Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[DGsAtBLT]

Whether they offered free dining or not come June 1, if they removed an end date all together and let people apply it to whatever date they wanted, if they didn’t start it until the fall, etc. people would be inferring that the date Disney started accepting reservations for would be an opening date.

Do I personally think they should have offered a looser recovery offer? Yes. Do I think that would have helped the optimism related to whenever their first bookable date was? Not really.

 

[vinotinto]

If they are going to cancel June 1 through the remainder of the month, I wish they would just do it now so I can work on other vacation plans. Ha!

I totally get you on this. My trip is in July and it would be naive of me to think that all/most WDW parks would be open then. I have been looking at other potential vacation plans, but I'm still waiting on a refund on a cancelled cruise and don't want to book a back-up vacation that will result in us booking air/accommodations that are non-refundable within 60 days and the best case scenario is a future credit.

From their perspective, I'm sure they are working on different scenarios/opening dates based on very fluid data coming in daily, and they are not ready to make an announcement. They are not going to come out and say "well, we're thinking we're either going to open on this date, if we get this data, with this park open and these operational modifications, or if we get this data, open on this date with these parks open and these operational modifications, or if we get this data, it's going to be on this date with these operational modifications."

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

Disney doesn’t have to say anything, but I expected better from them.

My new motto over the past few months: in a pandemic, my expectations are now aspirations. Life in general has not met my expectations lately. I can’t fault Disney for not following through when most everyone else is falling short as well during this unprecedented event. I think we just have to hope that this is a live and learn event for everyone, including Disney.

 

[Farro]

My new motto over the past few months: in a pandemic, my expectations are now aspirations. Life in general has not met my expectations lately. I can’t fault Disney for not following through when most everyone else is falling short as well during this unprecedented event. I think we just have to hope that this is a live and learn event for everyone, including Disney.

Exactly.

At this point I've moved from hoping Disney is back to normal by next May, to I hope Disney opens this year, to I hope I keep my job! I honestly have in the back of my head that next May's trip won't even happen.

I was just happy yesterday to get an appointment at Target Optical for June!!! Small victories!!!

 

[KBoopaloo]

My new motto over the past few months: in a pandemic, my expectations are now aspirations. Life in general has not met my expectations lately. I can’t fault Disney for not following through when most everyone else is falling short as well during this unprecedented event. I think we just have to hope that this is a live and learn event for everyone, including Disney.

I wish I could like this post 1000 times.

 

[sshaw0715]

It is going to have to be limited. I don’t see how you can run skyliner and sanitize each gondola between each party. People would be stuck in gondolas for hours as they stop the line to sanitize each car when someone deboards. Skyliner Is going to be shut down at least for a year after they reopen.

It would be the same for any of the transportation options. The only transportation options that are open air are boats.

 

[Brianstl]

It would be the same for any of the transportation options. The only transportation options that are open air are boats.

It is much easier to rotate buses in and out of service at the end of the line for sanitation than it is operate Skyliner while keeping the gondolas sanitized. You can sanitize a bus in minutes with a fogger while a bus returning to service picks up the waiting guests. Bus service can basically keep operating seemlessly.

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm not sure how anyone watching the news the past 2 months could not have known that their trip to Disney in the next few months may or may not happen.

They wouldn't stop the bookings because they didn't know if they would open. It's on the consumer if they choose to book or re-book knowing that they may have to cancel again.

It's a bad feeling, I get it.

It’s not that it’s cancelled in June. But we still don’t know if it is b/c Disney has said NOTHING. If they still don’t know that’s fine but say that too!

 

[LSUmiss]

So how has it been working lately with cancellations? Does anyone know? Are they just cancelling or allowing you to move your booked trip as in keep the current price? If I cancel June on my own & reschedule toJuly it’ll cost me $200-$400 more for the same trip (depending on the week I pick). So are they allowing you to just move your dates but keep your price?

 

[Mom2Anna&Elsa]

So how has it been working lately with cancellations? Does anyone know? Are they just cancelling or allowing you to move your booked trip as in keep the current price? If I cancel June on my own & reschedule toJuly it’ll cost me $200-$400 more for the same trip (depending on the week I pick). So are they allowing you to just move your dates but keep your price?

It’s my understanding that you have to pay the difference.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

So how has it been working lately with cancellations? Does anyone know? Are they just cancelling or allowing you to move your booked trip as in keep the current price? If I cancel June on my own & reschedule toJuly it’ll cost me $200-$400 more for the same trip (depending on the week I pick). So are they allowing you to just move your dates but keep your price?

My understanding is that you are not able to keep your price. It will adjust to the rates for the dates you move it to.

 

[wallawallakids]

Heres the thing. We all get that Disney doesn't know when they will open. And someone can say "Well, if you rebooked for June you knew that may not happen", but that isn't true. Yes we knew they were closed in March and then April, but no one knew then how long this would last or what the actual impact would be. I am not blaming Disney. I think they didn't know either HOWEVER, I believe a HUGE problem lies in how Disney has trained their guests. All of us know for a successful trip to Disney one must PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. So you have guests booking reservations 180 days out, fast passes 60 days out. Disney fans are so used to micromanaging every second of the day because we have to. (Now I know there are a few fans who don't do this, but I am talking about the majority). We are programed to plan because we are rewarded to by Disney. The frustration now stems from that. You have people planing and replaning trips over and over and the bottomline is, it's all unknown. No one knows how the future is going to work. We can't plan these trips like we have in the past and that is where the root of the frustration comes and it is understandable. Until Disney is transparent about how this works and what the future plan is, people will be frustrated. When you train your guests to plan everything out down to ride times, it is really hard to then back track and be vague about everything for the future.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I get that and people should have known they might not open. I don't think they should have offered free dining.

Yes you've said this for literally pages and pages. They did offer it. They wanted to open. Obviously they feel they can't. It's done and people have to regroup and move on. It sucks in a big way. In fact it sucks for all of us that they aren't opening sooner than later.

This horse is dead.

ETA: We STILL don't know if they are closed through June. They might not be!

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Heres the thing. We all get that Disney doesn't know when they will open. And someone can say "Well, if you rebooked for June you knew that may not happen", but that isn't true. Yes we knew they were closed in March and then April, but no one knew then how long this would last or what the actual impact would be. I am not blaming Disney. I think they didn't know either HOWEVER, I believe a HUGE problem lies in how Disney has trained their guests. All of us know for a successful trip to Disney one must PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. So you have guests booking reservations 180 days out, fast passes 60 days out. Disney fans are so used to micromanaging every second of the day because we have to. (Now I know there are a few fans who don't do this, but I am talking about the majority). We are programed to plan because we are rewarded to by Disney. The frustration now stems from that. You have people planing and replaning trips over and over and the bottomline is, it's all unknown. No one knows how the future is going to work. We can't plan these trips like we have in the past and that is where the root of the frustration comes and it is understandable. Until Disney is transparent about how this works and what the future plan is, people will be frustrated. When you train your guests to plan everything out down to ride times, it is really hard to then back track and be vague about everything for the future.

This is exactly how I feel. I was actually just telling my husband this this morning. I feel that the real frustration people are having with this is all the work they are having to put in and then put in again because of the way Disney makes you plan for a successful trip. I was fortunate enough to not have a vacation cancelled but have been trying to run defense on my early July trip (scheduled since last year) for what feels like forever. It’s honestly exhausting and I would have given up already if I didn’t have military tickets wrapped up in it that I probably can’t recoup costs on.

 

[Farro]

Heres the thing. We all get that Disney doesn't know when they will open. And someone can say "Well, if you rebooked for June you knew that may not happen", but that isn't true. Yes we knew they were closed in March and then April, but no one knew then how long this would last or what the actual impact would be. I am not blaming Disney. I think they didn't know either HOWEVER, I believe a HUGE problem lies in how Disney has trained their guests. All of us know for a successful trip to Disney one must PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. So you have guests booking reservations 180 days out, fast passes 60 days out. Disney fans are so used to micromanaging every second of the day because we have to. (Now I know there are a few fans who don't do this, but I am talking about the majority). We are programed to plan because we are rewarded to by Disney. The frustration now stems from that. You have people planing and replaning trips over and over and the bottomline is, it's all unknown. No one knows how the future is going to work. We can't plan these trips like we have in the past and that is where the root of the frustration comes and it is understandable. Until Disney is transparent about how this works and what the future plan is, people will be frustrated. When you train your guests to plan everything out down to ride times, it is really hard to then back track and be vague about everything for the future.

I honestly don't understand what people want!

Transparent about what? That they don't know when they will open? They don't have a plan - it's a pandemic and it's never happened before. I'm about to use everyone's favorite word -the situation is fluid!
The plan probably is - hey let's take this day by day as things change day by day and we will open as soon as we can.

People - stop booking until you have an answer if you don't like the uncertainty!!!

 

[nashvilleash]

Heres the thing. We all get that Disney doesn't know when they will open. And someone can say "Well, if you rebooked for June you knew that may not happen", but that isn't true. Yes we knew they were closed in March and then April, but no one knew then how long this would last or what the actual impact would be. I am not blaming Disney. I think they didn't know either HOWEVER, I believe a HUGE problem lies in how Disney has trained their guests. All of us know for a successful trip to Disney one must PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. So you have guests booking reservations 180 days out, fast passes 60 days out. Disney fans are so used to micromanaging every second of the day because we have to. (Now I know there are a few fans who don't do this, but I am talking about the majority). We are programed to plan because we are rewarded to by Disney. The frustration now stems from that. You have people planing and replaning trips over and over and the bottomline is, it's all unknown. No one knows how the future is going to work. We can't plan these trips like we have in the past and that is where the root of the frustration comes and it is understandable. Until Disney is transparent about how this works and what the future plan is, people will be frustrated. When you train your guests to plan everything out down to ride times, it is really hard to then back track and be vague about everything for the future.

This Is where my frustration lies, the process of rebooking. My memorial trip was a year in the making, and now I am scrambling to create options for another time this summer.

 

[Farro]

This Is where my frustration lies, the process of rebooking. My memorial trip was a year in the making, and now I am scrambling to create options for another time this summer.

If you are frustrated, why would you still be booking when you know everything is still up in the air and you are likely to have the same outcome later this summer?

 

[SaintsManiac]

If you are frustrated, why would you still be booking when you know everything is still up in the air and you are likely to have the same outcome later this summer?

This is something I don't understand, either. If it were me I would have bagged on 2020 and moved to next year.

 

[Eric Smith]

It’s not that it’s cancelled in June. But we still don’t know if it is b/c Disney has said NOTHING. If they still don’t know that’s fine but say that too!

They said just because they’re taking reservations for June doesn’t mean they will necessarily be opening in June. They made that statement last week.

FWIW, I still think a June opening might be the plan but it could be severely limited.

 

[GusGusTheMouse]

Heres the thing. We all get that Disney doesn't know when they will open. And someone can say "Well, if you rebooked for June you knew that may not happen", but that isn't true. Yes we knew they were closed in March and then April, but no one knew then how long this would last or what the actual impact would be. I am not blaming Disney. I think they didn't know either HOWEVER, I believe a HUGE problem lies in how Disney has trained their guests. All of us know for a successful trip to Disney one must PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. So you have guests booking reservations 180 days out, fast passes 60 days out. Disney fans are so used to micromanaging every second of the day because we have to. (Now I know there are a few fans who don't do this, but I am talking about the majority). We are programed to plan because we are rewarded to by Disney. The frustration now stems from that. You have people planing and replaning trips over and over and the bottomline is, it's all unknown. No one knows how the future is going to work. We can't plan these trips like we have in the past and that is where the root of the frustration comes and it is understandable. Until Disney is transparent about how this works and what the future plan is, people will be frustrated. When you train your guests to plan everything out down to ride times, it is really hard to then back track and be vague about everything for the future.

I don’t disagree with this analysis at all. I think that is exactly where a lot of this stems from, but I don’t think it is just Disney. I am trying to plan a WDW honeymoon, but also a wedding in August. So I throw my fist to the sky to the entire wedding industry. Courts are closed in my state and I’m a lawyer, so I can’t plan anything there either and that’s my job. My neighbor is cursing her day care center for not giving clear plans for reopening because she relies on their schedule months ahead of time as well. I think this pandemic highlights how many of us are OCD and what life events require an abhorrent amount of planning. And as many of us know on this board, a Disney trip is definitely one of those things. Planning is just out the window right now. So yes, Disney requires planning, but so do many other aspects of life too, so I can’t place that all on Disney’s shoulders. But I’ll be interested in seeing if Disney requires us to do more or less planning in this new socially distant world.