Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[cakebaker]

I mean before July 11 makes sense to cancel everything other than the DVC resorts

It does make sense, but as far as I knew, they did a sweep last night that was for stays up through 6/21. It's odd that hers would be cancelled for a date into July when apparently no one else has reported that happening. Mistake or because of her location- I have no clue why it would've been cancelled right now.

There is a report on a TPAS thread of receiving the email about a reservation that is in that window where they were directed to call to re-schedule for a later date though. Last I heard, no one could book, modify or re-schedule so that's weird too.

 

[yulilin3]

It looks like we are getting closer to being able to reserve dining through the website. Yesterday 67 restaurants populated when searching for dining reservations. This morning 420 restaurants. Granted you can only book the handful of DS restaurants but def some action happening on the new system.

interesting that if you go date specific (I just checked July 15) all that's showing, aside for the handful of DS restaurants, are high end, specialty reservations, not any regular restaurants, none of them are bookable, it's just showing the dessert parties and halloween special offerings and CP packages...

 

[Remy is Up]

Taking away an option for everyone and exempting on site guests and Ap's is not giving a perk to on site guests and AP's. It's just not taking a benefit away they already had.

Initially noone will be hopping. Eventually the whole process will be different. Modified to a new set of standards in order to protect the company from another closure. This is just business in a new day thanks to covid. They aren't doing anything that isn't necessary.

 

[yulilin3]

It does make sense, but as far as I knew, they did a sweep last night that was for stays up through 6/21. It's odd that hers would be cancelled for a date into July when apparently no one else has reported that happening. Mistake or because of her location- I have no clue why it would've been cancelled right now.

There is a report on a TPAS thread of receiving the email about a reservation that is in that window where they were directed to call to re-schedule for a later date though. Last I heard, no one could book, modify or re-schedule so that's weird too.

they took away the wording about calling back to reschedule on the site last night
Such a mess right now

 

[hbentleylll]

It does make sense, but as far as I knew, they did a sweep last night that was for stays up through 6/21. It's odd that hers would be cancelled for a date into July when apparently no one else has reported that happening. Mistake or because of her location- I have no clue why it would've been cancelled right now.

There is a report on a TPAS thread of receiving the email about a reservation that is in that window where they were directed to call to re-schedule for a later date though. Last I heard, no one could book, modify or re-schedule so that's weird too.

Allowing some to modify into 2021 would thin out a ton of reservations if they feel they are overbooked. All over threads and fb groups you see people just holding on to modify.

 

[cakebaker]

Not true. New capacity rules changed the game. Covid changed the game. Not disney. But it is an easy and lazy talking point.

They were aware of Covid while they were allowing reservations to be booked. They knew they were going to have to reduce capacity to re-open. Yet they kept taking reservations at a time when it was clear they knew they would not be open. To ignore everything that shows this is just that- ignoring it. It's not a lazy talking point and at least as valid as all the rumors that fly around in this forum every day.

What you have to do is ask yourself why did they do that? That's a subject for debate, but I see nothing that points to anything except they 1) did not want a rush of guests calling to cancel and 2) That deposit money they held, tens of thousands of dollars, was a short term, interest free loan. What you call easy and lazy, I call disappointing and hard to accept, but still the truth.

 

[cakebaker]

they took away the wording about calling back to reschedule on the site last night
Such a mess right now

Thanks, I did not know that. I agree, an absolute mess! Not everything about this has to be hard. Sending out accurate emails to cancelled guests should be simple.

 

[Remy is Up]

It looks like we are getting closer to being able to reserve dining through the website. Yesterday 67 restaurants populated when searching for dining reservations. This morning 420 restaurants. Granted you can only book the handful of DS restaurants but def some action happening on the new system.

That part has not been the issue. That is an established system. The issie currently is the revised fp system which may be delayed now and go with an all stand by line plan which gives them time after opening (3 months or so) to revise the fp system for a new rollout when things get to 75% capacity and then the daily park reservation system. Those are the things creating problems.

 

[Remy is Up]

They were aware of Covid while they were allowing reservations to be booked. They knew they were going to have to reduce capacity to re-open. Yet they kept taking reservations at a time when it was clear they knew they would not be open. To ignore everything that shows this is just that- ignoring it. It's not a lazy talking point and at least as valid as all the rumors that fly around in this forum every day.

What you have to do is ask yourself why did they do that? That's a subject for debate, but I see nothing that points to anything except they 1) did not want a rush of guests calling to cancel and 2) That deposit money they held, tens of thousands of dollars, was a short term, interest free loan. What you call easy and lazy, I call disappointing and hard to accept, but still the truth.

From an outside perspective sure. From an inside perspective it's a different story.

 

[Remy is Up]

They were aware of Covid while they were allowing reservations to be booked. They knew they were going to have to reduce capacity to re-open. Yet they kept taking reservations at a time when it was clear they knew they would not be open. To ignore everything that shows this is just that- ignoring it. It's not a lazy talking point and at least as valid as all the rumors that fly around in this forum every day.

What you have to do is ask yourself why did they do that? That's a subject for debate, but I see nothing that points to anything except they 1) did not want a rush of guests calling to cancel and 2) That deposit money they held, tens of thousands of dollars, was a short term, interest free loan. What you call easy and lazy, I call disappointing and hard to accept, but still the truth.

They also do sweeps every Thursday. That is how the system works.

 

[cakebaker]

Initially noone will be hopping. Eventually the whole process will be different. Modified to a new set of standards in order to protect the company from another closure. This is just business in a new day thanks to covid. They aren't doing anything that isn't necessary.

Yes, I wasn't talking about when they first open. I was responding to a post about future possibilites. Many things they are doing that they have to do now is because of bad decisions they made earlier in the process. But clearly, we will never agree on Disney's handling of all of this.

 

[WatchandLearn33]

interesting that if you go date specific (I just checked July 15) all that's showing, aside for the handful of DS restaurants, are high end, specialty reservations, not any regular restaurants, none of them are bookable, it's just showing the dessert parties and halloween special offerings and CP packages...

And now the list is back down to the 67 restaurants. Very strange.

 

[yulilin3]

That part has not been the issue. That is an established system. The issie currently is the revised fp system which may be delayed now and go with an all stand by line plan which gives them time after opening (3 months or so) to revise the fp system for a new rollout when things get to 75% capacity and then the daily park reservation system. Those are the things creating problems.

the park reservation system is going to be so tricky. If it was hard getting an AP reservation system for previews of a land I can only imagine how hard it will be getting that working for 4 parks.
I'm glad you mentioned the no park hopping, I have been told this by other people as well.
Everyone needs to come with real expectations, the problem right now is that Disney is not communicating
I think if they would come out with "if you are staying in such and such resort you might be cancelled, or if you have a hotel reservation but no tickets you might be cancelled, and if they said the bit about no park hopping capabilities" it would move people to cancel on their own
It would also create a lot of angry people, but I think it's better to be more forward now, when it's still a month away, than later when it's only weeks

 

[Marionnette]

Allowing some to modify into 2021 would thin out a ton of reservations if they feel they are overbooked. All over threads and fb groups you see people just holding on to modify.

I think phone CMs are overwhelmed with calls as it is. The booking system is completely shut down to new reservations. The 2021 room rates have not even been published yet. It would just add more stress to an already overloaded system. Much as I dislike what Disney is doing, I understand why it has to be done. If they felt that other options were more viable, they would have taken them.

 

[yulilin3]

And now the list is back down to the 67 restaurants. Very strange.

yeah, it's them working on things. About 2 months ago we managed to grab screen shots of virtual queue page for more than RotR and then it quickly went away

 

[cakebaker]

They also do sweeps every Thursday. That is how the system works.

Yes, I've been following the process since mid March, I'm aware of that. My point was they included instructions for guests to call and re-scheduled when in reality it isn't possible for guests to call and reschedule. But to your point, I don't believe they actually did a sweep last Thursday and yesterday was a resumption of that process.

 

[Eric Smith]

What you have to do is ask yourself why did they do that? That's a subject for debate, but I see nothing that points to anything except they 1) did not want a rush of guests calling to cancel and 2) That deposit money they held, tens of thousands of dollars, was a short term, interest free loan. What you call easy and lazy, I call disappointing and hard to accept, but still the truth.

I doubt the company that made a $5B credit agreement early in the shutdown was really looking for an interest free loan in the thousands of dollars as a reason to keep taking deposits. That doesn't make any sense.

I have no doubt that when they shut down, Disney believed they would be open by June 1. There weren't many, if any, people who thought the parks in the US would be closed for just under four months back when they shut down in March. The situation was much worse than we thought at the time and things have gone a bit sideways. Anyone who made a reservation for this summer after the parks closed should have known there was some risk that the parks would not be open. I expect once the parks open back up, the guests who had reservations cancelled will get some kind of rebooking offer in the future. The problem with offering that right now is that no one has any idea when the parks would be able to hold normal crowds and they don't want to get back in to the same situation as they did with the free dining offer.

 

[Eric Smith]

Yes, I wasn't talking about when they first open. I was responding to a post about future possibilites. Many things they are doing that they have to do now is because of bad decisions they made earlier in the process. But clearly, we will never agree on Disney's handling of all of this.

Hindsight is always 20/20

 

[Taylor'sMom]

Reservation line is open, with a recording saying they are allowing modifications for those with existing reservation that has an arrival date between today and June 21st

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

It does make sense, but as far as I knew, they did a sweep last night that was for stays up through 6/21. It's odd that hers would be cancelled for a date into July when apparently no one else has reported that happening. Mistake or because of her location- I have no clue why it would've been cancelled right now.

There is a report on a TPAS thread of receiving the email about a reservation that is in that window where they were directed to call to re-schedule for a later date though. Last I heard, no one could book, modify or re-schedule so that's weird too.

Yes, this exactly. I can’t find any mention of anyone else being cancelled for July dates (other than my TA) and you would expect there to be some reports of people in a similar situation on here.