Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[lntx]

I thought for sure I'd wake up to a Disney announcement this morning! I wonder what the delay is? Surely they're not still planning to open April 1st? I have a reservation April 2nd-5th. I may just go ahead and cancel it today, but wanted to wait till an announcment was made. UGH!

 

[wareagle57]

I thought for sure I'd wake up to a Disney announcement this morning! I wonder what the delay is? Surely they're not still planning to open April 1st? I have a reservation April 2nd-5th. I may just go ahead and cancel it today, but wanted to wait till an announcment was made. UGH!

Yeah it's starting to get annoying. I've had in my mind that it is 100% going to be closed for our April trip but I still would like to get some confirmation before I cancel. I don't get why they are a full day behind Universal when normally Universal follows Disney's lead.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Yeah it's starting to get annoying. I've had in my mind that it is 100% going to be closed for our April trip but I still would like to get some confirmation before I cancel. I don't get why they are a full day behind Universal when normally Universal follows Disney's lead.

And many of us really can't do anything until we get the official announcement from Disney. Of course, if they do only extend through April 19 or 20, it won't help me yet since we don't arrive until April 25.

 

[jknezek]

Yeah it's starting to get annoying. I've had in my mind that it is 100% going to be closed for our April trip but I still would like to get some confirmation before I cancel. I don't get why they are a full day behind Universal when normally Universal follows Disney's lead.

I find this fascinating as well. At this point, it's hard to fathom the reason they haven't announced that WDW is shut down through the shelter in place order at least. There is no way they can define themselves as an essential business activity so it's obvious they will not be open at least that long. I suspect much longer. I can think of a few minor reasons why there has been some delay, and we've come up with a few throughout the thread, but at some point you are just irritating your customers.

On the other hand, I'm not quite sure why people are waiting to cancel. If you are flying in from the Northeast you would have to wait 2 weeks anyway. And, especially during the shelter in place, there won't be any employees to run WDW anyway. So go ahead and cancel. I don't think Disney will give you anything extra, or penalize you any worse, if you hold out until the official cancellation.

** edited to add -- If you are after the shelter in place and driving in I can see why you'd still wait. But that's not in the 7 day window anyway.

 

[meremac]

Yeah it's starting to get annoying. I've had in my mind that it is 100% going to be closed for our April trip but I still would like to get some confirmation before I cancel. I don't get why they are a full day behind Universal when normally Universal follows Disney's lead.

Agreed. I understand the need to be patient, but we are now one week away from April 1. For us TA's, it been hard because we don't know what to tell our clients. We don't know if our commission will be protected past April 1. And we don't know how to advise our mid-April clients at all! Seeing Universal move forward yesterday with a very clear announcement and straightforward information for TA's only twisted the knife a little more. I find it hard to believe that Disney doesn't have this information internally at this point. It's frustrating that they aren't just releasing it.

 

[Farro]

So - sorry, but I think it's ridiculous for anyone to be thinking of traveling in the next two weeks.

The disease is still spreading and we should all be doing our part to help slow it down. That includes not traveling to crowded theme parks, chancing bringing it with you or taking it home.

 

[wareagle57]

I find this fascinating as well. At this point, it's hard to fathom the reason they haven't announced that WDW is shut down through the shelter in place order at least. There is no way they can define themselves as an essential business activity so it's obvious they will not be open at least that long. I suspect much longer. I can think of a few minor reasons why there has been some delay, and we've come up with a few throughout the thread, but at some point you are just irritating your customers.

On the other hand, I'm not quite sure why people are waiting to cancel. If you are flying in from the Northeast you would have to wait 2 weeks anyway. And, especially during the shelter in place, there won't be any employees to run WDW anyway. So go ahead and cancel. I don't think Disney will give you anything extra, or penalize you any worse, if you hold out until the official cancellation.

** edited to add -- If you are after the shelter in place and driving in I can see why you'd still wait. But that's not in the 7 day window anyway.

I guess the only reason I am not currently cancelling is 1. not to add to the current call load 2. the off chance it does reopen in some capacity by the end of the month I'd still go since I am local.

 

[meremac]

So - sorry, but I think it's ridiculous for anyone to be thinking of traveling in the next two weeks.

The disease is still spreading and we should all be doing our part to help slow it down. That includes not traveling to crowded theme parks.

Totally agree. But for many people, it would be easier to get money back from secondary suppliers if Disney just announced its plans for an extended closure. There are circumstances where that cannot be initiated until Disney makes their announcement. With only one week to go, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect that they give us some updated information about their plans.

 

[Farro]

Totally agree. But for many people, it would be easier to get money back from secondary suppliers if Disney just announced its plans for an extended closure. There are circumstances where that cannot be initiated until Disney make their announcement. With only one week to go, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect that they give us some updated information about their plans.

I sure hope that's the reason people aren't considering cancelling yet!

 

[meremac]

I sure hope that's the reason people aren't considering cancelling yet!

I think it definitely is. Plus some of our clients are being super patient and letting us wait for Disney's announcement to see if they will protect our commission for their PIF reservation. If we cancel them before the announcement, it's less likely that we would get paid for our work. But I am finding it harder and harder to string them along, so it's putting everyone in a difficult position at this point.

 

[jknezek]

I sure hope that's the reason people aren't considering cancelling yet!

I just spoke with a travel agent friend. Her best advice right now is to wait on Disney to make an announcement before cancelling though they will cancel anyone who asks. She said it's just cleaner for them if they have the real announcement though she has been telling all her clients with April trips she strongly believes the Parks will not reopen in that timeframe and that Disney is not distinguishing between voluntary and forced cancellations. She is telling her May clients she is unsure if it will open. And post May she is just recommending clients sit tight and wait unless they need whatever deposit they've put down back.

So I guess that could be a lot of it as well.

 

[Tandy]

I think it definitely is. Plus some of our clients are being super patient and letting us wait for Disney's announcement to see if they will protect our commission for their PIF reservation. If we cancel them before the announcement, it's less likely that we would get paid for our work. But I am finding it harder and harder to string them along, so it's putting everyone in a difficult position at this point.

Maybe that is what they are doing.. hoping people unknowingly say "screw it Im not waiting - its too close" and cancel. Every day they wait means less commission they have to pay if that happens.

 

[meremac]

I just spoke with a travel agent friend. Her best advice right now is to wait on Disney to make an announcement before cancelling though they will cancel anyone who asks. She said it's just cleaner for them if they have the real announcement though she has been telling all her clients with April trips she strongly believes the Parks will not reopen in that timeframe and that Disney is not distinguishing between voluntary and forced cancellations. She is telling her May clients she is unsure if it will open. And post May she is just recommending clients sit tight and wait unless they need whatever deposit they've put down back.

So I guess that could be a lot of it as well.

Yes to all of that ^^^. It's just getting harder and harder the closer we get though.

 

[Farro]

I just spoke with a travel agent friend. Her best advice right now is to wait on Disney to make an announcement before cancelling though they will cancel anyone who asks. She said it's just cleaner for them if they have the real announcement though she has been telling all her clients with April trips she strongly believes the Parks will not reopen in that timeframe and that Disney is not distinguishing between voluntary and forced cancellations. She is telling her May clients she is unsure if it will open. And post May she is just recommending clients sit tight and wait unless they need whatever deposit they've put down back.

So I guess that could be a lot of it as well.

I get it and I'm sure that's the case for many.

I just read posts on the boards by people who are not cancelling in hopes of parks opening and still being able to go, not because of how their refund would be easier. I think traveling next few weeks isn't the right thing to do (unless somehow things drastically change with Covid).

 

[meremac]

Maybe that is what they are doing.. hoping people unknowingly say "screw it Im not waiting - its too close" and cancel. Every day they wait means less commission they have to pay if that happens.

I really hope that's not it. I'm still hopeful we will see an announcement today so we can move forward with everything, but I must admit that it's becoming really stressful. Fingers crossed for today!

 

[Yarbogash]

Totally agree. But for many people, it would be easier to get money back from secondary suppliers if Disney just announced its plans for an extended closure. There are circumstances where that cannot be initiated until Disney makes their announcement. With only one week to go, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect that they give us some updated information about their plans.

I hope that’s the reason. There’s a popular view in Canada and I think in many other countries that the us is not taking this as seriously as it should. Country is definitely giving mixed signals so it’s hard to gauge where your heads are at.

 

[mshanson3121]

I sure hope that's the reason people aren't considering cancelling yet!

Sadly we've already seen people say they would still go

 

[PamNC]

WOW surely we'll hear something today. I wonder if anyone would go on 4/1 if they do open.

 

[mshanson3121]

WOW surely we'll hear something today. I wonder if anyone would go on 4/1 if they do open.

Guarantee there people who would go. Look at the beaches last week.

 

[Farro]

I hope that’s the reason. There’s a popular view in Canada and I think in many other countries that the us is not taking this as seriously as it should. Country is definitely giving mixed signals so it’s hard to gauge where your heads are at.

Yeah, I think we can point fingers at every country at who's taking what seriously and the how the individual citizens in each country are behaving. Not a helpful argument.