Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[TikiTikiFan]

Do you need to wait on a physical line or do they give you a return time if the pool is at capacity?

frustrating but can it be planned around? Say you wanted to leave a park midday and go swimming, so you check in at the pool and go have lunch in the meantime. Is that possible?

Based on what I saw from the posts on the FB groups they were taking down peoples numbers and calling them while others reported standing in a line. Posters said the CMs at Coronado were really overwhelmed by the whole process so I expect (I would hope anyways...) Disney gets something worked out that's more efficient... Feel bad for the CMs, folks said they were taking a lot of abuse for all this. Another post said that 8PM they seemed to just say 'the heck with it' and let everyone come in and pack the pool. But I don't imagine that's a typical occurrence?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

They would not be able to operate the hotel if they only sold rooms to the number of people who fit in the pool area at a given time. Many people who stay at the resorts don’t even go to the pool.

As I said earlier, one easy solution would be to open more things at the resorts to spread crowds out. If your pools are at capacity, you should have other options available for your guests.

 

[SarahC97]

Based on what I saw from the posts on the FB groups they were taking down peoples numbers and calling them while others reported standing in a line. Posters said the CMs at Coronado were really overwhelmed by the whole process so I expect (I would hope anyways...) Disney gets something worked out that's more efficient... Feel bad for the CMs, folks said they were taking a lot of abuse for all this.

I can't even imagine. I do feel really bad for the CMs.

 

[J-Dog]

Thanks to everyone who has been posting in this thread. I had been telling myself that I wouldn’t go until masks were lifted, but was starting to consider it for later this spring. After seeing all these posts about long wait times for quick service meals, to get into shops, and just to get into pools, I think I’ll be waiting until restrictions are lifted. It’s Disney’s right to do whatever they want with restrictions, but I truly wonder how many people who go are surprised by these considering not everyone reads Disney message boards. Here’s to hoping October will be a social distancing and mask free anniversary. If not, I don’t know when I’ll be back. One thing I do know is that it’s Disney property so I’m not going to show up and not follow the rules. I’ll follow them or stay home. Keep posting everyone! I’ll be keeping an eye out for when things start to change.

I totally agree. We are in the exact same boat. I'm so hoping for a mask-free October too. Otherwise, we will go elsewhere.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

As I said earlier, one easy solution would be to open more things at the resorts to spread crowds out. If your pools are at capacity, you should have other options available for your guests.

That would be one thing that would satisfy my kid 'Okay, the pool is full... why don't we go do the arcade?' A few of our kids fun centers (or whatever you call them) in our town have had their arcades open, they just make you use sanitizer before you enter and touch all the machines. It can be done.

This is the same logic with the parks too... open the rest of the restaurants, shops, etc. and this eats up crowds of people. At this point, I don't see a reason not to. You'd think they'd want to spread people out a bit more anyways? Extend the operating hours to pre-covid days so people can have more leisurely breaks and go back to the park. I'm sure that stresses folks out- if you want to go back to your hotel to take a swim break, you need to make sure you do it quickly if the parks close at 7 or 8. I found ourselves not even taking breaks in November (which was a mistake, my legs hurt for weeks lol!) because I was so bummed about the limited hours. Whole thing is frustrating, IMO.

At the very least, I'd be avoiding any next round of spring/summer holiday weekends. Hopefully this is just a case of spring break madness and the crowds will be able to spread a bit more efficiently throughout the summer...

 

[MickeyWaffles]

No doubt they’re trying to recoup costs as much as possible right now. But people are also allowed to voice their concern as consumers. These are just a handful of guests at one resort who cannot access a pool, hours long waits are being reported at multiple resorts.

Yes, everyone is welcome to voice their concerns. I hope everyone who complains does so in a respectful way, as Disney has shared that the pools have limited capacity due to physical distancing.

None of the options to solve this are good. They could require guests to book a pool time window, which is not without issues. People will still get shut out and not be able to book, weather will disrupt people’s reservations, etc. At least this way, everyone has a chance and it’s a level playing field.

The only other way would be to remove the capacity limit which would be terribly irresponsible/unsafe right now.

 

[Eric Smith]

Considering pool capacity is just now becoming a problem post-COVID, yes it is a leap to just assume maybe you can’t even use your resort amenities. Reminder Disney is still charging normal rack rates for resorts, they have exact numbers of guests, they know their capacity numbers and they can manage their resources accordingly. They’re choosing to book full resorts without full resort amenities available.

They’re not hiding the fact that the pools are at limited capacity. It’s been talked about since the reopening. This isn’t new.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

They’re not hiding the fact that the pools are at limited capacity. It’s been talked about since the reopening. This isn’t new.

The 'new' part is that the pools are only recently hitting capacity. That's why it's being talked about now.

None of the options to solve this are good.

Well, none that won't cost them money I suppose. They could certainly open more things at the resorts, but then they would have to pay more CMs.

 

[J-Dog]

They’re not hiding the fact that the pools are at limited capacity. It’s been talked about since the reopening. This isn’t new.

Yes, but as TikiTkiFan just said, it's getting to the point that Disney needs to be doing something about it. If things keep going as they are going, the "Covid" excuse isn't going to work for much longer.

 

[J-Dog]

The 'new' part is that the pools are only recently hitting capacity. That's why it's being talked about now.


Well, none that won't cost them money I suppose. They could certainly open more things at the resorts, but then they would have to pay more CMs.

Yes, I agree that there's plenty of things that can be done about it. Its just a matter of whether Disney wants to do something to improve guest satisfaction, or just keep blaming "Covid" for their cost-cutting.

 

[closetmickey]

I don't think anyone likes it! But just saying, it is what it is. What's the point of calling and yelling at Disney about it?

I don’t know. Maybe offer a free day pass to BB?? I was just there last month and if I couldn’t get into the pool at my deluxe resort (where I am paying DELUXE rates), I would have been livid. Especially when you consider a break in your park day may only be 2 to 3 hours long. Add to that limited park hours and you really don’t have all that time just to wait to get into the pool area. It’s ridiculous. I understand they can’t build pools overnight but they grossly underestimated this impact and should have either limited hotel bookings or had more resorts open. And now they should be finding a way to compensate their guests. I get so tired of listening to all the frequent guests imply that visitors should just roll with it – not everyone has the luxury of visiting WDW often.

 

[Eric Smith]

The 'new' part is that the pools are only recently hitting capacity. That's why it's being talked about now.


Well, none that won't cost them money I suppose. They could certainly open more things at the resorts, but then they would have to pay more CMs.

What are they able to open? An arcade can maybe hold 10 people at one time right now.

 

[Farro]

I don’t know. Maybe offer a free day pass to BB?? I was just there last month and if I couldn’t get into the pool at my deluxe resort (where I am paying DELUXE rates), I would have been livid. Especially when you consider a break in your park day may only be 2 to 3 hours long. Add to that limited park hours and you really don’t have all that time just to wait to get into the pool area. It’s ridiculous. I understand they can’t build pools overnight but they grossly underestimated this impact and should have either limited hotel bookings or had more resorts open. And now they should be finding a way to compensate their guests. I get so tired of listening to all the frequent guests imply that visitors should just roll with it – not everyone has the luxury of visiting WDW often.

I only go every 4 years.

Maybe they will make it better for summer. Maybe they should put limits on how long guests can stay in the pool area so other guests can use it?

I think it's crazy that I have to wait in line to enter a store in a park or a pavilion at Epcot. But that's what I have to do if I choose to go right now.

 

[closetmickey]

They’re not hiding the fact that the pools are at limited capacity. It’s been talked about since the reopening. This isn’t new.

I never expected our pool to be closed - we were just there a couple weeks ago - and with all the planning we do around here, if I didn’t expect it, I can imagine that lots of others didn’t as well.

 

[J-Dog]

I don't think anyone likes it! But just saying, it is what it is. What's the point of calling and yelling at Disney about it?

The point of calling and yelling at Disney is so that they know that multiple hour waits are not acceptable - the reason doesn't matter considering the price we pay. Maybe if enough people call and yell at them, then they will start opening more things that should be open right now.

 

[Farro]

Hey man, you guys can call until your heart's content! Doesn't bother me.

No one here is going to say anything to satisfy anyone, so let's be done!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

What are they able to open? An arcade can maybe hold 10 people at one time right now.

Ummm all the resort amenities that are still closed. Arcades, marinas, fishing, boat rentals, bike rentals, restaurants, spas, etc etc etc

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I never expected our pool to be closed - we were just there a couple weeks ago - and with all the planning we do around here, if I didn’t expect it, I can imagine that lots of others didn’t as well.

I would have never expected it either, I was so surprised to see these reports. But I suppose, it's not too surprising when you think about it logically. If anything, it's just more reason for folks to book off-site if they want to since the cost might not be worth it for many folks at this point.

I paid the extra for the preferred pool view room at Pop with the logic we were going to swim everyday so it'd be worth it to be extra close.. hopefully we can when we go....

 

[J-Dog]

Hey man, you guys can call until your heart's content! Doesn't bother me.

No one here is going to say anything to satisfy anyone, so let's be done!

But why do we have to "be done"? This topic is directly about Disney's Covid response, so it's on-topic to this thread, and no one that I noticed has made any bigoted comments or personal insults, so what's wrong giving opinions?

 

[Eric Smith]

I never expected our pool to be closed - we were just there a couple weeks ago - and with all the planning we do around here, if I didn’t expect it, I can imagine that lots of others didn’t as well.

You didn't know that pool capacity was limited before you went?