Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[DCBaker]

Missed this before and @marni1971 mentioned on another thread - Disneyland Paris has confirmed being closed through at least July 14th.

Temporary Booking Terms and condition policies | Disneyland Paris

www.disneylandparis.com

 

[DKampy]

I heard that Wisconsin is now allowing elective surgeries. My husband mentioned the hospital he’s at is more busy but not due to Covid. That’s all a good sign. In Florida we are also seeing more positive cases due to more testing. But as you say the positivity rate is declining. I asked my doctor yesterday what she’s seeing. She said things are getting much better with less hospitalizations and less ICU admissions here in Florida. Hopefully this trend continues as we slowly reopen

Yes...I saw that...Florida is one of the states I keep up with..,since my parents moved to Boca Raton when they retired...and I worry about them since they are in a high risk group. I do see improvement I just worry about people being careless once things reopen...the reason we had to close things in the 1st place is because people can’t always be trusted to do the right thing.

Here in Wisconsin they are starting to open testing sites on a temporary basis in areas that are not hot spots right now... the idea is to catch every active case now so when we reopen...it will be easier to contain and trace any unseen spikes

 

[The Mom]

Many posters are drifting into Politics and Social Issues territory. Please correct your course or take the discussion to the correct forum. Thank you.

 

[DCBaker]

I live in Iowa and our governor is a joke. She only cares about money and furthering her political career and not about the safety and well being of the people.

Look right above your post.

Many posters are drifting into Politics and Social Issues territory. Please correct your course or take the discussion to the correct forum. Thank you.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Yes and no. For Disney they don’t have to open the parks and run at a loss like some other businesses might.

I wasn't commenting on when WDW should re-open.
Just almost no matter when many businesses re-open, it might take some time for customers to return.

If WDW opens with any type of new protocols in place, they might not go from zero to 60 in the first hour of day one, especially if they are going to have adjusted queues or adjusted dining capacity. (lower capacity)

I also carefully didn't say how long that period would or should last.

I merely said the potential exists for some businesses to operate in the red when they first open.

 

[GoofGoof]

I think the kicker is if it's a government mandate or a recommendation. At the moment, at the federal level it's a recommendation. Some localities have a mandate.

I suspect that Disney will want to open as soon as they feel they can, subject to government regulations. I don't see them holding "just" because masks are required. But then, I don't the government requiring masks everywhere (at least not based on today's sentiments -- if everything goes south with states reopening, then all bets are off)

CA could be more problematic. FL is not going to mandate masks, especially with the amount of pull tourism in general has.

I don’t think Disney will open WDW as soon as they can. I could see Disney holding out until they can provide an experience that will be both safe and profitable and where the guest‘s experience is up to a minimum level of quality. They have the luxury of playing the long game a little as most analysts are already factoring in very little or no profits from the Parks segment for the remainder of the fiscal year (through 9/30). Disney isn’t in the position that a lot of smaller, less financially healthy companies are where it’s open ASAP or go bankrupt. Their reputation for high quality and their brand loyalty is very valuable. Customers also trust Disney to provide a safe environment for them. I don’t think Disney wants to sacrifice all of that to open under too tight of restrictions. I think they will play it safe.

 

[Tom P.]

I will not go to Disney if I have to wear a mask. I wear a mask for 13 hours at work. I'm not going on vacation and wearing a mask. I don't think Disney will require masks, but if they do I hope they provide them.

Just curious... do you keep the same mask on for 13 hours? I have seen talk of how masks lose their effectiveness after a certain period of time. Wondering how a vacationer at Disney might handle a mask recommendation or requirement if they need to be changed regularly to be effective.

 

[Disstevefan1]

CA could be more problematic. FL is not going to mandate masks, especially with the amount of pull tourism in general has.

I don’t think Disney will open WDW as soon as they can. I could see Disney holding out until they can provide an experience that will be both safe and profitable and where the guest‘s experience is up to a minimum level of quality. They have the luxury of playing the long game a little as most analysts are already factoring in very little or no profits from the Parks segment for the remainder of the fiscal year (through 9/30). Disney isn’t in the position that a lot of smaller, less financially healthy companies are where it’s open ASAP or go bankrupt. Their reputation for high quality and their brand loyalty is very valuable. Customers also trust Disney to provide a safe environment for them. I don’t think Disney wants to sacrifice all of that to open under too tight of restrictions. I think they will play it safe.

One thing is for sure. WDW will tell Florida when they will open. The state and local governments are not in control here.

 

[lewisc]

They won’t require masks at the domestic parks. Disney has a brand and an image to maintain. They want people to think positively on a Disney vacation. There’s no way they want to be put in a situation where they need to police a mask rule. Aside from the person they are restraining or removing from the parks there are children and other guests that will witness that. Not very magical. IMHO if masks are required by the state or local government during a certain phase the Disney parks in the US won’t open during that phase. This is why I’ve been saying for a while they will open during the federal equivalent of phase 3 when social distancing is relaxed. Probably not going to be June 1 also unlikely to be in 2021.

That's the issue, in a nutshell. Required use of masks might allow Disney to relax some of the social distancing guidelines. Put a mask on before entering the HM. Before entering an indoor show. Maybe even before entering a longish Que like RotR. Disney could sidestep the need for masks by delaying park opening or temporarily eliminating attractions or parts of attractions. Handing guests disposable masks when the enter those kinds of attractions might be a workable compromise. Enforcement is the biggest issue. Masks are designed to protect guests other then the mask wearer. IF Disney decides masks are assumed as part of operations then use must be enforced. In some ways it's similar to smoking rules. Smoking optional doesn't solve the issue.

 

[GoofGoof]

I wasn't commenting on when WDW should re-open.
Just almost no matter when many businesses re-open, it might take some time for customers to return.

If WDW opens with any type of new protocols in place, they might not go from zero to 60 in the first hour of day one, especially if they are going to have adjusted queues or adjusted dining capacity. (lower capacity)

I also carefully didn't say how long that period would or should last.

I merely said the potential exists for some businesses to operate in the red when they first open.

I agree on most businesses. I think we’re actually saying the same thing on Disney. WDW will probably have a “soft open” period for a few weeks to get ramped up on procedures. They said on the earnings call Shanghai would start out far below the government mandated 30% but ramp up to it in a few weeks and hopefully higher as the government raises the limit. It’s reasonable to assume WDW will do the same. I don’t see them opening the parks and operating at a loss for more than a brief period of time. I think Chapek alluded to their belief that if they opened the parks below 50% of average capacity that they would have no problem finding guests to fill that capacity. I don’t know if that’s based on solid market research or some PR spin. For perspective the MK averages 57,000 people a day if you believe the TEA reports so half that is still a substantial crowd and larger than the special ticket events held there. I think it’s reasonable to assume they can break even somewhere below 50% of avg attendance.

 

[Parker in NYC]

My company is now aiming for late 4th Q or 2021 to return. We have offices nationwide.

 

[GoofGoof]

Testing is going up in my state, but so is infection rate, ICU utilization and deaths. I wish it was trending in the other direction. It will likely be quite some time before nonessential travel will be a possibility for people in my state. One of my colleagues just canceled her family's early 2021 WDW vacation.

An increase in positive tests is expected with an increase in testing, but increases in ICU beds and deaths have no correlation to testing. That’s a bad trend

 

[DisneyCane]

Testing is going up in my state, but so is infection rate, ICU utilization and deaths. I wish it was trending in the other direction. It will likely be quite some time before nonessential travel will be a possibility for people in my state. One of my colleagues just canceled her family's early 2021 WDW vacation.

What state are you in? Just curious.

 

[Touchdown]

I’m going to guess Minnesota or Iowa, both have been on an upward slide. Wisconsin has a huge upswell in new cases last week due to a meat packing plant outbreak, but our % positive, average new cases and hospitalizations now appear to be either negative trending or static.

 

[BaconPancakes]

Going to guess they are in Iowa as well. There’s been huge outbreaks in our meat processing plants.

 

[Polynesia]

I'm in the midwest. Meat processing facilities are hotspots right now, which is causing higher infection rates in their greater community.

This obviously isn't Florida. I haven't paid as much attention to their numbers. I'm sharing as an indicator of what people in states who would generally travel to WDW are facing, but I didn't mean to pull the thread off topic. Sorry about that!

I think most of us appreciate hearing what’s happening in other areas We’re all in this together and need support and encouragement. Florida is on the downturn but we’ll see if that continues. We see a sudden spike every once in awhile. Hang in there. Things will get better in your state.

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm in the midwest. Meat processing facilities are hotspots right now, which is causing higher infection rates in their greater community.

This obviously isn't Florida. I haven't paid as much attention to their numbers. I'm sharing as an indicator of what people in states who would generally travel to WDW are facing, but I didn't mean to pull the thread off topic. Sorry about that!

Disney World isn’t a locals park. They need to worry about cases across the country when considering opening. Something more locally oriented can probably open as soon as it’s clear in the immediate area.

 

[Polynesia]

Disney World isn’t a locals park. They need to worry about cases across the country when considering opening. Something more locally oriented can probably open as soon as it’s clear in the immediate area.

That’s what concerns me. People coming from other states that may still have some issues. I think this is what will push Disney to take a step back a bit before reopening.

 

[xdan0920]

Another random poster on a WDW message board claiming panic and ratings. Get in line there’s many before you.
Of course the numbers will go up with increased testing. I thought that would be common sense. The point of my post was we have no idea how many have it until people are tested. If we find a states that have opened and the increased testing shows that it is around more then we thought, it might not be good. It’s speculation, something you have done many times here. Thought that’s what message boards were for.

Yeah, spreading misinformation isn’t really speculation. Testing is up, so confirmed cases are up. What’s the positive %? That’s a more important number. Hospital usage? ICU usage? These are the important numbers. Gross confirmed tests as a metric to measure which way we are trending is, again, utter nonsense.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Can we stop with this please? It’s pure nonsense of the highest order.

Confirmed cases are increasing as testing increases.

You being a random poster on WDWmagic not bothering to put the numbers in context is annoying enough. But when the media quotes these out of context numbers as a way to drum up ratings and panic, it’s disgraceful.

I hope all of us are only coming to this thread for, shall we say, entertainment purposes, because this is a Disney fan forum. We should take every post with a grain of salt.

I hope everyone is checking their information sources carefully for political bias. I daresay, this thread has been full of many posts that were, at best, thinly veiled political talking points easily traced to biased news sources.

Still, it makes me a bit sad. We should all be mature enough to discuss this topic with civility. If we can't talk about WDW with civility?

Yikes!