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

[sheila14]

Does thanksgiving week look like Christmas week?

 

[yulilin3]

I am wondering if they will increase ride capacity/loading. I would think they could add a little more and still be physically distanced (for example...couple in front seat of splash mountain and couple in back row).

People would go ballistic, look at the backlash universal got when they sat every seat on the roller coasters.

 

[Sydnerella]

I guess Thanksgiving week will be the tell.

Yay... many of us rescheduled from Spring Break and traveling for Thanksgiving get to be the test cases with heavily sold hotel rooms for the Thanksgiving week kick-off to the holiday season and the increased 35% park capacity... my recently found comfort is quickly disappearing

I already feel like I’m on a rollercoaster... why go the WDW?!?!

Rising cases everywhere, worse than March and now this news.... we might be canceling again! Poor timing on Disney’s part to tout and up crowds, I hope they can be responsive to the public health situation again and spread them out with more options too. They have been responsive to increasing enforcement so hoping they see these case numbers and recognize the need to not make them worse.

Chicago just issued a stay at home advisory! Where we live in MN the governor just recommended that all 18-35 year olds get tested. As they say, “stuff” is getting real...

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I am wondering if they will increase ride capacity/loading. I would think they could add a little more and still be physically distanced (for example...couple in front seat of splash mountain and couple in back row).

They were doing one family in the front row/another in the back row on splash the week we were there last month. My daughter and I were in the front row and a family of three in the last row. Two empty rows between our families. I felt like distancing was adequate. Was this experience of ours not the norm?

 

[underminer]

Sorry if this has been asked recently but we are heading to AK in the morning and wondering how early we can park with a 7am park opening. Thanks!

 

[Day-Day]

Ugh. Now having doubts on my trip scheduled for January. I was "just okay" with 25 percent level based on my visit in October. There will have to be some big changes to convince me to visit with a potential 40% increase in crowds.

There still can be periods of low crowds relative to the maximum numbers that will be allowed. There have been days when there was a limit of 25% while the actuals seemed to be lower so I haven't ruled out my visit yet.

 

[Crusader10hky]

I do wonder how much 10% more capacity "feels" in the grand scheme of things. Is it even noticeable?

Considering 10 is almost half of 25 (40%) , this “10%” increase of park capacity is actually a 40% increase of what we have seen at the parks since reopening. So if you were in a spot with 100 people, there can now be 140 people there.

This announcement is a gut-punch to my confidence of bringing my wife and 3 young daughters for the first 10 days of December. I’m just going to keep telling myself that they silently increased it already and that was the crowd increase we saw couple weeks ago. If it’s worse than that then bleh.

The one thing I don’t think Disney can successfully do right now is keep crowds evenly distributed, making must-ride experiences that much harder to do. Seems like more QS have been opening here and there though.

 

[mlggator22]

I'm so disappointed. I feel like I am taking a risk coming to WDW next week. But now I'm beginning to worry that the risk isn't worth it. However, my daughter will have a melt down if we don't go (she's 19 and suffering COVID depression from being locked in here in CA).
I'm surprised Disney is willing to take this risk now with cases rising. They are trying so hard to get Disneyland open. If there is even a hint of outbreak at WDW, I fear Newsom will keep them shut down as long as he can.
But, for now, I am keeping my plans and watching carefully. I have a ton of hand sanitizer, masks, and wipes ready to go with me on the trip.

 

[brockash]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1327009654245908480

Looks like they've officially increased capacity.

We don't actually know when they raised it right? It could have been at 35% for over a month at this point, unless I missed where they stated the date they raised it to 35% or the last time they stated they were at 25%.
I think they've probably been at 35 for a while at this point.

 

[Sydnerella]

We don't actually know when they raised it right? It could have been at 35% for over a month at this point, unless I missed where they stated the date they raised it to 35% or the last time they stated they were at 25%.
I think they've probably been at 35 for a while at this point.

It was indicated that they already did this increase - As it was said that “they have been operating at 35%”. It was also sad that this was done in conjunction with other changes such as the addition of plexiglass barriers on rides to add capacity so if folks recall when that was done to rise of the resistance and Mickey and Minnie’s runaway railway that would be about the time based on how it was described in reports of the earnings call.

I am mad and disappointed too because I spoke to cast members in guest services 10 days ago who claimed that things were operating at 25% - after putting me on hold to confirm that percentage - and no changes were going to be made. We are supposed to leave in a week and based on this COVID case increase all over the country it seems like a poor choice and cost benefit of ever decreasing value and higher risk.

And when they said hotels are being booked at greater rate and two capacity does that mean 100% full or to “Covid” capacity? They are not sharing so it’s impossible to know.

 

[Sydnerella]

As Andrew Yang would say, Math!

This is exactly the issue that few will grasp. And then there’s COVID too...

Thank Chapek!

Considering 10 is almost half of 25 (40%) , this “10%” increase of park capacity is actually a 40% increase of what we have seen at the parks since reopening. So if you were in a spot with 100 people, there can now be 140 people there.

This announcement is a gut-punch to my confidence of bringing my wife and 3 young daughters for the first 10 days of December. I’m just going to keep telling myself that they silently increased it already and that was the crowd increase we saw couple weeks ago. If it’s worse than that then bleh.

The one thing I don’t think Disney can successfully do right now is keep crowds evenly distributed, making must-ride experiences that much harder to do. Seems like more QS have been opening here and there though.

I'm so disappointed. I feel like I am taking a risk coming to WDW next week. But now I'm beginning to worry that the risk isn't worth it. However, my daughter will have a melt down if we don't go (she's 19 and suffering COVID depression from being locked in here in CA).
I'm surprised Disney is willing to take this risk now with cases rising. They are trying so hard to get Disneyland open. If there is even a hint of outbreak at WDW, I fear Newsom will keep them shut down as long as he can.
But, for now, I am keeping my plans and watching carefully. I have a ton of hand sanitizer, masks, and wipes ready to go with me on the trip.

 

[yulilin3]

I understand everyone's frustration and concern, of course it is definitely a Personal decision to make but if you are still coming, like I've always said, have clear and realistic expectations. I can't believe how many here still think the parks are the ghost towns they were when they opened in June, also read the just back reports, they are your best indicators, again no outbreak has been linked to any of the central Florida parks, if cm continue to be firm and most guest continue to comply i believe we'll be ok

 

[yulilin3]

Sorry if this has been asked recently but we are heading to AK in the morning and wondering how early we can park with a 7am park opening. Thanks!

Merged you to the operational thread, (make sure to use the search bat, this has been asked and answered om this board and the transportation forum)
Ak lot opens about 45 min prior to official park opening

 

[Leigh L]

They were doing one family in the front row/another in the back row on splash the week we were there last month. My daughter and I were in the front row and a family of three in the last row. Two empty rows between our families. I felt like distancing was adequate. Was this experience of ours not the norm?

This was our experience over the past week too. Rode Splash on Friday and again on Monday, same both times with one party in front and one in back.
Just looked at our Pirates boat pic and we were in front row, two empty rows, and the last rows were filled with one party.

I felt the distance on all rides in 3 parks we visited (we didn't do EP this trip) was totally adequate.

 

[Sydnerella]

I understand everyone's frustration and concern, of course it is definitely a Personal decision to make but if you are still coming, like I've always said, have clear and realistic expectations. I can't believe how many here still think the parks are the ghost towns they were when they opened in June, also read the just back reports, they are your best indicators, again no outbreak has been linked to any of the central Florida parks, if cm continue to be firm and most guest continue to comply i believe we'll be ok

We know there are no major outbreaks and no cases publicized. And It’s tough to link cases when we don’t have contact tracing and do have widespread community transmission.

I have been following - super closely - the developments and threads from just back folks and knew things were not a ghost town for months.

And that’s why it’s been a hard decision all along. Recent increased enforcement and rules upgrades about food and masks are awesome and encouraging. And a crowd increase is not. Then add that to a phone cast member who tells me after being placed on hold to confirm that yes, it’s at 25% capacity and it wasn’t - that is just wrong. And angering. He also at first gave a different number when I asked, which was higher but I’m not recalling now exactly what % it was and don’t want to misquote him, and I said, “are you sure as Bob Chapek was interviewed and said it was operating at 25% sometime in mid October.” He then put me on hold and eventually came back and said I was right.

I was very clear that I was calling because we were concerned about safety and this was during the time of the dining glitch and concerned they would raise restaurant and park capacity for holiday crowds. I was assured that wouldn’t happen. Granted - I’m just talking to a CM not anyone who makes those decisions but that is disappointing messaging.

So we have been very cautiously watching this for months. We even changed to Riviera from CBR to have a one bedroom with a kitchen and more space to spread out if we felt uncomfortable in the parks at a much higher cost to us for our own peace of mind.

Hearing now I was misinformed by a CM a week out from the trip is not cool and yes, it’s frustrating to say the least.

So please don’t lump me in with people who expect a ghost town. Hardly. It’s reasonable to be concerned and disappointed. We can love Disney and not think all of their decisions are great or reasonable - 40% more people around with less open to absorb them makes the whole touring experience worse at best, and makes it more unsafe at worst!

 

[yulilin3]

We know there are no major outbreaks and no cases publicized. And It’s tough to link cases when we don’t have contact tracing and do have widespread community transmission.

I have been following - super closely - the developments and threads from just back folks and knew things were not a ghost town for months.

And that’s why it’s been a hard decision all along. Recent increased enforcement and rules upgrades about food and masks are awesome and encouraging. And a crowd increase is not. Then add that to a phone cast member who tells me after being placed on hold to confirm that yes, it’s at 25% capacity and it wasn’t - that is just wrong. And angering. He also at first gave a different number when I asked, which was higher but I’m not recalling now exactly what % it was and don’t want to misquote him, and I said, “are you sure as Bob Chapek was interviewed and said it was operating at 25% sometime in mid October.” He then put me on hold and eventually came back and said I was right.

I was very clear that I was calling because we were concerned about safety and this was during the time of the dining glitch and concerned they would raise restaurant and park capacity for holiday crowds. I was assured that wouldn’t happen. Granted - I’m just talking to a CM not anyone who makes those decisions but that is disappointing messaging.

So we have been very cautiously watching this for months. We even changed to Riviera from CBR to have a one bedroom with a kitchen and more space to spread out if we felt uncomfortable in the parks at a much higher cost to us for our own peace of mind.

Hearing now I was misinformed by a CM a week out from the trip is not cool and yes, it’s frustrating to say the least.

So please don’t lump me in with people who expect a ghost town. Hardly. It’s reasonable to be concerned and disappointed. We can love Disney and not think all of their decisions are great or reasonable - 40% more people around with less open to absorb them makes the whole touring experience worse at best, and makes it more unsafe at worst!

I didn't lump you with anyone, my post was not even replying to anyone, it's a general post. I even said that i know it's frustrating and concerning.

 

[Sydnerella]

I don’t think many (any?) on these forums still think parks are ghost towns so it seems a moot point to bring up at all here as an expectation.

It is not about that expectation of empty parks that people are upset, they don’t expect that at all. As I many have said it’s about the increase and the quiet changes that happen without enough mitigation around them. And some last minute news and misleading info in my case. Compounded by a time of worsening public health.

Do they even have enough CMs and attractions/crowd absorbers they can run - if they so chose - to make it more bearable/reasonable/safe at this level of capacity? Especially at HS - can they extend their hours or open an outdoor show like BATB or not because they laid off these talented people? Based on what they are running and have open and the wait times on easywdw it seems they have maxed out beyond the tipping point for a good guest experience and Thanksgiving week without more of something will be pretty messy. Where did Josh D’Amaro go? He’s been fairly silent on WDW. He cares about the guest experience more than most execs.

Dang it’s a bummer the plexiglass wasn’t meant to make more enjoyable, safe for guests already there at 25% capacity, but we should have known it was meant to add more guests overall.

 

[DeeBee3]

I am wondering if they will increase ride capacity/loading. I would think they could add a little more and still be physically distanced (for example...couple in front seat of splash mountain and couple in back row).

I've seen recent reports where they have put cars closer together (filling in every "clam shell" etc). Not sure what to think! They have to do something as they just announced increased capacity to 35% and the whole month of December is close to full capacity.

 

[dachsie]

We know there are no major outbreaks and no cases publicized. And It’s tough to link cases when we don’t have contact tracing and do have widespread community transmission.

I have been following - super closely - the developments and threads from just back folks and knew things were not a ghost town for months.

And that’s why it’s been a hard decision all along. Recent increased enforcement and rules upgrades about food and masks are awesome and encouraging. And a crowd increase is not. Then add that to a phone cast member who tells me after being placed on hold to confirm that yes, it’s at 25% capacity and it wasn’t - that is just wrong. And angering. He also at first gave a different number when I asked, which was higher but I’m not recalling now exactly what % it was and don’t want to misquote him, and I said, “are you sure as Bob Chapek was interviewed and said it was operating at 25% sometime in mid October.” He then put me on hold and eventually came back and said I was right.

I was very clear that I was calling because we were concerned about safety and this was during the time of the dining glitch and concerned they would raise restaurant and park capacity for holiday crowds. I was assured that wouldn’t happen. Granted - I’m just talking to a CM not anyone who makes those decisions but that is disappointing messaging.

So we have been very cautiously watching this for months. We even changed to Riviera from CBR to have a one bedroom with a kitchen and more space to spread out if we felt uncomfortable in the parks at a much higher cost to us for our own peace of mind.

Hearing now I was misinformed by a CM a week out from the trip is not cool and yes, it’s frustrating to say the least.

So please don’t lump me in with people who expect a ghost town. Hardly. It’s reasonable to be concerned and disappointed. We can love Disney and not think all of their decisions are great or reasonable - 40% more people around with less open to absorb them makes the whole touring experience worse at best, and makes it more unsafe at worst!

With all due respect, you should never totally believe what a CM tells you on the phone. Time and time again we discover they do not have the most accurate information. Like @yulilin3 said, if you wear your masks, wash your hands, and sanitize, you should be fine. Go and have fun on your trip. If you feel you need to isolate for a bit when you get back to feel safer, then do so.

 

[yulilin3]

I don’t think many (any?) on these forums still think parks are ghost towns so it seems a moot point to bring up at all here as an expectation.

It is not about that expectation of empty parks that people are upset, they don’t expect that at all. As I many have said it’s about the increase and the quiet changes that happen without enough mitigation around them. And some last minute news and misleading info in my case. Compounded by a time of worsening public health.

Do they even have enough CMs and attractions/crowd absorbers they can run - if they so chose - to make it more bearable/reasonable/safe at this level of capacity? Especially at HS - can they extend their hours or open an outdoor show like BATB or not because they laid off these talented people? Based on what they are running and have open and the wait times on easywdw it seems they have maxed out beyond the tipping point for a good guest experience and Thanksgiving week without more of something will be pretty messy. Where did Josh D’Amaro go? He’s been fairly silent on WDW. He cares about the guest experience more than most execs.

Dang it’s a bummer the plexiglass wasn’t meant to make more enjoyable, safe for guests already there at 25% capacity, but we should have known it was meant to add more guests overall.

Im not gonna quote several posters in several threads that have said they expected the parks empty like in the beginning, again i didn't lump YOU with anyone, the point i was trying to make is that there's still are people coming without having real expectations and of course they are in for a rude awakening.
And i again say, by being on these threads everyone has an advantage to know more and to plan accordingly.
If coming is giving you stress and anxiety, to me, it's not worth the stress. Then definitely don't come
Can you (general) come knowing what to expect, have a good, safe time and go back home? Absolutely
As far as additional offerings I honestly don't think we'll see any shows return this year , Disney has been making head scratching decisions for years now, it's up to each individual to decide if coming is worth it or not