Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[yankeesfan123]

I was just going to post about this. This is some great news.

While it may mean that Disney World could open sooner than thought, it also likely means more dead people...

If things are peaking sooner that predicted, it means less time to prepare. For a State like FL that didn’t have stay at home orders until weeks after other states (at least they got all their spring break business in!), an earlier peak is likely devastating.

But at least Disney World might be open sooner than later!

 

[jlwhitney]

I was just going to post about this. This is some great news.

There has been quite a good bit of good news overall lately.

 

[Remy is Up]

While it may mean that Disney World could open sooner than thought, it also likely means more dead people...

If things are peaking sooner that predicted, it means less time to prepare. For a State like FL that didn’t have stay at home orders until weeks after other states (at least they got all their spring break business in!), an earlier peak is likely devastating.

But at least Disney World might be open sooner than later!

This. The mistake was made early and while the peak will come sooner, it will overwhelm the healthcare system and create a higher death rate. It will also NOT get Disney open any sooner. There will be repercussions that will last a while in either peak scenario, but, one wont shorten the duration any better than the other. One just has a higher casualty rate.

 

[hertamaniac]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiger-...20-04-05/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6a&linkId=85882384
Implications for Animal Kingdom? Do we know if they have been taking any special precautions around the animals, requiring testing of employees etc?

Apparently, it was human contact from the caretaker to the tiger. I would think that AK, if they haven't before, are now testing the caretakers that may be in closer proximity to the animals.

 

[Alicefan]

I wish I had the money to go back on the day they reopen because it's going to be a ghost town. It's going to take quite a while for the panicked masses to trust going into any kind of crowd. Alas I will be going nowhere because I'm sitting here jobless for the next month and unable to get any of the unemployment websites to even work.

 

[jlwhitney]

While it may mean that Disney World could open sooner than thought, it also likely means more dead people...

If things are peaking sooner that predicted, it means less time to prepare. For a State like FL that didn’t have stay at home orders until weeks after other states (at least they got all their spring break business in!), an earlier peak is likely devastating.

But at least Disney World might be open sooner than later!

According to that model our peak isn't as strong as it was going to be in May, I am wondering if the modeling is starting to account for more of the mild/no symptom cases and that its been here longer than media wants to admit.

 

[jlwhitney]

I wish I had the money to go back on the day they reopen because it's going to be a ghost town. It's going to take quite a while for the panicked masses to trust going into any kind of crowd. Alas I will be going nowhere because I'm sitting here jobless for the next month and unable to get any of the unemployment websites to even work.

Awe, I hope you can get the site to work today and that as soon as this mess is over can easily get your job or maybe a even better one.

 

[hertamaniac]

I wish I had the money to go back on the day they reopen because it's going to be a ghost town. It's going to take quite a while for the panicked masses to trust going into any kind of crowd. Alas I will be going nowhere because I'm sitting here jobless for the next month and unable to get any of the unemployment websites to even work.

Florida shutdown their unemployment website over the weekend, but just restarted it this AM. They are able to make paper applications via printing their forms from their website and some office locations. Maybe that works for your state? I watch our Orlando news every AM and just reporting what they say.

I agree. I don't see WDW being packed on the first couple of day upon reopening. You'll probably see our local vloggers in force, though.

 

[jknezek]

I know for a while people were curious why TWDC wasn't just refunding all reservations through a certain date and instead rolling those cancellations and returns unless asked. For comparison purposes, Carnival Cruise Lines had a bond and stock offering last week to raise $6.25 billion. Alongside that offering, Carnival noted they held $4.7 billion in customer deposits as of the end of February.

Now not all of that money will be refunded, some of those cruises will be in the back half of the year and in to next year, but it's likely that a substantial chunk of that $4.7 billion, maybe more than half, will need to be refunded to customers. To also put it in perspective, it's assumed airlines will need to refund close to $33 billion in deposits unless the use of vouchers becomes popular.

TWDC has fairly lenient deposit schedules. Very little needs to be paid on resort packages until one month before your trip, but its still pretty clear that they would have had a significant amount of money tied up in deposits. One they would not have liked to refund all at once if it was at all possible.

 

[xuxa777]

While it may mean that Disney World could open sooner than thought, it also likely means more dead people...

If things are peaking sooner that predicted, it means less time to prepare. For a State like FL that didn’t have stay at home orders until weeks after other states (at least they got all their spring break business in!), an earlier peak is likely devastating.

But at least Disney World might be open sooner than later!

I am by no means saying that Disney should open earlier and risk deaths never have, this model doesn’t either. The peak now modeled is much smaller, and only in the hotspots is the peak going to slightly overwhelm the hospitals if at all. Most states including California will not even overwhelm the hospitals at all now. An earlier peak is not devastating at all in this case.

This. The mistake was made early and while the peak will come sooner, it will overwhelm the healthcare system and create a higher death rate. It will also NOT get Disney open any sooner. There will be repercussions that will last a while in either peak scenario, but, one wont shorten the duration any better than the other. One just has a higher casualty rate.

The sooner peak will not overwhelm the healthcare system as newly modeled. It actually has much less death cases now with the sooner peak all across the board.

This primarily shows how little the model knows, what we see this week in the hotspots will be much more Informative. This is good news, and I still feel that mid July soft open is becoming more likely, here is hoping The numbers this week keep trending that way.

 

[kymom99]

Apparently, it was human contact from the caretaker to the tiger. I would think that AK, if they haven't before, are now testing the caretakers that may be in closer proximity to the animals.

There aren’t tests for that. At least I hope they aren’t using them for that.

 

[kymom99]

I know for a while people were curious why TWDC wasn't just refunding all reservations through a certain date and instead rolling those cancellations and returns unless asked. For comparison purposes, Carnival Cruise Lines had a bond and stock offering last week to raise $6.25 billion. Alongside that offering, Carnival noted they held $4.7 billion in customer deposits as of the end of February.

Now not all of that money will be refunded, some of those cruises will be in the back half of the year and in to next year, but it's likely that a substantial chunk of that $4.7 billion, maybe more than half, will need to be refunded to customers. To also put it in perspective, it's assumed airlines will need to refund close to $33 billion in deposits unless the use of vouchers becomes popular.

TWDC has fairly lenient deposit schedules. Very little needs to be paid on resort packages until one month before your trip, but its still pretty clear that they would have had a significant amount of money tied up in deposits. One they would not have liked to refund all at once if it was at all possible.

Yes carnival has $150 of my money

 

[vinotinto]

I know for a while people were curious why TWDC wasn't just refunding all reservations through a certain date and instead rolling those cancellations and returns unless asked. For comparison purposes, Carnival Cruise Lines had a bond and stock offering last week to raise $6.25 billion. Alongside that offering, Carnival noted they held $4.7 billion in customer deposits as of the end of February.

Now not all of that money will be refunded, some of those cruises will be in the back half of the year and in to next year, but it's likely that a substantial chunk of that $4.7 billion, maybe more than half, will need to be refunded to customers. To also put it in perspective, it's assumed airlines will need to refund close to $33 billion in deposits unless the use of vouchers becomes popular.

TWDC has fairly lenient deposit schedules. Very little needs to be paid on resort packages until one month before your trip, but its still pretty clear that they would have had a significant amount of money tied up in deposits. One they would not have liked to refund all at once if it was at all possible.

Disney has been fantastic about processing refunds. They have been cancelling and automatically refunding, starting with the first closing and now on an ongoing basis. And for those that book room-only, they only have to pay a first night deposit and the rest is not due until you check in.

To provide a point for comparison, I was supposed to take an NCL cruise this week that was cancelled (obviously). Full balance (thousands of dollars) had to be paid in full 90 days prior (so I paid in full when I booked it). As the default, they provided everyone with a future cruise credit. If you wanted a refund instead of the future cruise credit, you had to wait until they put up an online form on March 23rd, fill it out, and they will refund you 90 days from when you fill out the form. That means that someone (like me!) that was sailing end of March or early April paid their full balance in December or early January, and will not see a refund for the cancelled cruise -- for the full balance, thousands of dollars! -- until late June.

And to tie this back to WDW operations due to coronavirus, I hope that this situation does not make Disney less lenient in its deposit and cancellation policies. I mean, they could be holding on to much higher deposits. If they made everyone pay their balances (both room only and packages) 60-90 days, they could have more cash in situations like this.

 

[mattpeto]

Disney has been fantastic about processing refunds. They have been cancelling and automatically refunding, starting with the first closing and now on an ongoing basis. And for those that book room-only, they only have to pay a first night deposit and the rest is not due until you check in.

To provide a point for comparison, I was supposed to take an NCL cruise this week that was cancelled (obviously). Full balance (thousands of dollars) had to be paid in full 90 days prior (so I paid in full when I booked it). As the default, they provided everyone with a future cruise credit. If you wanted a refund instead of the future cruise credit, you had to wait until they put up an online form on March 23rd, fill it out, and they will refund you 90 days from when you fill out the form. That means that someone (like me!) that was sailing end of March or early April paid their full balance in December or early January, and will not see a refund -- for the full balance, thousands of dollars! -- until late June.

And to tie this back to WDW operations due to coronavirus, I hope that this situation does not make Disney less lenient in its deposit and cancellation policies. I mean, they could be holding on to much higher deposits. If they made everyone pay their balances (both room only and packages) 60-90 days, they could have more cash in situations like this.

Disney always takes the high-road with their guests. I don't believe that will ever change.

 

[vinotinto]

Disney always takes the high-road with their guests. I don't believe that will ever change.

I really hope so. They have always made it so easy to book and change and cancel reservations. We probably have taken more trips because it has been so easy to do it. You don't have to overthink it. But, this is going to be tough for Disney. And the finance folks, I'm sure they are thinking, "if only we had more cash on hand...."

 

[Remy is Up]

Florida shutdown their unemployment website over the weekend, but just restarted it this AM. They are able to make paper applications via printing their forms from their website and some office locations. Maybe that works for your state? I watch our Orlando news every AM and just reporting what they say.

I agree. I don't see WDW being packed on the first couple of day upon reopening. You'll probably see our local vloggers in force, though.

I am by no means saying that Disney should open earlier and risk deaths never have, this model doesn’t either. The peak now modeled is much smaller, and only in the hotspots is the peak going to slightly overwhelm the hospitals if at all. Most states including California will not even overwhelm the hospitals at all now. An earlier peak is not devastating at all in this case.



The sooner peak will not overwhelm the healthcare system as newly modeled. It actually has much less death cases now with the sooner peak all across the board.

This primarily shows how little the model knows, what we see this week in the hotspots will be much more Informative. This is good news, and I still feel that mid July soft open is becoming more likely, here is hoping The numbers this week keep trending that way.

We can hope. I'm still leaning to late july/august until we get further along in Florida

 

[wallawallakids]

https://www.wftv.com/news/local/ora...onavirus-pandemic/OZOOLR6WKZA2BHT2IHYOI22D4E/
Just saw this.

 

[tarak]

I wish I had the money to go back on the day they reopen because it's going to be a ghost town. It's going to take quite a while for the panicked masses to trust going into any kind of crowd. Alas I will be going nowhere because I'm sitting here jobless for the next month and unable to get any of the unemployment websites to even work.

I'm so sorry you haven't gotten anything to work for you. I have friends in Florida who've been trying to help relatives sign up and the site has been completely overloaded. I'm in Pennsylvania and I'm sure things are the same here.

 

[KBoopaloo]

The college program Instagram page just posted that they are sending any remaining international Cultural Representative participants home by April 18 and that they are unable to welcome any future CP and internship participants scheduled to arrive through “early June.”

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[JLong06]

My Sis, who was scheduled to start the college program on June 1st, just learned that the program will NOT be starting June 1st.