Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[closetmickey]

I know POR is a “seasonal resort” in the it has its diehards and it’s an overflow during peak seasons, but the number and current history do not bode well for my favorite resort!
In spring 2019 I went to POR and the CM told me they were at 7% capacity. (Granted it’s got a lot of rooms!)
in fall 2019 I overheard the Uber guy talking to a CM who said he’d have better luck staging at another resort- they were under 10% capacity on a Friday night.

we went there weekly for beignets and the atmosphere was always awesome because it was never slam packed like other value and moderates can get in the main areas

they’ve been wanting to shut it down for a long time- maybe this is it for POR as we know it.

We've stayed at POR and absolutely loved it

 

[jemtx]

I posted this in the news thread, but thought it might interest people here as well.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1357184099119738880

Wonder what holiday or time of year they are testing them for??

 

[princesscinderella]

Wonder what holiday or time of year they are testing them for??

I’m going to guess they are doing it make a cake overlay for the 50th on the castle ala the 25th anniversary celebration

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm looking forward to Gran Destino and all of CSR in general. I think the Tower itself and the grounds of CSR are better looking than Grand Floridian (have not seen CSR in person but have GF) and I think Three Bridges and Dahlia Lounge look phenomenal. I also like the looks of the main pool better.

We don't mind buses so location isn't that big of a deal. And we Uber a lot.

Now if they moved us to Yacht Club or Riviera, then we'd be talking.

I’m not a fan of GF either. I prefer poly

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I'm looking forward to Gran Destino and all of CSR in general. I think the Tower itself and the grounds of CSR are better looking than Grand Floridian (have not seen CSR in person but have GF) and I think Three Bridges and Dahlia Lounge look phenomenal. I also like the looks of the main pool better.

We don't mind buses so location isn't that big of a deal. And we Uber a lot.

Now if they moved us to Yacht Club or Riviera, then we'd be talking.

I loved the room at GDT. It's had my favorite shower of all the resorts so far (I very much dislike tubs and GDT had a nice big shower). The building is gorgeous (we're actually going to do a lantern wall like the one in the tower entrance when we build). Dahlia was a very pleasant experience - it was a relaxed but upscale atmosphere and the food was excellent. Three Bridges is also a very nice atmosphere, although I wasn't super thrilled with the food. We almost never use the pools except at the Poly and Stormalong - nothing about the looks of the GF pool has caught my eye.

With the EPCOT monorail line not running, I don't feel like the GF has great transportation except obv to MK. I also felt like the rooms at GF could use a sprucing up. We had Poly booked this mo and they moved us to GF which we're fairly meh about, esp considering all the GF restaurants that aren't open. We would've preferred Yacht but GF is what was offered.

 

[preemiemama]

Wonder what holiday or time of year they are testing them for??

Not sure- I am just hoping it means something is coming again...soon!

 

[Farro]

disney did a really good job of filling spots in the calendar, but it certainly wasn’t at rack room pricing.
Think about all the competitions, business retreats and conventions, pop Warner contracts, cheer and dance contracts and overseas groups, adding in new events/festivals/limited offerings to entice more people in “low attendance times”, packages for European guests for onsite options that were close to two weeks long, etc.

If Disney was at capacity I doubt they’d be jumping through all those hoops- I for one was happy to see pop warner gone for 2021.

So you are saying they offer food/wine and have cheer comps because they are having trouble filling rooms, pre-covid?

I dont know...I'm not saying they were booked to capacity but I'm not sure about the 7% numbers you are posting. But I don't have access to that info, so who knows!

Soooo, I asked some posters elsewhere who would know and they said pre-covid, Disney resorts were running at 90% occupancy.

And didn't think POR was in danger of closing, but you never know.

 

[jemtx]

Not sure- I am just hoping it means something is coming again...soon!

Me too.

 

[Moliphino]

Soooo, I asked some posters elsewhere who would know and they said pre-covid, Disney resorts were running at 90% occupancy.

And didn't think POR was in danger of closing, but you never know.

POR was also excluded from Free Dining for quite a few years. You'd think it would have been included if they needed help filling it.

 

[mattpeto]

Somebody please give the back story for POR.

I didn't realize they were accepting any bookings there at all. But the reservations through October are being transferred to other Moderates?

 

[Sarahslay]

Soooo, I asked some posters elsewhere who would know and they said pre-covid, Disney resorts were running at 90% occupancy.

And didn't think POR was in danger of closing, but you never know.

I talked to my friend that does analytic type stuff for Disney and she said she's never, ever, ever seen a number even close to as low as 7% for any Disney resort aside from reopening, and that especially includes POR which is one of their more popular moderates. She said they chose what places to open based on transportation and staffing, it just didn't make the cut, but she was highly doubtful it meant anything other than the fact that it's massive and doesn't have the best transportation options as far as Disney is concerned. So Disney already had NBA in CSR so some staffing and resort readiness was already happining, and they have the tower which they can charge more for, and CBR has the skyliner so it probably just didn't make sense to open POR or POFQ. It's no because they weren't filling rooms, and they were doing a general soft refurb there anyway so why would they do that if they were having such poor occupancy.

 

[CastAStone]

I talked to my friend that does analytic type stuff for Disney and she said she's never, ever, ever seen a number even close to as low as 7% for any Disney resort aside from reopening, and that especially includes POR which is one of their more popular moderates.

Yes it is literally impossible that the 7% occupancy number is accurate. A really bad day at POR would be in the 80s. Disney is exceptionally good at using price to balance hotel demand.

 

[vacationer1954]

The points about Gran Destino and the Skyliner do make a lot of sense though. However, it seems strange to me that CSR is open but Toledo is not.

 

[Eric Smith]

The points about Gran Destino and the Skyliner do make a lot of sense though. However, it seems strange to me that CSR is open but Toledo is not.

There are a lot of table service restaurants in open resorts that have not reopened. We stayed in Beach Club in December and there are no table service restaurants open in that resort. The current occupancy at the resorts probably mean that table service restaurants wouldn't be busy if they were open. On top of that, Coronado is way out of the way so you wouldn't see a whole lot of people making trips over there to go eat.

 

[vacationer1954]

That's my point: The entirety of CSR is available. You mentioned the Beach Club... ONLY the villas are open. The hotel rooms are not. The same is true at the Polynesian, the BoardWalk, Copper Creek and Jambo House.

 

[Eric Smith]

That's my point: The entirety of CSR is available. You mentioned the Beach Club... ONLY the villas are open. The hotel rooms are not. The same is true at the Polynesian, the BoardWalk, Copper Creek and Jambo House.

Just because the whole resort is available doesn't mean that the whole resort is occupied.

 

[Farro]

That's my point: The entirety of CSR is available. You mentioned the Beach Club... ONLY the villas are open. The hotel rooms are not. The same is true at the Polynesian, the BoardWalk, Copper Creek and Jambo House.

Just because the whole resort is available doesn't mean that the whole resort is occupied.

Technically only Gran Destino and Casitas are being used (although now it's Ranchos/Cabanas while Casitas are used for NBA)

 

[Farro]

Totally off topic - well, kind of - but I have the news on in the background and they did a poll and it said more than 50% of Americans are ready to start traveling!

I think there will be a travel BOOM come summer/fall.

 

[vacationer1954]

Next summer will be crazy.

 

[leahgoogle]

POR was also excluded from Free Dining for quite a few years. You'd think it would have been included if they needed help filling it.

It was hit or miss. We did get free dining at POR last time we went as a family in 2019.