Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Flugell]

Thanks for explaining the tax situation in Florida, I now understand a little more clearly (from the U.K.).
The first time we visited I went ballistic at being charged a price that wasn’t the one advertised! This is ILLEGAL in Britain and even if the price is incorrect and much lower than it should be the customer can only be charged the price marked. I have always thought that the tax element should be included in the advertised price as it is here, however if Disney has different taxes in different hotels, counties?, I suppose that would make things more complicated!
For visitors from outside Florida or the USA it would be helpful to have large multilingual signs near the checkout explaining that tax will be added and what the rate of tax is, then people can decide if they want to spend that extra amount or at least have the correct amount ready! Are you listening Disney?
Please don’t think of this post as political, it was just I was grateful for the insight into how Florida earns its money! Also means I will accept the tax with better grace when us Brits are allowed back into the USA!

 

[GoofGoof]

As others have pointed out previously, it’s a bit of a circular argument. Disney is likely waiting to bring back parades and fireworks until business increases. Meanwhile, business won’t increase until Disney brings these things back. Something will have to give.

The best case scenario for Disney would be a real downward trend in cases to levels where FL is off the travel quarantine lists and tourists are comfortable coming back. Then they would have both the customer demand and the statistical data to support expanding capacity, extending park hours, adding back parades/fireworks, and opening the rest of the resorts. I don’t believe opening bars and clubs with no restrictions in FL is going to help that cause. I know the Governor isn’t concerned solely about WDW, but he didn’t do the mouse house any favors with this particular decision.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

This removal of restrictions could be even more harmful to the economy of florida.

People who were planning go to disney will cancel simply because anywhere they go in florida they may face the virus, even with disney being 'safe' for them.

And a huge thing that should be considered is that IF, and IF the Fall/winter gets as apocalyptic as some are predicting, Disney may have to shutter once again, regardless of what florida does.

 

[Chi84]

This removal of restrictions could be even more harmful to the economy of florida.

People who were planning go to disney will cancel simply because anywhere they go in florida they may face the virus, even with disney being 'safe' for them.

And a huge thing that should be considered is that IF, and IF the Fall/winter gets as apocalyptic as some are predicting, Disney may have to shutter once again, regardless of what florida does.

Like it or not, there are a whole lot of people who aren’t that scared. And I really doubt Disney will close again. Of course no one knows for sure.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

Like it or not, there are a whole lot of people who aren’t that scared. And I really doubt Disney will close again. Of course no one knows for sure.

But part of the appeal right now is that things are being handled. However that may be, but they're being handled. Now as a state its not. Yes there will be visitors who dont care, but there are also visitors who do care, this could deter them.

Like I said, I see Disney closing again if it really is as apocalyptic as some are saying. If the "twin-demic" actually happens, we could see a situation much worse than March. Hopefully it doesn't happen.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My experience was that even with corporate mask rules there was little enforcement before the local mandate. Companies can say it but they also have to be willing to enforce it.

As was already seen before, you don’t need many places to create a problem. A couple of bars can become places for spread and they’re allowed to continue regardless of what happens.

Having this Buffoon drone on about “the tyranny of courtesy In public” will likely embolden those who consume it on state tv and cause active defiance of any policy Disney makes...especially since the current travel bans mean there isn’t the normal mix of people and places that balance out the crowds and generally good tempered/oblivious.

I hope people are more respectful than I give them credit for...but that level has been “established” unfortunately.

 

[SoFloMagic]

Sooo... perhaps I'll let the resident Floridians answer this. Who is the governor hoping to please with today's announcements? I know how much of Florida's revenue comes from hotel taxes, so is he hoping that if everything opens up, the tourists will just come flooding back in? Although I can't speak for everyone in the north east, I can tell you that a big reason why nobody around here is planning on a trip to Florida (including the snowbirds) has nothing to do with restaurant and bar capacity, and has everything to do with the levels of COVID-19. Until the state gets a better handle on this, don't expect too many other states to lift their travel restrictions.

It's all politics. He's betting that appearing to be "open" is more important than doing the things it would take to actually open for real and stay open.

Oh, and no distancing in restaurants and only suggested (non-mandatory) caps for stadiums is looney.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Like it or not, there are a whole lot of people who aren’t that scared. And I really doubt Disney will close again. Of course no one knows for sure.

I agree with both your points...but doesn’t that basically put what happens in the hands of “forces of nature”??

Luck. That’s the play. And less ability to respond because the potential will not be planned for as closely.

People will move indoors...their awareness will loosen even more...there will be more spread in the coming months...and there is no magic bullet vaccine available for this season.

Don’t think any of these things are actually in dispute...

So what does that Do for demand at wdw? Nobody is gonna like the answer.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

I agree with both your points...but doesn’t that basically put what happens in the hands of “forces of nature”??

Luck. That’s the play. And less ability to respond because the potential will not be planned for as closely.

People will move indoors...their awareness will loosen even more...there will be more spread in the coming months...and there is no magic bullet vaccine available for this season.

Don’t think any of these things are actually in dispute...

So what does that Do for demand at wdw? Nobody is gonna like the answer.

I'm very interested to see what happens in the NE when cold weather moves in. Outdoor dining just won't be practical.

 

[note2001]

I'm very interested to see what happens in the NE when cold weather moves in. Outdoor dining just won't be practical.

Most of us still aren't going out to dine. We're also being very careful in the stores when we do go out.

 

[SoFloMagic]

I'm very interested to see what happens in the NE when cold weather moves in. Outdoor dining just won't be practical.

I know. It's almost like we should have spent the last 6 months preparing for fall instead of hoping it would go away

 

[icc2515]

He does know Iger is still in charge, right?

Chapek is in charge this week, Iger said he could be.

 

[icc2515]

Thanks for explaining the tax situation in Florida, I now understand a little more clearly (from the U.K.).
The first time we visited I went ballistic at being charged a price that wasn’t the one advertised! This is ILLEGAL in Britain and even if the price is incorrect and much lower than it should be the customer can only be charged the price marked. I have always thought that the tax element should be included in the advertised price as it is here, however if Disney has different taxes in different hotels, counties?, I suppose that would make things more complicated!
For visitors from outside Florida or the USA it would be helpful to have large multilingual signs near the checkout explaining that tax will be added and what the rate of tax is, then people can decide if they want to spend that extra amount or at least have the correct amount ready! Are you listening Disney?
Please don’t think of this post as political, it was just I was grateful for the insight into how Florida earns its money! Also means I will accept the tax with better grace when us Brits are allowed back into the USA!

If you dislike the taxes being added on, don't ever go to Vegas. That $29 dollar room is likely to cost you $100 after the taxes, resort fees, parking fee, fee for mowing the ceos yard, fee for administering all the fees. Don't even get me started on Comcast and AT$T.

 

[Ldno]

I could be wrong, but I don’t think going to phase 3 is going to make a huge difference since private businesses are still allowed to do what they want. Target, Publix, Walgreens, and many more still require masks nationwide. That won’t change by FL going to phase 3.

I live a few miles from Disney, and I eat at restaurants once or twice a week. I’ve yet to see any restaurants full or have waits (aside from the holiday weekends, but as a local, I stayed away then), even at half capacity. In fact, during lunch, my family has been the sole table in restaurants twice now (obviously some restaurants are more popular than others, which is a factor). If they’re barely filling half capacity now, I don’t expect the demand to suddenly increase just because they CAN increase capacity. Many friends of mine still refuse to eat in restaurants. They continue ordering out, and I’m sure that will stay the same for those that prefer that method.
Same with store capacity. I remember having to wait in line for a couple at the beginning of lockdown, but since then, I haven’t waited in line for stores in months. So again, if stores arent reaching their limited capacity now, I don’t think much will change if capacity increases.

As for theme parks, sure, those could be the wild cards there. But I don’t see Disney being the first one to increase capacity here - look at how cautious they were with reopening. And I don’t think Universal is in a hurry yet to increase capacity any more either, though I could be wrong. But even so - do the theme parks reach capacity that often aside from holiday weekends? I honestly don’t know, so I could be way off base here, and please correct me if I’m wrong! But if they aren’t already turning thousands of people away daily because they’ve hit their capacity limit, would increasing capacity really make a significant difference? If the demand isn’t there as it is, i don’t think it will.

Anyway, I’m not saying I’m totally right here. There could be factors I’m forgetting about or just not considering that could blow my theory out of the water. But for the most part, I think there just isn’t a pent up demand for anything right now. People who want to go out are already going out. People who don’t are already staying home, and this isn’t going to convince them to change their minds.

I don’t know if Texas is just random but some nationwide stores like Apple and Lego had different city policies versus other cities nationwide stores from what I know. My local Apple store opened back in June, then closed in July only to finally re open back up this weekend. Other stores have been open the whole time, It’s like walmart right now, they got rid of the capacity guys at the doors and allowed both of them to be open now with minimal operating hours.

The real sin here is the Governor’s continued persistence at downplaying the severity of the virus.

There are still over 100-200 people dying each day in the state, and the state government has not done anything of substance to show that they want to prevent even 1 COVID related death.

There can be a balance between re-opening further, while still advising people to be cautious, socially distance, and wear masks.

Advising tourists and residents about the state’s plan of testing and contact tracing program can also help build confidence that they actually care about the health and well being of people who live and visit.

Pretending as if COVID-19 doesn’t exist will only result in higher cases and death.

You also have to worry about the financial collapse that will make this hard to recover from to be honest, they set the COVID guidelines for everyone, it’s up to us at this point, any more than that is controlling. For example, I’m not left or right but Biden has publicly stated he will shutdown the country again if scientists tell him to do so( a story on CNN), if we shut down imagine going back to March economically, I have been unemployed since March I ran out of the unemployment benefits and i am halfway through the PEUC, I won’t make it another shutdown. Not to mention those bonus keep getting less and less each extension. Believe I am working on getting employment but I can’t get job offers since it’s pure competition now.

I just play the game, wear a mask? I don’t like it but sure, I’ll be a team player wether it works or not, I don’t get paid to do those decisions. Is it starting to cause depression and anxiety? Yes (Fear of Forgetting for whatever reason). I am also the biggest germaphobe and have been even before this started, after being a cable guy and seeing how 85% of people live, I will always have a hand sanitizer nearby.

I agree with both your points...but doesn’t that basically put what happens in the hands of “forces of nature”??

Luck. That’s the play. And less ability to respond because the potential will not be planned for as closely.

People will move indoors...their awareness will loosen even more...there will be more spread in the coming months...and there is no magic bullet vaccine available for this season.

Don’t think any of these things are actually in dispute...

So what does that Do for demand at wdw? Nobody is gonna like the answer.

but even then when it rains in WDW people break social distancing rules to get cover like you said, especially since there’s not much cover at the parks unless you weather the storm with rain gear but no one likes drenched shoes. Hurricane season doesn’t exist in California, which makes me wonder at all why Josh even bothered at all.

 

[Jwink]

This removal of restrictions could be even more harmful to the economy of florida.

People who were planning go to disney will cancel simply because anywhere they go in florida they may face the virus, even with disney being 'safe' for them.

And a huge thing that should be considered is that IF, and IF the Fall/winter gets as apocalyptic as some are predicting, Disney may have to shutter once again, regardless of what florida does.

Yup

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm very interested to see what happens in the NE when cold weather moves in. Outdoor dining just won't be practical.

Offices and schools shutdown...complaining about money that was never passed...the usual

 

[Jrb1979]

I'm very interested to see what happens in the NE when cold weather moves in. Outdoor dining just won't be practical.

If you want an idea. Here in Ontario Canada since our cases have been rising they put restrictions back in place. Gatherings are limited to 10 indoors and 25 outdoors and restaurants and bars must close by 11 pm.

 

[Lilofan]

The revenue coming in from additional tourism tax is also huge. Regular sales tax plus hotel or rental car tax. I you stay at WDW you pay the regular Orange County 6.5% sales tax plus a 6% resort tax or 12.5%. I believe only the All Stars are in Osceola county which is 7% plus the 6% resort tax or 13% total. That’s a lot of extra tax dollars not coming into the state with all those empty hotel rooms.

And lower property taxes for FL residents compared to some other states due to tourism tax ( but not many tourism guests at this time )

 

[Lilofan]

Valid points. I think it comes down to attitude of people who are going to be defiant. If the government publicly supports masks and distancing and other safety precautions and a restaurant or store or theme park tries to enforce them its much easier. The capacity thing won’t be an issue on a Tuesday at 3pm but on a Friday or Saturday night when the bar gets packed it’s going to be next to impossible to enforce any kind of distancing or masks. I guess thats the point though, they don’t want those restrictions in place anymore.

Those bouncers at the bars and off duty armed law enforcement earning some extra income will be earning their money hopefully getting the riff-raff out of there. Issue is that some club guests leave their firearms in their cars so hopefully there is no retaliation.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

The governor lifting restrictions will help local businesses, but could actually hurt tourism. Many states lifted their quarantine rules on folks traveling from FL. I can see with the restrictions gone states bringing that back, and nobody will want to turn a 5 day Florida vacation into a 14 day quarantine.