Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[flynnibus]

I didn't say it definitely won't happen. I said we shouldn't be saying it definitely will.

In case you haven't noticed... the market indexes are already down over 15% for the year.. and we are facing having GDP tank due to shutdowns. It's already happened. Millions of people are being sent home without pay. That's already happened. Thousands of events that feed whole networks of industries are already cancelled and won't happen. That's already happened.

All this has already happened. There is no 'maybe' - it's already done.

Maybe people want to think all of that will magically be forgotten and somehow losing 10% or more of your operating time has zero impact on employers and hence employees... but I'd consider them a fool.

 

[Sans Souci]

Do you think that’s a minority for the most part? I’m at a company where many employees need to meet face to face with customers. We have decided that employees are allowed to ask someone to leave (politely) if they are coughing or sneezing without covering up. We also implemented a “no hand shake” policy as of Wednesday, and every person is required to have hand sanitizer on their desk, as well as wipes to use every time someone leaves their desk.
I almost wish this was the norm and we’d see a lot less of the flu go around.

I don't know, this is anecdotal evidence. But there are two presumptive positives in my town, so I would hope people would be a bit more circumspect about coughing and sneezing in public at this time.

 

[techgeek]

Does the CDC delegate that stuff? They seem more of a suggestive organization in which people ( and President's) would be wise to understand what they are reporting.

Yes, the spell it out very clearly. In fact, they published a ‘Community mitigation plan’ on Thursday, within minutes of the Disney announcement.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/FL_Community_Mitigation.pdf

I suppose that could have been coincidence, but I don’t think so and believe there was coordinating communication either directly or through the state.

The mitigation plan didn’t explicitly call for park closing, but it did specifically bold several entries related to the parks and to tourism. It also recommended limiting gatherings to <250, which the governor strongly recommended but stopped short of ordering the next morning, probably to give the parks the ‘wiggle’ for a phased close for logistical reasons. I would expect a formal order for <250 gatherings within the week, most jurisdictions within Florida already are respecting that.

So yes, most of the decisions nationally and locally are being driven by the CDC and their community plans. The have a master community framework here:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/community-mitigation-strategy.pdf

Basically they define ‘sliders’ of escalating recommendations for specific sectors, from ‘minimal’ interventions to ‘severe’. Nationally we are now mostly somewhere between moderate and severe depending on where you are. The long range management plan allows for those ‘sliders’ to be adjusted locally and regionally responding to conditions on the ground. They will eventually ‘de-escalate’ from severe to moderate to minimal. They may have to be re-escalated in specific areas to address localized outbreaks or nationally if there is a secondary wave.

So far, you can watch the CDC post a plan the night before and watch localities spring into action to implement it the next morning. If Disney didn’t have a tip-off it was dropping and take action exactly when they did, at the very least they were closely watching the language preceding it and could read the writing on the wall for the next move.

 

[easyrowrdw]

When they retcon The Last Jedi. Then I'll start paying attention.

FWIW - This would be the perfect time to have a captive audience.

They already did. It was called Rise of Skywalker, though I don't recommend watching it.

 

[21stamps]

I don't know, this is anecdotal evidence. But there are two presumptive positives in my town, so I would hope people would be a bit more circumspect about coughing and sneezing in public at this time.

Agree.. and like you said earlier, all of the time.. not just now. It’s gross, and it’s dangerous.

 

[techgeek]

I think that’s where a lot of confusion is.

My kid’s (along with millions of others) sports are canceled thru mid April. The last remaining cancelation happened yesterday evening.. an indoor sports facility where we had our final 3 games of the futsal & boarded indoor season, 1 today, 2 tomorrow. Most of us had hoped that they would allow the kids to finish their final game... but, nope. The email led us to believe that this was coming directly from the government here.

However, the mayor was on TV talking about how both outdoor & indoor facilities should limit to players/coaches/immediate families.. not a mandated cancelation altogether.

All of this leads to confusion and frustration for the public.

The CDC recommendations are driving, but the text of them is not really for public communication. In addition, there’s often room for some nuance in the interpretation, since they don’t know the communities specifically. They leave that to the ‘experts’, the political leaders and local health departments. In the case of Florida, this explains exactly why the communication has been a train wreck.

And of course the president is coming up with things on his own alongside this, (in no way did the CDC call for the European travel ban, for example), so that’s muddying the waters too.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Maybe people want to think all of that will magically be forgotten

Market goes up faster than it goes down. But recovery takes a while. HUGE buying opp. Bottoms not in yet though. Disney trips for the next 10 years if I play it right.

And I'm high maintenance (ask my wife). My Disney trips aren't cheap.

 

[sndral]

I think it’s because they were salary... what do you think this time? Do you think it’s part timers, hourly full time, or salary employees that will be laid off? We just want to get opinions because we have mouths to feed. We are both pretty scared.

Take a deep breath, no one will starve. Most mortgage companies are sending out emails to their customers offering to work with them, they don’t want to lose someone w/ a good history of paying if they can avoid it. Moreover, they can’t kick you out right away - just ask people who stopped paying back in ‘08. It takes months to kick someone out via foreclosure & banks in these situations want to work w/ you to get you back on track & the government will most likely enact laws to help ease the financial hit if it gets that bad.
If Disney stops paying, then there’ll be unemployment insurance payments, it’ll be tight, you might have to work w/ your mortgage company, but you’ll recover in a few months. When things are back to normal in 2 or 3 months, do yourself a favor, cut spending & start setting aside 10 or 20% of your take home pay until you have 6 months of expenses saved in cash reserves, that way, the next time a crisis like this hits, you’ll be able to face things more confidently & can weather a financial set back w/out losing sleep.

This is horrific. A TSA employee inspects hundreds if not thousands of traveling guests at Orlando International Airport.

SJC had a TSA agent (maybe 2?) test positive a couple of days ago.

Coronavirus: 8 firefighters, 1 additional TSA worker test positive for COVID-19 in San Jose

4 more San Jose firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19, totaling to 8 cases and 1 additional TSA worker from Mineta San Jose International Airport has tested positive for the virus.

abc7news.com

Edited to add a link - looks like it’s up to 4 TSA in terminal B @ San Jose (thank goodness son was in A 2 weeks ago) & 8 firefighters.

I think one of the biggest mistake was bringing back those American on that cruise ship off Japan. Like letting the horse into the gates of Troy.

The horse was in Troy long before the Diamond Princess passengers returned from Japan.The Diamond Princess repatriation flights for USA citizens happened 2/16. Prior to that, there were already several fails in the handling of the quarantine of the earlier China/Wuhan repatriation efforts. Indeed, genetic analysis from Washington state suggests that as of the first of March Washington had already had community spread for 6 weeks https://mynorthwest.com/1742815/seattle-flu-study-coronavirus-spread/?
If you want to play the blame game, then point the finger at the failure to ramp up testing from the get go.
You cannot isolate & protect if you cannot identify sources. For weeks even symptomatic people were denied testing unless they had traveled to an impacted region or had direct contact, and asymptomatic people who had contact/traveled were denied testing period, even though it was known asymptomatic and presymptomatic people could infect others - wouldn’t it have been better to have tested & id’ed Covid-19 carriers and isolated those who were positive to stop community spread from the beginning?

 

[Phil12]

My husband, who just had shingles, went to Home Depot today. He went down an aisle to get something and another patron sneezed without covering his mouth, let alone into his elbow--just spraying it into the air. My husband quickly left the aisle without getting what he needed. I went out for a walk today and people are sneezing into the air--no effort made to sneeze into their elbows. I don't blame people for sneezing, everything is in bloom here, but this is basic hygiene and it's not being universally practiced. These are the people who are going to prolong this whole show. I don't understand what's so hard about sneezing into your elbow, not just now, but anytime...

I carry a towel in which to sneeze. I always know where my towel is.

 

[easyrowrdw]

I don't know much about CM employment so I was surprised to see this. I would have assumed anyone working at the parks would get the same two week allowance that Disney announced. I dunno. It seems pretty crappy.

 

[danlb_2000]

I carry a towel in which to sneeze. I always know where my towel is.

 

[WDWTrojan]

I don't know much about CM employment so I was surprised to see this. I would have assumed anyone working at the parks would get the same two week allowance that Disney announced. I dunno. It seems pretty crappy.

Disney recruits international CMs from around the world to work as "cultural representatives," many are hired into the pavilions at Epcot, most of which are operated by third parties. Given this, they are not technically CMs. However, these companies have a deal with Disney to provide housing to the employees.

The end of the thread is clear that Disney waived the rent, so the thread is a bit moot - other than the fact they aren't getting paid during the closure, which sucks but that should be taken up with the hiring company.

 

[flynnibus]

Take a deep breath, no one will starve. Most mortgage companies are sending out emails to their customers offering to work with them, they don’t want to lose someone w/ a good history of paying if they can avoid it. Moreover, they can’t kick you out right away - just ask people who stopped paying back in ‘08. It takes months to kick someone out via foreclosure & banks in these situations want to work w/ you to get you back on track & the government will most likely enact laws to help ease the financial hit if it gets that bad.
If Disney stops paying, then there’ll be unemployment insurance payments, it’ll be tight, you might have to work w/ your mortgage company, but you’ll recover in a few months. When things are back to normal in 2 or 3 months, do yourself a favor, cut spending & start setting aside 10 or 20% of your take home pay until you have 6 months of expenses saved in cash reserves, that way, the next time a crisis like this hits, you’ll be able to face things more confidently & can weather a financial set back w/out losing sleep.

Totally sound thinking... but now reply that scenario for someone

- who is under 24
- who works hourly in substandard wages
- who rents instead of owns
- who struggles to meet ends meet due to the rising costs of services compared to wages

Even those with sound fiscal sense would struggle in this scenario. Heck, *I* fret over the cost of a car repair, or a medical bill, and I live well within my means and have tons of liquid assets to deal with any speed bump. But I didn't have that right away - it took a great job and years of prudence to get to that state. But when I look at my adult kids... I can't fault them for stressing out over what missing 2-5 weeks (a full 10% or more of their annual pay) of pay will do to their year.. even if they weather the immediate obligations by using savings.

Is the IRS going to give extensions to those who owe next month? (paying taxes on non payroll income for instance...)
Is the landlord going to give the same kind of grace periods that big banks do because foreclosure is difficult?
etc etc

Heck, imagine your a college senior right now who should be trying to secure your first career job after graduation... this is like putting your life on hold.. even if you have a fiscal parachute to land you safely.

 

[Surferboy567]

Just received my housing email...guess it’s still on for now.

 

[Jwink]

Sigh. I am not doing ok today y’all. I know I’ve been all ‘me me me’ and I promise on a normal day I’m not so self absorbed but I’m just TERRIFIED about the future.

So today they told my husband he’ll be working 2 days a week (paid for 5). He will be switching back and forth with his other leader peer. The crew will be working 1 day a week (paid for 5). Managers will be 2-3 days. This is til the end of March presumably.

So anyhow... he’s talked to a few peers and they all seem to think they’ll be paid til whenever Disney opens and that there will not be lay offs (at least in his department/job title) and if there are he’s high enough up in seniority that they won’t get to him. Furthermore his coworker was saying his speciality costs too much to retrain (licenses, special training for pyro and what not).

I go through feeling ok and not feeling ok. I know it’s not all about me and that others are scared too

 

[disneygeek90]

Totally sound thinking... but now reply that scenario for someone

- who is under 24
- who works hourly in substandard wages
- who rents instead of owns
- who struggles to meet ends meet due to the rising costs of services compared to wages

Even those with sound fiscal sense would struggle in this scenario. Heck, *I* fret over the cost of a car repair, or a medical bill, and I live well within my means and have tons of liquid assets to deal with any speed bump. But I didn't have that right away - it took a great job and years of prudence to get to that state. But when I look at my adult kids... I can't fault them for stressing out over what missing 2-5 weeks (a full 10% or more of their annual pay) of pay will do to their year.. even if they weather the immediate obligations by using savings.

Is the IRS going to give extensions to those who owe next month? (paying taxes on non payroll income for instance...)
Is the landlord going to give the same kind of grace periods that big banks do because foreclosure is difficult?
etc etc

Heck, imagine your a college senior right now who should be trying to secure your first career job after graduation... this is like putting your life on hold.. even if you have a fiscal parachute to land you safely.

And to add to all that, it’s tax season. Hopefully those with an uncertain future are getting a little boost with the refund, but imagine tacking on having to pay when you’re already not sure where you’ll be working at the end of the month.

 

[durangojim]

My husband, who just had shingles, went to Home Depot today. He went down an aisle to get something and another patron sneezed without covering his mouth, let alone into his elbow--just spraying it into the air. My husband quickly left the aisle without getting what he needed. I went out for a walk today and people are sneezing into the air--no effort made to sneeze into their elbows. I don't blame people for sneezing, everything is in bloom here, but this is basic hygiene and it's not being universally practiced. These are the people who are going to prolong this whole show. I don't understand what's so hard about sneezing into your elbow, not just now, but anytime...

Here’s the thing, most people are ignorant. Not necessarily bad, but they view this from a very micro/personal aspect. They think “I don’t have symptoms or I’ll be fine,” but they don’t realize that they can infect others and some will be high risk. They will spread the disease and cause others to suffer and possibly die due to lack of resources. Shame on them for not paying attention.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

No...No I'm not Crying.....Shut Up....

 

[easyrowrdw]

Disney recruits international CMs from around the world to work as "cultural reprsezntivies," many are hired into the pavilions at Epcot, most of which are operated by third parties. Given this, they are not technically CMs. However, these companies have a deal with Disney to provide housing to the employees.

The end of the thread is clear that Disney waived the rent, so the thread is a bit moot - other than the fact they aren't getting paid during the closure, which sucks but that should be taken up with the hiring company.

That the cultural representatives at Epcot aren't actually CMs is really incongruous to me. When it comes to that park, I think they're one of the most integral parts.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

No...No I'm not Crying.....Shut Up....

OMG...someone posted that in my group earlier. I totally lost it.