What's Still On and What's Now Off

Josh Hendy

Well-Known Member
Soooo Epcot. What’s getting ditched then? They’re gonna look stupid as heck for tearing all this stuff down if they don’t move forward...
I hope I'm wrong but so far it appears that they're going to gamble on the "build nothing, fix nothing" approach and win the day based on attracting FL AP holders with the usual Epcot festivals and non-FL visitors with Free Dining.
 

Coaster Lover

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
If Disney is apparently on the verge of going bankrupt because of the virus, then how is Universal blazing ahead with construction? Do they really have that much more liquidity than Disney, or are they just being reckless?

Probably need to look at revenue streams as well... Universal is owned by Comcast and, despite the fact that so many people are cutting cable, a HUGE percentage of people still get high speed internet through Comcast/Xfinity and that revenue stream will remain pretty solid throughout this event. That division of Comcast provides a very hefty portion of their revenue. Meanwhile, while the broadcasting/film development wings for NBC and Universal aren't making any new content, they are likely still making a fair amount of revenue from licencing/syndication (at least as much as Disney+ is bringing for Disney).

Meanwhile, what at Disney is still (reliably) making money now with no/minimal impact since this event started? I'm sure they are happy they at least have Disney+ as I wouldn't be surprised if they have seen revenue increase slightly there, but in the grand scheme, that is minimal. Disney makes a ton on movies in the theater which they are making (essentially) nothing on now (which I guess they are a bit unfortunate that they don't have the ridiculousness heavy blockbuster schedule they had last year), theme parks/resorts/cruises are all not making money, and I wouldn't be surprised if merchandise sales (in general) are way down.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that while the theme park divisions may be in similar situations, the situations for the parent companies as a whole may (at least from what I can see) be quite different.
 

csmat99

Well-Known Member
Marathoners don't win if they try to sprint the whole way. Rope-a-dope has shown to be an effective strategy in boxing.

A winning strategy in one venue isn't necessarily a winning strategy in another.

Oh, BTW, as to your football analogy. Pure defense works if you're way ahead. It's called running out the clock.
But I don't think anyone would agree that Disney is that far ahead. They have been sleeping at the wheel for years then when Harry Potter opened it woke them up. But they still are run by beancounters. Disney Parks should have a creative vision. Walt was that creative person and Roy was the person to keep him in check with regards to understanding how much they could afford to spend. But they would both push each other and end of the day still ended up with a great product. Disney still has amazing creative people but they don't have a voice. The final say is only the beancounters. Iger likes to think of himself of a creative person but he is not.
 

DisneyCane

Well-Known Member
I'm right with you. To me, Disney shows clear signs of being run by beancounters rather than entrepreneurs, and the beancounters have a strong attitude of, "protect the ball and protect the lead."

I read a similar criticism of Boeing which said, once the beancounters took over the company they started falling into the trap of thinking that instead of designing great new airplanes all they had to do was stick new engines on an old airframe and compensate for the dangerous flight characteristics with software kluges ... which they outsourced to underpaid, unqualified foreign programmers.

I know this is not Disney related, but just to correct on Boeing. The foreign outsourcing of software was for display software, not the flight control system. The sticking new engines on an old airframe was not driven by bean counters, it was driven by airlines (American being the straw that broke the camel's back) unwilling to wait for a new airframe with more advanced engines. Also, the flight characteristics without the software aren't really "dangerous." Without the software it doesn't meet the specifications of a regulation in a part of the flight envelope that should never be entered into during a flight. Even if it is encountered, it doesn't cause the aircraft to go out of control, it just takes less force than allowed to put it into a stall (which can still be recovered from). The crashes were due to botching the failure analysis of the software.
 

havoc315

Well-Known Member
Magic Kingdom reopens with 50% capacity. No parades, no fireworks, no indoor theaters, significant number of rides down.
Epcot not currently planned to reopen with the other parks.
DHS reopens with 40% capacity. No parades, no indoor theaters.
Animal Kingdom reopens with 50% capacity. No indoor theaters.
No plans to reopen Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon in the near term.
All ride vehicles would require mandatory wipe down once in station.
No character meets.
Distancing encouraged.

I'd been speculating along those lines. It's not going to just overnight be a full re-open.

Let's take this to the next logical step -- How do you limit the parks to 40-50% capacity? Without Epcot, more like 30% of full capacity?

I'm going out on a limb -- For a couple months, the parks may only be open to on-site guests. (or maybe onsite + AP)

That would give Disney a long list of advantages:
1 -- It gives the limited capacity to the most profitable guests. Instead of a guest just buying a day ticket, it's also a guest spending money on the hotel.
2 -- Makes it easier to monitor the resort population for the virus. Can check guests for fevers upon hotel check-in. Can check guests each time they enter and exit the hotel. Can mandate handwashing in and out of the hotel.
3 -- More control over an isolated "Disney bubble"
4 -- It would create a natural and "fair" limit necessary cancellations. If you cancel all off-site restaurant reservations but keep the reservations for on-site guests... you're probably at about 50% capacity in restaurants, which you'll need to be.
5-- If you can only operate at 40-50% capacity, if you keep all the existing hotel reservations PLUS allow offsite guests, you'll have miserable guests who aren't allowed into the parks, as the parks will constantly be closed for capacity.

Some more speculation:
1 -- Mandatory masks when not eating
2 -- Mandatory handwash stations at hotel entrances
3 -- Temperature checks when entering resort/park

I'd be surprised but not shocked if Epcot remains closed: It is a chance to further spread out guests, and there is a lot of geographic space there. I guess the considerations are: It's the least popular park and a lot of the attractions are indoor theaters. One indication that this is not definite yet: They announced free dining for June 1-September. And they are still taking June dining reservations in Epcot. So it doesn't seem Epcot closure is a definite plan, at least not yet

My question, about "no indoor theaters" --- ok,, no Hall of Presidents. But where does that leave indoor theater rides? Flight of Passage is an indoor theater ride?
Or even what about rides that are entirely indoors in crowded ride vehicles? No Millennium Falcon? No Toy Story Mania? Or maybe they keep running, but no mixing family groups? (No single rider thrown into the Millennium Falcon cockpit with a family of 4)?
 

Crazydisneyfanluke

Well-Known Member
Rejuvenate and turn what’s left into the events pavilion. Build something south of it that looks like what was torn down and stick their much needed (apparently) bar in it. Make it two floors and stick the M&G downstairs. Voila. Same endgame, fraction of the price. And quick.

Could be the only good thing to come out of this sorry sorry mess. Edit - it’s wishful thinking on my part.
I am surprised the event pavilion isn't the festival center at the moment. They could easily sell merch, booze and food in an A/C area and be a hot spot.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
If social distancing is still mandated by Jun 1, you can be sure no park will be open. For starters, you can't maintain that distance in almost any attraction the park has to offer. A queue with 100 people would have to be 600 feet long.

All show seating would have to be at 25%. And even then, think of the crowds that gather waiting to get into a show that gets packed into a small room/lobby. Can't do that any more.

There's just not enough space to spread out. Certainly not in any of the transportation (except the Skyliner).

Besides, any governmental authority that maintains a 6 foot spacing is also going to limit sizes of crowds: 100, 250, or 500. Won't be the size of several thousand that show up every day at a park. A spacing order is a crowd size limitation order. And that closes parks.

Jun 1 is (theoretically according to projections) a good time to allow select businesses to open that can maintain social distancing and don't have large crowds. Parks aren't in that category.

Parks may come back online in July.... give or take a month. So much uncertainties...
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Jun 1 is (theoretically according to projections) a good time to allow select businesses to open that can maintain social distancing and don't have large crowds. Parks aren't in that category.
I expect Disney Springs to be the first thing to reopen along with the resorts. For the parks, it could be a while, even with modified operating standards.
 

TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
I expect Disney Springs to be the first thing to reopen along with the resorts. For the parks, it could be a while, even with modified operating standards.

Also very easy to see only select resorts opening at first. No sense in staffing up AOA or All-Star resorts for a 10% occupancy.
 

havoc315

Well-Known Member
If social distancing is still mandated by Jun 1, you can be sure no park will be open. For starters, you can't maintain that distance in almost any attraction the park has to offer. A queue with 100 people would have to be 600 feet long.

All show seating would have to be at 25%. And even then, think of the crowds that gather waiting to get into a show that gets packed into a small room/lobby. Can't do that any more.

There's just not enough space to spread out. Certainly not in any of the transportation (except the Skyliner).

Besides, any governmental authority that maintains a 6 foot spacing is also going to limit sizes of crowds: 100, 250, or 500. Won't be the size of several thousand that show up every day at a park. A spacing order is a crowd size limitation order. And that closes parks.

Jun 1 is (theoretically according to projections) a good time to allow select businesses to open that can maintain social distancing and don't have large crowds. Parks aren't in that category.

Parks may come back online in July.... give or take a month. So much uncertainties...

There are non-traditional ways to limit those congregated lines. Not business as usual.

For example:
No queues. Every ride is FP only, with limited FP distribution. So every ride is always a walk-on.

no biometrics at the turnstiles — so no physical touch and getting people through much earlier. Plus, letting people into the park long before open, letting them wander around wide spaces, not congregate on Main Street.

yes, you wouldn’t have perfect social distancing. But you’d significantly reduce “density” compared to normal operations.

throw is things line: all guests in masks at all times. Plus, hand each guest a disinfectant wipe as they board each ride, telling them to wipe down the touch points of the ride as they board.

all these steps would significantly reduce Covid transmission. While still being able to largely operate.
 

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