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

[Krandor]

Uhhh no. Look all around them...all other water parks are opening...all reports have shown that chlorine kills the virus. The other parks are just doing more cleaning etc.

It's all about the money and unfortunately for a company as big as Disney...they don't need every dime...so they choose to want a payoff that's bigger for them and if they can't get it, then it's not worth it to them.

No. It is not about a payoff. With all the restrictions Disney is not making money. They are reducing losses and adding water parks isn’t going to help do that at this stage.

 

[KevinsKarebear]

So if people are speculating that parks are already at risk to not get everyone whose already booked in, should those of us booked in early 2021 be worried about capacities if those people rebook when they can find availability? I know all of this is a waiting game, but what does everyone think about how long they will keep this going or about how much they are really overbooked by?

 

[heaven2dc]

I was playing around with dates and couldn't find any then read this on Disneyworld.com (of course, this is pending official approval by the Governor to reopen the parks which I hadn't seen any update as of tonight):

"The parks will reopen with some important updates to promote physical distancing, including:

Park Reservations: Initially, park attendance will be managed through a new park reservation system. To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date is required.
New Ticket Sales: At this time, new ticket sales are temporarily paused. Existing ticket holders and Annual Passholders will be able to make reservation requests in phases before new tickets are sold. Additional details will be shared with these Guests soon. New ticket sales will resume after that period of time.
New Disney Resort Hotel Reservations: At this time, new reservations at Disney Resort hotels are temporarily paused so we can focus on Guests with existing reservations (Disney Vacation Club Members can still make new reservations). Reservations will resume after that period of time."

It goes on to mention "Additionally, attractions, experiences (such as shows, parades and fireworks), services and amenities may have limited availability or may remain closed. We will provide more information as it becomes available. We reserve the right to cancel any reservations, admission media or purchases and provide applicable refunds."

I'll be anxious to learn when new reservations can be made as well purchasing tickets, and updated park hours/happenings.

 

[Leigh L]

I’m really curious how non date based tickets will work. We have the military salute park hopper plus tickets and a room booked at French Quarter in September. Will we be contacted about the new reservation process? Or will only those with date based tickets purchased from Disney be eligible for that?

If water parks and park hopping are a no go, will a partial cost of the ticket be refunded?

I’ve been trying really hard to remain positive and wait and see but it’s starting to become very difficult for me. I’m starting to become very discouraged about our trip in September.

I have the same question as we're in the same situation. We have two salute hoppers (DD and I are splitting our ticket days between August and November) and two non-date based Magic Your Way tickets (exp 2030 but must be used in full - I think within two weeks - after they are scanned once). Like you, we're also staying on property. My plan was to add 2 days to the Salute tickets at Shades of Green where I'd purchased them so we could cover both trips. (I'm hoping I can still do that.)

Hopefully more information will come soon, it does read unclear.

 

[Anna H]

Yeah, I have a feeling our existing FP are not long for this world. I haven’t been able to modify anything for a few hours now.

So is it not worth making FP selections when our time to pick comes? I feel like I made it through the first round on a game show but it's still anyone's game. I don't want to make plans before we know our reservation is solid. I went from relieved to have a booking to realizing that we will still probably get canceled once they discover that they are over capacity. I feel like they consciously took more reservations than they need and there will be another round of pink slips for July/August trips.

 

[Anna H]

So if people are speculating that parks are already at risk to not get everyone whose already booked in, should those of us booked in early 2021 be worried about capacities if those people rebook when they can find availability? I know all of this is a waiting game, but what does everyone think about how long they will keep this going or about how much they are really overbooked by?

If they are already over-capacity with hotel guests alone, are they going to literally cancel some existing bookings in favor of allowing people who didn't make any reservations? That seems unfair. The cracks are starting to show in this whole plan.

 

[crayon3448]

Welp, it took me most of the day but the excitement has worn off. I keep hearing over and over that Disney hotels were already booked beyond what a lowered capacity could accomodate and people with resevations could still get cancelled. This is too much. I gotta cancel and it breaks my heart.

I think with these new policies and reduced hours Disney is hoping enough people cancel reservations on their own.

 

[cakebaker]

I think with these new policies and reduced hours Disney is hoping enough people cancel reservations on their own.

I agree. I think if they had their way, they wouldn't be open at all until August. They're offering a shell like opening and hoping as many people cancel as possible. They aren't looking to fill the parks or the resorts.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Welp, it took me most of the day but the excitement has worn off. I keep hearing over and over that Disney hotels were already booked beyond what a lowered capacity could accomodate and people with resevations could still get cancelled. This is too much. I gotta cancel and it breaks my heart.

If they are already over-capacity with hotel guests alone, are they going to literally cancel some existing bookings in favor of allowing people who didn't make any reservations? That seems unfair. The cracks are starting to show in this whole plan.

While I don’t read everything and may have missed it, I personally haven’t seen much chatter on resorts being booked “beyond capacity.”. Can you point to where you are hearing this?

 

[TomorrowlandKD]

I think we're all flipping out about these "cracks in the whole plan" when NONE of them have been announced yet. Accept what we know so far and let's ride the wave as the news come. That's all we can do now.

 

[GPC0321]

It almost seems like WDW is purposely making choices that benefit their smaller rivals. Universal and SeaWorld are probably grateful that they're going to have a month to operate out from under the Mouse's shadow. They'll be the main game in town for the locals for an entire month. That has to be very beneficial to them. And with Disney keeping their water parks shuttered, that helps the places that are opening their water parks be able to compete.

In order to phase into these reopenings, I would imagine one area of concern is flooding Orlando with tourists from all over the country and world. The way it stands now, with Universal and SeaWorld being opened first, then Disney opening a month later, it seems to me that they're targeting locals first and then expanding to the national and international guests. Not that national and international guests don't come to Universal and SeaWorld, but I think most of those also come for WDW, and if WDW remains closed, less national and international guests will come to Orlando just for Universal and SeaWorld.

I think there is a much bigger picture and a lot more in play here than "Disney only cares about money." I guarantee you SeaWorld and Universal care about money just as much as WDW, and are relishing in the opportunity they've got now to have an entire month in prime summer vacation time to welcome Floridians and others who choose to visit without WDW.

 

[yulilin3]

I agree. I think if they had their way, they wouldn't be open at all until August. They're offering a shell like opening and hoping as many people cancel as possible. They aren't looking to fill the parks or the resorts.

something that has not been mentioned and its a true possibility is that Disney did plan to open later but with the horrible unemployment system where most of their furloughed CMs have not gotten anything and the federal checks ending in July (which again most CM have not seen) Disney is afraid most of their CM will jump ship and look for work. Imagine a large percentage of CM leaving because they just need an income, Disney doesn't have the capacity right now to hire a large amount of new people and train them properly

 

[Anna H]

I agree. I think if they had their way, they wouldn't be open at all until August. They're offering a shell like opening and hoping as many people cancel as possible. They aren't looking to fill the parks or the resorts.

Interesting points. It's hard to believe that they would underestimate the demand for Disney by leaving reservations available up to minutes before announcing their open plan which they likely had fairly set in stone for a month or more. If the lines at the souvenir store in DS are any indication, there is very much a demand. On the other hand, that store costs nothing to visit. Paying top tier prices for a reduced vacation experience wouldn't even appeal to us if we didn't have such an emotional connection to the parks and a bad year even before the pandemic.

I hope everyone on the books can go if they want to.

 

[cakebaker]

It's hard to believe that they would understatimate the demand for Disney by leaving reservations available up to minutes before announcing their open plan

Reservations were open to book after the announcement. I was watching the task force meeting with my reservation page open. When they announced the date, I went to my reservations and started looking at extending or changing my dates. Our check out day was July 11. lol How much luck do I have??? At any rate, I looked around and played with dates until the meeting was near over. I could have easily modified or made a new reservation. I'm not sure when they actually locked down reservations, but I was playing with mine until at least the end of the meeting with no problems. Ultimately, I chose not to modify, but the point is, I could have.

That said, who knows how it would've turned out had I made any changes. It would appear they are prioritizing resort guests for entry and it may well be date based. I would've been good with my original dates as they were booked many months ago, but those who just added are probably way down the line and may end up not getting reservations to the parks. It's all muddled right now as it has been for months, but I'd be worried if I just booked for July yesterday

 

[hertamaniac]

I think with these new policies and reduced hours Disney is hoping enough people cancel reservations on their own.

Hence the reason I think local AP holders will be a much larger portion of the park goers, initially.

 

[osufeth24]

something that has not been mentioned and its a true possibility is that Disney did plan to open later but with the horrible unemployment system where most of their furloughed CMs have not gotten anything and the federal checks ending in July (which again most CM have not seen) Disney is afraid most of their CM will jump ship and look for work. Imagine a large percentage of CM leaving because they just need an income, Disney doesn't have the capacity right now to hire a large amount of new people and train them properly

ya, I just now got my first check like 2 days ago. It's a hot mess

 

[cakebaker]

Hence the reason I think local AP holders will be a much larger portion of the park goers, initially.

I would agree except that DVC members are much more likely to be satisfied with a partial opening and spending more time at their resort. They can still make reservations by calling and from what I read, they were booking quickly yesterday. Since resort guests with tickets have priority, and what I think will be a high demand to go to the parks regardless of the cuts, those without reservations may not have a great many reservations open to them by the time Disney fills the resort demand, especially if we're looking at a 20-30% park capacity limit.

 

[Anna H]

Reservations were open to book after the announcement. I was watching the task force meeting with my reservation page open. When they announced the date, I went to my reservations and started looking at extending or changing my dates. Our check out day was July 11. lol How much luck do I have??? At any rate, I looked around and played with dates until the meeting was near over. I could have easily modified or made a new reservation. I'm not sure when they actually locked down reservations, but I was playing with mine until at least the end of the meeting with no problems. Ultimately, I chose not to modify, but the point is, I could have.

That said, who knows how it would've turned out had I made any changes. It would appear they are prioritizing resort guests for entry and it may well be date based. I would've been good with my original dates as they were booked many months ago, but those who just added are probably way down the line and may end up not getting reservations to the parks. It's all muddled right now as it has been for months, but I'd be worried if I just booked for July yesterday

I'm so sorry you were right on the cusp like that. I was really rooting for all of us.

 

[osufeth24]

I mean what are they thinking (other than $$$ saving)...on a low crowd day with an 8 or 9am opening DHS is a total mess of a sea of ppl at opening...at 10 it's going to be unbearable. As excited as I was that Disney was going to open; I'm thinking it may just not matter. I totally get needing to be precautious and that not everything would be as normal etc., but these things are just cost cutting moves that's going to make an already not as magical trip extremely frustrating. It's almost like they're telling ppl. not to come. Wow...really disappointed. I wouldn't have thought the business with the most money would be the one to downsize/downgrade the most...very sad.

With the new reservation system, there's not going to be this sea of people like you normally would have at opening. People who didn't reserve aren't getting in.

 

[cakebaker]

something that has not been mentioned and its a true possibility is that Disney did plan to open later but with the horrible unemployment system where most of their furloughed CMs have not gotten anything and the federal checks ending in July (which again most CM have not seen) Disney is afraid most of their CM will jump ship and look for work. Imagine a large percentage of CM leaving because they just need an income, Disney doesn't have the capacity right now to hire a large amount of new people and train them properly

I agree. All the other parks in the area opening undoubtedly forced Disney's hand. I think that's why we're seeing parks opening, but honestly, opening with as few offerings as possible. I just wonder how many CM's will actually get called back with all the cuts. They're certainly not going to need the numbers they normally do. I honestly feel for the CM's who, despite the opening, will still be waiting for unemployment. Even with other parks opening, the job market has got to be tough right now in the area.