Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Sam Magic]

I applaud the decision. Now is not the time. Even if the COVID-19 tide has ebbed by then, life will be nowhere close to normal yet.

The cynic in me wonders if our response would have been the same for a Winter Olympics.

Given that the Winter Olympics in 2018 were South Korea, and the 2022 Winter Olympics will be in China, I think it's safe to say yes.

 

[Sam Magic]

I would love to be a fly on the wall at Disney world headquarters I4 tomorrow. I bet they are identifying all the things they can cut and eliminate.

So much for epcot. Expect the remagination to take 20 more years lol. Well alot of what they promoted will be scaled back.

Animal kingdom is safe.

Magic Kingdom, Tron will finish, safe.

Hollywood studios, be glad star wars opened. As for the star wars hotel, forget it lol. If anything is like 911, expect any new hotel properties to stop.

I have a feeling things will be much worse than 9/11.

Not because people will be afraid to fly, but because no one will have the money to.

 

[disney4life2008]

That's once the parks reopen. The issue here is if the parks are closed 2-3 months, they likely can't keep paying all of these people their full paychecks. Right now they've only agreed to do so until the end of the month. They'll need to likely begin some layoffs before the parks reopen. They also can't give people paychecks with 0 hours, because they can't file for unemployment then.

I suspect the Disney board is having company wide conversations about compensation. The issue is that so much has been closed, I strongly doubt Disney will continue to pay into April.

As for the theme parks, I feel so sorry for people who have moved to the area in the last year, got a job at Disney, and now have an uncertain future. One of my friends is in that boat. All they told him was that more information to come.

Disney world is loosing probably millions of dollars every day between the theme parks, adventures by Disney, aluani, and cruise line being closed. There is no money coming in.

 

[disney4life2008]

I have a feeling things will be much worse than 9/11.

Not because people will be afraid to fly, but because no one will have the money to.

It would have to be. I think the parks were closed only a day or two during 911. And it took years to rebound.

And you are right, this time around people no money.

 

[TrojanUSC]

i think iread its like $40 milliion a day they r losing

Way more than that. You have to factor in everything from admission to merchandise to some percentage of their 35,000 hotel rooms.

 

[disney4life2008]

Way more than that. You have to factor in everything from admission to merchandise to some percentage of their 35,000 hotel rooms.

I'm pretty sure they calculate based on profit. So whatever the expenses minus revenue. The issue for theme parks and resorts, there is no revenue coming in.

Sorry I may have these terms incorrect

 

[TrojanUSC]

I'm pretty sure they calculate based on profit. So whatever the expenses minus revenue. The issue for theme parks and resorts, there is no revenue coming in.

Sorry I may have these terms incorrect

Either way, they're losing doubly now as they still have a huge payroll without the revenue to justify it.

 

[Giss Neric]

So many people are at home now which results in many using the internet. The internet has become slower than usual this past week. Anybody experiencing the same thing? All my neighbors noticed it too.

 

[marni1971]

So many people are at home now which results in many using the internet. The internet has become slower than usual this past week. Anybody experiencing the same thing? All my neighbors noticed it too.

The internet is being hammered pretty much worldwide. Netflix are streaming at a lower bitrate across Europe to reduce demand. ISPs in the UK say they can cope so far. Maybe see what your ISP says?

 

[Lilofan]

the first ones to go are always entertainment and jobs like painters and such. Roles like F&B and Merchandise along with Resort roles are likely safe, hours will be cut though. I think Disney was just expecting a 2-3 week quarantine and not something that’ll last months. So who knows

One can rest assured that WDW is meeting with consultants to help them draw up a plan to "restructure" and "consolidate" their way of doing business. Those buzzwords to employees are never a good thing.

 

[thomas998]

One can rest assured that WDW is meeting with consultants to help them draw up a plan to "restructure" and "consolidate" their way of doing business. Those buzzwords to employees are never a good thing.

Because when you have amusement parks and hotels the only real expense you can easily cut is the labor cost. You assets are already there, I expect they will cut the number of CM's.. probably cut the hours of operation as much as possible... parades will probably be scaled back to maybe only on certain days... hard to imagine what they can do to really reorganize a theme parks operations to make them less costly to run.

 

[Lilofan]

Because when you have amusement parks and hotels the only real expense you can easily cut is the labor cost. You assets are already there, I expect they will cut the number of CM's.. probably cut the hours of operation as much as possible... parades will probably be scaled back to maybe only on certain days... hard to imagine what they can do to really reorganize a theme parks operations to make them less costly to run.

I know others who worked in other union environments where no one guaranteed a 40 hour work week but can be scaled back less. In regards to part timers, those may be cut out immediately since they may not be guaranteed any hours to work. If Disney subcontracts some work to be done, those contracts moving forward may be in question and that affects the employment of those workers too. Star Wars hotel? That may be just a dream at this point. Specialized staff and special project staff could be looked at too. These decisions are never made without a heavy heart.

 

[Kiwiduck]

Mc Donalds are closing all 1249 of their UK restaurants tomorrow at 7pm (including drive through, takeout, delivery etc), full pay for over 135,000 employees*. The right decision to make.

* some of which will be government funded for any franchisees with a specific cap on their annual income.

McDonalds closing here in New Zealand as well when we go into lockdown in 48 hours. No fast-food or restaurant delivery of any kind for the next four weeks.

 

[marni1971]

McDonald’s, coffee chains, tonnes of chain stores all closing in the UK. Those that are open have curtailed hours. And that’s before it gets worse.

 

[TrojanUSC]

Because when you have amusement parks and hotels the only real expense you can easily cut is the labor cost. You assets are already there, I expect they will cut the number of CM's.. probably cut the hours of operation as much as possible... parades will probably be scaled back to maybe only on certain days... hard to imagine what they can do to really reorganize a theme parks operations to make them less costly to run.

There's a lot of fat in mid-level management at WDW, particularly on the operations side. Also I'd expect to see a lot more outsourcing.

 

[Bartattack]

The internet is being hammered pretty much worldwide. Netflix are streaming at a lower bitrate across Europe to reduce demand. ISPs in the UK say they can cope so far. Maybe see what your ISP says?

yeah, Youtube also joined Netflix and started to lower their bitrate in Europe...

edit: and it seems Amazon, Apple and Disney as well...

 

[seascape]

I wonder what the possibility is of WDW changing its entire structure. Making the themeparks a perk of staying on property and closing it to everyone else except Florida Annual Pass Holders. That way, since the price is included in you hotel room and the only way to visit is stay on property, plus a few select hotels, they can cover all their costs plus fix the overcrowding problem. Of course the room cost would increase but their would be no admission costs to the parks. DVC maintenance fees would also go up to pay their share of the parks.

 

[DisneyCane]

I have a feeling things will be much worse than 9/11.

Not because people will be afraid to fly, but because no one will have the money to.

Assuming Congress will compromise and pass a relief bill, not only are they going to send people money but they will bail out large corporations and give "loans" to small businesses that don't need to be paid back if they use the money for paying employees and overhead.

While the unemployment rate probably will be higher than it was 3 weeks ago, assuming this is passed I don't think your concern will come to fruition.

In the USA, these measures aren't going to go on for much longer than a month. If we haven't "flattened the curve" by then they aren't working anyway. Especially if the clinical trials show that the length of illnesses and/or severity can be reduced with treatments.

Some of the strain on hospitals is because people have been freaked out by the media and think they need to get help if they have any symptoms. Many cases (around 90% in Florida so far) turn out not to be COVID-19.

It would reduce the strain on the healthcare system if the media would spread the word that it doesn't matter why you are sick. Only seek medical attention if you have serious symptoms. Until there is a recommended treatment from the clinical trials, it doesn't matter (other than for the media tote board) if you have COVID-19 or a cold. Just treat any illness as if you have COVID-19 and isolate yourself.

 

[DisneyCane]

I wonder what the possibility is of WDW changing its entire structure. Making the themeparks a perk of staying on property and closing it to everyone else except Florida Annual Pass Holders. That way, since the price is included in you hotel room and the only way to visit is stay on property, plus a few select hotels, they can cover all their costs plus fix the overcrowding problem. Of course the room cost would increase but their would be no admission costs to the parks. DVC maintenance fees would also go up to pay their share of the parks.

I'm going to bet the chance of that is approximately 0%. They'd be putting hundreds of off-site hotels out of business. The politicians (both local and state) would not look kindly on that.

 

[seascape]

I'm going to bet the chance of that is approximately 0%. They'd be putting hundreds of off-site hotels out of business. The politicians (both local and state) would not look kindly on that.

That is why I said include select offsite hotels. Remember most of the offsite hotels will not survive anway.