Superthread for Disneyland Resort Closure and Reopening, 3/14/20 - 7/17/20: Please Post All Relevant Questions and Information Here!

[Aurora0427]

The thing people forget is that vaccines are not treatments. It would be one thing to cut the "hoops" for a treatment and give it to a dying patient because it's worth a shot. Vaccines are given to healthy people, and they essentially work (this is oversimplified) by making you a little bit sick so your immune system will attack and build up an immunity. If an experimental treatment fails, all that happens is the death of a person who was going to die anyway. But get the vaccine wrong, and you could make the entire health crisis worse by spreading the virus more. The "hoops" simply cannot be eliminated.

So there is little chance the vaccine will arrive sooner than 18 months. I agree DLR will not be closed that long, but until we have a vaccine I imagine they will have to open in a limited way with new procedures in place. There is no "stopping" the virus now, we can only slow the spread to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. Eventually the shelter in place orders will be lifted, and when that happens the virus will spike again, potentially enough to overwhelm hospitals again and forcing a second wave of shutdowns. Then it is rinse and repeat, with each successive spike being smaller than the one before.

The first (current) spike and second spike will be the biggest and most likely to necessitate serious shutdowns. The question is whether Disney will want to reopen the parks during the period between the first and second spike. That period is likely to last only a few weeks or months, and then very likely the parks will need to be closed down again. Given the costs to spin up the parks for reopening (re-hiring CMs, restocking food, etc.) it may make more sense for them to just stay closed rather than re-open with painful restrictions in place only to close again quickly.

The only way to guarantee that the parks can open and stay open is to wait for a vaccine, but the cost of doing that will be so high that I expect they will try to open sooner, before the vaccine but after the main danger of further social distancing orders (and thus additional closures) has passed. My guess is that will be somewhere between six months and a year.

I understand vaccines are not treatments. As I said above, I understand all of the importance of the testing required by the FDA for vaccines..... I’d literally just watched something on TV about a doctor in North Carolina and her frustrations in dealing with the FDA in regards to the testing kits, and that bled over into my post. I was mainly wondering if the timeline could be sped up. It’s just crazy to think the parks and many other things could be closed while we are waiting for a vaccine.

 

[Aurora0427]

The FDA has means to accelerate the approval timeline for something like this. But time will be needed to prove first the safety of the vaccine, then the efficacy of the vaccine and finally the duration of immunity provided. Some of that depends on the behavior of the virus- how quickly and in what way does it mutate to different strands and will the immunity conferred by the vaccine be effective for multiple strands (think seasonal flu- how we get annual vaccines- vs. measles where we get vaccinated in childhood and then just need an occasional booster).

Thank you. You actually answered my question.... I was mainly wondering if the timeline could be sped up. We don’t want to eliminate the hoops in regards to safety, but if there is red tape that’s excessive, that doesn’t eliminate safety, speeding that up could be helpful.

Sorry, this is kind of off topic, but it does make
You wonder when the parks will actually open.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

I’ll be surprised if Disneyland opens at all this year

 

[socaldisneylover]

Well, it has hit home. A 34 Year Old man from Glendora, CA.......Yes, I said 34......just died from Coronavirus. He was in Orlando for a work conference at the beginning of March. He stayed a few days after the conference and visited Disneyworld. On March 7 he developed a cough, and by March 8 he was coughing up blood. Oh.......and then, he flew back to Los Angeles on March 9. He died this morning after being on a ventilator the past 5 days.

https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/19/34-y...ies-coronavirus-visited-disney-world-florida/

 

[Brittney Cornwell]

just realized Disneyland hasn't posted any more parks hours since the day they closed.... boooo.

 

[Where's Wall-E]

Well, it has hit home. A 34 Year Old man from Glendora, CA.......Yes, I said 34......just died from Coronavirus. He was in Orlando for a work conference at the beginning of March. He stayed a few days after the conference and visited Disneyworld. On March 7 he developed a cough, and by March 8 he was coughing up blood. Oh.......and then, he flew back to Los Angeles on March 9. He died this morning after being on a ventilator the past 5 days.
View attachment 482176
https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/19/34-y...ies-coronavirus-visited-disney-world-florida/

While this is absolutely horrible, needless to say - I think it's also important to note that the article does mention he had underlying health issues and had fought cancer in the past.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well, it has hit home. A 34 Year Old man from Glendora, CA.......Yes, I said 34......just died from Coronavirus. He was in Orlando for a work conference at the beginning of March. He stayed a few days after the conference and visited Disneyworld. On March 7 he developed a cough, and by March 8 he was coughing up blood. Oh.......and then, he flew back to Los Angeles on March 9. He died this morning after being on a ventilator the past 5 days.

https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/19/34-y...ies-coronavirus-visited-disney-world-florida/

Yes it did. But then it was a little less traumatic to read when it mentioned he had childhood asthma and bronchitis, and battled cancer a few years ago. That's a compromised immune system. It's too bad many of us didn't realize how serious this was early enough for him to know he shouldn't go anywhere at the time.

 

[amelia18]

My friend and I had our big first trip to Disneyland planned with other stops in CA too for April 29-May 8. We were doing Universal Studios and the Paramount Tour, among other CA touristy things. All is being cancelled, given the uncertainty of what's going to happen between now and then. Even if these spots are open, we could have to use our PTO between now and then if, god forbid, we get sick or our jobs shut down temporarily (I'm in food service and she works in a radiology office which is considered non-essential currently). Universal and Paramount refunded both of our non-refundable tickets with no questions asked, but when we called Disney to try and get our After Hours cancelled, they said no because it's scheduled to go on as planned.

I understand these tickets are normally non-refundable, but can we agree that these are not normal circumstances? I'm not just cancelling a trip I've been looking forward to for literally a year for the heck of it on a whim....I am going to call a few more times to see if I can get a cast member who can help me out a little, but otherwise I don't know what luck I would have disputing the charge with my credit card company, if they are open and it does go on "as planned", which would be interesting given the fact that the CDC is recommending no groups of more than 50 people until early-ish May (I know it exempts businesses, but still).

I know we did the right, smart thing for us at this time. I do have a little bit of canceller's remorse, since it's still over a month away and "who knows what could happen!" but I know it was right to do, even if it broke my heart. Disneyland will be there next year and I already have a paid for parkhopper to go.

 

[Aurora0427]

My friend and I had our big first trip to Disneyland planned with other stops in CA too for April 29-May 8. We were doing Universal Studios and the Paramount Tour, among other CA touristy things. All is being cancelled, given the uncertainty of what's going to happen between now and then. Even if these spots are open, we could have to use our PTO between now and then if, god forbid, we get sick or our jobs shut down temporarily (I'm in food service and she works in a radiology office which is considered non-essential currently). Universal and Paramount refunded both of our non-refundable tickets with no questions asked, but when we called Disney to try and get our After Hours cancelled, they said no because it's scheduled to go on as planned.

I understand these tickets are normally non-refundable, but can we agree that these are not normal circumstances? I'm not just cancelling a trip I've been looking forward to for literally a year for the heck of it on a whim....I am going to call a few more times to see if I can get a cast member who can help me out a little, but otherwise I don't know what luck I would have disputing the charge with my credit card company, if they are open and it does go on "as planned", which would be interesting given the fact that the CDC is recommending no groups of more than 50 people until early-ish May (I know it exempts businesses, but still).

I know we did the right, smart thing for us at this time. I do have a little bit of canceller's remorse, since it's still over a month away and "who knows what could happen!" but I know it was right to do, even if it broke my heart. Disneyland will be there next year and I already have a paid for parkhopper to go.

It won’t go on as planned.... our governor told Trump today that he thinks more than half of Californians will get this virus..... there’s no way Disneyland is going to reopen by April 29- May 8. They’ll refund everything once they make the announcement. But it is kind of amazing they wouldn’t just take care of it for you now.

 

[socaldisneylover]

CA Governor just issued a Stay At Home order.

 

[cm123]

Let's see how long Disney pays their employees.

The park isn't opening for a long long long time.

 

[socaldisneylover]

Let's see how long Disney pays their employees.

The park isn't opening for a long long long time.

Disney can probably afford to do this over the long term. I'm not so much worried about them as all the companies Not named Disney.

 

[dina444444]

Disneyland is likely to remain closed through 4/19/20 at the earliest based upon the new orders from the state.

 

[jcatron243]

Officially rescheduled my trip an extra $1000 for what our current reservations are. Such a bummer

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Yes it did. But then it was a little less traumatic to read when it mentioned he had childhood asthma and bronchitis, and battled cancer a few years ago. That's a compromised immune system.

Welp, I fit that whole checklist and age too. Cancer survivor (not at five years yet), chronic issues with bronchitis, and asthma right here. Yeah, I’ll continue hiding in my living room for a long time I think. Hearing about his story made my anxiety go through the roof and I’d been pretty calm despite my issues. Such a tragic story.

We don’t have plans to come until July but I’m starting to worry. Avengers Campus not being open yet might be a dealbreaker for me- starting to consider the possibility that we’ll postpone until December but fingers crossed. Trying to stay upbeat and tell myself postpone is better than cancel! Feel for all of you that had to do that. We need our happy place more than ever right now.

 

[Twinkletoesjohnson]

Another San Mateo County resident here, over on the coast! Hi!!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Welp, I fit that whole checklist and age too. Cancer survivor (not at five years yet), chronic issues with bronchitis, and asthma right here. Yeah, I’ll continue hiding in my living room for a long time I think. Hearing about his story made my anxiety go through the roof and I’d been pretty calm despite my issues. Such a tragic story.

We don’t have plans to come until July but I’m starting to worry. Avengers Campus not being open yet might be a dealbreaker for me- starting to consider the possibility that we’ll postpone until December but fingers crossed. Trying to stay upbeat and tell myself postpone is better than cancel! Feel for all of you that had to do that. We need our happy place more than ever right now.

Do you have the ability to book a refundable backup? It might help cushion the blow if you hear Avengers is delayed. Christmas at Disneyland is THE most magical time of year!!!

I don’t see how Avengers opens on time. Maybe they have been running normal workdays and switch to a 24/7 schedule when they can go back to work? With CA sheltering in place indefinitely work is not being done on it right now or in the near future

 

[StormyCA]

My friend and I had our big first trip to Disneyland planned with other stops in CA too for April 29-May 8. We were doing Universal Studios and the Paramount Tour, among other CA touristy things. All is being cancelled, given the uncertainty of what's going to happen between now and then. Even if these spots are open, we could have to use our PTO between now and then if, god forbid, we get sick or our jobs shut down temporarily (I'm in food service and she works in a radiology office which is considered non-essential currently). Universal and Paramount refunded both of our non-refundable tickets with no questions asked, but when we called Disney to try and get our After Hours cancelled, they said no because it's scheduled to go on as planned.

I understand these tickets are normally non-refundable, but can we agree that these are not normal circumstances? I'm not just cancelling a trip I've been looking forward to for literally a year for the heck of it on a whim....I am going to call a few more times to see if I can get a cast member who can help me out a little, but otherwise I don't know what luck I would have disputing the charge with my credit card company, if they are open and it does go on "as planned", which would be interesting given the fact that the CDC is recommending no groups of more than 50 people until early-ish May (I know it exempts businesses, but still).

I know we did the right, smart thing for us at this time. I do have a little bit of canceller's remorse, since it's still over a month away and "who knows what could happen!" but I know it was right to do, even if it broke my heart. Disneyland will be there next year and I already have a paid for parkhopper to go.

Keep calling and watch official announcements.

But I see what they are doing. As far as Disney is concerned 'officially' they're reopening in April. Now we know they're not and chances are they know they're not. But they want to hold on to your money as long as they can. So I expect until they actually announce the decision that the closure will be extended they're not going to 'officially' offer refunds.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Keep calling and watch official announcements.

But I see what they are doing. As far as Disney is concerned 'officially' they're reopening in April. Now we know they're not and chances are they know they're not. But they want to hold on to your money as long as they can. So I expect until they actually announce the decision that the closure will be extended they're not going to 'officially' offer refunds.

I think this strategy also helps them stem the inevitable tidal wave of calls for refunds that will overwhelm the CMs. By dealing with the requests/demands for refunds in order of date and only by official announcement, at least the CMs have a limit of sorts on the number of guests they are dealing with at a time. Since the governor's order doesn't have an official end date, Disney may well be making a series of rolling announcements...

 

[katyringo]

I think this strategy also helps them stem the inevitable tidal wave of calls for refunds that will overwhelm the CMs. By dealing with the requests/demands for refunds in order of date and only by official announcement, at least the CMs have a limit of sorts on the number of guests they are dealing with at a time. Since the governor's order doesn't have an official end date, Disney may well be making a series of rolling announcements...

this. I don’t think Disney is trying to hold onto people’s money