Rumor about potential major reduction in operating hours for WDW if Disney Asia parks remain closed due to coronavirus

[Remy is Up]

It seems the "looking our for guests" part is missing lately -- (ride closures, no maintenance, cut meet and greets, cut hours, more upcharge, etc...)..
Disney is looking out for shareholders.

This will be a purely looking our for Disney situation. They will do it based on risk of financial loss. When the lawsuit, PR, cost to get back up and running before it is too late cost outweighs the return loss from closing they will do it. When guests stop coming by fear, then they will do it. Operating cost will be more that income.

It isnt about employees... that has been well established in their pay structures.

This will come down to a decision of money vs law vs moral... money wins in today's society.

If that is your opinon so be it, but none of that is fact, thats for certain.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Just curious, not being argumentative, but, are you likening this to:
Mom: Dont touch the iron its hot ( Expecting some level of self responsibility)
Kid: Touches the iron and gets burned
OR
Mom takes the iron out of the childs reach to keep them from making a bad decision

Take a look at the sticker on your hairdryer. There's a BIG one with a picture of a bathtub and a bright red line that means, "Don't use you hairdryer in the bathtub."

I haven't bought coffee at Mc Donald's in quite sometime, but I'm pretty sure the side of the cup still says, "Contents may be HOT!"

We might wish to ask why do we need these warnings? Don't all people know that electricity + water = electrocution, and hot coffee = hot coffee?

But then we remember the history of those warnings.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Just curious, not being argumentative, but, are you likening this to:
Mom: Dont touch the iron its hot ( Expecting some level of self responsibility)
Kid: Touches the iron and gets burned
OR
Mom takes the iron out of the childs reach to keep them from making a bad decision

The latter. I think there will always be people who want to go to Disney even if they know the threat is there for hurricane, sinkholes, pandemics, etc. Disney has a responsibility to its patrons, the nation and the world to do what the CDC and WHO recommends to keep the infections down and not overcrowding hospitals to the point where they cannot care for people properly.

"Dont touch the iron its hot!" equates to "dont go around other people!" in this case. This virus is out of their control so its not something they can realistically manage or take away even if they wanted to - however, they would like us to believe they can. The only control they have is closing the parks entirely. That is taking the iron away.

And just so we are clear - I feel that the entire reaction by the media, public, sports leagues, etc is very overblown, hysterical and the domino effect has already begun - With all of the conflicting facts we've heard who knows what the right course of action really is. BUT it is where we are right now.

If there is a concerted effort to stop the spread to help manage the amount of patients hitting the healthcare system all at once - whether that fear is necessary or not - for it to work everyone needs to do their part. Including the largest amusement parks in the world.

We are at a point where it isnt the virus itself that is the only issue, its the peoples fear of it that can manifest itself in dangerous ways we may not even be able to conceive at this point in time.

 

[Tandy]

I have yet to really see anything posted on this board really that is not someones opinion.
Not sure where ever said it was fact.

Thus this being a discussion board, not a fact board

 

[Remy is Up]

Do those cast members get paid sick leave?

I'd hate to think of cast members showing up to work with the coronavirus, because they can't otherwise pay their bills.

I think how each company handles the employee situations for loss of hours etc is going to be left to each company and Disney will do whatever their plan has in place. Keep in mind, TONS of companies who lose business during this time due to closures etc will abide by their rules and either do layoffs or tell people we cant open, there are no hours, we cant pay you. It wont just be Disney.

 

[Remy is Up]

The latter. I think there will always be people who want to go to Disney even if they know the threat is there for hurricane, sinkholes, pandemics, etc. Disney has a responsibility to its patrons, the nation and the world to do what the CDC and WHO recommends to keep the infections down and not overcrowding hospitals to the point where they cannot care for people properly.

"Dont touch the iron its hot!" equates to "dont go around other people!" in this case. This virus is out of their control so its not something they can realistically manage or take away even if they wanted to - however, they would like us to believe they can. The only control they have is closing the parks entirely. That is taking the iron away.

And just so we are clear - I feel that the entire reaction by the media, public, sports leagues, etc is very overblown, hysterical and the domino effect has already begun - With all of the conflicting facts we've heard who knows what the right course of action really is. BUT it is where we are right now.

If there is a concerted effort to stop the spread to help manage the amount of patients hitting the healthcare system all at once - whether that fear is necessary or not - for it to work everyone needs to do their part. Including the largest amusement parks in the world.

We are at a point where it isnt the virus itself that is the only issue, its the peoples fear of it that can manifest itself in dangerous ways we may not even be able to conceive at this point in time.

I agree with you. Was just curious

 

[Remy is Up]

I have yet to really see anything posted on this board really that is not someones opinion.
Not sure where ever said it was fact.

Thus this being a discussion board, not a fact board

The Ill respond since that is your take. You dont have a CLUE what Disney is doing behind closed doors or what their motivations are, nor what they are taking into account. I know tons of Disney CMs who feel they are paid just fine and additionally get a lot of other benefits and things that arent part of "pay". We only hear about the squeaky wheel. And you can make all the assumptions you want but they are just that assumptions and opinions. There is always another side of the story.

 

[Fantasia79]

Well, my school just closed today with 1 case waiting for test results. Any odds on park closure?

 

[AvidDisReader]

So there are major issues: First and foremost is the Health and Safety of public and of the employees. Second the financial impact of all the cast members. Third all those people who have planned and saved for a Disney Vacation. The first 2 I see discussed a lot, but what about the last part. There are a lot of people who are going for the first time, not necessarily high income. I have worked for corporate America for over 40 years, there are good employers that will understand and work with their employees to reschedule their vacation times. But there are a lot more that consider vacation time a hindrance and robbing them of production--and trying to reschedule is next to impossible (had one employer who point blank told me if I took a SCHEDULED vacation that do not bother to come back as I should just consider myself fired).
So for Disney it is not easy and there are large consequences--it is not always just dollars and cents and bottom line profits.

 

[Tandy]

The Ill respond since that is your take. You dont have a CLUE what Disney is doing behind closed doors or what their motivations are, nor what they are taking into account. I know tons of Disney CMs who feel they are paid just fine and additionally get a lot of other benefits and things that arent part of "pay". We only hear about the squeaky wheel. And you can make all the assumptions you want but they are just that assumptions and opinions. There is always another side of the story.

The squeaky wheel is the one that is making it on the news.. which is much more powerful

 

[mickeyluv'r]

My SIL works for the federal government. She received back pay when they started running again.

Some got back pay, but (most) contractors did not get back pay.


As of 2017, there were over 4 million contractors. though not all of them were furloughed. I don't know how many were furloughed.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What if one of your children has a slight fever and your whole family isnt allowed in?

Better this than allowing the family in without the child - no?

Disney is looking out for shareholders.

Respectfully, any publicly-traded company's first duty IS to its shareholders.Yes, of course the company has to operate (aka have customers, provide services, produe goods) in order to obtain revenue.

 

[freshmanjs]

Better this than allowing the family in without the child - no?

Respectfully, any publicly-traded company's first duty IS to its shareholders.Yes, of course the company has to operate (aka have customers, provide services, produe goods) in order to obtain revenue.

Just about all major US ceos signed a letter last year saying they disagree with you.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I'm saying that I don't think our situation is necessarily as dire as Italy's current situation. I don't think I mentioned anything about how we need to be handling things, rather just trying to calm some people's fears that we are sentencing our elderly to certain death as some are posting.

Just for reference, three weeks and two days ago Italy had.... 3 cases. That's the thing with exponential growth. You don't know how bad it is until it suddenly gets very very bad. Here's a good example of exponential growth I heard recently that makes it easier to conceptualize:

You have a large lake with a lillypad in it. Every day the lillypad grows another lillypad such that the number of lillypads double every day. If the entire lake is filled with lillypads in 45 days. How many days does it take for the lake to be half filled with lillypads? The answer is.... 44 days. Also, on the 40th day there are so few lillypads that you probably haven't even noticed them yet.

 

[Tandy]

Just about all major US ceos signed a letter last year saying they disagree with you.

I hope you dont believe that was anything apart from a PR stunt - Im sure they are loving that right now in the market.
The main champion in that letter was the guy who threw us into the 2008 mess.

 

[Remy is Up]

The squeaky wheel is the one that is making it on the news.. which is much more powerful

Not really. Sometimes it makes it worse. It's just noisier

 

[rteetz]

New thread

Walt Disney World and Disneyland Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

 

[freshmanjs]

I hope you dont believe that was anything apart from a PR stunt - Im sure they are loving that right now in the market.
The main champion in that letter was the guy who threw us into the 2008 mess.

I know a lot of the people who signed it. I am not intending to get into a political debate. Just saying not everyone agrees with your position about the role of corporations. It is not debatable that the thinking about that topic is evolving a lot.

 

[tjkraz]

And just so we are clear - I feel that the entire reaction by the media, public, sports leagues, etc is very overblown, hysterical and the domino effect has already begun - With all of the conflicting facts we've heard who knows what the right course of action really is. BUT it is where we are right now.

Let's carve out one part of that...the NBA. The Utah Jazz have two players with COVID. (Fortunately tests on 50 other players and staff members came back negative.)

In the last week, the Jazz played in NYC, Boston, Detroit and OKC. They also hosted a game against Toronto. So players, coaches, referees and countless fans in those cities were exposed to the infected players. Handshakes, high-fives, physical contact on the court during play. And all of the Jazz' opponents went on to play against other athletes in other cities.

If you really think they're overreacting by suspending play, what is the proper response?

 

[Krandor]

The Ill respond since that is your take. You dont have a CLUE what Disney is doing behind closed doors or what their motivations are, nor what they are taking into account. I know tons of Disney CMs who feel they are paid just fine and additionally get a lot of other benefits and things that arent part of "pay". We only hear about the squeaky wheel. And you can make all the assumptions you want but they are just that assumptions and opinions. There is always another side of the story.

Things have snowballed quickly yesturday and now today (MLS suspended, MLB suspended, NHL suspended, NCAA no fans, etc. etc) and so I would be shocked if there were not meetings taking place today to decide what to do. This isn't something they wlll decde lightly but as more and more things are cancelled more pressure will come on them.

I'm not gong to criticiize them yet for not taking steps to close the parks just because of how fast things are moving. They need time to thnk through things and even f they do decide to close they need figure out the logistics of how they are going go do that, what happens to DVC, people currently there, etc. They can't announce they are closing without having answers to A LOT of questions ready.

I expect they will close but just a lot of planning to be done before they can make an announcement like that.