WDW COVID-19 Operational Changes- Reservation System-Rope Drop Procedures

[PSN]

has there been any information given regarding how Disney will limit attendance once they re-open? For example, would it be restricted to on-site hotel guests only, or will it simply be first come-first served?

 

[chad_1138]

has there been any information given regarding how Disney will limit attendance once they re-open? For example, would it be restricted to on-site hotel guests only, or will it simply be first come-first served?

Disney has not released any official guidance. Everything discussed is speculation.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

All DS and WDW restaurants appear to have disappeared from Open Table.

 

[Sarahslay]

Hm. That would certainly make a lot of people angry. It’s one thing to have a fcfs system- but it’s really different to have a system that encourages people- and in some cases, requires them- to get up early and make reservations 180 days in advance-even planning park days based on which reservations they could get.

I’ve been in many of the restaurants, and I can’t think of many of them that have adequate waiting space for guests. Many of them have very small areas for guest waiting. “There is a 45 minute wait. We will text you when your table is ready. Go wander around the park in the sun (or the rain) until we text you.”

It doesn’t sound like fun to me to wander around a theme park looking for a place to eat, not knowing whether there will be an hour wait after I’ve walked all the way across the park to get there- especially when I know that, six months ago, I made a reservation for me and my family to eat there and made it fit perfectly between my scheduled fastpasses.


I hope that is not what happens.

Then there are the people, like DH and I, who have a hard to get Queen Victoria room at V&A for our anniversary night. So if they cancel all ADRs there is the chance that we prepare for it, they call us a week out for any dietary restrictions, and then come the day of we can't get in because a few other couples were like "you know what, I want to treat myself to a fancy dinner". We have a few days where we have no ADRs so I'm not worried about it, we plan on going to a lounge, or seeing what is available day of, but I have a huge problem with already planned reservations that we have worked our entire schedule around. They also then can't cap attendance ahead of time. Say they already have 25% booked, they could then say "ok, no more reservations" and go ahead and cap it, doing first come first served would be a nightmare for them and they can't plan ahead for that situation like they can for ADRs. I think capping capacity early so they can limit ADRs, no walk ups allowed unless you can book a reservation on the app or through a CM, and maybe sending out a push notification or call to individuals when their ADR will be delayed so they don't show up and wait in the tiny waiting area for 45 minutes could work.

 

[SierraT]

Didn’t want to respond to all the magicbands questions so will just put a random comment. I have way too many Magic Bands attached to my account already but can still order them (only the plain colored ones). You need to go into your “my plans” area though; if you click my magic bands in My Disney Experience it pops up with an error stating they aren’t taking orders.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Then there are the people, like DH and I, who have a hard to get Queen Victoria room at V&A for our anniversary night. So if they cancel all ADRs there is the chance that we prepare for it, they call us a week out for any dietary restrictions, and then come the day of we can't get in because a few other couples were like "you know what, I want to treat myself to a fancy dinner". We have a few days where we have no ADRs so I'm not worried about it, we plan on going to a lounge, or seeing what is available day of, but I have a huge problem with already planned reservations that we have worked our entire schedule around. They also then can't cap attendance ahead of time. Say they already have 25% booked, they could then say "ok, no more reservations" and go ahead and cap it, doing first come first served would be a nightmare for them and they can't plan ahead for that situation like they can for ADRs. I think capping capacity early so they can limit ADRs, no walk ups allowed unless you can book a reservation on the app or through a CM, and maybe sending out a push notification or call to individuals when their ADR will be delayed so they don't show up and wait in the tiny waiting area for 45 minutes could work.

I hope that you keep your anniversary celebration meal.
I wonder whether removing restaurants from Open Table, means that capacity has been reached or whether it is purely to give WDW more control over numbers and try to prevent last minute OT cancellations.
We like lounges too, so I hope that they will be open.

 

[C&Jx2]

All DS and WDW restaurants appear to have disappeared from Open Table.

I just made a reservation on their app for 06/21... We’ll see how it goes.

 

[brockash]

Didn’t want to respond to all the magicbands questions so will just put a random comment. I have way too many Magic Bands attached to my account already but can still order them (only the plain colored ones). You need to go into your “my plans” area though; if you click my magic bands in My Disney Experience it pops up with an error stating they aren’t taking orders.

Thank you...that's what I was doing wrong...I wasn't going into my plans first. I was able to do it; now we'll see if it actually happens.

 

[Firestarlife]

6 months ago no one planned for parks to be closed. Something will have to change if all restaurants are only at 25% capacity.

Yes, but, alot of people who had a Disney vacation planned 6 months ago, have canceled their plans and therefore also canceled their dining reservations.

 

[seh]

We put off buying our four park magic ticket until there was greater clarity about whether all four parks would even be open when we travel on August 1. Disney ended the promotion a few days ago. The ticket was supposed to be available through September 30. Does anyone think they will reinstate that offer once they have an opening plan for the parks?

 

[dmband]

We put off buying our four park magic ticket until there was greater clarity about whether all four parks would even be open when we travel on August 1. Disney ended the promotion a few days ago. The ticket was supposed to be available through September 30. Does anyone think they will reinstate that offer once they have an opening plan for the parks?

Most likely but in the mean time that makes me think the rumors that all parks will not open at once is more likely this taking the promo down

 

[Boopuff]

I was on MDE today and just goofing I see the Sun & Fun package was still on (at least for Aug 24 arrival)

 

[cakebaker]

I was on MDE today and just goofing I see the Sun & Fun package was still on (at least for Aug 24 arrival)

It is. Just yesterday I went in and split our YC CL reservation. I had made it using an AP discount not realizing the discount stopped on the 7/9. I took our last night and put it on the sun n fun offer and saved $200. It wasn’t as big a discount as the AP, but sure better than rack rate.

 

[Sarahslay]

I was on MDE today and just goofing I see the Sun & Fun package was still on (at least for Aug 24 arrival)

I arrive on August 28 and have the sun & fun deal, I booked it when I had to reschedule my May trip early last month. I feel like I remember them extending it to the end of August when the closure was announced (but don't hold me to it since I had my original booked on an AP discount and wasn't planning on an August trip so I didn't look).

 

[Sarahslay]

I hope that you keep your anniversary celebration meal.
I wonder whether removing restaurants from Open Table, means that capacity has been reached or whether it is purely to give WDW more control over numbers and try to prevent last minute OT cancellations.
We like lounges too, so I hope that they will be open.

I would think that it would give them more control over reservations, no surprise last minute seating. I really wish they would announce something about how they are handling stuff and their proposed opening timelines/procedures, this is driving me nuts.

 

[ColonelHathi]

Dance the World cancelled their dance events for late June this year, because Disney will not be allowing/having parades in the near term (part of the event is dancers being able to dance in a parade down Main Street). So there's that - one way to limit attendance is to work with their event partners to reschedule/cancel team events. Found the news out on Friday, so they are slowly coming out with plans yet.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Saw this info where WDW VP Thomas Mazloum said that WDW does not have any opening date:

"We do not have any opening date yet. Some of you may know we––at this point, we’re taking bookings that were in June, that doesn’t mean that we’re opening in June. At this time, I just want to make it clear that we do not have any plans to share about Walt Disney World or, for that matter, any of our other parks at this point. Clearly, regulatory guidance is an important element of this in each area and country where we work, and at this point, I just want to be clear that we simply don’t have any plans to share about Walt Disney World yet.”

It's good to actually hear something from them, but still more waiting around hoping for something good soon.

 

[Nate Csonka]

Yeah, I hope people don't read into this quote too much. I don't think it is either good or bad news. I would be surprised if we DON'T hear something from them in the next two weeks or so. More than just cancelling more dates, I think we will get an official statement. June is coming soon and Disney is more than aware that many people are hanging onto hope of a June reopen (maybe not june 1 but sometime in June.) Plus with the Florida task force and governor is communication the picture is becoming somewhat clearer on when it is safe to reopen and what that will look like at WDW. The steps WDW needs to take to reopen sooner (JUne/July) than later are immense and the planning it will take BEFORE they can announce anything must be in place down to the last detail. People are going to want to know exactly what they are walking into when the reopen happens to decide if the trip is worth it. Having said that, I might be completely wrong. Lol.

Saw this info where WDW VP Thomas Mazloum said that WDW does not have any opening date:

"We do not have any opening date yet. Some of you may know we––at this point, we’re taking bookings that were in June, that doesn’t mean that we’re opening in June. At this time, I just want to make it clear that we do not have any plans to share about Walt Disney World or, for that matter, any of our other parks at this point. Clearly, regulatory guidance is an important element of this in each area and country where we work, and at this point, I just want to be clear that we simply don’t have any plans to share about Walt Disney World yet.”

It's good to actually hear something from them, but still more waiting around hoping for something good soon.

 

[indylaw99]

We just learned in Indiana that Holiday World (one of our biggest amusement parks) is opening on June 14. While that obviously has no direct bearing on Disney, it does seem that if other amusement parks across the country are starting to announce that they are opening, it might 1) put more pressure on Disney/Universal to make their announcements, 2) take some of the heat off of them for "opening too early" when a lot of others are doing it as well.

We have a Villains After Hours booked for May 29 that I expect to be refunded any day now, with a backup date of July 10 that we were able to book last week. Apparently they are still letting people book them for June and July.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

We just learned in Indiana that Holiday World (one of our biggest amusement parks) is opening on June 14. While that obviously has no direct bearing on Disney, it does seem that if other amusement parks across the country are starting to announce that they are opening, it might 1) put more pressure on Disney/Universal to make their announcements, 2) take some of the heat off of them for "opening too early" when a lot of others are doing it as well.

We have a Villains After Hours booked for May 29 that I expect to be refunded any day now, with a backup date of July 10 that we were able to book last week. Apparently they are still letting people book them for June and July.

I agree this is relevant to WDW opening. I just wanted to mention that the June 14 opening is a best-case scenario, given that the reopening of the park would hinge on Indiana being in the Stage 4 of the reopening. Certainly hoping for the best!