Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[MouseEarsMom33]

Thats all I want. I dont want to be extended, and be locked into an extension. I’m hoping that if all the details come out, and the clock is indeed starting on the date of the reopening, and the partial refund is sufficient enough that they’ll allow people to switch. But I have a feeling thats unlikely as they’ll just say “We gave you the option of calling and opting for the refund in April”

I tried calling in April and asking about refund. I was told I had to wait for more information from Disney. So I have been waiting.

I am trying to catch up on information, but I think Disney would have had to give us a end date to make a decision if they were going to stop the refunds? I haven't seen that yet.

 

[hereforthechurros]

I get it I have 3 kids under 5. But everyone is expecting the trips to be exactly the same. If I’m going to go with kids I’m going to have to switch how I tour the park if I can’t get in until 11 and have to leave at 7. Just because you always take a afternoon break doesn’t mean you have to this trip when the options change.

Bingo. we’ve been warned a million times that things won’t be the same.

Why do you expect so little from a company that is supposed to be and used to be about going above and beyond for customer service? I would never expect to get less than I paid for from Disney.

I understand for people out of state that only buy an AP to use for 2 trips that it might not seem like a big deal. But as a local I paid for 365 days of access. Depending on how hard the reservations end up being to get, my platinum pass with zero blockout days could suddenly have MONTHS worth if blockout dates and zero park hopping. A 1 day park hopping ticket is 70% more expensive than a 1 day 1 park ticket. Am I getting 70% of my money back? Am I getting money back for the difference in AP prices when I paid for zero blockout dates but am not being blocked out more than a silver pass?

If they really want to scare people away, then they need to just keep the parks closed. Disrespecting your most loyal fans like this is inexcusable. I really hope this changes. But I see no reason for them to wait months to update expiration dates only to have to do it again. Message receive loud and clear Disney. You don’t care about me. There are a lot of people that hate you Disney and want to see your fail. Please don’t treat your defenders (which I am) this way. Or you will become what people say you are and we won’t be there to rescue you. But you don’t care, you’ll be long gone by then and already made your corona virus dessert party bonus money.

Yikes. As a local I’m sure you’ve gotten your money worth plenty of times over so maybe relax a little? We have no clue how the reservation will work. If APs find themselves blocked out for weeks at a time I’m sure they’ll have to deal with that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I tried calling in April and asking about refund. I was told I had to wait for more information from Disney. So I have been waiting.

I am trying to catch up on information, but I think Disney would have had to give us a end date to make a decision if they were going to stop the refunds? I haven't seen that yet.

I HOPE they give us a final date to make a decision. But they don’t have to.

 

[Mit88]

I tried calling in April and asking about refund. I was told I had to wait for more information from Disney. So I have been waiting.

I am trying to catch up on information, but I think Disney would have had to give us a end date to make a decision if they were going to stop the refunds? I haven't seen that yet.

Thats not the first time ive heard that. I havent called as I dont know what the refund will be, so I’m not going to go in on that blind.

But they did say that if you didnt request a refund, they’ll automatically give you the extension

 

[PixarBall]

Disney called everyone even those older than 65 back to work. If they don’t feel safe they are being kicked off unemployment.

 

[npatellye]

Disney called everyone even those older than 65 back to work. If they don’t feel safe they are being kicked off unemployment.

This is news to me as I have friends who work there and have yet to be called back.

 

[AmberMV]

Disney called everyone even those older than 65 back to work. If they don’t feel safe they are being kicked off unemployment.

This is not what has been reported from the HUB. Do you have a source?

 

[Mit88]

This is not what has been reported from the HUB. Do you have a source?

His/Her MagicPixar8Ball

 

[skeeter31]

Disney called everyone even those older than 65 back to work. If they don’t feel safe they are being kicked off unemployment.

Yeah, that’s not true. They’ve started calling FT workers back, but they have an agreement worked out with the union that CMs can stay home if they are high risk, care for a high risk person, or just don’t feel comfortable, and get to keep UIB. So your facts are completely wrong.

 

[Mit88]

Didn’t Disney already sign a Union agreement that clearly states that anyone that doesnt feel safe to return to work, or becomes ill, they dont have to come back, or are given 14 days paid leave respectively.

So, no. Those rumors are almost certainly, false

 

[MrsBooch]

View attachment 501804
My Disney daily calendar conveyed pretty well what I must have looked like reading through the posts today. My new fears are having to pay to be moved from Pop and getting bad arrival times. Here’s hoping tomorrow has some more news!!

.....you just reminded me. We had to start staying home due to COVID outbreaks on March 6th and we havent been allowed back at work since then (WFH the whole time) and I have this exact same daily calendar and I'm now SO SAD because it has been sitting on my desk for three months....unused.

 

[NoTime42]

I just checked and our expired gold AP's are now extended to Oct 3rd. They expired June 4th previously. I had checked about 20 minutes ago and they had disappeared but are back now with the new expirery date.

Thanks for the update!
I wasn’t going to check, again tonight....but our DVC gold passes that expired today now expire Oct 12!
(I now feel a lot better seeing that date before park reservations open!)

 

[Ryan King]

Reading the AP Terms and Conditions is interesting. There are clauses in there which likely limit their legal exposure in case they have to cut down on park hoping and limit reservations. Basically the entire system is almost at whim and relies mainly on customer satisfaction rather than strong contractual protection of pass holder “rights” relative to what they bought a specific pass for.

“ Restrictions apply including, but not limited to, capacity constraints and other closures. Passports do not guarantee Theme Park admission, especially during high attendance periods”

“ Parks, services, entertainment and attractions may change operating hours, close temporarily, or may otherwise change or be discontinued without notice and without liability.”

“ Disney reserves the right to cancel, suspend or revoke any Passport or deny Theme Park admission to any Passholder at any time for any reason.”

“ All terms, conditions and benefits including, but not limited to, admission privileges, Blockout Dates, prices, Pass type availability, parking locations, benefits and discounts are subject to restrictions, availability, and change or cancellation without notice at any time.”

 

[figmentfinesse]

.....you just reminded me. We had to start staying home due to COVID outbreaks on March 6th and we havent been allowed back at work since then (WFH the whole time) and I have this exact same daily calendar and I'm now SO SAD because it has been sitting on my desk for three months....unused.

Don’t feel too sad...I was in the same boat as you until about 2 weeks ago! I left it at work when we shut down on the 13th (school system only announced 2 weeks off) saying, even if it gets extended, it’ll only be a month. I was so sad. Here’s hoping you get yours back before too long.

 

[wareagle57]

Bingo. we’ve been warned a million times that things won’t be the same.


Yikes. As a local I’m sure you’ve gotten your money worth plenty of times over so maybe relax a little? We have no clue how the reservation will work. If APs find themselves blocked out for weeks at a time I’m sure they’ll have to deal with that.

i “got my moneys worth” in the first month. That doesn’t mean I’m not owed what I paid for. It’s much more about the principal of the thing as I am not worried about how it affects me financially, rather how bad it makes Disney looks with the message they’d be sending if they did that. Yes we are in unprecedented times and theme parks are not exactly high on the priority list. But a company like Disney should be taking care of it’s customers before their bottom line. That’s the last I’ll say on the matter since it’s still not known for sure what they’ll do. But it’s extremely troubling to me to see so many people ok with It.

 

[Auntrosie]

Disney is giving me the full year I paid for, which is all I expected from them. I’ve been a FL resident AP for a looong time, and Disney has given me an extra month here and an extra month there over the years. I will be thrilled if they do that this time, but they have no obligation to do so. I never thought I’d be in a place where I’d be genuinely worried about Disney’s survival, but the global pandemic has made everything seem more fragile. Disney needs to do what they need to do to survive, and I’m ok with that. I called before I renewed, and I was told that I’d get an extension for the number of days they were closed. That’s what I got, and I’m fine with that. As for the rumored limit on the number of reservations that an AP can have per month, I’m waiting for an announcement from Disney. Even if it’s true, I don’t expect that I’ll be wanting to go more than once or twice a month for a while anyway.

It’s just not the full year I paid for. A poster wrote that living out of state may make the 3 month extension seem fair. Truth is, the time and money we have to visit is limited even more so if the reservation system reduces the amount of days we can enter the parks when in Orlando.

I know the company is in a spot. We all are. What I feel is fair is an extension of our passes that would covers park closure and the period of time the reservation system is in place not to exceed 9 months.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

i “got my moneys worth” in the first month. That doesn’t mean I’m not owed what I paid for. It’s much more about the principal of the thing as I am not worried about how it affects me financially, rather how bad it makes Disney looks with the message they’d be sending if they did that. Yes we are in unprecedented times and theme parks are not exactly high on the priority list. But a company like Disney should be taking care of it’s customers before their bottom line. That’s the last I’ll say on the matter since it’s still not known for sure what they’ll do. But it’s extremely troubling to me to see so many people ok with It.

I did not get anywhere near my moneys worth using an out of state AP for 6 park days, and I’m not happy with the two options, but I have accepted that may be what it comes down to and will chalk it up to yet another thing going wrong in this pandemic if I have to. It would obviously be far better customer service for them to consider that the two blanket solutions don’t work well for everybody and allow their CMs to help people on an individual level (and maybe that will end up happening), but I’m preparing myself for the possibility that it doesn’t happen.

If they do something further, I hope they don’t lump us in who are out financially because of this with those who just don’t feel they’re seeing as much value for their passes. The two groups are going to require different solutions for sure. All the AP benefits in the world making up for changes aren’t going to help people who can’t come to Florida at all. And I do think the park booking problem is going to end up being less of a problem than feared.

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

has anybody had an AP that expired and was removed from the account show back up again with an updated expiration?

Yes. APs disappeared tonight from MDE for maybe an hour or two and when they reappeared, the expiration date had been extended from June 16 to October 11, 2020 on our out of state DVC Gold APs. I can see the new expiry date in both the app and online.

Big sigh of relief that that issue is settled before the new Park Rez system goes live for our DVC stay mid-July next month, especially after I had a phone CM emphatically tell me just yesterday that APs would not be extended until the parks reopened on July 11.

 

[NoTime42]

i “got my moneys worth” in the first month. That doesn’t mean I’m not owed what I paid for. It’s much more about the principal of the thing as I am not worried about how it affects me financially, rather how bad it makes Disney looks with the message they’d be sending if they did that. Yes we are in unprecedented times and theme parks are not exactly high on the priority list. But a company like Disney should be taking care of it’s customers before their bottom line. That’s the last I’ll say on the matter since it’s still not known for sure what they’ll do. But it’s extremely troubling to me to see so many people ok with It.

Disney spent billions to build, expand and upgrade its theme parks so that they could sell tens of thousands of very expensive annual passes (some $100/month) and very expensive day tickets ($100/day) and rent very expensive hotel rooms ($100-$500/night). I think Disney would love to make all of these groups happy... but now the government (FL required a capacity limitation with the initial opening) won’t let them use the capacity they invested heavily in.
This isn’t Disney deciding to slash expenses in half and making up their own artificial capacity limits.

there is a strong argument asking why WDW isn’t pausing the AP until the next govt reopening phase, like Shanghai.

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

Disney should start thinking about investing heavily in rebuilding customer confidence, this has been a PR disaster. The pandemic will live long in our memories, will i be happy to commit thousands of dollars to Disney again? Im not too sure.