Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[Lilofan]

Disney Parks News @DisneyParksNews

View attachment 459062

Good news for cast members!

 

[Andrew C]

I'm so very happy for the Cast members but what a non answer for guest still booked for April & May.

The phone lines are about to be overwhelmed with guest not know what to do.

That is because there isn't really an answer right now. It is all new territory for them and us.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I read an article about Michael Levitt, a Nobel prize winner, who also says the numbers don’t support a long recovery. He monitors all the countries numbers and says they are coming down just as China did. He predicted chinas stats within 100 cases and deaths.

Did he discuss how China decided to eliminate people with no symptoms from their reporting of # of cases, after previously including them?

 

[Slpy3270]

People realize that after April 18th the layoff hammer is gonna come down, right? The cast members should read that not with relief, but with horror knowing that their layoffs are inevitable.

 

[Jwink]

Good news for cast members!

It is and it isn’t. At least universal gives a date of ‘hope’ Disney is throwing in the towel. Saying til further notice. And a very very distinct date. Not sure what the future holds after the 18th

 

[Andrew C]

Glad they finally made the statement but strange they made the distinction about only paying hourly cast members. There’s a good deal of TDO/Celebration salaried cast working from home but an even larger number of salaried low/mid level operations management in the parks who are now in limbo.

I imagine many will be furloughed and told it could be "up to xx days but we will continue to look at the business"...others will have salary cuts if kept on.

 

[jmp85]

Closed til further notice? so I think April 18th is the end of the road for pay it sounds like.... hope he’s furloughed and not laid off after that

I'm thinking they will have a better idea of when they can/plan to open by 4/18. It's sort of like dealing with a hurricane, "we'll know a lot more tomorrow."

 

[John park hopper]

Not at all well versed in the workings of the stock market. Can and will Disney withhold stock dividends during this closure period and financial crisis. Can those with held dividends be used to pay Disney workers

 

[Jwink]

They could extend it again or the park could actually open. Trump says open by Easter. What’s harder to predict is what the hours will be like once open.

Well Shanghai is still closed indefinitely and they just re-closed public venues in Beijing... so... I am almost 100% sure the parks won’t reopen by trumpdate

 

[GoofGoof]

People realize that after April 18th the layoff hammer is gonna come down, right? The cast members should read that not with relief, but with horror knowing that their layoffs are inevitable.

Who knows. So much has changed in the last 3 weeks. It’s a lot of time for things to change.

 

[Jwink]

People realize that after April 18th the layoff hammer is gonna come down, right? The cast members should read that not with relief, but with horror knowing that their layoffs are inevitable.

I think furlough more than layoffs... but maybe massive furlough and some lay off?

 

[seascape]

Not at all well versed in the workings of the stock market. Can and will Disney withhold stock dividends during this closure period and financial crisis. Can those with held dividends be used to pay Disney workers

Yes, dividends are awarded semiannually and can be cut.

 

[Lilofan]

It is and it isn’t. At least universal gives a date of ‘hope’ Disney is throwing in the towel. Saying til further notice. And a very very distinct date. Not sure what the future holds after the 18th

I think cast are happy just to be paid up a full paycheck until April 19! And getting a stimulus check. A number of people are not as lucky.

 

[wdwmagic]

Good news for cast members!

Maybe, maybe not. The money is going to have be recovered somehow.

 

[dizneycrazy09]

Three weeks ago, I never in my wildest dreams thought that my trip at the end of March would be cancelled. This morning, I never in my wildest dreams thought that my rescheduled September could be in jeopardy. Now, well, I'm not sure when I'll get to WDW again...

 

[Andrew C]

It is and it isn’t. At least universal gives a date of ‘hope’ Disney is throwing in the towel. Saying til further notice. And a very very distinct date. Not sure what the future holds after the 18th

There is no way they can say for sure when they will be able to open. Not a chance. Any company in a similar situation throwing out dates is fooling themselves and others.

 

[Lilofan]

Maybe, maybe not. The money is going to have be recovered somehow.

That's a definite for sure to happen. Returning to work will never be the same....

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

That is because there isn't really an answer right now. It is all new territory for them and us.

Understandable. I just would have preferred they give a tentative date then adjust every few weeks like Universal. Atleast it would have eased the burden about to come down on the phone cast members who will be flooded with calls of people who were scheduled to arrive in the next few months. The way Universal announced it, it will hopefully only result in only people due to arrive before April 18th calling right now to reschedule, then in a few weeks, they'll extend & more guest can call without overwhelming the system.

I guess I only bring this up because I waited 4.5 hours to cancel over the phone for my March trip. Finally got through at 2am.

 

[Polynesia]

Yep...assuming the numbers are from a reputable source and known to be raw data. Otherwise the old adage holds true: there are liars, damn liars, and statisticians.

Good point. I’d like to take

Closed til further notice? so I think April 18th is the end of the road for pay it sounds like.... hope he’s furloughed and not laid off after that

I seriously doubt that is what that means. Disney will take it a few weeks at a time and then reevaluate again. Some of the other Disney parks have been closed longer and haven’t laid off workers. I think a realistic time frame to be open is May. Cast members might be required to go in beforehand for procedural updates. I doubt Disney would lay workers off when it’s very possibly only a matter of weeks before they open.

 

[thomas998]

They often don't ever get paid for the uninsured costs, so they amount they charge is often irrelevant. That's one of the main reason the insurances prices are so high -- it's to cover all the money they don't get paid from treating those uninsured patients.

Also, it's more likely that they have tons of different prices because they usually negotiate different payments with different insurance companies. The scenario you described it still weird, though -- I've never heard of something like that happening, where the out of pocket cost for an uninsured person is less than the deductible for an insured person. There may be additional factors you weren't aware of.

No difference in what was done. When I found out what I was charged and how much my deductible was I asked my aunt to see a copy of her bill. The procedures were written up the same, across the board, from barium goo to time in the scanner. Only difference was they charged her a pittance of what I was charged.

After that I have also noticed that I can get my blood pressure medication cheaper by saying I have no insurance than by using my insurance. My co pay is higher than the price if I have no insurance, that isn't always true with all medications but there are some where it has certainly been the case. Right now when I get a prescription I call and ask the price and tell them I have no insurance because I know what my co-pay will be and in probably half the instances I'm better off claiming I have no insurance.