Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[maxaroni]

@GusGusTheMouse Good luck with navigating your wedding with Covid. My DS had to postpone his April wedding, not Disney. They are rescheduled for November and keeping good thoughts we aren’t going the other way with closings, etc. So much is out of anyone’s hands and that can be taken as a pro or a con. We saw the writing on the way in Mid March, right before everything was shut down. Holding out hope the wedding could still take place but realizing it really couldn’t happen. My DS & his fiancee want everyone to be healthy as I am sure you do as well. But they felt better knowing if it was going to be postponed, they weren’t the ones canceling.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Think we can wear these?


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/biovyzr-venture-out-breathe-easy#/
View attachment 501207

I would hate to be sitting behind this guy.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Went to Disney springs yesterday. Bandanas on the face were not let in. Gaiters were accepted. We saw 2 people turned away.

Well thats dumb considering they all protect the same exact way. If its not n95, or at least kn95, its all the same

 

[maxaroni]

My sister is getting married in August. We joke that for the rest of her life when she tells someone she got married in 2020 - they’ll say “ooh” all apologetic. Congratulations and I hope all you’re plans are able to work out. ❤

Seriously, hope all goes well for your sister, too. My DS & his fiancée had to postpone their April wedding. Now it is in August. They are in a wedding in September, October and December. Theirs is now in November. Fingers crossed. I said the stories they can tell their kids about 2020..Wow, it will be hard to believe.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Well thats dumb considering they all protect the same exact way. If its not n95, or at least kn95, its all the same

A bandana can easily blow up and become useless.

 

[LSUmiss]

From what I've been watching it's already been hot/humid in Florida and there doesn't seem to be many temp check complaints at all the open spots.

In fact I've not seen any.

Yeah I wonder it’s the school’s thermometer. But he was definitely fine once in the a/c. He was also playing outside right before. Wonder if they’ll have more issues with kids b/c they’re likely moving around more. Idk. I wasn’t one to worry about that part of things, but now I am.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I will say this....as someone with both a WDW vacation and a DCL vacation....

The level of communication from DCL makes WDW's information seem like Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Seriously. Think of the communication from Disney on operations. Think of the low bar. Now go below that by about half. And there you have DCL.

I think what they’ve done to DCL folks is egregious They were/are selling cruises they absolutely know they can’t run. They haven’t been as bad as some of the other lines about it but for their premiums they should have been better.

 

[RivShore]

Can’t they care about profit and also care about not getting their guests and employees sick at the same time? Does it have to be one or the other?

No it doesn't. As I said earlier (you may have missed in this non-stop 20 page a day thread) but I said it's all intertwined and you can't have one without the other:

Statements like this do drive me nuts because they completely ignore that everything is interconnected - if you want good PR, you have to have relatively happy and safe employees/customers and if you want ongoing profits, you have to put out a product/service that the public will be happy to pay for. You can't have your "$$$ & PR" without the rest!

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

I arrive in 34 days. I'm somewhat annoyed, but I can tell I am definitely not nearly as outraged as a few regular posters here. I assume there is a reason causing this wait and trust that I will get the information I need before my trip. I know that updates are coming, I just need to wait a little longer. I have missed out on so many big moments and milestones this year (this was going to be a huge year in my personal life) because of the virus, I'm just happy to have something to look forward to again. At least following this crazy situation has been a distraction from life. 2020 has pretty much sucked. The boards have been pretty fun lately and a great way to pass the time.

That said, I'm antsy However, I'm not I AM SO OUTRAGED AND I WILL CANCEL THIS TRIP antsy. I'm still very excited to go and experience this very different style of trip.

I'm sort of in the same camp, though I'm at 52 days. DH and I are both retired, APHs, and ended up with several canceled cruises that had been paid in full, so our Amex ran a credit balance for 4 months, LOL. Other than the frustration as well the concern that it's possible that yet another canceled trip may be in the cards, I'm okay waiting it out. I haven't decided what my threshold will be with respect to a lesser experience....could be the lack of restaurants, could be a scenario where I'm limited to park days and by using my AP I miss out on some additional extension, or could be that I end up with a hotel room that totally doesn't fit our needs. I'm a 4 1/2 hour drive, so it's an easy last minute decision for us, and we have the opportunity to revisit for things that we may miss this trip until our APs expire. I will say that I'm not too anxious to renew my AP until I see how this is ultimately handled because I do feel that communication has been lacking, and that loyal guests are being taken for granted on a few fronts.

 

[one_cat]

It really does seem like Disney is struggling big time with the logistics of opening. At this point it would probably be better that they don't open until next year, and give all APs an option to extend their AP to 12/31/21 or receive a refund. I would be happy with that outcome, rather than what I can only assume is Disney scrambling to reopen now with so many logistical operations issues.

The problem with that plan is a DVC. They would trade the AP logistical nightmare for a DVC nightmare. That would resonate for years. I feel for Disney trying to navigate the the complexity of all this.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Not super huge news but there will be helicopters fly over the property this week to get stock footage

I had never thought about that... this is, hopefully, going to be their only chance to ever get stock footage with no people at any time of day... what a unique opportunity for them. The person arranging this must be drooling over the footage they’re about to get no Castle sure but the rest of it should be great!

 

[SarahC97]

I'm 42 days out and what's worrying me the most is the AP extension mixed with the theme park reservation system. It'd be great to get some kind of clarity on when APs will be extended and if it'll be in enough time to make theme park reservations for my trip. I mean, I can roll with resort changes and other operational changes, but if I can't get theme park reservations with my AP, then there's no point in going for us -- yet we have airline tickets, time requested off work, pet sitters, etc all lined up and have no idea if we can take our vacation or not. I feel like it's completely reasonable to be a little frustrated that Disney has no answers for me to this problem.

 

[gotomu212]

If those cruises don't sail, then those people will get their money back. DCL has also tended to refund guests who cancelled & incurred fees shortly before DCL cancelled a cruise.

Unlike with the parks, I think Disney honestly doesn't know when cruising will resume. They have much less control over that then they do over their parks reopening.

The main issue for those with Pay In Full dates approaching for September is there has been no information on characters, shows, deck parties, pools, masks, denied boarding refunds, or refunds if denied border entry (UK/Canada). In the case of border crossings that are explicitly telling people that right now cancellation restrictions apply and they’d be out their entire cruise fare.
So people are being asked to lock in $10k non refundable 2.5-3 months early, and not covered by trip insurance, and may find out before sailing that the experience may not include any of the things on Your “must have” list.

People aren’t concerned if the cruise is cancelled, they are concerned it sails but the new rules aren’t acceptable to them and they have no recourse. DCL should either
1) Put out their expectations for services once restarted (NCL already did this) and/or
2) Communicate a more flexible cancellation policy that allows people to cancel once the changes are announced so they aren’t making non refundable payments in the dark.

 

[gottalovepluto]

They’re going to release the park reservations on ShopDisney. Get those bots ready

However due to COVID their may be shipping delays in receiving the email that tells you whether or not you got one.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Just had an interesting experience with temp check. DS summer camp checks temp on the way in. Today is the first day that we have had really hot & humid weather this summer. It’s 88 degrees at 10:30am. It has been unseasonably cooler til today. Well today he clocked in at 100.9. At home he was fine & didn’t feel warm at all. We brought him in & cooled him down inside & he was 97.6. So, temp checks in the summer in wdw probably will not work unless they are using some much better technology.

Sounds like they’re not using good tech at his summer camp. With the flood in demand for thermoter tech I’m not surprised there is some crap out there.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm sort of in the same camp, though I'm at 52 days. DH and I are both retired, APHs, and ended up with several canceled cruises that had been paid in full, so our Amex ran a credit balance for 4 months, LOL. Other than the frustration as well the concern that it's possible that yet another canceled trip may be in the cards, I'm okay waiting it out. I haven't decided what my threshold will be with respect to a lesser experience....could be the lack of restaurants, could be a scenario where I'm limited to park days and by using my AP I miss out on some additional extension, or could be that I end up with a hotel room that totally doesn't fit our needs. I'm a 4 1/2 hour drive, so it's an easy last minute decision for us, and we have the opportunity to revisit for things that we may miss this trip until our APs expire. I will say that I'm not too anxious to renew my AP until I see how this is ultimately handled because I do feel that communication has been lacking, and that loyal guests are being taken for granted on a few fronts.

OT but FYI you can chat Amex and they can refund you a credit balance via ACH to any bank account you have linked to pay your bill with.

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

OT but FYI you can chat Amex and they can refund you a credit balance via ACH to any bank account you have linked to pay your bill with.

Thanks for the heads up. I did know that I could get a refund, but since we use that particular card for all of our household bills I decided to let the credit get used up and not have to do an adjustment to our Delta miles.....not to mention I used it to reschedule a bunch of trips that will probably be canceled in the future and start the whole process over again.

 

[rteetz]

Star Wars Celebration canceled

https://www.starwarscelebration.com/Announcement/

 

[rteetz]

Coca Cola store now open

https://www.wdwmagic.com/shopping/w...coca-cola-store-reopens-at-disney-springs.htm

 

[SaintsManiac]

Any fresh rumors on WDW Magic that we can dissect? I'm all caught up from being on vacation!