Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[TXAKDisneyFan]

They still haven’t sent out refunds?

Seems like a lot of the ppl on the AP FB page haven't gotten theirs yet.

 

[britneyt]

So - was there this weekend (Thurs - Mon) and had a few observations.
1) Weekend crowds are SUPER heavy. The difference between Friday at EPCOT and Saturday at EPCOT was crazy. Saturday mid-day we weren't even allowed to join the queue to get into the Mexico pavilion. Most of those folks were waiting to get to the bar, but they didn't branch people between bar/ride until close to the front of the queue.
2) Too many snack carts are closed. Wait time for ice cream cart at MK was 30+ minutes (the only place to get a Mickey bar in Tomorrowland was the popcorn cart - with an ice cream dedicated cart sitting closed right next to it). I could only find one cart with Mickey pretzels at HS and it ran out at 10:45am with no replenishment for a while. Disney is leaving a lot of money on the table just based on guests not being able to easily buy snacks.
3) lines, lines and more lines. Lines for snack carts, lines for rides, lines to get into stores, lines to pick up your mobile order (Cosmic Ray at MK was particularly bad for this)

We had a large party of AP coming from out of state. one family is wishing they had gotten a refund for the their AP. I'm a die hard and I'm wondering if it was worth being near the parks on a weekend.

We went Labor Day weekend and my main complaint was not enough snack carts (hard to get refills on for our popcorn bucket or grab a mickey pretzel) or restaurants (mainly breakfast options in park)....we waited an hour and a half for a waffle at Sleepy Hollow(my kids fave)...normally max 30 min wait...we are returning in November...hoping more options are open

 

[andyman8]

No, not true. Well not as far as CR CM's are concerned.

When I left the company, yes, I had to turn in my WDW Maingate Pass but any comp tickets I had accrued were valid until the expiration date. I had several comps and was able to use them at DLR and DCA when I was out there for my now current employer.

I'm not sure what type of comp tickets you're talking about, but if these are the One-Day Park Hopper tickets (sometimes referred to as "Chip 'n' Dales," given to CPs and temp hires), those can only be used by active employees of TWDC. One your employment ends, these tickets are not usable unless you re-join the Company before the two-year expiration mark. To use the Chip and Dales, you have to also scan your Main Entrance Pass first. The rules vary depending on your status with the Company, but as far as CPs are concerned, they generally only get the MEP and the Chip and Dales. The Guest Passes and Comp Tickets give to FT and CR (Casual Regular a.k.a Part-Time for those unaware) are different.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Disney World Begins Selling New Annual Passes to Passholders With Expired or Cancelled Annual Passes

https://twitter.com/x/status/1310986533047017472

Please buy guys! Obviously Disney isn’t issuing us old APs final refunds until new suckers- uh GUESTS- give them the money to give to us.

 

[pixieprincess925]

We went Labor Day weekend and my main complaint was not enough snack carts (hard to get refills on for our popcorn bucket or grab a mickey pretzel) or restaurants (mainly breakfast options in park)....we waited an hour and a half for a waffle at Sleepy Hollow(my kids fave)...normally max 30 min wait...we are returning in November...hoping more options are open

Yes, I took to just buying drinks from stores since those lines were generally shorter than waiting in line at a cart. As a bonus I got 30% off my bottles of water!

Don't get me started on the lack of food options at the resorts.... Only hot breakfast option at the Boardwalk Bakery (we were staying at BWV) was 2 sandwiches... We walked over to Yacht Club for a better breakfast selection. Inexcusable. You'd think they were intentionally trying to get everyone to cook in their villas!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Please buy guys! Obviously Disney isn’t issuing us old APs final refunds until new suckers- uh GUESTS- give them the money to give to us.

well, this new money is what they will use for the refunds!

 

[gottalovepluto]

My husband is pushing for us to do Epcot on Saturday 10/10 - Columbus Day weekend. I can't even imagine how bad it's going to be.

Have you shared the tales from the boards? Did wonders for getting my crew on board with no EP on the weekend

 

[chicagoshannon]

They tested this already. The test was a flexible clear vinyl rather than plexi.

Does clear vinyl cause a glare though?

UGH that vinyl is so AWFUL! The plexiglass is bad enough but the vinyl is such bad show and does nothing for the virus. I couldn't stand riding on the land with that awful stuff when we were there. Couldn't see anything from the back row of the boat!

I think the ride vehicles are the least of the capacity problems with Rise. I can't go into it as it's a spoiler but I would think the waiting areas are the real problem.

 

[Spridell]

Listening live to todays video and Greg just said 100% Disney has increased park capacity.

He has been going since day 1 so he has seen it all.

I guess we all knew they would quietly

 

[MrsBooch]

I feel like WDW is low key Marie Antoinette-ing us with the food options.

Theme park and resort guests: WE NEED MORE FOOD. PLEASE. KEEP THINGS OPEN LATER. GIVE US SNACK CARTS. OPEN MORE PLACES.

WDW: .......let them eat cake

 

[jkh36619]

In your defense Disney initially said VQ would be used when they first announced how they planned to reopen. Shortly after they shelved it, notified CMs it wasn’t happening and never mentioned it again.

Yeah but I was pro VQ long before COVID.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Listening live to todays video and Greg just said 100% Disney has increased park capacity.

He has been going since day 1 so he has seen it all.

I guess we all knew they would quietly

I don't know how that is possible without knowing what the capacity was set at to begin with ... and then what % of that capacity was being used

Maybe it was always 50% but prior to that they never got more than 25 used? Not saying that was the case, but I just don't know how you can tell it is increased capacity vs more of a static capacity level being used. (now, Disney shifting around the buckets, that is something eaiser to track)

 

[sullivan.kscott]

I feel like WDW is low key Marie Antoinette-ing us with the food options.

Theme park and resort guests: WE NEED MORE FOOD. PLEASE. KEEP THINGS OPEN LATER. GIVE US SNACK CARTS. OPEN MORE PLACES.

WDW: .......let them eat cake

View attachment 528747

OMG that fall one, though! Something that pretty for Thanksgiving will will be in my face all day every day!

 

[hereforthechurros]

Listening live to todays video and Greg just said 100% Disney has increased park capacity.

He has been going since day 1 so he has seen it all.

I guess we all knew they would quietly

Maybe each time it gets close they evaluate and have chosen to raise it? Or maybe it was set at 30% of actual capacity and is just now getting close. Or maybe it opened at 25% and is now pushing 40%?

Seeing reports, it's hard to imagine capacity was based on average attendance. I have to think limited capacity was set based on actual max capacity. So if they're allowing in 35% now, that's 35,000 if the max is 100,000.

 

[disneygirlsng]

I feel like WDW is low key Marie Antoinette-ing us with the food options.

Theme park and resort guests: WE NEED MORE FOOD. PLEASE. KEEP THINGS OPEN LATER. GIVE US SNACK CARTS. OPEN MORE PLACES.

WDW: .......let them eat cake

View attachment 528747

Does anyone know if there are by chance less things open since the end of August? I had zero issues finding any food or snacks anywhere at any time during my trip.

 

[AvidDisReader]

So my wife and I took our 5 year old grand daughter on a one on one WDW trip this past December (2019), we upgraded her 7 day hopper to an annual pass as the grand daughter's parents decided to take the family on a vacation in May of 2020, but we all know what happened with that. The thing is, the tickets for the rest of the family have been extended to May 2021, but the 5 year old annual ticket refund--crickets. Today my wife finally called and the cast member just admitted so many fell thru the cracks- she entered the refund manually and will be refunded to my Chase Disney Visa. So if you have not heard anything by now, Call Disney.

 

[MrsBooch]

OMG that fall one, though! Something that pretty for Thanksgiving will will be in my face all day every day!

Agree!!

 

[rteetz]

Listening live to todays video and Greg just said 100% Disney has increased park capacity.

He has been going since day 1 so he has seen it all.

I guess we all knew they would quietly

I don’t buy that. I really don’t. If they have they haven’t by much. I just think more people are coming.

 

[yulilin3]

So my wife and I took our 5 year old grand daughter on a one on one WDW trip this past December (2019), we upgraded her 7 day hopper to an annual pass as the grand daughter's parents decided to take the family on a vacation in May of 2020, but we all know what happened with that. The thing is, the tickets for the rest of the family have been extended to May 2021, but the 5 year old annual ticket refund--crickets. Today my wife finally called and the cast member just admitted so many fell thru the cracks- she entered the refund manually and will be refunded to my Chase Disney Visa. So if you have not heard anything by now, Call Disney.

there's a 200 page thread on the TPaS board with hundreds of AP's who have called and emailed and still nothing. These refunds have been handled horribly

 

[yulilin3]

I don’t buy that. I really don’t. If they have they haven’t by much. I just think more people are coming.

I agree, more people feeling more comfortable or their states easing restrictions. I don't think Disney ever came close to their capacity in July or August