Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Shouldigo12]

Something I was wondering about today; how would we tell if these shutdowns are working as intended? We can't really go by new cases discovered each day, because our testing is so slow. I'm sure the shutdowns will have an effect, but I'm curious if the plan is to just shut things down for awhile and hope it worked or if there's something else they're looking at to determine when things should reopen.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

View attachment 456415
This is on the website. Seems like around April 20th is roughly when they’re expecting to return to normal.

I would expect them to start restaffing etc. a week-ish prior to that date, no?

 

[solidyne]

Talk shows/Late night shows being shutdown:

America loses 'comfort food' as daytime talk shows and late-night comics suspend production over coronavirus

Television is a lifeline as Americans hunker down to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

www.cnn.com

Finally, some good news!

 

[Brer Oswald]

I would expect them to start restaffing etc. a week-ish prior to that date, no?

That would fit well with the month and a half timeline. 3 virus cycles.

 

[seascape]

How do you tax people more who aren't working which means local services will be stretched to the limit or reduced

You missed my point. After this is over, State and Local taxes will have to go up. Their revenues are way down. Toilet paper is not taxed in NJ and that is what is sold out. Neithervis food. Snacks are but soup and pasta are sold out. Face it, this is a disaster caused by internationalism. Disease, will cross borders no matter what anyone does but we should be happy that this happened today and not years ago when we didn't have the technology to dr olve this. In the meantime, expect your vacation to be fun but not have all the extras.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

It really depends how we as a people handle the shutdown. Do people just stay away from work/school and just use that as an excuse to go to a party or mall or gathering. If they do that then we could be shutdown for a long time.

And that's my biggest worry. On the whole, Americans are pretty stupid and selfish.

 

[GoofGoof]

Something I was wondering about today; how would we tell if these shutdowns are working as intended? We can't really go by new cases discovered each day, because our testing is so slow. I'm sure the shutdowns will have an effect, but I'm curious if the plan is to just shut things down for awhile and hope it worked or if there's something else they're looking at to determine when things should reopen.

They have to ramp up testing too. The shutdowns are necessary because we don’t know how many people are infected so we have to assume many more than are reported due to lack of testing and spread in other countries. Once they ramp up testing we will have a more accurate picture. We will never know whether the extreme social distancing and shutdowns resulted in an actual decrease in positive people or if there just weren’t that many positive all along. Either way they need to actually ramp up testing to find out.

 

[esskay]

On the CP new arrivals - it makes sense to keep them arriving on the 20th of April.

If the predictions of this starting to get better in/around May that gives extra training time - and they need it. Last years CP training was absolutely shocking.

Even if the parks don't re-open until the end of May, having the CP cast on hand for the initial few weeks of postponed rebookings* coming in will help.

*Airlines and Disney in the UK (assume EU as well) are allowing you to reschedule at no cost, so those going March <=> May excl. Easter are likely kid-less (its term time) so can reschedule at short notice. I'd imaging once a re-opening date is announced a chunk of those people will be setting their new date to be within a few weeks of reopening.

 

[Overlordkitty]

Something I was wondering about today; how would we tell if these shutdowns are working as intended? We can't really go by new cases discovered each day, because our testing is so slow. I'm sure the shutdowns will have an effect, but I'm curious if the plan is to just shut things down for awhile and hope it worked or if there's something else they're looking at to determine when things should reopen.

The shutdowns are working as intended if the hospital system doesn't become overwhelmed.

 

[disneygeek90]

For any fellow Floridians. Publix now closing at 8pm daily so they can clean and hopefully re-stock. Which means 7am opening will be a war zone.

It’s the new “rope drop!”

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

It’s the new “rope drop!”

Wonder if I can get a FP?

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I would say the more clean/sanitary countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea have the ideal situation for handling the virus.
Italy, it doesn't surprise me.
Here, we are a mixed bag, really big, diverse country. Like KC is really clean for some reason. But I don't see how NYC can handle this quickly as there is always garbage all over the streets and rats running around everywhere.

Never mind the 'Murican attitude that we're all so special so rules don't apply to us. ("we" and "us" being figurative, of course)

 

[Shouldigo12]

The shutdowns are working as intended if the hospital system doesn't become overwhelmed.

Yeah, that would be a pretty good way of telling that it worked haha. I was wondering more though how we'll decide it's fine to open the schools, parks, etc up again.

 

[Overlordkitty]

I think my comment was deleted because I got really angry. But yes you are completely correct. I was explaining that my husband actually does have two jobs and he actually is working more but it’s still scary to think that at the end of this it is very possible he could be laid off. His friends could be laid off and he could have a situation where he feels guilty that he’s not laid off etc. of course we will take the latter but somethings got to give. Anyhow he works two jobs… He wakes up at 3:30 AM on Fridays Sundays and Mondays and works until 11:30 AM. On Sundays and Mondays to go straight to Disney and doesn’t get off until 9 PM. He doesn’t get home until 10 PM. He works so hard.

It's terrifying how quickly things can change, even when we are doing everything right. I've had the benefit of knowing my job is not going anywhere (I work at a hospital as a food service manager), but as all these shutdowns and cutbacks have been announced, my staff is coming to me to let me know they will work as much as possible because their second jobs are cutting back, or the other income of their household will be disappearing. And we've only had confirmation of these shutdowns for 72 hours or so.

 

[arich35]

How much of Disney World's staff is made up of college program students?

 

[Rider]

Please enjoy this laugh in these times. Courtesy of reddit.

I am writing this in the bathroom because I just got into a huge argument with my husband and I don't know what to do.

We and our three children had an upcoming trip planned for Disney World on Tuesday, a ten day stay at the Grand Floridian and a wonderful itinerary that included all four parks and Blizzard Beach. Of course the parks have now closed and my children are beyond devastated.

I called Disney's customer service line to speak with a representative about how they can make this right. He promised a refund and the ability to rebook for another time but that obviously isn't good enough. I told him that he needed to do better than that and he said he was just following the guidelines put forth by the company.

I suggested as a means to rectify this that he provide us future accommodations in the secretive suite located in Cinderella's castle. I said the only way to make up for the hardship my children are facing is to provide us with a truly unforgettable experience, one that goes beyond the standard Disney trip and will completely wash away the painful memories that will undoubtedly stay with them for years. What better way to do so than to stay in the castle of Cinderella herself?

He audibly scoffed at this and said that was way, way beyond his authorization. He said tens of thousands had had their vacations ruined and that it wasn't his or the company's fault and they were all doing the best they could.

This dismissal ed me off. I told him that yes it wasn't his fault but it was his responsibility to make it right. Surely, instead of closing down, a multibillion dollar media conglomerate that's a hegemon in the global theme park industry would have the capacity to simply screen for sick visitors at the park entrances. Instead, they ruined my children's entire year.

And what about the FastPass reservations that we meticulously booked during our first day of eligibility? What about the dinner plans with the princesses? How do they think it feels for me as a parent to tell my children they can't visit THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH because they might get sick and DIE?

After all this the smug rep just repeated he could only offer refunds for the time being and an opportunity to rebook. I again stated that that was insufficient and that I at least expected a lifetime subscription to Disney+ and he straight up laughed and said "that's not my department."

I hung up the phone in rage and my husband immediately was like "what the was that." He told me I was a "psycho " for the way I spoke to the customer service rep, that I was extremely unreasonable and rude and that he was genuinely disturbed by my behavior. He said he doesn't know what happened to the woman he married and he's not sure he can ever look at me the same way again.

I am deeply, deeply hurt that he would say such things about me when I was just trying to do what's best for our children. Our relationship has been rocky for the past couple of years and Disney was supposed to be an opportunity to rekindle that fire. Now it feels like that might not be possible. He is usually quite soft spoken so I am shocked and devastated by the abusive language he directed at me and I don't know if I can forgive him. Now my children are crying and my husband is ed off and my whole world is breaking down and I don't know what to do. How can I make things right? Is that even possible?

 

[Jwink]

It's terrifying how quickly things can change, even when we are doing everything right. I've had the benefit of knowing my job is not going anywhere (I work at a hospital as a food service manager), but as all these shutdowns and cutbacks have been announced, my staff is coming to me to let me know they will work as much as possible because their second jobs are cutting back, or the other income of their household will be disappearing. And we've only had confirmation of these shutdowns for 72 hours or so.

If I’m being honest I don’t ‘think’ he’ll lose his Disney job. He’s not part time, he isn’t salary, his job is actually needed for operation of the parks and hotels. BUT if they restructure to lay off according to seniority I can see that being an issue. He’s been there 15 years which is a baby in Disney years lol

 

[Touchdown]

People who think everyone is just going to come back are naive. The economic impact of the world shutting down is going to lead to a round of layoffs not seen in sometime. Attendance is going to drop, significantly. If you are not in health care, utilities, or a government worker odds are your workplace is going to go through a round of layoffs. If you are lucky enough to be able to go to WDW after this is all said and done, you will likely score significant discounts and experience significantly less crowds but that comes with a catch, hours will be reduced.

 

[21stamps]

It really depends how we as a people handle the shutdown. Do people just stay away from work/school and just use that as an excuse to go to a party or mall or gathering. If they do that then we could be shutdown for a long time.

Millions and millions of people are not staying away from work... many companies have worked out childcare with local childcare facilities for school-aged kids.

For example, the YMCA is offering $30 per day per kid. All of these kids have parents who are working, exposed to other people, exposed to their kids, and then kids around other kids- exactly what the schools and sports were trying to prevent, but it’s impossible to prevent when people are still working.

Now, let’s look at another bad side effect from this. $30 per day sounds like a good deal for childcare, but there’s so many people, like me, who are already paying private school tuition, and have already paid for the school’s after care at $150 per week per kid as well.. No word on if we will be issued refunds. (For the aftercare, not tuition).

So now you have parents who are spending $300 per week per kid on childcare, completely unexpected. Many can afford this without devastating effects.. but there will be many families who will be severely negatively affected by it.
Lastly, add to it that this school hiatus is not a “break”. Kids are expected to do classes everyday and a ton of work— the parents need to somehow find time for that as well.

I still don’t understand how all of that is going to play out logistically and financially for millions of Americans.

 

[GoofGoof]

Millions and millions of people are not staying away from work... many companies have worked out childcare with local childcare facilities for school-aged kids.

For example, the YMCA is offering $30 per day per kid. All of these kids have parents who are working, exposed to other people, exposed to their kids, and then kids around other kids- exactly what the schools and sports were trying to prevent, but it’s impossible to prevent when people are still working.

Now, let’s look at another bad side effect from this. $30 per day sounds like a good deal for childcare, but there’s so many people, like me, who are already paying private school tuition, and have already paid for the school’s after care at $150 per week per kid as well.. No word on if we will be issued refunds. (For the aftercare, not tuition).

So now you have parents who are spending $300 per week per kid on childcare, completely unexpected. Many can afford this without devastating effects.. but there will be many families who will be severely negatively affected by it.
Lastly, add to it that this school hiatus is not a “break”. Kids are expected to do classes everyday and a ton of work— the parents need to somehow find time for that as well.

I still don’t understand how all of that is going to work.

The YMCA near me is closed indefinitely. They run the before and after care for the local schools. Anyone who uses them for childcare is out of luck. Even some people who‘s jobs are not shuttered are being forced to stay home.