News Walt Disney World theme parks increase capacity but see longer waits and less physical distancing

[Miss Bella]

And why aren’t we doing that again?

The virus is too widespread to do contact tracing.

 

[legwand77]

I'm not sure why certain people think people aren't flying into Orlando. You can go to the airport and see people getting on and off flights. I'm guessing these people haven't flown since Covid started. The airlines have reduced flights about 50%, but the flights they do have this week are full.

Can we say travel deniers

 

[legwand77]

Call it a cavalcade not a parade, that way it won't sound crowded. Either way looks fun.

 

[Miss Bella]

Ironic that one of the key causes of serious Covid related health issues is morbid obesity....and yet these are the brave travelers out at WDW.

#darwinism

I don't see anyone in that picture that fits what I see as morbidly obese as it relates to covid.

 

[Indy_UK]

Is all the protective screens they are adding into ride carriages ect, here for good or does it look like its easily removable

 

[Clamman73]

Is all the protective screens they are adding into ride carriages ect, here for good or does it look like its easily removable

Hopefully with the ride vehicles they do get removed, in the queue lines I hope they keep them.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

It’s interesting to hear different perspectives. As @legwand77 pointed out it seems like the weekends are much more crowded than week days. What park did you do on Saturday? Did it seem more crowded than the weekdays? I’ve been to WDW during Spring Break and over the crowded Thanksgiving week and if you plan a little ahead and get there at rope drop you can usually get a lot of rides in even with large crowds.

I was in the Magic Kingdom that day, only really felt crowded in Fantasyland but I think that was more a result of the way the queues have to be structured especially with the work around its a small world. I'm used to going at peak times as well, and I have to say everyone was very respectful and followed the marked lines. I was there at rope drop, took a mid day break and went back for the evening. I do think people have a slightly skewed view of the 'crowds' as all the distanced outdoor queues and changes in the availability of indoor spaces makes the level of the parks feel very different. The only weekdays I was there I spent in Epcot which always handles crowds better anyway, but that park felt empty Thursday and Friday.

Hope that helps!

 

[DisneyMusician2]

Never said no one. Disney doesn’t fill 30,000+ hotel rooms with “some people” So yeah, maybe I’m mistaken and the resorts are full now...or maybe it’s that they are just all staying off property and only visiting the parks on the weekends

How are they doing heavy tracing if they aren’t requiring kids with direct contact to be tested or quarantine? Who exactly are they testing when a kid tests positive? In my kid’s 2 schools none of the cases have been traced to spread from school itself but that is based on actual tracing. If you don’t test anyone than naturally you won’t find any cases linked.

I know NY is taking their contact tracing EXTREMELY seriously and they've quarantined several entire classes in my kids' district even when the contact was several degrees away. But I can tell you I felt safer outside in WDW than I did in some restaurant spaces here in NY.

 

[GoofGoof]

another data point that people are traveling from out of state and that is increasing, and people are traveling safely. Picture from yesterday.


View attachment 520274

Disney World, Universal draw holiday crowds despite COVID-19 warnings

The tourism machine is still churning this holiday season at Orlando’s theme parks, despite warnings from medical experts that the coronavirus has reached a critical point in the United State…

www.orlandosentinel.com

How do we know all these people are out of state travelers? Did they block local AP holders from getting into the park for the day?

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm not sure why certain people think people aren't flying into Orlando. You can go to the airport and see people getting on and off flights. I'm guessing these people haven't flown since Covid started. The airlines have reduced flights about 50%, but the flights they do have this week are full.

People are flying into and out of Orlando. Anyone saying that’s not happening is just wrong. Just like people are flying into and out of every other airport. Not every person flying into or out of Orlando is going to/from a theme park. Some people are just visiting family, traveling for work, etc... If you look at the overall TSA gate numbers for the country they are still down about 60% vs last year so while people are traveling by air it’s still way less people than previous years.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

People are flying into and out of Orlando. Anyone saying that’s not happening is just wrong. Just like people are flying into and out of every other airport. Not every person flying into or out of Orlando is going to/from a theme park. Some people are just visiting family, traveling for work, etc... If you look at the overall TSA gate numbers for the country they are still down about 60% vs last year so while people are traveling by air it’s still way less people than previous years.

I do agree having flown a few times, but the resorts are EMPTY comparatively after walking around them to see the Christmas decorations. And this is really evident on the buses and transportation. And people do get a lot bolder during the holidays. But flying out of Orlando earlier this month on a Sunday afternoon and there was NO ONE on the TSA line ahead of me back to NYC. It was almost a little creepy.

 

[GoofGoof]

I do agree having flown a few times, but the resorts are EMPTY comparatively after walking around them to see the Christmas decorations. And this is really evident on the buses and transportation. And people do get a lot bolder during the holidays. But flying out of Orlando earlier this month on a Sunday afternoon and there was NO ONE on the TSA line ahead of me back to NYC. It was almost a little creepy.

The resorts are a big indicator of whether the parks are filled with more locals or out of state tourists. The fact that almost half the rooms are still out of inventory and every report I have seen is the buses and resorts themselves seem pretty empty leads me to believe that the bulk of visitors are still locals. Add to that the fact that the weekends are much more crowded and it’s pretty obvious what’s going on.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

The resorts are a big indicator of whether the parks are filled with more locals or out of state tourists. The fact that almost half the rooms are still out of inventory and every report I have seen is the buses and resorts themselves seem pretty empty leads me to believe that the bulk of visitors are still locals. Add to that the fact that the weekends are much more crowded and it’s pretty obvious what’s going on.

I would add to this and say that the halt on sale of APs reflects this problem as well, although I'm sure I'm not the first to point that out.

 

[legwand77]

How do we know all these people are out of state travelers? Did they block local AP holders from getting into the park for the day?

Yes pretty much. Considering the most popular local AP's are blocked right now, pretty good chance they are from out of state.

 

[legwand77]

The resorts are a big indicator of whether the parks are filled with more locals or out of state tourists. The fact that almost half the rooms are still out of inventory and every report I have seen is the buses and resorts themselves seem pretty empty leads me to believe that the bulk of visitors are still locals. Add to that the fact that the weekends are much more crowded and it’s pretty obvious what’s going on.

Not really, parks are running at "35%" capacity, even if it was all out of state travelers the resorts would still appear empty. A resort at 50% capacity would 'feel empty'.

 

[Jrb1979]

Not really, parks are running at "35%" capacity, even if it was all out of state travelers the resorts would still appear empty. A resort at 50% capacity would 'feel empty'.

They don't just appear empty. They are empty. There is availability at all resorts. For Christmas week that's unheard of. In a way that's a good thing as non essential travel isn't advised right now.

 

[legwand77]

They don't just appear empty. They are empty. There is availability at all resorts. For Christmas week that's unheard of. In a way that's a good thing as non essential travel isn't advised right now.

Um the parks are operating at less than half capacity of course there will be availibilty at the resorts. Comparing it is to previous Christmas weeks is pretty funny.

 

[GoofGoof]

Not really, parks are running at "35%" capacity, even if it was all out of state travelers the resorts would still appear empty. A resort at 50% capacity would 'feel empty'.

Half the resorts are closed so 0% capacity. The ones open are not full. I’m not sure why this matters so much to you anyway. You seem hell bent on “proving” that the masses are back to life and travel as normal and it’s simply not the case. Some people are acting that way, many aren’t. Travel is still way down, that’s a fact, there are easily accessible stats that show that.

For Disney they are treading water right now, which is fine, but they won’t see the significant uptick they need until the Spring at the earliest depending on how the vaccine rollout goes.

 

[legwand77]

Half the resorts are closed so 0% capacity. The ones open are not full. I’m not sure why this matters so much to you anyway. You seem hell bent on “proving” that the masses are back to life and travel as normal and it’s simply not the case. Some people are acting that way, many aren’t. Travel is still way down, that’s a fact, there are easily accessible stats that show that.

For Disney they are treading water right now, which is fine, but they won’t see the significant uptick they need until the Spring at the earliest depending on how the vaccine rollout goes.

There are posters constantly claiming no one is traveling, no one should travel etc etc. Only locals are going to Disney, only AP holders etc. The facts are that is not true, no matter how many time they say it. It is not just me saying that, news reports, blogs, trip reports, and photos etc etc. Still with all that they still deny people are traveling. Of course like I have said before travel is way off from normal but to claim no one is traveling to Disney is just not true. Just in the article I linked they profiled families from St. Louis, Alabama and Vegas who was even an ER nurse. Even the parks are increasing ride capacity to keep up with demand.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

There are posters constantly claiming no one is traveling, no one should travel etc etc. Only locals are going to Disney, only AP holders etc.

Who is claiming no one is traveling?