Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[Eeyore daily]

I did see one site just post that recreation CMs are being brought back starting October 3rd, so at least that would be more activities to do around resort areas

I hope one is Animal Kingdom Lodge because that poor place is suffering.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I hope one is Animal Kingdom Lodge because that poor place is suffering.

the note didn't get into a ton of details around locations - only specific I saw mentioned was for boat rentals which will have new safety protocols

 

[rteetz]

I hope one is Animal Kingdom Lodge because that poor place is suffering.

I’m staying there in November and sort of looking forward to the quiet/relaxed atmosphere without many people.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I agree overall this is a positive and good for TWDC to reach out to them, etc

A glass half empty view would indicated this is another sign Disney recognizes they are no where close to bringing the CP back ... If there was good chance they could be brought back within 6 months they probably wouldn't bother doing this

Could a glass half full view also be that they're not doing this because they're desperate for bodies in the parks, but they wanted to do something nice for their CPs and it's a mutually beneficial option?Maybe they didn't do it months ago because they thought whatever lowered capacity they set would be filled with regular ticketed guests and APs. Once they realized that demand wasn't what they expected (and frankly what most of us expected, considering how worried we all seemed to be about getting park reservations as soon as they opened), someone could've said, "hey, remember how we'd talked about allowing CPs to use their tickets? We have the capacity."

I have no insider info on how the CP tickets work, park operations, etc, I'm just wondering if it's not necessarily a sign that they're desperate to fill the parks but more "we're physically able to do this nice thing we wanted to do." Idk, I just read andyman8's initial post about this as leaning pretty negative from an operations standpoint (maybe I misinterpreted things), and I'm wondering if it could be less we NEED more bodies no matter who they are/how much they spend and we won't bring back things until we're filling every park to capacity every day, and more finding a win-win way to do something nice. (This is uncharacteristically sunny thinking on my part.)

There are obviously added benefits such as good PR with the public, good will with employees (including CPs who would return); CPs and their travel companions could stay in resorts; will CPs spend more in parks than many local APs?... It does seem like a mutually beneficial decision. There could also downsides for Disney. If CPs don't spend the money and stay in resorts, they're crowding the parks without seeing revenue, and making crowds/wait times less attractive to regularly ticketed guests who would spend more. (I'm glad they're doing this; I've felt bad for the CPs who didn't get the full experience.)

I don't have any expectations that PH, fireworks, etc, will be back soon/this year. Of course I hope they'll be back soon (not "soon"). I want all the resorts open. But I understand they need the demand/revenue to open things.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Interesting thoughts the last few pages. IMO if Disney isn't happy with their resort occupancy they need to offer a perk or two to guests staying on site. EMH, a FP, SOMETHING. Right now it seems like there is no benefit whatsoever as even the transportation options aren't great or helpful.

It's probably not enough for a lot of people, but we still stay onsite despite none of the usual perks partially because we feel safer staying in the bubble rather than venturing out. We also don't usually drive, so we don't have a car, and we've had less than ideal experiences with offsite hotel transportation under normal conditions. I'm not sure I'd want to risk assuming the offsite buses are distancing guests the way Disney buses are, but still running enough to meet demand without making guests wait even longer than normal. I know there have been reports of long waits for Disney transportation, but we didn't experience that in July/Aug (with admittedly much lower crowds than there are now). We also stayed at CBR and were able to use the skyliner, which obviously isn't an option from offsite hotels. That trip and our early Nov trip were just me and DH, so staying offsite and using Uber was an option, but over Thanksgiving there are 6 of us - we'd have to use 2 Ubers and wait for 3 car seats. Overall, despite fewer Disney transportation options and lowered capacity, I still feel like that's an advantage over staying offsite (or I'm not willing to risk that offsite transportation isn't a problem).

 

[SaintsManiac]

I’m staying there in November and sort of looking forward to the quiet/relaxed atmosphere without many people.

I can definitely understand that. The lobby can be chaotic at times.

P.S. the African Lodge scent from Magic Candle Company is amazing.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

even just opening up more dining or extending the resort area dining hours - I've been hearing lots of reports from people about food options being scarce. That's kind of a bummer on vacation - especially one where (unless it's just my family) food is everywhere all the time.

The lack of resort dining hasn't made sense to me. Why close parks early and leave no options for entertainment or dining at resorts? We stayed at CBR in July/Aug. The pool closed at 9 despite being quite full (they really couldn't pay lifeguards for that one extra hour?) There were also several frustrated guests one evening because apparently they still had Banana Canana listed as closing at 10 online when they were really closing at 9. Overheard a lot of people trying to figure out where/how to get food, and managers ended up coming out to talk to several guests. We got in line at the bar just before 9 and there was a pretty decent crowd. Especially with a captive audience, is it really not economically beneficial to keep the bar open that extra hour?

 

[andyman8]

the note didn't get into a ton of details around locations - only specific I saw mentioned was for boat rentals which will have new safety protocols

I actually think this is very good news. I was worried the marina rentals (one of my favorite things to do at WDW) would be one of the casualties of the pandemic. I always thought they’d be relatively easy to do health and safety-wise: just wipe down the boats and life jackets after use. Given that WDW has phased them out at several resorts a few years ago and had been cross-training more Recreation CMs before the closure, I was worried but I do hope this is a sign they might return.

I’m staying there in November and sort of looking forward to the quiet/relaxed atmosphere without many people.

Are you at Jambo or Kidani?

I can definitely understand that. The lobby can be chaotic at times.

P.S. the African Lodge scent from Magic Candle Company is amazing.

To be honest, I’ve spent way to much money on MCC products throughout this pandemic lol. It’s amazing what a 10% discount can make me justify.
Also, I know several CMs who missed the “smell” of their work location during the closure and purchased the MCC scents for that location to remind themselves of it during the closure. I thought that was really cute.

 

[KBoopaloo]

This could potentially be about filling resorts too. Would be interesting if they ended up offering the cancelled CPs their resort room discount (maybe not the full discount) back too for a period of time.

Back in the stone ages when I was on the CP I became a Campus Rep for the program for the following school year which allowed me to keep my Cast ID (back then CPs did not get the regular cast IDs) and all its benefits plus four one day park hoppers so you better believe I took advantage of the deep room discounts and took a trip. I’d bet they could get some of the CPs in the resorts easily with a good discount combined with making their park passes valid especially with so many colleges doing remote instruction anyway.

 

[MNswimmer18]

Is there a way to check park availability without purchasing a ticket? We go 10/19-10/22 and already made our park reservations. It wouldn't show me availability without canceling the park reservations we already made. My we have someone who might join us for EPCOT 10/20, but is planning on getting a ticket day of, or day before. I'm wondering if there will even be any availability that late. Also, that might change our dinning plans. Right now we have dinner reservations with them included, but I might want to change the location if they aren't coming. They would also need to rent a scooter - is that easy to do last minute?

 

[SaintsManiac]

To be honest, I’ve spent way to much money on MCC products throughout this pandemic lol. It’s amazing what a 10% discount can make me justify.
Also, I know several CMs who missed the “smell” of their work location during the closure and purchased the MCC scents for that location to remind themselves of it during the closure. I thought that was really cute.

I have 12 room sprays and about 7 air fresheners for my car. I definitely have an addiction. I only have 2 candles, because I don't trust my cats to NOT burn the house down.

The funny thing is, my cousin is married to the owner's sister. I feel like I should get an extra family discount!

 

[JacknSally]

Is there a way to check park availability without purchasing a ticket? We go 10/19-10/22 and already made our park reservations. It wouldn't show me availability without canceling the park reservations we already made. My we have someone who might join us for EPCOT 10/20, but is planning on getting a ticket day of, or day before. I'm wondering if there will even be any availability that late. Also, that might change our dinning plans. Right now we have dinner reservations with them included, but I might want to change the location if they aren't coming. They would also need to rent a scooter - is that easy to do last minute?

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/availability-calendar/?segments=tickets,resort,passholder

 

[MNswimmer18]

Thank you! I don't know why when I was searching, all I got was the place you had to select who was reserving.​

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/availability-calendar/?segments=tickets,resort,passholder

 

[MrsBooch]

The lack of resort dining hasn't made sense to me. Why close parks early and leave no options for entertainment or dining at resorts? We stayed at CBR in July/Aug. The pool closed at 9 despite being quite full (they really couldn't pay lifeguards for that one extra hour?) There were also several frustrated guests one evening because apparently they still had Banana Canana listed as closing at 10 online when they were really closing at 9. Overheard a lot of people trying to figure out where/how to get food, and managers ended up coming out to talk to several guests. We got in line at the bar just before 9 and there was a pretty decent crowd. Especially with a captive audience, is it really not economically beneficial to keep the bar open that extra hour?

exactly - that and transportation, or lack thereof, are the two most frustrating pieces for me.

 

[yulilin3]

One thing I have found that is having me second guess going to the park are no trams. Walking from the far back of any of the parking lots across all that asphalt in the heat is outrageous. Not to mention, walking all day in the park and then having to walk all the way to the car. I know that seems petty but I def canceled a park pass last week morning of because we woke up later than expected and knew we would be at the back of the parking lot.

Have we heard any rumblings about trams running again?

It is outrageous. You would think they want more people driving themselves to keep the buses less crowded. Trams are open air. Stupid decision.

So far only the front of the parking lots have filled, with the exception of MK, which can be a longer walk. Trams act as the first form of social distancing. Imagine everyone coming off the trams at the same time for temp and bag check as opposed as a steady influx of people, single file coming from the lots.
Also if you are there for rope drop you will get the best parking, if you are there later in the afternoon they will fill out the remaining spots in those front lots as they are leaving one car space between each car. So you are never really all the way in the back

 

[yulilin3]

rumor that RotR might be getting plexiglass on vehicles to be able to load 2 parties

 

[JacknSally]

The full tweet thread goes in to more detail. I’m not familiar with this account, so if it’s questionable, I apologize.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1310951885201907725

 

[yulilin3]

The full tweet thread goes in to more detail. I’m not familiar with this account, so if it’s questionable, I apologize.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1310951885201907725

so a virtual queue, that's great

 

[andyman8]

The full tweet thread goes in to more detail. I’m not familiar with this account, so if it’s questionable, I apologize.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1310951885201907725

Yeah, it’s legit. WDW has apparently been trying to work on something similar basically since they announced their reopening plans, but (and I know this will come as a surprise to no one here), they’re still struggling to get it to work reliably enough to be used by Guests at all four parks. They’ve rolled out a similar system in Shanghai but they’ve since removed it for the most part.

 

[MrsBooch]

sooo...fast pass 2.0?