Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Leigh L]

The pictures from Main St for the various Christmas Cavalcade’s this afternoon were very similar to this... and that was with social distancing markers in place. The person posting said there was no one “enforcing’ the crowds.

It looked really bad as we were coming out of the castle, maybe around 7 p.m.? Give or take. When we got down there, it wasn't shoulder to shoulder or anything though,. Six feet, not at all, but we felt OK with it since we could move easily through the crowd on our way to tomorrowland.

Calvades not socially distanced and I'd agree no enforcement (and we watched them all, several times) but they are so short, it wasn't like a parade crowd. We only watched one or two from Main St. and that was the most crowded, but up in the Hub and back in Frontierland we distanced fairly well.

Honestly, I'd be happy if they stuck with Calvacades forever, they are awesome. We enjoyed the projections too, they go well with the new paint job when we came out of the castle and looked up. It was nice to see something and at night at MK. In August the park closed at 6 in the blazing sun.

 

[skeeter31]

I miss it...so much

Me too! I know it’s the minority, but I absolutely loved the cake castle. Still have my tshirt of that castle!

 

[sullivan.kscott]

I don’t see why people feel the need to just stand there and watch, unless it’s right at park close and not dark yet. I know I won’t be standing around, I’ll take that time to get on rides while everyone stands too close together looking at projections you can see as you walk around the park or when you leave.

Yes! They’re cute for what they are, and we’ll snap a family pic or two (hopefully with MM photogs), but it’ll be an in passing type thing for this family, too.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I don’t see why people feel the need to just stand there and watch, unless it’s right at park close and not dark yet. I know I won’t be standing around, I’ll take that time to get on rides while everyone stands too close together looking at projections you can see as you walk around the park or when you leave.

I love watching the ToT projection show. It’s really neat to watch it change.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I heard an annoucnement (live, not recorded) outside 7DMT today about no eating or drinking in line. We were just walking by when I heard it.

We've heard pre-recorded announcements about no eating and drinking in lines the last couple days, but today in line for Dinosaur a CM also made a live announcement (we were outside in a part of the queue I've never been in before). Generally mask compliance has seemed good; we haven't noticed many people breaking the rules and eating in ride lines (I've only noticed one person doing it today in an

Dinosaur also seemed to have one of the longest wait times today (every time I checked MDE it said 30-40 minutes). We hit a cleaning cycle, and it ended up being the ride with the closest actual wait time (30 min) to wait time shown in MDE (40 min).

 

[yulilin3]

In my opinion the projections look beautiful, i really liked the candy cane one and the blue, my DD liked the sweater, the details on it are incredible and it's constantly moving, like shimmering or rotating, obviously this doesn't come out in pictures. I felt fine with the crowds in the hub, my DD was more hesitant. They had alot of photopass around the hub from all angles and down ms i dare 3, one of them facing the tree.
If you're coming shop early, the line for the emporium started at crystal palace all night long, we didn't really do anyt attractions but walked towards tea cups tosee of they would do the Christmas light and music package like last year, but they didn't, that would've been a nice addition that doesn't really impact anything covid related and im disappointed they didn't add it

 

[yulilin3]

The transitions are pretty magical

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[Sarahslay]

I don’t know. We are definitely stop and smell the roses people at WDW. We don’t run from ride to ride trying to do as many things as possible. If my kid wants to stand and watch a duck prance around the hub for 20 minutes, we’ll do it. A lot of our park time is spent just enjoying the ambience and sights and sounds. Just as important as the rides to us. Now, crammed in with others during a pandemic is not my cup of tea, but we are definitely people who like to take a pause and look around. I could just sit on Main Street for hours and hours and never set foot on a ride

I take pause and look around too, trust me, I’ve been more than a dozen times over the last couple of years and I definitely don’t have to ride rides. BUT those projections change every few minutes or so, and there are only 4 of them, there is zero reason to just stand around in the hub and watch them. I will take time to admire, maybe get an evening snack (Christmas treat!) and find a spot nearby to distance and enjoy the projections while I eat, but there is no chance I’m going to run from what I’m doing to go cram myself in right in front of the castle. Projections don’t require that you stand right in front, so I’ll do my own thing and let all those people who feel they need to do that smush up there together. Also, the cavalcades come through several times a day, I had no problem in August seeing them as I went about my day in any park, so there is no need to cram in on Main Street for that either unless you just happen to be there when they come by. I know some people are actively waiting around for them, and that’s fine for them, but even though I’m a stop and smell the roses person I feel it’s a waste of time. If anyone is so inclined to wait for them though while taking a break the relaxation station at Tomorrowland terrace is the perfect spot to have a snack/breather and watch the world go by on the hub.

 

[Jrb1979]

According to Magic Feather at WDWmagic

Many people, and especially @drew81 , have been nudging towards the reality of many shows not returning for a long time if ever.
Out of the dinner shows, the only one I expect to survive is Hoop Dee Doo (and evening it’s future looks a little shaky).
I expect AK to have the highest return rate for these shows (Lion King is almost definite, and Nemo isn’t too far behind).
The only DHS show that isn’t already back that I could see returning is Indy.
Any streetmosphere I’d be shocked to see return, which is a giant tragedy.

 

[sky13]

The projections on the castle look great!

But then again I always love the bit at the end of Happily Ever After where the castle gets lit up beautifully in stunning colours, and the projections are sort of similar to that part of HEA...

Though seeing all these pictures makes me sad that going to WDW isn't a reality for me any time in the near future (I'm not in the US), especially since I'm getting reminders that this time last year I was at WDW!

 

[Sarahslay]

The transitions are pretty magical

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View this content on Instagram

I was watching video of it last night on IG and just love the transitions, they did a good job with those!

 

[Sarahslay]

According to Magic Feather at WDWmagic

Many people, and especially @drew81 , have been nudging towards the reality of many shows not returning for a long time if ever.
Out of the dinner shows, the only one I expect to survive is Hoop Dee Doo (and evening it’s future looks a little shaky).
I expect AK to have the highest return rate for these shows (Lion King is almost definite, and Nemo isn’t too far behind).
The only DHS show that isn’t already back that I could see returning is Indy.
Any streetmosphere I’d be shocked to see return, which is a giant tragedy.

The thing is that none of us know, and it’s probably a waste of time going back and forth on the will they won’t they of shows/entertainment coming back. I don’t even know if Disney knows what’s coming back, this is such a squid time where they have to just do what they can and then evaluate the landscape later. We’ve also already beat this conversation to death right after all the layoffs, and i for one just want to let it rest until someone actually has any concrete evidence/news.

 

[Mit88]

It’s funny these insiders know what will and won’t come back months/years in the future, and have no problem spewing that info, but they didn’t know these things would shut down and be taken away until we all did

 

[mattpeto]

It’s funny these insiders know what will and won’t come back months/years in the future, and have no problem spewing that info, but they didn’t know these things would shut down and be taken away until we all did

Agreed. We literally know nothing.

If we get a vaccine, Disney will start to slowly make itself back to pre-COVID Disney.

This is obvious. They have a capacity limit in place and they can’t wait to crank it all the way up again.

Unless they build 5 more attractions in each park overnight, they will simply need stuff for the guests to do.

Sure I’d expect some changes, but the shows and people eaters will be back.

 

[Jrb1979]

Agreed. We literally know nothing.

If we get a vaccine, Disney will start to slowly make itself back to pre-COVID Disney.

This is obvious. They have a capacity limit in place and they can’t wait to crank it all the way up again.

Unless they build 5 more attractions in each park overnight, they will simply need stuff for the guests to do.

Sure I’d expect some changes, but the shows and people eaters will be back.

If you read what was posted it did say most shows will come back. What most likely won't and they have been slowly cutting it even before Covid, is the streetmosphere stuff. I doubt Citizens of Hollywood and the like will return

 

[Mit88]

Agreed. We literally know nothing.

If we get a vaccine, Disney will start to slowly make itself back to pre-COVID Disney.

This is obvious. They have a capacity limit in place and they can’t wait to crank it all the way up again.

Unless they build 5 more attractions in each park overnight, they will simply need stuff for the guests to do.

Sure I’d expect some changes, but the shows and people eaters will be back.

We all have this idea in our minds that Corporations are evil, and Corporations are just one person (in this case Chapek). If it were only him, sure, entertainment would probably never come back, especially when it comes to stuff that has no ROI. But there are many people in these board meetings that know entertainment is the heart and soul of these parks. While it’s not in the cards financially or safety wise right now, I have a really hard time believing entertainment in and around the parks wont be coming back, let alone people “knowing” these things won’t ever come back

 

[Jrb1979]

We all have this idea in our minds that Corporations are evil, and Corporations are just one person (in this case Chapek). If it were only him, sure, entertainment would probably never come back, especially when it comes to stuff that has no ROI. But there are many people in these board meetings that know entertainment is the heart and soul of these parks. While it’s not in the cards financially or safety wise right now, I have a really hard time believing entertainment in and around the parks wont be coming back, let alone people “knowing” these things won’t ever come back

Could you see them dropping things like Citizens of Hollywood permanently? They have been slowly cutting those things even before Covid.

 

[Mit88]

Could you see them dropping things like Citizens of Hollywood permanently? They have been slowly cutting those things even before Covid.

I could see it being replaced by something else. There’s glut that was being cut pre covid, nothing near the level of popularity that was COH.

Thing is, no one knows. Not a single insider could convince me they know the state of parks entertainment in 2025. So saying this stuff won’t ever come back is purely to attract attention to themselves

 

[Jrb1979]

I could see it being replaced by something else. There’s glut that was being cut pre covid, nothing near the level of popularity that was COH.

Thing is, no one knows. Not a single insider could convince me they know the state of parks entertainment in 2025. So saying this stuff won’t ever come back is purely to attract attention to themselves

I partially agree with that. No one knows 100% but I do tend to believe a bit of what is being said. The poster I got the info from has been more right about things then wrong.

This isn't directed at you but IMO the pictures I have seen of crowds at the projection shows disappoints me. Mainly cause Disney has worked so hard with their rules in regards to masks, physical distancing, no eating or drinking in line. I expect to fix it but have some doubts as they haven't done much when th cavalcades come by.

 

[Mit88]

Disney working on building a new animatronic