy’s Edge. Most hyped expansion in Disney history.

The week after Galaxy’s Edge opened at DL, the parks...deserted. Same for DHS. Sure, some of it was because RotR wasn’t open yet, but Disney told people to stay home, don’t come yet stay home. And people listened.

I dont remember since I’m not usually one for discounts because I dont typically use cash rooms, single day tickets, or eat much on property, but I dont remember any deals that were any better than the usual deals to pull people back to WDW when they realized the demand wasn’t there for Galaxy’s Edge. There were no big ad campaigns for Galaxy’s Edge after it had opened and no one came. No one came because Disney told them not to.

Fast forward back to current day. Disney told people not to come right now. Some have no choice, they literally arent allowed (supposed) to, while others are allowed to. Disney still basically told everyone, not just those in quarantine states “Stay home, dont come”.

So either they want the parks to be the way they are right now (maybe a little more people) or theres no one else to blame but themselves for telling people to stay home. Not that there’s anything wrong with the latter. They should be operating with safety first. But to expect a huge demand while telling people not to come seems counter intuitive.

Not sure what you mean by telling people not to come. Yes, they are appropriately limiting capacity and focusing on safety, but I guarantee this is not they planned in terms of demand.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

I think you completely missed the overarching point of my posts

- People say Disney is desperate for money

- Disney isnt advertising towards cash paying guests

- Advertisement draws people in. Yes, even in a pandemic. YOU may not be traveling. People you know might not be traveling. But people ARE traveling. Not as much as usual, but people are still traveling

- If Disney were as desperate for cash paying guests, they would be advertising the reopening...They are not.

All that to say the assumptions that Disney is desperate and underwhelmed may be a little overstated.

Are they struggling for money? Yes. Everyone outside of essential stores and plexiglass manufacturers are struggling for money. But desperate company’s try anything they can to get business. The fact that not only are they not trying to bring in out of state guests, but they’re trying to convince them to wait until next year means that they aren’t as bad off as some posters on other boards claim.

Closing rides and attractions that didn’t generate volume prior to the shutdown dont show much.

I believe they are desparate. The industry as a whole is.
Universal just laid off a bunch of people and I suspect Disney will follow suit.

Universal's World Wide theme park revenue is down 94% even though they've been open much longer than Disney.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...-as-coronavirus-limits-theme-park-attendance/
https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando...ersal-theme-park-revenue-falls-second-quarter

 

[hertamaniac]

36 crew test positive for virus on Norwegian cruise ship

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2020/0801/1156870-norway-cruise-coronavirus/
https://www.newsweek.com/norway-crusie-ship-covid-roald-amundsen-1522149
Personal opinion: This could easily stall the reopening of the Europe cruise industry. The passengers have already disembarked (~177) before the crew member(s) tested positive. There appears to be a scramble to get the contact tracing instituted and self-isolation recommendation/order. Early reports are that the procedures (masks, distancing, etc.) were in-place during the entire cruise.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

Intended more to members reading this thread then specifically to you.

For a lot of potential guests it isn't the consumers choice. I've read 10-15% of Disney guests are international. Travel rules, quarantine requirements and lack of flight options exclude those guests. AFAIK guests from NY, and a few other states, aren't welcome in FL unless they quarantine. Disney has said those guests are not welcome at WDW until they quarantine. Other potential guests are subject to quarantine rules when they return.

We've all seen drug ads with disclaimers and mention of side effects. I doubt Disney wants to have to add those kinds of disclaimers to their ads.

I've been saying for months Disney fan sites are way overestimating demand.

And the international ones are the biggest spenders and usually stay at the resorts.

 

[Mit88]

Not sure what you mean by telling people not to come. Yes, they are appropriately limiting capacity and focusing on safety, but I guarantee this is not they planned in terms of demand.

I’ve gotten 3 emails from Disney asking me if I’m sure I still want to keep my resort reservation.

When Disney announced the reopening, and Chapek talked about demand, Florida was another 3 weeks away from becoming a hot spot. So of course he expected the demand to be higher. Those expectations likely lowered in late June and continued to lower as they got closer to the opening.

There’s no way of knowing whether or not people planned to go to Disney, then Florida became a hot spot, and then cancelled.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

To be fair, many people, even “insiders” were under the assumption that when Disney opened their doors that mandatory quarantine requirements would be lifted, at least on the Florida end. I think people underestimate the amount of people that go to Disney from the tri-state area. More often than not I see at least 1 AP magnet on cars in every parking lot. So maybe the “demand” wasn’t there because of the restrictions, but I’m not so confident the interest wasn’t. No way to really know unless I poll every Disney fan in NY on whether they’d go to Disney right now or not

Disney also doesn’t have to add any disclaimers into any Ads. They didn’t in their “welcome back home” ad the week before the parks reopened. The disclaimer, warnings, etc are all in the “terms of agreement” when you make a park reservation. Whether you read them or not isnt Disney’s responsibility.

The timing of the COVID uptick and social upheaval obviously haven't helped but I think it's more a case of Disney dropping the ball on what they can control.

Even with masks, I would have gone if they had park hopping.
But if you take out park hopping then for someone who is a huge Disney fan and coming from far away, it's not worth it to come now.

Limiting the hours also makes it less appealing to come. If they had full nighttime hours then I could come and telework during the day and hang out at the parks at night.

And also keeping the prices high for everything when they are already are high and nickel and diming everything makes it a poor value to come right now when all you get is a crippled Disney experience.

 

[Mit88]

I believe they are desparate. The industry as a whole is.
Universal just laid off a bunch of people and I suspect Disney will follow suit.

Universal's World Wide theme park revenue is down 94% even though they've been open much longer than Disney.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/l...-as-coronavirus-limits-theme-park-attendance/
https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando...ersal-theme-park-revenue-falls-second-quarter

Struggling I think is a more appropriate word than desperate. If they were desperate, we’d know it. Sorry for anyone who loves Voyage of the Little Mermaid or Rivers of Light, those were both likely to be taken away soon with or without the pandemic. To me, desperate would be trying anything in their power to entice guests to make future bookings. Pump up the hype for the 50th early and try to get people to book summer 2021 stays

Their Q3 report is going to be ugly, really, really ugly for Disney. Universal’s was atrocious even with having the parks open for 3 weeks at the tail end.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

To be fair, many people, even “insiders” were under the assumption that when Disney opened their doors that mandatory quarantine requirements would be lifted, at least on the Florida end. I think people underestimate the amount of people that go to Disney from the tri-state area. More often than not I see at least 1 AP magnet on cars in every parking lot. So maybe the “demand” wasn’t there because of the restrictions, but I’m not so confident the interest wasn’t. No way to really know unless I poll every Disney fan in NY on whether they’d go to Disney right now or not

Disney also doesn’t have to add any disclaimers into any Ads. They didn’t in their “welcome back home” ad the week before the parks reopened. The disclaimer, warnings, etc are all in the “terms of agreement” when you make a park reservation. Whether you read them or not isnt Disney’s responsibility.

The timing of the COVID uptick and social upheaval obviously haven't helped but I think it's more a case of Disney dropping the ball on what they can control.

Even with masks, I would have gone if they had park hopping.
But if you take out park hopping then for someone who is a huge Disney fan and coming from far away, it's not worth it to come now.

Limiting the hours also makes it less appealing to come. If they had full nighttime hours then I could come and telework during the day and hang out at the parks at night.

And also keeping the prices high for everything when they are already are high and nickel and diming everything makes it a poor value to come right now when all you get is a crippled Disney experience.

I’ve gotten 3 emails from Disney asking me if I’m sure I still want to keep my resort reservation.

When Disney announced the reopening, and Chapek talked about demand, Florida was another 3 weeks away from becoming a hot spot. So of course he expected the demand to be higher. Those expectations likely lowered in late June and continued to lower as they got closer to the opening.

There’s no way of knowing whether or not people planned to go to Disney, then Florida became a hot spot, and then cancelled.

I think it's more reduced hours, no park hopping and having to reserve for a park that is killing the demand. There's too many hoops you have to go through for a half baked expereince.