Universal Puts Disney's Reopening on Defensive

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Guests staying at Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort can walk to the gates at MK... as will those staying at the luxurious Grand Floridian, once WDW finishes the other bridge over the nearer channel. I wonder if we'll see exclusive opening of MK for those guests...

So they can lose a poop ton of money?

Come on, Larry...you playing the straight man on this one?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yeah they plan for it to be one party per cabin, and then they will send the cabin off “fogged” before someone new enters the cabin.

Interesting...I’ve seen the Foggers being used on the airlines.

Queue the ghostbusters jokes

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Will that be enough to justify opening the park? Those resorts are some of the most expensive.

Nope...not close.

And full occupancy and every butt going in - which is not the case at dvc - you’re getting maybe 6,000?

That doesn’t scratch the elephants hide.

But I fully see the problem as presented:
That “dramatic” ride from the remote parking lot in 1971 was a great idea.

Not so much now.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Like mtv not showing a music video for 25 years or history channel showing nothing relevant to history for 15

 

[Getachew]

Nope...not close.

And full occupancy and every butt going in - which is not the case at dvc - you’re getting maybe 6,000?

That doesn’t scratch the elephants hide.

But I fully see the problem as presented:
That “dramatic” ride from the remote parking lot in 1971 was a great idea.

Not so much now.

A horrible idea. Part of the reason MK is my least favorite park is precisely because what a hassle it is to get in and out.

 

[brianstl]

Interesting...I’ve seen the Foggers being used on the airlines.

Queue the ghostbusters jokes

I believe the current practice with foggers is that the “fog” from them is supposed to sit on the surface for ten minutes. I just think using foggers on the Skyliner would prove to be a too complicated dance for CMs to perfect for Skyliner to operate in anyway effectively.

I think the latest guidance from the CDC would lessen the need for a major sanitation between each party on Skyliner. That is one of the reasons that I think this rumor has a decent chance to be actually correct. That guidance has took me from believing that Skyliner was going to be down for a year or more to thinking Skyliner could be the focus of their reopening plans. Also, I think it could lead to a rapid expansion of the Skyliner system across the parks and resorts that I didn’t think would happen before.

 

[Rider]

Building a second ferry dock on each side of the lagoon was a good start. Now they need to add another station to the express line at MK and TTC. With a modern switching system that can handle full speed traffic so they can have two platforms to load/unload during busy times. And new trains.

And while I'm making wishes I would also like a pony to carry me to the park directly from my car...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

For the most part the regulars are the same people.

But Disney has always operated on the "We're a nice family park and everyone here is nice and so you should also be nice too" attitude. The parks (and the Disney brand) are designed to be happy places where you can have a magical day and the cast members will help you do that.

Meanwhile the Universal parks have always been more aggressive. "We're fun too! And not in the boring calm way of that other place but in an exciting way!" which needs a more... proactive... way to make sure people are having fun safely. Just look at how Universal handles HHN... they had metal detectors years before Disney (and Uni added them full time), security and police everywhere, crowd control barriers, and the message that if you acted up you'd be gone.

Ehhh...the local markets are largely the same.

The higher money, repeat offender demographics from out of town tend to gravitate “Southwest” from universal...or probably more accurately - tend to do the 5/2 type split.

Now...when it’s all locals? It’s more equalized.
It’s hard to guage when the “regular” travel resumes how it would play IF there are heavy restrictions.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Building a second ferry dock on each side of the lagoon was a good start. Now they need to add another station to the express line at MK and TTC. With a modern switching system that can handle full speed traffic so they can have two platforms to load/unload during busy times. And new trains.

And while I'm making wishes I would also like a pony to carry me to the park directly from my car...

More Monorial investment??

What in the last 20 year leads you to believe that’s on the priority list?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

More Monorial investment??

What in the last 20 year leads you to believe that’s on the priority list?

People think Josh D’Amaro is gonna save the parks. Don’tcha know?

 

[natatomic]

More Monorial investment??

What in the last 20 year leads you to believe that’s on the priority list?

Based on his last sentence, I think he made that suggestion a bit tongue-in-cheek.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Cross posting from the Disney Springs thread:

I went to both CityWalk and Disney Springs today. Overall CityWalk was a lot less crowded and the guests all seemed to be following the rules. I could count on one hand the number of guests I saw holding a drink while walking around without a mask. Most guests ate and drank at tables or chairs. A much more common sight was guests finding an out of the way spot to sit and take it off for a break... with or without food.

In contrast Disney Springs was much busier and you couldn't go a couple minutes without guests not wearing masks. Many were nursing drinks (to various levels of believability) but there were also a number of guests who had no masks at all just walking around. And of the few times I saw cast members (there were very few walking around) they didn't say anything to guests with no mask.

Finally I saw Josh D'Amaro walking around too. He seemed nice and would stop for guests who recognized him and wanted to talk. However, I also saw him walk past and ignore guests who were not wearing masks on multiple occasions. It's easy to see why the cast don't want to enforce the rules if their leadership doesn't wan't to do it either.

Josh is the only one who gets paid enough to deal with those problems. You don’t want to get shot over asking someone to put a mask on. They are like “ I don’t get paid enough to deal with that ”

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

I’m sure it was done for PR/negotiating options for both sides...It’s just unclear what those may be as of yet. We could speculate but it’s just that.

When it hit the boards that “there you have it...masks mandatory”...my first response based on labor experience in wdw was “that’s cute”

Aka...not set in stone at all.

There are parks smart enough to make mask optional. It looks worse when you say “mask required” when don’t enforce the rules. Nice job Josh!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Not really on either side here, but to compare wearing masks to selfie sticks is just nonsense. 100% of people will have to wear masks, vs maybe 5% that brought a selfie stick into the park to begin with. That number was probably cut to 1% after most acknowledged the ban and complied. Also as a retired LEO I can tell you it is much easier to tell someone they can't do something as opposed to something you are forcing someone to do. Here in Chicago I see about 90% wearing masks indoors and 50% outdoors. Unfortunately, at least 25% of both groups are not wearing their masks correctly. This includes employees. In Illinois masks are mandatory. Just my two cents.

Workers wearing masks around their necks don’t protect them?

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Building a second ferry dock on each side of the lagoon was a good start. Now they need to add another station to the express line at MK and TTC. With a modern switching system that can handle full speed traffic so they can have two platforms to load/unload during busy times. And new trains.

And while I'm making wishes I would also like a pony to carry me to the park directly from my car...

Service ponies are allowed in the parks.

 

[SourcererMark79]

I’m sure it was done for PR/negotiating options for both sides...It’s just unclear what those may be as of yet. We could speculate but it’s just that.

When it hit the boards that “there you have it...masks mandatory”...my first response based on labor experience in wdw was “that’s cute”

Aka...not set in stone at all.

Here's crazy for you; Was that decision made so other parks (USO) who wanted to be aggressive and open ASAP would require masks first so Disney could see how the guests respond? Call their bluff?

 

[DisneyCane]

I think the point is more that if an outbreak is tied to Universal while Disney has held back and remained closed, Disney will look sensible and responsible while Universal will look like it opened too early and risked people's lives in the process.

Honestly, I hope Disney doesn't rush reopening plans just to catch up to Uni.

With social distancing, masks and screenings, if there is an outbreak we might as well just give up. It would say that everything the experts say about the spread is wrong and it's the most contagious virus in history.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

There will always be those who wear them incorrectly or remove them when they shouldn’t, but making it a requirement vs optional will substantially increase the percentage of guests utilizing them. It was never about eliminating risk and spread just about reducing risk and spread.

True. If it's a requirement, I'll wear one. If it's not, I won't.

 

[DisneyCane]

That is unknown at best, and most likely not true.

It is very known from the lab studies. Also, many studies indicate that outdoor spread is minimal regardless of temp/humidity as long as someone doesn't sneeze or cough right near you.

 

[John park hopper]

For those who don't want to wear a mask WDW has a new up charge for $ 499.95 Disney will provide you with a CM who will wear a mask and follow you around the parks the entire day just so you don't have to wear a mask