Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[VeroGuy]

The Room cancellation thread is closed so I thought I'd check in here......our upcoming reservation is 6/12-19 and I received the final payment reminder on Wednesday, called and was told that payments are now not due until 7 days prior to arrival....but I received a past due notice e-mail this morning warning that I risk having the reservation cancelled ..... I am going to go ahead and move it to later, I was holding out hope that an incentive would be offered to change the reservation but that doesn't seem to be the case. I fully expect that Disney would have cancelled it anyway in the next two weeks but I am upset by the late notice e-mail, I always pay my bills on time!!!!!

I got the same email and was told by the CM to ignore it as it was an automated email in a part of the system they weren’t changing do to the hassle of it. As someone in IT who deals with scripting and complex softwares I completely understand. I wouldn’t be to worried. Sorry you have to move your trip, my wife and I are still discussing what we are going to do at this point.

 

[mouserrificmom]

Yep. I just called and was told the same thing. Sorry to hear your trip is affected as well - but, there are surely bigger things to worry about and it will just be so great when we can finally head back home!!

 

[lilypgirl]

Without the parks? Why not go to a nice hotel?
ETA: that’s where we went for our honeymoon too. But, in this hypothetical situation, with no parks open, we would opt for an actual luxury hotel.

Yes same for us!

 

[cakebaker]

I would. Beats driving home after a long evening at Victoria & Albert's.

But would you stay a week at a deluxe resort, paying upwards of $400 a night or more? That's the difference between local visitors and someone taking a vacation to WDW. I think they are much more likely to do some kind of preview for a day or two involving CM's or locals without the resorts being open at all, just to test out procedures, if they do anything at all. But really, as Yulilin said, there's not a lot to test out, especially in the resorts- no need to open them before the parks. It's the parks where the challenges lie. If Disney is looking to opening with a positive contribution by the parks- it's not happening with an opening that doesn't include resorts and parks being open. Their money maker is the guest traveling from out of state, staying on site for the duration of their multi day trip.

I think Disney resorts, especially the deluxe and villas are beautiful, but there's no arguing for the price they charge, one can stay at a much more luxurious hotel for less. And when you look at the price for the values- you can easily pay half the price and stay at an equally good motel. The draw to the resorts are accesibility to the parks, and the perks you get for staying there. Without the parks, the draw is gone.

 

[rpb718]

@yulilin3 - I noticed when you were at the park gates at CityWalk that it didn't look like any social distancing measures had been applied within the park yet (at least that could be seen from the gates/fences). Hopefully someone will be keeping an eye periodically to see if any changes have been made. BTW - Toothsome may be opening soon (if not already). No pressure

 

[Eric Smith]

But would you stay a week at a deluxe resort, paying upwards of $400 a night or more? That's the difference between local visitors and someone taking a vacation to WDW. I think they are much more likely to do some kind of preview for a day or two involving CM's or locals without the resorts being open at all, just to test out procedures, if they do anything at all. But really, as Yulilin said, there's not a lot to test out, especially in the resorts- no need to open them before the parks. It's the parks where the challenges lie. If Disney is looking to opening with a positive contribution by the parks- it's not happening with an opening that doesn't include resorts and parks being open. Their money maker is the guest traveling from out of state, staying on site for the duration of their multi day trip.

I think Disney resorts, especially the deluxe and villas are beautiful, but there's no arguing for the price they charge, one can stay at a much more luxurious hotel for less. And when you look at the price for the values- you can easily pay half the price and stay at an equally good motel. The draw to the resorts are accesibility to the parks, and the perks you get for staying there. Without the parks, the draw is gone.

I probably wouldn’t stay a week at a deluxe but I could see myself staying a few nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge and being perfectly happy.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I don’t understand why they think opening hotels & resorts first makes sense? Who would go?

I think they could open DVC first because they have such an issue there with lost points and impacting future availability and strain on the system. They will be able to test out new procedures and apply changes if needed for all resorts when they all open up. I could see DVC opening first, then the rest of the resorts for a short time, then the parks.

Many DVC members already do resort only stays and want/need to use their points.

They definitely have a complicated problem on their hands with DVC points and use years so they are going to have to jump on it ASAP when they can, whether parks are open or not.

Not sure if they would open the hotel sides of the hybrids (like Contemporary with BLT, GF with VGF, etc.) at the same time as the DVC sides or phase that as well.

My opinion about how this will all phase in changes by the day.

 

[cakebaker]

I probably wouldn’t stay a week at a deluxe but I could see myself staying a few nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge or Wilderness Lodge and being perfectly happy.

I'm not saying no one would go, a few would, but not nearly enough to justify even having a single resort open, let alone even 1 from each category. And I don't see what good Disney would get out of it- what's there to test at the resorts that helps them with the parks if the parks aren't open? I just think it's much more likely they would open everything to resort guests only- it would encourage resort stays and still limit the number of people going to the parks - and I don't really think they'll do that either. It's much more likely they'd run some kind of test with CM's and friends first if they were of a mind to test things out.

And I do think there's a world of difference between having the parks open or closed if resorts are open. As I've said before, when we were cancelled in March, the resorts were still staying open and continued to be open for some period of time after closing the parks. We could've gone, hit the parks for 1 day, then spent a few days at the resort. We rejected doing that, despite being just crushed about the trip, because to us, staying at a resort that overlooked a park that would be shuttered seemed to be more depressing than staying home. I just can't imagine doing it.

 

[BG2457VT]

I think they could open DVC first because they have such an issue there with lost points and impacting future availability and strain on the system. They will be able to test out new procedures and apply changes if needed for all resorts when they all open up. I could see DVC opening first, then the rest of the resorts for a short time, then the parks.

Many DVC members already do resort only stays and want/need to use their points.

They definitely have a complicated problem on their hands with DVC points and use years so they are going to have to jump on it ASAP when they can, whether parks are open or not.

Not sure if they would open the hotel sides of the hybrids (like Contemporary with BLT, GF with VGF, etc.) at the same time as the DVC sides or phase that as well.

My opinion about how this will all phase in changes by the day.

This is what the Mayor's "resorts first" opinion said to me. DVC is going to succumb to the snowball effect very soon because the points can't just be wiped away like somebody's AS reservation. I don't think Disney is in much of a hurry to do anything park wise, but the DVC points pile has to be a concern.

 

[abnihon]

Part of the appeal of a resort stay at Disney is that you can still do things like view fireworks from the Poly or a fireworks cruise so you can still feel that Disney Magic.
It would feel kind of sad to look across Bay Lake and see the castle dark.
At first I thought I’d be all for a resort stay but now I’ve decided if that’s the case I’ll go on my backup Charleston beach vacation for less money and probably have a very relaxing time.

 

[hertamaniac]

BTW - Toothsome may be opening soon (if not already). No pressure

Toothsome is now open, but limited:

 

[yulilin3]

Toothsome is now open:

View attachment 495006

my son went yesterday and he was telling me about the other openings, the restaurant is not open though just where you buy the chocolates and gift shop. I'm assuming more and more will open now that the restaurants can have 50% inside

 

[hertamaniac]

my son went yesterday and he was telling me about the other openings, the restaurant is not open though just where you buy the chocolates and gift shop. I'm assuming more and more will open now that the restaurants can have 50% inside

Yes, they are taking a very careful, slow approach. Once this restaurant is open, we'll head down (avocado bruschetta is all I need). I doubt Jacques or Penelope will be onsite for photos.

I think they'll open the upper level eateries all at once at the reduced capacity.

 

[Violetspider]

Part of the appeal of a resort stay at Disney is that you can still do things like view fireworks from the Poly or a fireworks cruise so you can still feel that Disney Magic.
It would feel kind of sad to look across Bay Lake and see the castle dark.
At first I thought I’d be all for a resort stay but now I’ve decided if that’s the case I’ll go on my backup Charleston beach vacation for less money and probably have a very relaxing time.

Agree 100%! My nephew's DVC family would never go on their July 6th trip if the parks weren't open, which would mean my summer trip would be out as well. We love being on the porch at Bay Lake at night with all the MK attractions lit up, the fireworks and piped in music. That and no rides? No way, no how!

 

[Princess Merida]

I would also go resort only. We have done a few resort only cash and DVC stays. We live in VA and really want to be out of the house. I know it's no fireworks so still not great, but is the castle really not lit at night? I would assume if resorts are open the castle would be lit as well as the Epcot ball. Thinking of a dark castle makes me so sad.

 

[Mit88]

There are people that would do resort only, but there’s not enough to fill enough rooms to make it worthwhile to them while not having too many to overcrowd the resorts and DS. Even when the parks are open, the pools at every hotel are packed on nice days. Take the parks out of the equation and there’s going to be a big issue with distancing. So they’d have to close the pool off to a certain amount of people. So now you’re paying 100s of dollars a night at their hotels and the parks are closed, and the pools have capacity limits. It’s all fine and good to say you’re fine with resort only stays when you’re not there. They start taking amenities away at the hotels and see how people react

 

[LSUmiss]

But would you stay a week at a deluxe resort, paying upwards of $400 a night or more? That's the difference between local visitors and someone taking a vacation to WDW. I think they are much more likely to do some kind of preview for a day or two involving CM's or locals without the resorts being open at all, just to test out procedures, if they do anything at all. But really, as Yulilin said, there's not a lot to test out, especially in the resorts- no need to open them before the parks. It's the parks where the challenges lie. If Disney is looking to opening with a positive contribution by the parks- it's not happening with an opening that doesn't include resorts and parks being open. Their money maker is the guest traveling from out of state, staying on site for the duration of their multi day trip.

I think Disney resorts, especially the deluxe and villas are beautiful, but there's no arguing for the price they charge, one can stay at a much more luxurious hotel for less. And when you look at the price for the values- you can easily pay half the price and stay at an equally good motel. The draw to the resorts are accesibility to the parks, and the perks you get for staying there. Without the parks, the draw is gone.

Yes my resort portion of the trip is $3700 alone. I’m not spending they with no parks. And I’m not flying or driving all the way to wdw for a 1 or 2 night stay.

 

[stayathomehero]

I would also go resort only. We have done a few resort only cash and DVC stays. We live in VA and really want to be out of the house. I know it's no fireworks so still not great, but is the castle really not lit at night? I would assume if resorts are open the castle would be lit as well as the Epcot ball. Thinking of a dark castle makes me so sad.

Pure speculation, but I'm sure Disney would light them up if guests could see them from an open resort. Almost like a beacon of hope...

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

People go for resort only stays all the time. Not everyone likes the same thing. I’d rather stay at a scenic themed disney hotel with interesting places to walk around and explore, and have basically no interested in fancy hotel with lots of amenities.

I love going for resort-only stays. But that is when the resorts are fully open and have their typical activities and no oppressive restrictions.

Now, they will probably have to cancel so many cool resort activities- the tours, the cookie decorating, the t-shirt making, the horseback rides, the archery lessons, the marshmallow roasts, the pool games, the face painting, maybe movie nights . . .

I hope that is not true. I love the resorts at least as much as the parks. But probably not now. Probably more fun to go to a beach resort where there are fewer restrictions and limitations.

I hope I am wrong.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The Room cancellation thread is closed so I thought I'd check in here......our upcoming reservation is 6/12-19 and I received the final payment reminder on Wednesday, called and was told that payments are now not due until 7 days prior to arrival....but I received a past due notice e-mail this morning warning that I risk having the reservation cancelled ..... I am going to go ahead and move it to later, I was holding out hope that an incentive would be offered to change the reservation but that doesn't seem to be the case. I fully expect that Disney would have cancelled it anyway in the next two weeks but I am upset by the late notice e-mail, I always pay my bills on time!!!!!

The email is auto-generated and the jerks haven’t turned it off/re-programmed it/notified those with trips during that time to ignore it.