Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Yarbogash]

Not everyone is required to do that. Even though the schools, community organizations, professional organizations, and even some churches are completely shut down in our area, I only have to self quarantine from work if I travel to heavily affected countries.

How different states and municipalities are dealing with this varies a lot. WI and IL governors declared that all schools would close.CA and WA banned large gatherings. Other states are not shutting down any thing or letting cities decide.
From the standpoint of Disney reopening, my concern is that FL is not being pro-active despite having a large population of at risk people and being in the top 10 of states for confirmed number of cases. If any states’ health care system is at risk of being overwhelmed, it’s probably FL’s. And if that happens, Disney is not reopening soon.

In British Columbia it’s recommended for anyone returning from international travel and as a gov employee for me it would be mandatory. And the US is the main concern right now because of the high volume of cross border traffic and for a failure by the US to do enough testing. There was a hope here for a while the US would ramp up testing a lot but it’s just not happening fast enough.

 

[rteetz]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/03/tabl...l4YpbUKF7B1wzJNP89TQPRS4V1zp9--mJjArdxVhligVs

 

[Aurora0427]

my heart

I watched this and cried. DLP is my home park. We will be there the day it reopens, no matter how crowded!

 

[Searc]

https://blogmickey.com/2020/03/disn...e-to-coronavirus-covid-19-theme-park-closures

Not good. Disney is planning on a much longer closure than two weeks if they are terminating the CP and sending the kids home.

 

[Krandor]

Usually multiple dates in May (some may go imtil

I think suspending the DCP is a big clue that they expect this closure will be extended through April at least. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but this is a huge indicator IMO.

Yeah i think April 1 is optimistic and I think they know that too but just want some flexibility IF by chance things turn around faster.

 

[SMRT-1]

I think people are jumping to conclusions re: suspending the CP. From what I've read, it's about closing CP housing for safety reasons, and not about the parks being closed.

 

[kymom99]

I think people are jumping to conclusions re: suspending the CP. From what I've read, it's about closing CP housing for safety reasons, and not about the parks being closed.

Yes same as all the colleges and universities.
My son’s friend was in Hungary for a study abroad. Her university made her return yesterday. She will be in isolation for 2 weeks.

 

[Krandor]

I think people are jumping to conclusions re: suspending the CP. From what I've read, it's about closing CP housing for safety reasons, and not about the parks being closed.

the question becomes though how quickly can you get them back? That isn't going that will happen quickly and they rely on a lot of the CP people for a lot of operations. I'm not sure they would have the staff to reopen without them. I'd bet 1-2 weeks to get everybody back again which puts an april 1 relaunch almost impossible and that is even assuming the ones from overseas could even get back to the US.

 

[Mumof4mice]

France, with their incredible universal healthcare, just closed all non-essential businesses. This pandemic is not going away in two weeks.

Meanwhile, our PM (Australia) attended a rugby game yesterday. Our politicians are morons with no spine or balls. Perhaps they feel that missing so many organs they'd be immune from multi-organ failure?!

Bracing for the exponential part of the curve.

 

[rpb718]

I think once the parks are closed there will be an announcement concerning the actual length of the closure. I think WDW only stated a short initial length to avoid attracting folks who live closeby and visit often from coming if they knew the closure was to be longer. Saying the parks are only going to be closed for a couple weeks wouldn't necessarily attract as many.

 

[disneygirl777]

the question becomes though how quickly can you get them back? That isn't going that will happen quickly and they rely on a lot of the CP people for a lot of operations. I'm not sure they would have the staff to reopen without them. I'd bet 1-2 weeks to get everybody back again which puts an april 1 relaunch almost impossible and that is even assuming the ones from overseas could even get back to the US.

I think a bigger question is due to the current climate on traveling, do you need them back anytime soon? Regardless of when the parks reopen, whether that's April 1st, mid-April, or into May, I feel like people are still going to be holding off traveling then or unable to travel at that point. Everybody I know rescheduled their Spring trips for either next year or this fall, and when things return to semi-normal and restrictions are lifted they will be returning to normal working situations and excited to do so. Even when restrictions are lightened up a bit people aren't going to be able to drop everything and travel and put together a last minute trip, and I think people will still be holding off travel anyway. The airlines pared down schedules through September I believe, meaning they think the decrease in demand will last until then. When Disney reopens it's highly unlikely they're going to have the huge crowd levels at first, meaning they may not need their CP employees and may focus on getting their local staff hours. I also kind of doubt Disney would ask the international participants to return even if they asked the domestic ones to, given the situation with international travel right now. Airlines and hotels are cutting employees even though they're still running and open and to me this is the same thing Disney is doing. When they do reopen (assuming it'll be in the next couple months), they won't need their full staff.

Again this is all conjecture, none of this is fact. I don't know Disney's current cast numbers, how big of a proportion CP participants make up out of the entire workforce, but it seems to me that knowing demand for travel is going to be lower the next few months regardless of whether they're open, getting rid of the CP participants and giving the local staff hours (and maybe having limited operations) is the move they'd take. If they do need the CP kids, they can likely quickly get some domestic ones back and going. Just my opinion.

 

[Krandor]

I think a bigger question is due to the current climate on traveling, do you need them back anytime soon? Regardless of when the parks reopen, whether that's April 1st, mid-April, or into May, I feel like people are still going to be holding off traveling then or unable to travel at that point. Everybody I know rescheduled their Spring trips for either next year or this fall, and when things return to semi-normal and restrictions are lifted they will be returning to normal working situations and excited to do so. Even when restrictions are lightened up a bit people aren't going to be able to drop everything and travel and put together a last minute trip, and I think people will still be holding off travel anyway. The airlines pared down schedules through September I believe, meaning they think the decrease in demand will last until then. When Disney reopens it's highly unlikely they're going to have the huge crowd levels at first, meaning they may not need their CP employees and may focus on getting their local staff hours. I also kind of doubt Disney would ask the international participants to return even if they asked the domestic ones to, given the situation with international travel right now. Airlines and hotels are cutting employees even though they're still running and open and to me this is the same thing Disney is doing. When they do reopen (assuming it'll be in the next couple months), they won't need their full staff.

Again this is all conjecture, none of this is fact. I don't know Disney's current cast numbers, how big of a proportion CP participants make up out of the entire workforce, but it seems to me that knowing demand for travel is going to be lower the next few months regardless of whether they're open, getting rid of the CP participants and giving the local staff hours (and maybe having limited operations) is the move they'd take. If they do need the CP kids, they can likely quickly get some domestic ones back and going. Just my opinion.

That is true which does lead to an interesting question which a week ago would have sounded crazy. If the expectation is that traffic will be lower when they reopen do they reopen all parks at the same time? Could maybe they start with MK and HS (as the two most popular parks right now) and leave AK and EP to open later? I wonder if that is even a possibility? Typically they need all 4 parks to spread out crowds but if crowds are going to be lower anyway...

 

[disneygirl777]

That is true which does lead to an interesting question which a week ago would have sounded crazy. If the expectation is that traffic will be lower when they reopen do they reopen all parks at the same time? Could maybe they start with MK and HS (as the two most popular parks right now) and leave AK and EP to open later? I wonder if that is even a possibility? Typically they need all 4 parks to spread out crowds but if crowds are going to be lower anyway...

This is interesting, I was imagining more of an open all parks but maybe not the more "seasonal" attractions and not all restaurants and food carts and such, but you bring up an interesting point. It'd be much easier to manage just a couple parks with a lessened workforce and then they could see how that goes, what the demand is like, and plan staggered openings from there. I wouldn't be surprised in the least. I am imagining that as long as we as a country can 'flatten the curve' or whatever they're calling it, if this does slow down in April they'd probably shoot for a full or close-to-it reopening by Memorial Day weekend. If it continues to get worse and worse in April that may be off the table but I'd think that'd be a date for them to shoot for, because I don't doubt the younger Floridians would come out in full force and the people that are sick of being all cooped up may leave their nerves behind and go travel to celebrate the beginning of the end of all this. There are so many moving parts and things that may happen.

I did also want to ask if there are any current updates on Disney Springs? I haven't heard much talk about it on here as people seem to be focused on resorts and hotels, but I do find it interesting that they're specifically leaving them open in both California and Florida. I know there was an update earlier from someone at a resort saying they had time to get plans together, which indicated the resorts may close, but even with the resorts closing for sure in Cali they are still leaving DTD open. Are we thinking this is likely to change as well, and Florida will follow suit?

 

[Krandor]

This is interesting, I was imagining more of an open all parks but maybe not the more "seasonal" attractions and not all restaurants and food carts and such, but you bring up an interesting point. It'd be much easier to manage just a couple parks with a lessened workforce and then they could see how that goes, what the demand is like, and plan staggered openings from there. I wouldn't be surprised in the least. I am imagining that as long as we as a country can 'flatten the curve' or whatever they're calling it, if this does slow down in April they'd probably shoot for a full or close-to-it reopening by Memorial Day weekend. If it continues to get worse and worse in April that may be off the table but I'd think that'd be a date for them to shoot for, because I don't doubt the younger Floridians would come out in full force and the people that are sick of being all cooped up may leave their nerves behind and go travel to celebrate the beginning of the end of all this. There are so many moving parts and things that may happen.

Yeah lots of moving parts. And for EPCOT in paticular it does become and interesting question. Now that epcot is shut down if it remains closed for 2-4 additional weeks how much construction could be completed? if epcot could be opened 4 weeks later but with no consturction walls in the main entranceway area would it be worth it? I'm not sure but it probably is a question worth asking.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1238964729948835842

 

[fla4fun]

That is true which does lead to an interesting question which a week ago would have sounded crazy. If the expectation is that traffic will be lower when they reopen do they reopen all parks at the same time? Could maybe they start with MK and HS (as the two most popular parks right now) and leave AK and EP to open later? I wonder if that is even a possibility? Typically they need all 4 parks to spread out crowds but if crowds are going to be lower anyway...

I believe they did something similar after some of the hurricanes and after 9/11, but not 100% sure. They sort of alternated days, or opened one park a day or two and then added another. I definitely remember them closing part or all of some of the resorts, so capacity was less, during the last big recession. After the hurricanes, the big thing was not only tourists wanting to come back, but CMs being able to get to work. This could be similar in that aspect. Anything is possible at this point.

 

[Krandor]

I believe they did something similar after some of the hurricanes and after 9/11, but not 100% sure. They sort of alternated days, or opened one park a day or two and then added another. I definitely remember them closing part or all of some of the resorts, so capacity was less, during the last big recession. After the hurricanes, the big thing was not only tourists wanting to come back, but CMs being able to get to work. This could be similar in that aspect. Anything is possible at this point.

Yeah all air travel being shut down for a week due to 9/11 is the closest parallel we have to this. And 9/11 brought us a lot of new security measuers as a result. I wonder if this is going to be bring an extra focus on cleanliness for businesses and more hand sanitizing stations and the like will become more of the norm even after coronaviris has passed?

 

[Krandor]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1238964729948835842

ugh. This is bad.

 

[mshanson3121]

ugh. This is bad.

I expect this is the beginning of planes getting grounded

 

[Krandor]

I live in Georgia and our primaries were scheduled for end of march (early voting was in progress) and it just got moved to May 19. It is just a reschedule and not a cancellation so I'm good with it. However since an election can't do a 2 week at a time thing like disney can I think it gives some insight into when people really think things may get back to normal and fits in with the end april/mid may most here are thinking.