Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Alicefan]

We are Denver suburb too and masks are not mandatory for us. My dd works at Target and she estimates it is about 50%. I'd say the same for what I see. Only store by us that is mandatory is Costco. Restaurants now too, from what I understand, when not eating or drinking. We are dining out tomorrow night. I can't wait!

It's the same here in SC. I haven't worn a mask at all until yesterday when I got to the doctor's office and there was a note on the door not to come in without one. I put mine on, but when we got behind the office doors they told me I could take it off and the staff pulled theirs down as well. It was like it was only for looks. You could tell that it was just protocol they were following and that they didn't like it any more than we do.

 

[JacknSally]

What they could have done and in my opinion should have done was Any of these other options:
1. Give everyone the quick service dining plan. People have to eat regardless.
2. Give people a discount on their CURRENT reservation and not a future reservation
3. Offer people their package next year at the same price. For many people who booked a bounce back or the promotion in January a booking next year even at a 35% discount is still a decent amount more.
4. Give people a gift card for 75% of the value of their dining plan to use in food in the park.

Those are all good ideas and while they haven’t said yet that they’re doing anything like that, they also haven’t said yet that they’re definitely not doing anything like that.

Maybe one or two of those will be the options they offer when they start reaching out to the affected guests. Maybe they have other ideas they’ll be offering. They’re moving into the new system with everyone on equal footing and with a clean slate, but they said they’ll be reaching out to affected guests, plus previously booked guests will be getting first dibs at the new set-up. We just don’t know all the specifics yet.

 

[cakebaker]

Other parks are doing the same thing in regards to refunds and bookings.

One reason I was loyal to Disney was because I didn't believe they were like other companies. What anyone else does, has no effect on whether what Disney is doing is right.

I’m more concerned with 30 million people losing their jobs, people struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over the heads of their family. And I also put my money where my mouth is by donating. To me that’s the real crisis of this pandemic. But that’s just me.

Where did I ever say I was more concerned about my vacation than I am people suffering from the effects of this pandemic? That's not just you, but this is a Disney forum so I kinda focus on Disney here. Lots of people are concerned and donate time and money to those in need, but it's not an either/or.

 

[armerida]

I just got my cancellation email for my August trip. It says I will be contacted and given priority access to make new plans. My reservation is at the Dolphin. Can’t wait to see how that works out!

@Dallasmomoftwo, what exactly was cancelled? Your resort reservation? Or FP and ADRs? We are out of state AP with an on-site trip w/res at AoA booked mid-August...

 

[Lewisc]

What's going to happen when the governor does not approve Disneys plan?

I guess Disney would have to defer the reopening date to August 1, or later, so they can address any deficiencies of the plan or to give Disney a time to go to court. Disney's plan is at least as safe as the plan approved for Universal. What do you think needs to be improved to make it safer?

 

[Have3Kids&aHusband]

As of this morning, all my August (and November) ADRs are still intact. No emails received from WDW in either DH's or my inboxes.
Edited to add: I haven't been able to modify anything for a day or two and all three resort reservations (split stay in August, 1 in November) cannot be modified. As of yesterday sometime I was still able to modify my November one (our August one DH booked with military offer so we can't change that online anyway, but the wording did change IIRC)

My husband got the email late last night around 11:30 but didn't see it til this morning. I didn't receive any emails yet and I am the primary person for all reservations. Just waiting for my emails now. I told him to be on the lookout for the next email that grants permission to do the reserve parks since he was contacted.

 

[TakesFaithTrust&PixieDust]

One reason I was loyal to Disney was because I didn't believe they were like other companies. What anyone else does, has no effect on whether what Disney is doing is right.



Where did I ever say I was more concerned about my vacation than I am people suffereing from the effects of this pandemic? That's not just you, but this is a Disney forum so I kinda focus on Disney here. Lots of people are concerned and donate time and money to those in need, but it's not an either/or.

I’m not going to take this further because I respect your opinion. I agree this is a Disney forum and I see the flip side of what the cast members are feeling. So my perspective is different I guess. I lost money too with the cruise line. Have a nice day. Hope you start to feel better about things.

 

[skeeter31]

Keep in mind everyone, not everyone will get emails, or see their reservations disappear right away from MDE. Disney IT faces a massive challenge today, this weekend, and even next week, to clean the slate of all these ADRs and FPs. Just because yours are still showing up, doesn’t mean you somehow slipped through the cracks. By you posting that yours are still appearing in the MDE, all you’re really doing is upsetting people that have had there’s disappear already. It’s not a good look.

 

[mhautz]

I really want to have the attitude of not blaming Disney, and for the most part I'll stick to that because they are making necessary decisions based on things outside their control. The one thing they did that I can fault them for is seemingly not adjust any sort of reservation systems AFTER it became clear adjustments were going to be necessary. For the most part, it seemed to be business as usual (I mean every person making reservations had to know the risk). Even if they didn't want to announce it publicly, they could have drastically reduced the availability of everything, such as resorts, tickets, ADRs, DDP, FP+, but other than some rumored FP+ reductions, there is no indication they did that. Maybe they DID do more than I think they did, but it sure feels like they could have made more effort to drive down capacity organically and not have to cancel everything, even if that meant they would have to cancel some things.

 

[mshanson3121]

In other news - apparently Disney quietly changed their mask policy so now all guests over the age of 2 must wear one, not age 3.

 

[mshanson3121]

@rteetz Any hints as to what announcements we should expect at the 5:00 Doomsday Drop?

 

[mhautz]

In other news - apparently Disney quietly changed their mask policy so now all guests over the age of 2 must wear one, not age 3.

Well, there goes our plan of saying the three year old is two!

 

[Eric Smith]

I really want to have the attitude of not blaming Disney, and for the most part I'll stick to that because they are making necessary decisions based on things outside their control. The one thing they did that I can fault them for is seemingly not adjust any sort of reservation systems AFTER it became clear adjustments were going to be necessary. For the most part, it seemed to be business as usual (I mean every person making reservations had to know the risk). Even if they didn't want to announce it publicly, they could have drastically reduced the availability of everything, such as resorts, tickets, ADRs, DDP, FP+, but other than some rumored FP+ reductions, there is no indication they did that. Maybe they DID do more than I think they did, but it sure feels like they could have made more effort to drive down capacity organically and not have to cancel everything, even if that meant they would have to cancel some things.

I don't mind the way they went about it. I do think they need to communicate the changes in a more effective way. I don't think its great that they just announced this with a post on a blog. They really should have had a press conference to make a formal announcement about the changes. Everyone on this board will know exactly what is going on because we are fanatics. The average guest is going to have no idea. They're just going to get an email saying all of their ADRs and fast passes are cancelled out of the blue.

 

[JacknSally]

I really want to have the attitude of not blaming Disney, and for the most part I'll stick to that because they are making necessary decisions based on things outside their control. The one thing they did that I can fault them for is seemingly not adjust any sort of reservation systems AFTER it became clear adjustments were going to be necessary. For the most part, it seemed to be business as usual (I mean every person making reservations had to know the risk). Even if they didn't want to announce it publicly, they could have drastically reduced the availability of everything, such as resorts, tickets, ADRs, DDP, FP+, but other than some rumored FP+ reductions, there is no indication they did that. Maybe they DID do more than I think they did, but it sure feels like they could have made more effort to drive down capacity organically and not have to cancel everything, even if that meant they would have to cancel some things.

So I totally see your point here, and I don’t disagree. Doing it this way, though, keeps them from having to pick and choose who keeps their plans and who has to start over.

I’ve had to walk hotel guests before and sometimes they understood but sometimes they would argue with me, demanding to know why their plans were upended but someone else’s weren’t. Why we thought they were “lesser” than someone else, which of course wasn’t the case.

Wiping it all out stops Disney from having to randomly pick and choose who to cancel, and then try to explain to thousands of people why they were chosen but someone else wasn’t.

You make a valid point; we don’t know how much limiting was already being done behind the scenes. Maybe they still had too many reservations to handle after their limiting. They also did probably assume people understood the pandemic meant everything was up in the air.

 

[Eric Smith]

@rteetz Any hints as to what announcements we should expect at the 5:00 Doomsday Drop?

The next logical thing to announce would be what they're doing with the resorts. I don't expect that they'll cancel anyone, but I could see closing certain resorts and moving people to equivalent accommodations.

 

[Taylor'sMom]

The cancellation email people are getting... it doesn't include a link to re-book or anything, right? So whether you DID or DID NOT get the email, you really have nothing that others don't yet have, except acknowledgment by Disney, that you are being cancelled? And a note that says you'll somehow be given priority over those that don't have current reservations?
Still no info on HOW and WHEN you will be able to re-book, right?

Is my understamding correct?

We have July 5-11 trip scheduled (Original QS Free Dining promo, upgraded to DDP with FP+ and ADRs made), and I have yet to see an email. I keep checking my email and the website to see if anything allows me to re-book.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

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.

 

[TakesFaithTrust&PixieDust]

So I totally see your point here, and I don’t disagree. Doing it this way, though, keeps them from having to pick and choose who keeps their plans and who has to start over.

I’ve had to walk hotel guests before and sometimes they understood but sometimes they would argue with me, demanding to know why their plans were upended but someone else’s weren’t. Why we thought they were “lesser” than someone else, which of course wasn’t the case.

Wiping it all out stops Disney from having to randomly pick and choose who to cancel, and then try to explain to thousands of people why they were chosen but someone else wasn’t.

You make a valid point; we don’t know how much limiting was already being done behind the scenes. Maybe they still had too many reservations to handle after their limiting. They also did probably assume people understood the pandemic meant everything was up in the air.

We had a family birthday celebration scheduled at Chef Mickey’s that got wiped out. We have family fly in for this. Guess we’ll see what happens. Staying positive we’ll get it back in some form

 

[stephk1981]

We have an August, September, and November reservation and are AP holders . I haven't received any email, should I be worried that I won't get a reservation date to enter the park before more tickets are sold?

 

[Brianstl]

Yes, all dining plans are being refunded per the announcement.

Actually that is not what it says,

“As a result of limited capacity, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all existing dining reservations and experience bookings, including Disney dining plans included in packages.”

It never says anything specific about refunding Dining Plan purchases. It makes me think they are only clearing Dining Plans included in packages (free dining) off their books.