Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[zengoth]

If people at most grocery stores are acting similar to what I saw at Walmart, the US is screwed.

With more folks home, perhaps the crowds will naturally be thinner. I hear Publix and Walmart are constructing plexiglass barriers for cashier safety and demarcating 6 feet in between those in line, but there's still nothing you can do if you happen to be in a grocer with 200 of your neighbors. I wonder if some people are counting cars in the parking lot and going "nope, not today". I sometimes think about it.

 

[DisneyCane]

Is it OK to mention that my formerly urbane subdivision has been overtaken by nature to the point that Yeti and dire wolf sightings are now common?

At least in the south Florida "safer at home" (please stop with the soft naming and call it "stay at home") orders, landscape maintenance is allowed as an essential business.

 

[DisneyCane]

To my surprise, the Walmart I was at did not have the plexiglass or tape on the floors. I was also surprised to see that the store wasn't too crowded, but I didn't dare go to the food section, I just went to the toiletries which was busy but not insane. The laughing people I mentioned earlier were the only people in front of me in line.

I finally saw the plexiglass at Publix this weekend and determined it is useless. It only could possibly help if standing directly in front of the cashier. If standing where the belt starts or by the credit card reader the cashier is fully exposed and well within 6 ft.

As far as the social distancing, if you have a shopping cart you only have to give a couple of feet between the other customer and the front of the cart for a 6 foot spacing. In the aisles, you'd have to make them one way to have any chance of never being within 6 feet of somebody. If they did that the homicide rate would increase as people become angry at somebody analyzing the nutrition information on something for 10 minutes thus causing gridlock.

Not many people in the general public have an n95 mask to wear. Those that do are not all that likely to have one that fits properly. The other masks are basically useless other than being there to cover the cough or sneeze and catch droplets. Surgical masks are designed to keep people in an operating room from causing primarily bacterial infections in open surgical sites.

People aren't going to walk around wearing properly fitted n95 masks. A properly fitted n95 restricts breathing so is not something that can be worn barely noticably.

 

[DisneyCane]

You would be amazed at how many executives in corporate America live paycheck to paycheck.

People who have the personality to live right at or above their means exist at every income level. I have a business partner that will always spend something above 1x of his income. It holds true if we have an incredible year or a bad year. If he won the Powerball he'd end up bankrupt at some point.

 

[Lilofan]

With more folks home, perhaps the crowds will naturally be thinner.

There was a time when our population was thinner. We are one of the most obese countries in the world.

 

[monothingie]

In other upbeat news...

A man allegedly teaching his dog to drive was arrested after leading troopers on a high speed chase | CNN

A Washington state trooper who tried to corner the man’s car looked inside and realized a pit bull was sitting in the driver’s seat while the suspect steered, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Patrol said.

www.cnn.com

Shouldn't you be worried about the multibillion dollar multinational company you apparently or unknowingly helm?

 

[celluloid]

Shouldn't you be worried about the multibillion dollar multinational company you apparently or unknowingly helm?

Why would he start now? Half the pay, half the work.

 

[captainbuzzy]

In the world of COVID-19, I am now home for lunch every day, as I am working entirely from home. My wife is already about to kill me.

Both my wife and I are working from home. I'm afraid my wife is going to report me to HR for harassment!

 

[jmp85]

Maybe the model's assuming that a lot more of the 66k who tested positive should be hospitalized.

Yeah, it's definitely something I'll check again this evening. I'm hoping it means the model is just "over shooting" because of the data, and not that the peak would be delayed. The model over estimated the number of beds in almost every state that public data is available for. Too early to say, but fingers crossed it'll turn into a bit of good news.

I used to work in statistical forecasting at a F100 company and our sales model would perpetually overshoot. We'd always swear the spike was just around the corner. We were working with 30+ years of relevant data and these modelers are working with data that isn't even half a year old. I definitely appreciate the difficulty in the task they've been given. I'd imagine they'd rather over-forecast the impact at this point rather than under-forecast. Way better to over prepare than the alternative.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Agreed, many logistical nightmares.

Agreed, they are going to try to control crowding by cancelling fireworks, cancelling parades, cancelling the indoor theaters, but in the Magic Kingdom is always MOBBED just walking down main street.

Unless they actually limit the number of people in the park, the place will be mobbed! How do they actually limit the number of people into the park? Sure you can close the parking lots, that will stop the folks who drive there. What about guests staying on property? Will folks have to get to the parks at 5AM in order to get in before a park is closed to guests? And what about the Mob at 5AM? A lot of folks jammed together! Exactly what they are trying to avoid.

This is going to be interesting.

 

[marni1971]

How do they actually limit the number of people into the park?

Like they would for new years eve or any other high capacity event? Just with more publicity.

 

[lazyboy97o]

How do they actually limit the number of people into the park?

The same way they have for years. They track how many people are in the park at any moment and when that number nears capacity they stop admitting people into the park.

 

[MattFrees71]

Agreed, they are going to try to control crowding by cancelling fireworks, cancelling parades, cancelling the indoor theaters, but in the Magic Kingdom is always MOBBED just walking down main street.

Unless they actually limit the number of people in the park, the place will be mobbed! How do they actually limit the number of people into the park? Sure you can close the parking lots, that will stop the folks who drive there. What about guests staying on property? Will folks have to get to the parks at 5AM in order to get in before a park is closed to guests? And what about the Mob at 5AM? A lot of folks jammed together! Exactly what they are trying to avoid.

This is going to be interesting.

Maybe have a Virtual queue and limit for those to enter the park?

 

[DisneyYorkian74]

Now to everybody that’s considering Disney re-opening to reduced capacity - has anybody run the numbers to confirm that re-opening at a reduced capacity would still be profitable?

So much of a business is how you can squeeze every last cent out of an investment - will operating attractions and re-opening a park where you can only allow a severely reduced amount of people in - which will limit the potential money being made- still be worth the operating costs?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Now to everybody that’s considering Disney re-opening to reduced capacity - has anybody run the numbers to confirm that re-opening at a reduced capacity would still be profitable?

So much of a business is how you can squeeze every last cent out of an investment - will operating attractions and re-opening a park where you can only allow a severely reduced amount of people in - which will limit the potential money being made- still be worth the operating costs?

Seeing as Disney has let capacity stagnate for years and originally designed the parks to handle lower capacity, yes they can successfully operate at reduced capacity.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Now to everybody that’s considering Disney re-opening to reduced capacity - has anybody run the numbers to confirm that re-opening at a reduced capacity would still be profitable?

So much of a business is how you can squeeze every last cent out of an investment - will operating attractions and re-opening a park where you can only allow a severely reduced amount of people in - which will limit the potential money being made- still be worth the operating costs?

I guess the bean counters at Disney know the numbers. I wonder what is the minimum attendance to break even? Must the parks be mobbed just to break even? For decades all of us only know the normal mobbed parks.

Even the hard ticket events are mobbed and those are said to have sold only a "limited" number of tickets.

But I have a question. Should Disney stay closed and make zero $$ and the fan base simply get "accustomed" to NOT going to a disney park, or open at reduced capacity at near break even of possibly a slight loss to get the parks open and over time slowly increase attendance over time as the virus goes away?

 

[techgeek]

Now to everybody that’s considering Disney re-opening to reduced capacity - has anybody run the numbers to confirm that re-opening at a reduced capacity would still be profitable?

So much of a business is how you can squeeze every last cent out of an investment - will operating attractions and re-opening a park where you can only allow a severely reduced amount of people in - which will limit the potential money being made- still be worth the operating costs?

I think running at a loss with some kind of revenue is highly preferable to not running at all, in this case. At least you slow down the bleeding until you can regain full profitability over time.

 

[Polynesia]

I think running at a loss with some kind of revenue is highly preferable to not running at all, in this case. At least you slow down the bleeding until you can regain full profitability over time.

Agreed. It would put cast members to work with a paycheck since we don’t know if Disney will continue to pay after April 18. It is also good for the economy keeping people working. Plus it would be a huge boost for people emotionally to see things slowly returning.

 

[Lilofan]

Disney Construction Projects Defunded, Layoffs Underway

Walt Disney World news, photos, and reviews! We provide you with daily news from the Walt Disney World theme parks and beyond

blogmickey.com

Disney layoffs underway

 

[Patcheslee]

Dentist here...I think all offices around the country have been mandated by their state governments to stop all elective care and can only treat emergencies (meaning, pain and swelling etc). While your dentist and orthodontist's assessment is spot on regarding the need to remove your child's teeth in order to avoid more complex orthodontic treatment later, your child isn't in any pain or distress and the extractions are not essential to alleviate any acute symptoms. Meaning they can be delayed with little recourse in his immediate well being. Bare in mind a lot of dentist's and especially their staff (assistants) are very unnerved right now regarding this virus because it is easily transmitted through aerosol. Guess which profession holds the biggest occupational risk to contract COVID-19? Dentists essentially can be working in a COVID-19 minefield with every patient they treat without knowing it.

On that note, dentist's are now concerned about the long term ramifications that COVID-19 can potentially have on their dental practices from multiple standpoints including the safety of themselves and their staff and patients as well as future impacts on profitability. My point is this Coronavirus has major trickle down affects that are not only inconveniencing every day patients such as yourself and your child (and rightfully so, I fully understand and would be frustrated too) but also everyone else involved in the care of your child. No one, including theme parks and Disney junkies, are going to go unscathed.

Hope you can open again soon. My daughter's dentist has gone to emergency only, even then it's call from the car to check-in, they come out and get the patient, screen for symptoms, wash hands and go back to have procedure. I know an absess can cause I fever so it's hard to know if that is a cause or Covid.