Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[LSLS]

Closing or not, I'm shocked by the silence of Disney on this right now (has universal said anything either?).

 

[Parker in NYC]

Literally. Which is why I haven't been into one in 5+ years.

I didn’t know they had them at Twelve Oaks!

 

[LukeS7]

Germany’s cases just tripled

 

[Patcheslee]

Ohio just banned public gatherings over 100ppl.

 

[polynesiangirl]

Closing or not, I'm shocked by the silence of Disney on this right now (has universal said anything either?).

This is where I'm at. I haven't even gotten a "we're keeping an eye on the situation..." type message from WDW regarding our March reservations (which I will be canceling), when DCL was sending me those weeks ago. I sort of would expect to see some kind of cursory acknowledgement of the situation on the main WDW website, too. It's weird.

 

[Lilofan]

Closing or not, I'm shocked by the silence of Disney on this right now (has universal said anything either?).

Disney is trying to get all their ducks in a row on how, where and when before they make an announcement.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Look, we’re living in a big chapter of the history books. We haven’t seen this kind of globally impactful event since 9/11 and maybe before. A lot of things are going to look different on the other side, whether that comes in a few weeks or a few years. Leaders at every level, from industry to government, need to be making judgement calls that have been unthinkable for generations, exercising foresight that dwarfs anything we are used to. This is particularly true in the US, where, by design, the response to something like this was always going to have to be bottom-up and not top-down.

The entertainment industry should look to its golden era, the years of the Depression and WWII, when it offered a refuge for citizens when many, many other leisure pursuits were impossible. Public spaces - movie theaters, theme parks, Broadway - are going dark. But entertainment can be streamed right to folks quarantined in their homes, and that’s a huge opportunity AND responsibility for the entertainment companies. I don’t know precisely what they should do, but it’s where their entire focus should be until the crisis passes. Step up production dramatically if you can do it safely and with skeleton crews. Develop show forms that don’t require large crews in proximity to one another. Consider putting some big films, like Mulan, on streaming services and charging a low, one-off price to view that feature rather then pushing theatrical releases off for months or years. Slash the cost of streaming services. Flood the pipeline with any completed product you have on hand.

The comic and American film industry rose to their current prominence due to global crisis. Disney and every other entertainment giant needs to exhibit real leadership.

 

[Ojo4]

Ohio Dept. of Health just said evidence indicates they have 117,000 infected in the state

 

[Jrn14]

Do you think they would wait until the parks close for the night to make the announcement

 

[DCBaker]

Ohio just banned public gatherings over 100ppl.

And has closed schools for at least 3 weeks.

 

[John park hopper]

When the bodies start piling up in MK do you think they will make an announcement (sarcasm)

 

[Casper Gutman]

Disney closing is just one of many closures To make and it’s a slippery slope.

As one example, Vegas would need to be closed, for sure. All of it.

All other theme parks. All cruising.

All museums, art galleries, and malls.

Restaurants, movie theaters, and all events are not far behind, perhaps with a little less travel element, but not zero.

Then you have grocery stores, businesses, and countless other means of gathering.

I understand Disney is kind of a hub, but with the banning of Europe travel, what’s so much different than leaving your house? I stood in line to return something at Walmart...it was a zoo in there.

You start closing everything, the stock market is going to drop another 50% and then I’m not sure you’ve stopped this.

Yes. All of those need (not grocery stores) to close. And standing in crowds at Wal Mart is unwise. This is a Big Deal.

I don’t know if you were around for 9/11 (or, heck, for WWII) but there are moments when normalcy stops and you find yourself in big-h History, the stuff you will tell your kids about. It doesn’t feel good. It feels like you are untethered, floating. But if you don’t adapt, you’re stuck there for longer then you should be.

 

[WEDway Inc & Company LLC]

When the bodies start piling up in MK do you think they will make an announcement (sarcasm)

That was, um,,, a little insensitive

 

[monykalyn]

Pence said today on CNN that Americans flying back to the USA from Europe ( if you can even find a flight) will fly to only 13 approved cities in the USA to be screened for covid-19.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/why-airport-screening-wont-stop-spread-coronavirus

So they are not suspending travel from Asia? Hmmmmm. So confused at the thinking. Isn't Asia a hot spot as well?

It already a Level 4 do not travel

As I stated before, anyone who violates self-quarantine orders or who knowingly puts others at risk should be slapped with a substantial fine and the funds used to help those who will suffer financial losses due to contracting COVID-19 or their workplace closing due to COVID-19.

This kind of selfishness really ticks me off to no end.

Take it out on corporations who won't give adequate sick leave

Hmm, maybe I'm different but when I see numbers like this I think about how many lives could have been saved then if we took public health recommendations more seriously instead of "hey a lot of people died then so we should be OK with a lot of people dying now".

Look at how many active cases instead.

Selfish? Wow. I understand your position on demanding that WDW be shut down NOW. I think we all hear you loud and clear, but you are being slightly unreasonable in seeing the reasons that it hasn't been shut down already. WDW's employees rely on a paycheck just like everyone else out there (and with how little they're paid, rely on that paycheck more than most).

make the sacrifice to stop this viru

Yes sacrifice! Lose your home! Don't eat!

It would be very hard to test and monitor all of the guests and workers daily to ensure nobody brings the virus in.

Yep! and probably not effective anyway.

They can give tax breaks and emergency loans to small businesses to cover the cost.

Oh yay-kick the can down the road to taxpayers later, and yay to businesses having to take out loans to cover their business that is barely squeaking by! The American way-MORE DEBT!! Or the bar owner who has the place paid off, pays employees decently, has a nest egg etc. Now they've essentially got to start over after the nest egg is depleted??? But let's be sure to bail out billionaires with "tax breaks" and oil and banks etc.

Spring is coming....get out and look for hopeful signs!

H1N1 didn't peak until June/july

If the majority (the key word is "majority", not just "some") stopped accepting that "that's the way things are", or crossing over to the dark side themselves things could be different. But that would take discipline, cooperation, and other words that people don't make much use of anymore.

Yes they are called millenials-they've been speaking out, literally campaigning on progressive ideas, and the boomers wanna call them cry babies and blame them for every ill

Yep. The second DL closes, every other theme park in CA closes too.... Putting 100k people out of work (theme parks, hotels, restaurants, anything that relies on the industry) can't be something they take lightly.

Yes this is what isn't being considered-all the supply and businesses around/supporting the park will go out of business. Think of all the shops/bars around ballparks for example. Now they have a substantial decrease in income. Economic collapse is highly likely and NOT something to brush off as "selfish".

 

[Jwink]

Their workers get paid $60,000 and their government is supporting people who are out of work.

The US doesn't even have paid sick leave

Yes I spoke to a friend in Beijing today telling her about how we are scared to lose our income at Disney and she was shocked that there is nothing in place to help employees. She and I have a language barrier but she said Disney was covering their employees salaries until they opened again.
I am not sure if all Disney employees are salary OR if salary translates to ‘pay of any kind’ of that makes sense.

as for our government - exactly. We live in a society of ‘well you should have prepared better for possibilities like this’. That’s literally what someone said to me when I posted about being scared about the loss of income. This side of a year ago we’d have been fine but I’ve taken a loss of income because of the birth of our daughter and I home school our special needs son. We are ‘ok’ but not ‘completely lose the breadwinning income’ ok...

I don’t think the US is going to pay all the tourist industry’s pay for the long haul. We are talking about a country to can’t even give a few weeks pay to new moms! Most maternity leave is unpaid. They expect you back to work before your OB even clears you for lifting. They surely won’t be paying all our checks for months.

 

[GoofGoof]

Do you think they would wait until the parks close for the night to make the announcement

Probably much easier to not open tomorrow. If they announce now it may start a small panic in the park or a rush on people trying to get their last rides in.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Probably much easier to not open tomorrow. If they announce now it may start a small panic in the park or a rush on people trying to get their last rides in.

Announcing after closing would be the right call. But the fact that Disneyland Paris remains open is... not a great omen.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Disney closing is just one of many closures To make and it’s a slippery slope.

As one example, Vegas would need to be closed, for sure. All of it.

All other theme parks. All cruising.

All museums, art galleries, and malls.

Restaurants, movie theaters, and all events are not far behind, perhaps with a little less travel element, but not zero.

Then you have grocery stores, businesses, and countless other means of gathering.

I understand Disney is kind of a hub, but with the banning of Europe travel, what’s so much different than leaving your house? I stood in line to return something at Walmart...it was a zoo in there.

You start closing everything, the stock market is going to drop another 50% and then I’m not sure you’ve stopped this.

You start closing everything and then millions more die from starvation than they would’ve for the virus.

 

[hopemax]

Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Japan have been closed for weeks. They seem to be doing okay over there.

Well, part of that is the ethos of the citizens, corporations and governments. People elsewhere expect there to be eventual steps to minimize the economic effects. Such as Italy working with the banks to issue a debt moratorium. There are messages from other banks and entities of "We have cash, we know this is temporary. We can help." I think in the US, most people expect to be thrown to the wolves. With some regions being more pro-active than others with support.

There are many corporations out there that are sitting on a ton of cash, and have had nothing better to do with it than stock buyback programs the last few years, suffering from black eyes about their corporate taxes. There is an opportunity for corporations to put their money where their mouth is, and really be "good corporate citizens." Companies, especially with some damaged reputations could see this as an opportunity to improve their image. Which is why Walmart, Darden, Amazon, Starbucks coming out with their leave policies can't be ignored. I still remember the steps Cantor Fitzgerald took for the families after 9/11. Will things like that happen now, enough where "peer pressure" forces others to take similar steps, such as what is happening with all these closures, remains to be seen?

 

[Casper Gutman]

A further point about the “slippery slope” argument.

Vegas, smaller amusement parks, cinema, etc. should all close. Now. Disney is a leader, the kind of leader Americans - and particularly American businesses - respect more then political leaders. It is also, in a way only Apple might be able to match, a cultural leader. Disney closing will be a huge push to every other venue to close NOW. That’s another reason it has to happen right away.

It’s similliar to Tom Hanks getting the virus. When Disney closes, low-info consumers and sluggish corporations begin to realize what is going on.