Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[eliza61nyc]

Hey shout out to Disney corporation that just donated 25000 bucks to our local philadelphia covid-19 fund.
It's some thing that will help local residents that are out of work,

 

[Tom P.]

Seaworld blinked first

"On March 27, 2020, the Company announced that, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting temporary park closures, it will or has temporarily furloughed over 90% of its current employees as of April 1, 2020. The furloughed employees will not receive compensation from the Company during the furlough period after March 31, 2020; however, subject to local regulations, these employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits. The furlough period is uncertain at this time due to the temporary park closures and will be reassessed as business conditions dictate. The Company looks forward to welcoming back its ambassadors and guests when it is safe to open again."

SeaWorld furloughs 90% of employees amid coronavirus pandemic closures

After closing its parks due to the coronavirus, SeaWorld Entertainment Co. announced Friday that it will furlough 90% of its workers without compensation.

www.clickorlando.com

I doubt SeaWorld had much of a choice. They are not in the financial position Disney is in. Disney is sitting on billions of dollars of cash, plus has the ability borrow enormous sums when and if needed. SeaWorld has had a very rough few years. They probably simply cannot afford to pay employees without any revenue at all coming in.

The good news, at least, is that with the legislation that has been recently signed, those being furloughed will be eligible to receive 100% of their normal salary in unemployment benefits for the time being.

 

[Polynesia]

Looks like after April 19, reality will set in for WDW cast.

I don’t see it. Disney would fire cast members already if that was their intention. Cast members haven’t been let go in Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Tokyo. And they’ve been closed longer. Shanghai is coming back slowly already. Tokyo has an opening date of April 20. Of course, I choose that the glass is half full. Disney will open again in the near future. To rehire would be a very long process. Several scientific experts are agreeing we should peak in two to three weeks and then continue to drop off. It saddens me to see posters apparently taking glee in cast members possibly losing their jobs.

 

[Kevin_W]

You guys know about the COVID Tracking Website? They are gathering all the State data in one place. And they have spreadsheets for each state by day. So here's FL. Although, it is a day behind the Dashboard which is updated twice a day. So we will be able to all count for ourselves how many days it takes for Florida to double the death rate, as we go forward.

Florida

Cases, testing, hospitalization, outcomes, long-term-care, and race and ethnicity data for Florida, plus data sources, notes, and grade.

covidtracking.com

Thanks. It's interesting that for Ohio, Ohio's own website lists all that data... except total # of tests.

It's also interesting to see the variability in % positive test. Ohio's is only 6% positive, in spite of the fact that it's still relatively hard to get tested unless you have severe symptoms. But the national average is 15%. Maybe Ohio is a hotbed for other respiratory infections. Or perhaps other states it's even harder to get tested.

 

[Brer Oswald]

why would you think July would be okay? Are you assuming the weather will someone kill the virus?

Why would you assume July won’t be okay?

 

[hopemax]

Thanks. It's interesting that for Ohio, Ohio's own website lists all that data... except total # of tests.

It's also interesting to see the variability in % positive test. Ohio's is only 6% positive, in spite of the fact that it's still relatively hard to get tested unless you have severe symptoms. But the national average is 15%. Maybe Ohio is a hotbed for other respiratory infections. Or perhaps other states it's even harder to get tested.

NY is probably throwing off the curve. They've got a 30% positive rate. 122,000 tests. Vs. Ohio's 20,000 tests. California only has about 20,000 tests as well, with a huge number pending, so yeah, testing problems are worse elsewhere.

 

[Lilofan]

I don’t see it. Disney would fire cast members already if that was their intention. Cast members haven’t been let go in Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Tokyo. And they’ve been closed longer. Shanghai is coming back slowly already. Tokyo has an opening date of April 20. Of course, I choose that the glass is half full. Disney will open again in the near future. To rehire would be a very long process. Several scientific experts are agreeing we should peak in two to three weeks and then continue to drop off. It saddens me to see posters apparently taking glee in cast members possibly losing their jobs.

Not glee and that's further from the feeling. It's called looking at reality.

 

[jmp85]

I don’t see it. Disney would fire cast members already if that was their intention. Cast members haven’t been let go in Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Tokyo. And they’ve been closed longer. Shanghai is coming back slowly already. Tokyo has an opening date of April 20. Of course, I choose that the glass is half full. Disney will open again in the near future. To rehire would be a very long process. Several scientific experts are agreeing we should peak in two to three weeks and then continue to drop off. It saddens me to see posters apparently taking glee in cast members possibly losing their jobs.

I tend to agree with you. Cautiously optimistic, but the rehiring cost / headache is something Disney has to consider.

 

[jmp85]

Thanks. It's interesting that for Ohio, Ohio's own website lists all that data... except total # of tests.

It's also interesting to see the variability in % positive test. Ohio's is only 6% positive, in spite of the fact that it's still relatively hard to get tested unless you have severe symptoms. But the national average is 15%. Maybe Ohio is a hotbed for other respiratory infections. Or perhaps other states it's even harder to get tested.

9% in Florida and it's been pretty hard to get tested here as well.

 

[marni1971]

You also lost any promotions you were booked under..

Nasty. Paris is honouring them.

 

[thomas998]

Why would you assume July won’t be okay?

I'm assuming that until there is a vaccine state governments are going to be hard pressed to justify rescinding the bans on large groups. It wouldn't surprise me if large groups weren't a banned for many months.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Florida medical supplies diverted to NYC. Pinellas has a 2-week stock left for first responders.

Officials confirm that gowns, gloves, masks and other supplies originally destined for Florida have been sent to help New York hospitals.

www.tampabay.com

I wonder where Florida will get supplies from when it's needed???? And SUPPLIES WILL BE NEEDED in Florida.

 

[Jwink]

Looks like after April 19, reality will set in for WDW cast.

Yes this is what I’m expecting for wdw cast members

 

[Polynesia]

Not glee and that's further from the feeling. It's called looking at reality.

My whole life is based on reality. It’s part of who I am personally and professionally. I never deal with wishful thinking. And Disney isn’t going to fire everyone. There’s no reason to pay them for a few more weeks if they planned on letting them go. If you look at the other Disney parks as an example of what they’re doing it might become clearer.

 

[JoeT63]

I know that tickets are being extended to December 15th, and they're allowing you to apply the 2020 tickets to the price of 2021 tickets. Has anyone asked about Military Salute tickets in this regard? They are valid thru December of 2020 already, but my two military sons are deploying later this year so we can't reschedule for 2020. Anybody know if those tickets will also be honored, somehow, for 2021? The base office where they were purchased is closed since those employees are non-essential.

 

[rk03221]

Yes this is what I’m expecting for wdw cast members

isnt unemployment an option though? The new stimulus bill should help out a lot

 

[21stamps]

An immediate member of my family works at a major producing organization on Broadway (producing some of the biggest shows currently running) - and the internal consensus as of yesterday is mid-August. Just a few days ago, they were aiming for Mid-July to early August. So, things can change but one of the greatest obstacles they're facing is rethinking theater seating. With social distancing here at the epicenter (that will continue according to them, at least for a while after business resumes), cautiously sparser attendance mixed with limited, spaced out seating will greatly affect overhead/ticket prices. If you think it's expensive now...

Also, most new and smaller shows won't make it until then. The old warhorses are most likely safe, Lloyd Webber said Phantom's good to go! The Tony Awards have also been pushed back from June 7th to an as-yet-unannounced date. First time in history. And since many new shows still haven't opened, the awards may be cancelled altogether. There are a lot of "mays" in this but consider that shows can't be streamed at home like films are. If the Oscars are affected this year, they at least have avenues of distribution.

We have tickets to MJ the Musical, which isn’t open yet. I haven’t received any notification of a delay or cancellation yet.. so I’m still hoping it opens as planned!!!

 

[ToTBellHop]

I found the information here interesting and it was nice to look at it myself and not have a talking head explain it based upon their “understanding”:

https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

 

[marni1971]

Birx, speaking at a White House press briefing, singled out a recent study on the United Kingdom that originally predicted 500,000 people would die from the virus and has since been revised down to predict 20,000 deaths in the U.K..

Could she share that study with the UK?

 

[marni1971]

We have tickets to MJ the Musical, which isn’t open yet. I haven’t received any notification of a delay or cancellation yet..

I wouldn't expect one until a week or two before the date.