This has been a really good thread with mostly measured and reasonable reactions. I really feel for everyone who had trips planned this year, waited it out for news during the lockdowns, and are now disappointed to decide that a trip this year isnt worth it to them. I consider myself very lucky that I did not have a trip planned-- even before Covid we had been eyeing 2021 as our next WDW trip, and now who knows even then what it will look like. As a meticulous trip planner myself, I really sympathize with those who spent alot of time and effort now wasted.
Although most of the reactions here seem to make a lot of sense, and while I certainly understand frustration and a need to vent, I'd encourage people not to allow Disney's reopening decisions and policies to taint their view about future trips post-Covid-restrictions (whenever that is). Call me an apologist if you like.
Re: masks-- I completely understand if the mask requirement is a deal-breaker for folks, it would be for me too. From Disney perspective, they NEED to impose this restriction based on what we know about the virus. Summer Florida heat poses immense challenges as some have pointed out-- it's my hope that they have more medical staff on-hand and make free-water extremely easy to access.
Re: Disney mgmt and their decisions/motives-- these decisions are not geared towards short or even midterm profits, in the traditional sense. They are not using this as an "excuse" to keep things closed-- the Disney profit machine really wants full parks, full hotels, and a system humming at full speed so that they can GROW their opportunity for profit. That is not possible right now. They are in a NO WIN situation here, as countless businesses are right now. From a business perspective, I am 99.99% sure that their decisions are motivated towards avoiding a major outbreak of Covid cases being linked to Disney world. If such a thing were to happen, they honestly would be in real, real, real trouble longterm. They, unfortunately, knew that they would NEED to disappoint and potentially upset many customers. Please keep this in mind.
As an observer who has not experienced the moving goalposts (changing promos/terms, cancelled plans, etc), I think they could have done better and probably should not have extended offers after the closing that they were not confident they could honor. That has, understandably, created some ill will here. As an individual, feel free to vent, as you should, but take it as an opportunity to channel your hard-earned money into something else you value, or to save for the future.
Again, if it were me, I'd be extremely frustrated and disappointed also. Let's hope we get back close to normal at some point.