Universal Puts Disney's Reopening on Defensive

pdude81

pdude81

Well-Known Member
DisneyDelirious said:
I’m not jabbing at you, saying this more for those who haven’t witnessed and might be uninformed. As a Hazmat tech I would be concerned about the PR of this if it was within public view and without a significant education/ notification plan. You just put somebody in a half-face respirator and coveralls and some folks start feeling uneasy pretty quickly. It’s not their fault, they don’t know or understand what they are seeing. Folks out providing treatment for invasive species or some other sort of abatement/ treatment and some well intentioned person think it’s terrorism. Much more prevalent post 9-11. Before that it was just folks who watched Sci-Fi B-movies as a young child that got freaked out by suits :)
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Agreed. I think they could actually spray things down with guys in hazmat suits if not for the optics. Anything else I fear either wouldn't work or is too risky to guests (automation or remote dispersal). If they have the skyliners open I think they would just have a few signs and sanitizer stations on the way in and out. I was trying to figure out how they could accomplish any sort of fogging in that limited window
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I'm hearing Universal didn't surprise Disney at all with their June 5th reopening date. Both Disney and Universal were on the Governor's Reopening Committee, they both outlined their plans. Universal said June, Disney said end of August. Disney pushed really hard to have Universal blocked from opening in June, but the Governor and Orange Co. officials like the thought of that Summer tourist tax money, so Universal's plan got approved. Now Disney is back to the drawing board trying to figure out what they can can bring on line by mid-June with their now limited staffing resources.

This is not really a case of Disney being "caught flat-footed" as just the fact that the 2 resorts are in much different situations in regards to the ability to reopen.

Universal is still paying all of their full time employees. All they have to do is schedule them to work, train them on new policy procedures, and fling open the doors. It was in Universal's best interest to get the parks open ASAP and stop paying employees with no incoming revenue.

Disney, on the other hand, sent all their international and college program employees home and furloughed almost everyone else. Not to mention that they require 3 times the staff that Universal needs. It simply going to take longer to get the place ready for guests.
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International and college program cast aside, Disney does not have limited staffing resources. They have over 60,000 cast members on furlough that can be brought back to work in less than a week if desired. All they have to do is schedule them.

The loss of international and college cast will be a temporary challenge for some areas, but reduced attendance and some aspects of WDW remaining closed should negate the issues.
 
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Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
peter11435 said:
International and college program cast aside, Disney does not have limited staffing resources. They have over 60,000 cast members on furlough that can be brought back to work in less than a week if desired. All they have to do is schedule them.
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There is more to it then just bringing CMs back. They also have to get things ready for opening and from the sounds of it Disney isn't ready to open yet.

Its frustrating cause any rumors that have are negative towards Disney a lot of you try to debunk it
 
J

jpeden

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Jrb1979 said:
I don't any of that changing for awhile. The only thing I see changing is capacity limits. They wouldn't spend the time and money to put these measures in place to take them away in a month or 2. Don't be surprised that most of this stays in place til a vaccine or treatment comes along.
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People need to stop hinging on the vaccine thing. There has never been a successful coronavirus vaccine. Additionally if one is developed, it will most likely be like the flu vaccine where it is only 40/60% effective depending on the person and on how the virus naturally mutates. Finally, lead researchers are starting to doubt if they can develop one. Researchers at Oxford said they are now only at 50% confidence that they can develop a successful vaccine as infection rates are dropping so fast that they may not have enough infected people for a viable sample in the country.

I understand that the media has been pushing a vaccine as the ultimate solution but the problem is they’re just paid commentators and not actual immunologists. Vaccines don’t work the way the news has been making it out to be. If this becomes endemic and stays with us, people will still get COVID, just like people get other viral infections for which we have vaccines.

The media is pushing for eradication of the virus, which is no longer feasible at this stage. We will have to live with it and people will have to take risks - just like they did before COVID was a thing. You take a risk going out without a mask every day that you could pick something up. We are just more hyper-aware of that risk than we have ever been before.
 
Miss Bella

Miss Bella

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I'm hearing Universal didn't surprise Disney at all with their June 5th reopening date. Both Disney and Universal were on the Governor's Reopening Committee, they both outlined their plans. Universal said June, Disney said end of August. Disney pushed really hard to have Universal blocked from opening in June, but the Governor and Orange Co. officials like the thought of that Summer tourist tax money, so Universal's plan got approved. Now Disney is back to the drawing board trying to figure out what they can can bring on line by mid-June with their now limited staffing resources.

This is not really a case of Disney being "caught flat-footed" as just the fact that the 2 resorts are in much different situations in regards to the ability to reopen.

Universal is still paying all of their full time employees. All they have to do is schedule them to work, train them on new policy procedures, and fling the doors open. It was in Universal's best interest to get the parks open ASAP and stop paying employees with no incoming revenue.

Disney, on the other hand, sent all their international and college program employees home and furloughed almost everyone else. Not to mention that they require 3 times the staff that Universal needs. It simply going to take longer to get the place ready for guests.
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If Disney had no plans on reopening until the end of August. Why do they keep taking reservations? Why offer free dining?
 
electric

electric

Active Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I'm hearing Universal didn't surprise Disney at all with their June 5th reopening date. Both Disney and Universal were on the Governor's Reopening Committee, they both outlined their plans. Universal said June, Disney said end of August. Disney pushed really hard to have Universal blocked from opening in June, but the Governor and Orange Co. officials like the thought of that Summer tourist tax money, so Universal's plan got approved. Now Disney is back to the drawing board trying to figure out what they can can bring on line by mid-June with their now limited staffing resources.

This is not really a case of Disney being "caught flat-footed" as just the fact that the 2 resorts are in much different situations in regards to the ability to reopen.

Universal is still paying all of their full time employees. All they have to do is schedule them to work, train them on new policy procedures, and fling the doors open. It was in Universal's best interest to get the parks open ASAP and stop paying employees with no incoming revenue.

Disney, on the other hand, sent all their international and college program employees home and furloughed almost everyone else. Not to mention that they require 3 times the staff that Universal needs. It simply going to take longer to get the place ready for guests.
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Where did you hear the Disney tried to block Universal from opening? And if Disney really isnt opening until august they should go ahead and cancel all reservations until then.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
jpeden said:
People need to stop hinging on the vaccine thing. There has never been a successful coronavirus vaccine. Additionally if one is developed, it will most likely be like the flu vaccine where it is only 40/60% effective depending on the person and on how the virus naturally mutates. Finally, lead researchers are starting to doubt if they can develop one. Researchers at Oxford said they are now only at 50% confidence that they can develop a successful vaccine as infection rates are dropping so fast that they may not have enough infected people for a viable sample in the country.

I understand that the media has been pushing a vaccine as the ultimate solution but the problem is they’re just paid commentators and not actual immunologists. Vaccines don’t work the way the news has been making it out to be. If this becomes endemic and stays with us, people will still get COVID, just like people get other viral infections for which we have vaccines.

The media is pushing for eradication of the virus, which is no longer feasible at this stage. We will have to live with it and people will have to take risks - just like they did before COVID was a thing. You take a risk going out without a mask every day that you could pick something up. We are just more hyper-aware of that risk than we have ever been before.
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Learning to live with it is to keep physical distancing while opening things. They may never get a vaccine but there is a good possibility they will come up with a treatment soon and that would make a big difference
 
J

jpeden

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Jrb1979 said:
Learning to live with it is to keep physical distancing while opening things. They may never get a vaccine but there is a good possibility they will come up with a treatment soon and that would make a big difference
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I agree that a therapeutic or treatment is much more viable than a vaccine.

However I don’t agree when people say prolonged social distancing and capacity limited businesses are viable. Restaurants are not designed to operate at anything less than 100% capacity. Businesses aren’t designed to operate on 50% capacity and curbside service only.

I don’t know what the answer is, but we are facing many issues, including how to reopen the economy. I can’t blame Disney for wanting to be safe but I also understand that they don’t want to open without being profitable. There are a ton of unknowns but we can’t keep shutdown like this forever.
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Jrb1979 said:
There is more to it then just bringing CMs back. They also have to get things ready for opening and from the sounds of it Disney isn't ready to open yet.

Its frustrating cause any rumors that have are negative towards Disney a lot of you try to debunk it
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There are obviously more aspects to reopening than just staffing. I was specifically replying to a post that was largely discussing staffing challenges.

Disney isn’t ready to open yet. But that’s not because they’re sitting on their hands not doing anything or because they don’t have staffing to do so. When Disney feels the timing is right they can and will reopen. The virus is determining their schedule, not staffing or any other internal challenges.

Nobody is trying to debunk rumors because they are negative, they are being debunked because they are false.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
jpeden said:
People need to stop hinging on the vaccine thing. There has never been a successful coronavirus vaccine. Additionally if one is developed, it will most likely be like the flu vaccine where it is only 40/60% effective depending on the person and on how the virus naturally mutates. Finally, lead researchers are starting to doubt if they can develop one. Researchers at Oxford said they are now only at 50% confidence that they can develop a successful vaccine as infection rates are dropping so fast that they may not have enough infected people for a viable sample in the country.

I understand that the media has been pushing a vaccine as the ultimate solution but the problem is they’re just paid commentators and not actual immunologists. Vaccines don’t work the way the news has been making it out to be. If this becomes endemic and stays with us, people will still get COVID, just like people get other viral infections for which we have vaccines.

The media is pushing for eradication of the virus, which is no longer feasible at this stage. We will have to live with it and people will have to take risks - just like they did before COVID was a thing. You take a risk going out without a mask every day that you could pick something up. We are just more hyper-aware of that risk than we have ever been before.
Click to expand...
A vaccine has nothing to do with Disney’s plans to reopen. Whether or not people, the media or the government think there is or isn’t going to be a vaccine has no impact on waiting to open or not.

A vaccine is the faster way to economic recovery and a return to normal. That’s a fact. It’s a pipe dream to think everyone will just accept that there will be no vaccine and just start taking risks right now. Some people will. The economy doesn’t work with just “some people”. Without a vaccine or a large advancement in treatment options we could be looking at a multi-year worldwide depression with waves of good times followed by waves of bad. It’s not a pretty picture economically.
 
J

jpeden

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
GoofGoof said:
A vaccine has nothing to do with Disney’s plans to reopen. Whether or not people, the media or the government think there is or isn’t going to be a vaccine has no impact on waiting to open or not.

A vaccine is the faster way to economic recovery and a return to normal. That’s a fact. It’s a pipe dream to think everyone will just accept that there will be no vaccine and just start taking risks int now. Some people will. The economy doesn’t work with just “some people”. Without a vaccine or a large advancement in treatment options we could be looking at a multi-year worldwide depression with waves of good times followed by waves of bad. It’s not a pretty picture economically.
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It’s also a pipe dream to think there is going to be a successful vaccine in 6-8 months from now that can be distributed worldwide. That isn’t how vaccine’s work. Plus history shows that rushed vaccines can have bad results (see Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardisil).

The fastest successful vaccine brought to market was the one for Mumps, which took four years. People think that there will magically be some different result for COVID. History and science disagrees with this.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
LUVMCO said:
They were offering free dining packages starting June 1 for guests that had reservation cancelled in the Spring.
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Right but they haven’t offered that since then. It was for people who had their reservation cancelled back when the closures started. The reservations for the second week of June that were cancelled last week didn’t get that. Just a room discount. New reservations for June 1 (now July 1) aren’t eligible. I think they realized quickly that free dining was a bad idea given capacity limits on restaurants.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
jpeden said:
It’s also a pipe dream to think there is going to be a successful vaccine in 6-8 months from now that can be distributed worldwide. That isn’t how vaccine’s work. Plus history shows that rushed vaccines can have bad results (see Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardisil).

The fastest successful vaccine brought to market was the one for Mumps, which took four years. People think that there will magically be some different result for COVID. History and science disagrees with this.
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We shall see. I‘m not interested in a vaccine debate so I’ll leave it at that.

As far as Disney’s reopening plans, a vaccine has no bearing one way or the other.
 
peter11435

peter11435

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
Disney didn't want to open until Aug. Now that Universal is opening June 5th. Disney is trying to have something open by mid-June.
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Just a minor correction. Disney always wants to be open. They want to have never needed to close. They want to be able to open as soon as it makes sense.

It’s not that they didn’t want to open until August, it’s that they didn’t think it would be socially or financially responsible to open much before August. They have always had timelines and plans for opening earlier and later than August. August was just when internal models balancing finances, safety and health, social responsibility, and public relations indicated that conditions would be most favorable.
 

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