Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[DCBaker]

Wasn’t president josh part of those discussions though? He’s on the taskforce.

The Orange County task force is different than the Florida task force.

 

[GoofGoof]

Wasn’t president josh part of those discussions though? He’s on the taskforce.

I don’t know who is on the county task force, the state one definitely had representation from both Disney and Universal. If they were both good with the recommendations as written why the reversal after a day? Seems kinda odd. It may be in the way the info was released.

 

[Polynesia]

Wasn’t president josh part of those discussions though? He’s on the taskforce.

He’s on the state task force. I believe this was released by Orange County

 

[DisneyCane]

MSN

And in a few weeks (or even now) the numbers will (hopefully) not be as high, while the deaths from the usual diseases will remain pretty much stable. So at the peak the numbers were higher, but that is unlikely to continue for a whole year, so the number per year will be lower.

The CDC is publishing data on deaths and shows COVID-19 related and also total from all causes starting the week ending 2/1. The most recent data is incomplete but is is interesting to compare the "baseline" of the first few weeks against the peak COVID-19 related weeks. It seems to be about a 10% uptick over normal.

CDC Mortality Data

 

[TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives]

Overview of another Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force meeting this morning -

"In todays call, Chuck Whittall, President of Unicorp, read a statement that was put together after discussions with Thomas Mazloum, Senior Vice President of Walt Disney World Resorts and Transportation Operations. Here’s the working draft that Whittall ran by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings:

Theme parks and other venues of that magnitude shall each develop their own specific and unique set of guidelines following the CDC recommendations and using best practices that will protect the life, health, and safety of their employees and guests. They will be permitted to open at their own discretion with their internally determined level of safe capacities throughout the various [reopening] phases.

Whittall went on to say that he believes that the task force should put a reopening timeline in the hands of the theme parks. He went on to note that theme parks will be judged by not only the marketplace, but also on social media by guests who either decided to visit or stay away."

"Dr. Barbara Jenkins of the Orange County Public Schools noted that the language discussed above shouldn’t allow the theme parks and other venues to reopen before whatever date the Mayor announces for the general public. That point wasn’t met with any friction from the task force, so while Disney and other large venues will be able to determine their own phases, it’s unlikely that their reopening would preclude a general reopening for the county."

Orange County Task Force Wants to Let Disney and Universal Open at Their Own Discretion

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

What does the head of OCPS have to do with Disney and Universal opening?

 

[Patcheslee]

i think it’s the other way. Disney didn’t like the proposed guidelines put out yesterday because they are way too lenient with what Disney needs to open with. Disney doesn’t want to set expectations that the parks will be similar operations when in reality there are going to be significant changes for months to come.

I wonder if part of it is the flexibility needed across multiple parks is easier to be determined and communicated from each specific park. It gives the parks enough government backing so to speak to implement what measures they see fit.

 

[DCBaker]

Here is the link to the full Orange County task force meeting from this morning if you wanted to watch -

 

[RSoxNo1]

The guidelines say 50% of capacity. I see no reason why they would look at historic attendance. It’s based on how many people it’s acceptable to cram into the park

This would certainly allow for more people, however we can also anticipate some attractions to remain closed which would potentially further reduce that number.

 

[GoofGoof]

This would certainly allow for more people, however we can also anticipate some attractions to remain closed which would potentially further reduce that number.

Seems like it may be a moot point anyway. Looks like we are back to square one on waiting for any details on how things may look when open.

 

[wdwmagic]

I think perhaps a bit too much emphasis is being put on the Orange County recommendations. I expect Disney are going to do their own thing, which will be way beyond what the County suggests. I think state level and CDC recommendations are of the of the most important for guidance.

 

[Polynesia]

Gilead reports early positive data in remdesivir studies as COVID-19 drug, though Chinese trial sees no benefit

Gilead Sciences Inc.’s experimental drug remdesivir met the main goal in a closely watched government-funded clinical trial treating hospitalized COVID-19...

www.google.com

Some good news

 

[skyphotographer]

The people raring to go are a small but very loud minority, despite the relentless push from a certain news source advocating throwing everything open immediately. Most news sources other than that one are discussing the Vietnam statistics (maybe they are too, but I haven't heard that they are). Polling shows that most Americans support a careful phased opening with gradually loosening restrictions.

I respectfully disagree.

 

[Horizons '83]

To add to the good news, kind of, here is the latest from the NY Times.

 

[lewisc]

I don’t think they will start giving out free stuff like toothbrushes, razors or shaving cream but it would be really easy to go back to individual bottles of disposable shampoo. The manufacturers are probably sitting on a boat load of spare inventory since hotels have been mostly shut down for over a month. The recommendation is also not final so could change and they said only for phase 1 and 2 so when FL moves to phase 3 they could go back to the big bottles.

I don't either. To the extent Disney has an inventory of small bottles, offering them on request is possible. The wall mounted dispensors dispense a single use size. Sanitizing the dispenser, bleach wipe, is no different the sanitizing other parts of the bathroom. I'm not convinced the dispensers are gone. Regardless Disney doesn't follow industry standards with regards to supplying toiletries.. Only offering shampoo for sale seems more likely then going back to giving out small bottles.

Universal hotels are run by a hotel chain (Loews) and WDW is not. That is the difference and why they anticipate your possible needs. Curious, do WDW hotels have a ticket desk in the lobby or do the front desk personnel handle that?



the number is 58220

Other chains also offer complimentary items. Disney has their own standards. My point, I think Disney is more likely to offer shampoo for purchase then going back to small bottles in every room. Last time I needed tickets at a resort the front desk employees who checked me in didn't sell tickets. I needed to go on a second line for guest services (name keeps changing).

 

[JoeCamel]

. Last time I needed tickets at a resort the front desk employees who checked me in didn't sell tickets. I needed to go on a second line for guest services (name keeps changing).

Thank you, have never stayed and seldom visited the resorts. Was not sure if there was a plaid there or if they left it to the front desk.

 

[Uncle Theodore]

Is Florida going to relax their travel restrictions of out of state visitors?

 

[donsullivan]

I think perhaps a bit too much emphasis is being put on the Orange County recommendations. I expect Disney are going to do their own thing, which will be way beyond what the County suggests. I think state level and CDC recommendations are of the of the most important for guidance.

One of the many reasons Disney will want to define their own rules in coordination with the state is the fact that their property spans multiple counties. It's not reasonable to expect them to comply with different guidelines on different parts of the property if the counties have variations in their guidelines. As was acknowledge by the Orange County commission, there is no way for the other members of that team to fully understand the complexities of re-opening these huge theme park and resort complexes. It seems their intention is clearly to ask them to publish their plan so everyone knows what it is but trust that they fully understand what the right thing is to do and then simply monitor.

 

[GoofGoof]

I don't either. To the extent Disney has an inventory of small bottles, offering them on request is possible. The wall mounted dispensors dispense a single use size. Sanitizing the dispenser, bleach wipe, is no different the sanitizing other parts of the bathroom. I'm not convinced the dispensers are gone. Regardless Disney doesn't follow industry standards with regards to supplying toiletries.. Only offering shampoo for sale seems more likely then going back to giving out small bottles.

I think you are probably right. They won’t change this. I was reading too much into the guidelines released. We will probably need to wait a little while for Disney to actually release info on what will be changing.

 

[donsullivan]

Is Florida going to relax their travel restrictions of out of state visitors?

We should get more details on those things when the governor announces the state re-opening plan later today.

 

[GoofGoof]

Is Florida going to relax their travel restrictions of out of state visitors?

I think there’s a statewide announcement coming later today or tomorrow. No clue if that is addressed.

One of the many reasons Disney will want to define their own rules in coordination with the state is the fact that their property spans multiple counties. It's not reasonable to expect them to comply with different guidelines on different parts of the property if the counties have variations in their guidelines. As was acknowledge by the Orange County commission, there is no way for the other members of that team to fully understand the complexities of re-opening these huge theme park and resort complexes. It seems their intention is clearly to ask them to publish their plan so everyone knows what it is but let them do but trust they they fully understand what the right thing is to do and then simply monitor.

Disney also covers 2 states with DLR in CA. I don‘t think both resorts have to follow the exact same plan but they will likely be pretty similar. It would leave Disney open to potential liability if one was more robust unless they could show that the situation on the ground is very different.