Universal Puts Disney's Reopening on Defensive

[Ronnie Sanford]

There’s parts of tomorrow’s proposal that will blow your mind.

 

[Quackers5000]

All those plans sound great and you can my an argument for any of them, but the one thing Disney has been consistent with throughout this now months long process is avoiding anything that would cause mass cancellations. Why does anyone think Disney will change the one thing they have been consistent about throughout this by announcing a date that will lead to multiple weeks of cancellations?

I think some measure of mass cancellations at this point in unavoidable, since after whatever information is revealed tomorrow there may be a large segment of people looking to cancel if the experience being offered isn’t up to par with what they want even if Disney will be open for their trip. I feel bad for anyone in the phone centers tomorrow afternoon, with or without Disney sending out more cancellations they will be having a high volume of possibly very upset people.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

There’s parts of tomorrow’s proposal that will blow your mind.

Alright Ronnie.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Truth. AP's kept the place afloat after 9/11 and during the recession, they'll be the ones to save it now.

This is a different animal than those two events. Modern Disney is way more expensive and they don’t have the same kind of pressure valves they did with the last recession where they started to do more aggressive discounting, whilst raising list prices.

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

Alright Ronnie.

I’m serious.

 

[t3techcom18]

This is a different animal than those two events. Modern Disney is way more expensive and they don’t have the same kind of pressure valves they did with the last recession where they started to do more aggressive discounting, whilst raising list prices.

True, but from what I've seen, there's definitely a pent-up demand to go to the parks from locals, especially CM's with families. They may get more money from room stays than turnstile clicks, but the demand is there.

 

[tirian]

There was a rumor of Disney letting the parks go to pot. That has since been dismissed as not true.

The rumor wasn’t that “Disney [let] the parks go to pot.” It was that California laws prevented Disney from maintaining the DLR whereas Florida’s allowed skeleton crews to perform basic tasks as long as they maintained adequate distancing and wore face masks. That was pure rumor based out of Florida’s resort, which isn’t unusual since CMs at the two coasts share many rumors about each other.

But since it’s been debunked, that shows how long ago I became too busy to keep up!

 

[brianstl]

I’m serious.

Shocked by how limited the reopening is or shocked by how similar it is to Universal’s?

 

[WDW Pro]

Disneyland is easier to open than something on the scale of WDW.

In some ways. From a social distancing, personal proximity standpoint, DLR is much harder to open. But WDW is orders of magnitude more complex, so from every other aspect, yes.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

There’s parts of tomorrow’s proposal that will blow your mind.

In what way?

 

[tirian]

They are not training CM's for a Shuttle launch or starting up a Nuclear reactor they are training CM's on masks and social distancing and how and where to tell a limited capacity of guests. This is all but 1-2 days of training at the most.

Day 1 provide CM’s PPE and how to with training

Day 2 Continue training if needed if not moved Day 3 to day 2.

Day 3 “Testing” phase (tests the queues, lines, ect… with CM’s)

Day 4 Bring in a limited amount of APH’s for testing

Day 5 Open

Pretty simple again not rocket science I am not sure why folks think they need weeks to get ready.

If you are told to report to work on Sunday 6/1 you are giving them 4 days to prepare, maintenance crews can be called w/in 1-2 days to put down the decals and signs at each park they can complete that in 1 day (hell they decorate each park in what 6 hours for the holidays) they can be ready to open by 6/6.

My thinking was along these lines, but shifted one week later to allow for recall of CMs and enough time to ensure adequate staffing. I like your timetable and hope it's that way, but if not, maybe the next week for opening.

Not exactly

If they started this minute, nearly but not quite.

But they’re not.

Consider the logistics of training the trainers themselves, and then tens of thousands of CMs with in-person demonstrations and practice ride cycles, loading procedures, etc. We are looking at one to two weeks at minimum — not including mechanical ride checks and standard maintenance.

 

[tirian]

In some ways. From a social distancing, personal proximity standpoint, DLR is much harder to open. But WDW is orders of magnitude more complex, so from every other aspect, yes.

Shanghai is, ironically enough, the easiest one to maintain social distancing.

 

[tirian]

I just flashed back to my days working a MK and the Utilidors... How do you maintain distancing in such an enclosed space... and the change rooms... and where do CM's go for lunch, will the lunch room even work?

So many questions. All the managers have tiny tight offices. Scheduling.. Call centres... I just can't even picture it.

I’ve thought about that too. The locker area, the Character Zoo, the Mouseketeria entrance funnel, the main corridor under the castle... I can’t imagine how to do it. Then what about the above-ground break rooms and Cast bus systems?

When Disney’s old PR called its backstage Utilidor operations a “city,” they weren’t kidding. There’s a host of considerations completely separate from onstage guest areas.

I don’t envy the Disney execs responsible for the decisions, and I have a lot of sympathy for them.

 

[asianway]

So now they've left us an entire day to unravel the clues hidden in their sentence structure and words they chose to use....and words they didn't. It'll be child's play for this group. We got this. Lol. We will know their ideas before they announce them.

They don’t need permission to reopen the hotels. Some in Orlando never closed

 

[Peter Pan's Shadow]

They don’t need permission to reopen the hotels. Some in Orlando never closed

Did you mean to reply to this post? Seems your reply doesn't march up.

 

[asianway]

Did you mean to reply to this post? Seems your reply doesn't march up.

I’m assuming you mean the words theme parks and not resort. I wouldn’t read anything into it

 

[Peter Pan's Shadow]

I’m assuming you mean the words theme parks and not resort. I wouldn’t read anything into it

Ohhh no just saying how we are looking for any crumb to extrapolate from

 

[Giss Neric]

I’ve thought about that too. The locker area, the Character Zoo, the Mouseketeria entrance funnel, the main corridor under the castle... I can’t imagine how to do it. Then what about the above-ground break rooms and Cast bus systems?

When Disney’s old PR called its backstage Utilidor operations a “city,” they weren’t kidding. There’s a host of considerations completely separate from onstage guest areas.

I don’t envy the Disney execs responsible for the decisions, and I have a lot of sympathy for them.

Is it required for all CMs to get tested first before they are allowed to work? As long as there are people constantly cleaning all the nooks and crannies then there is no need for such concern. I haven't been there underground though.

 

[Getachew]

There’s parts of tomorrow’s proposal that will blow your mind.

Such as?

 

[HoustonHorn]

Will the Disney World that reopens be a Disney World that tourists, families or once in a lifetime visitors want to visit?

Nope. I've been 10 times, and my 5 year old has been twice, with what was supposed to be her last pre-real-school trip scheduled for this April cancelled. I'm so incredibly thankful for the fact that she got to experience WDW with her grandparents (who, due to medical issues, have told me they will not be going again, despite their adoration of Disney), has met virtually all of the primary princesses and characters without masks, and the memories and photographs we have of those experiences.

I haven't rebooked, because I absolutely refuse to spend $7-12k on a trip for which I have no idea what to expect, and I'm a planner who spends an inordinate amount of time planning ADRs and Fastpasses. I'm not getting emotionally invested again just to have hours and hours of effort rendered moot.

But I truly empathize with the first timers/once-in-a-lifetimers who scrimped and saved and researched and planned and saved their limited, precious vacation time just to have everything blown to hell. In the grand scheme of things, it may not be life and death, but in the best of times, people look forward to their vacations. And with things they way they are now, that is even more true.

But we'll get through this. What choice do we have?