Rumor about potential major reduction in operating hours for WDW if Disney Asia parks remain closed due to coronavirus

[1lilspark]

It's just a matter of when. NBA ends the season. I wouldn't be surprised if they cancel March madness

NBA is cause player tested positive
March madness will be televised but only families allowed to spectate

I think starting tomorrow there will be an onslaught of events/sports/transportation/parks stating suspended operations.

It will be interesting to see if the domestic parks get shuddered before Paris does though I suspect things like after hours, face character meet and greets, buffets/character meals/dinner shows being suspended before a total closure comes

 

[Krandor]

It will be interesting to see if the domestic parks get shuddered before Paris does though I suspect things like after hours, face character meet and greets, buffets/character meals/dinner shows being suspended before a total closure comes

Agreed on that and as I have a trip in a month I'm worried rundisney will be on that list too.

 

[rteetz]

Its likely more of a when at this point for the domestic parks however at the same time they can't just shutdown. There are people from all over the world at WDW and DL who can't just leave all at a moments notice. This would likely have to be a slow shutdown. Parks likely first and then pushing the resorts until they can fulling close those.

 

[Krandor]

Its likely more of a when at this point for the domestic parks however at the same time they can't just shutdown. There are people from all over the world at WDW and DL who can't just leave all at a moments notice. This would likely have to be a slow shutdown. Parks likely first and then pushing the resorts until they can fulling close those.

A total shutdown of WDW would be huge and unlikely to start so yeah I agree. Any changes would be a phased approach.

 

[10CJ]

Aloha,

I am at a total loss of the mass panic over the Cornavirus. More people are killed in auto accidents yet we don't stop driving. More people die of smoking related cancer yet smoking remains legal. More people die of illegal drug use yet it is tolerated. Life continued with the Swine Flu and other flu's. Yes, some people get sick. Some worse than others. As we know, most especially from South Korea which has the best stats and medical care of the most affected countries, people most susceptible to serious illness or death are age 70+ with pre-existing conditions. This is NOT like a biblical or Middle Ages plague which wiped out 30% - 50% of the population. The panic is greatly harming our economy and way of life which will affect more of us than the Cornavirus. In time we will reflect and realize just how much we grossly overreacted and freaked out and the unnecessary collateral damage our over reactions caused.

The disease is spreading exponentially. If we do nothing we will soon be like Italy in a week. Our health care system will not be able to handle so many people at one time. The point of social distancing is to slow the response so the health care industry has time to accommodate.

 

[Farro]

I just can't completely compare us to Italy. They have one of the world's oldest populations (60% over 40 with 23% of that over 65) which is one of the causes of the hospitals being overwhelmed.

Of course I can't say for certain, but the US does have less of a risk for these dire predictions of us having to tell old people to just die.

 

[TwoMisfits]

March Madness will get canceled...Nebraska coach coached sick and all players now quarantined...
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...rces-nebraska-coach-fred-hoiberg-hospitalized and
https://brobible.com/sports/article/nebraska-head-coach-fred-hoiberg-sick-bench-quarantine/

 

[Krandor]

I just can't completely compare us to Italy. They have one of the world's oldest populations (60% over 40 with 23% of that over 65) which is one of the causes of the hospitals being overwhelmed.

Of course I can't say for certain, but the US does have less of a risk for these dire predictions of us having to tell old people to just die.

Yes the US has less of a risk but to say it cannot happen here is arrogance. Making sure it cannot happen here should be a priority. Italy shows us this is not "just the flu". This virus CAN cause a lot of problems and anything we can do to make sure that doesn't happen we should do.

 

[Farro]

Yes the US has less of a risk but to say it cannot happen here is arrogance. Making sure it cannot happen here should be a priority. Italy shows us this is not "just the flu". This virus CAN cause a lot of problems and anything we can do to make sure that doesn't happen we should do.

I did say "can't say for certain".

 

[Krandor]

I did say "can't say for certain".

So what is your suggestion? Business as usual until we can say for certain?

 

[Farro]

So what is your suggestion? Business as usual until we can say for certain?

I'm saying that I don't think our situation is necessarily as dire as Italy's current situation. I don't think I mentioned anything about how we need to be handling things, rather just trying to calm some people's fears that we are sentencing our elderly to certain death as some are posting.

Although cancelling all flights in/out of Europe is essentially pointless...but I digress.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'm saying that I don't think our situation is necessarily as dire as Italy's current situation. I don't think I mentioned anything about how we need to be handling things, rather just trying to calm some people's fears that we are sentencing our elderly to certain death as some are posting.

Although cancelling all flights in/out of Europe is essentially pointless...but I digress.

It helps to keep the problem you have an expected one, where you aren't always getting new problems/flare ups out of left field as people keep coming and going...and we don't need travel right now...we need medical resources and food supplies and energy going where it needs to go...

 

[XXRAINMANX]

Personally, I think everyone is blowing the Corona Virus way out of proportion. Yeah, I know I'm in the minority. In my opinion I think closing down parks is a stupid decision; however, I will agree that park traffic is likely to decrease because of consumer panic. I HOPE that Disney takes this opportunity to shutdown rides and do some aggressive deep cleaning and much needed renovations throughout the parks. This is the time before crowds hit for them to repair sidewalks/paint/fix, bulk sections of the park with minimal impact to customers. The haunted mansion is acting up, now is the time to go in and fix any issue that might exist on that ride. All maintenance projects should be fast tracked and greenlit now regardless of impact so that the coming years are only expansion driven. If park traffic drops enough they could close 2-3 hotels and bulk renovate 24/7 and cut years off project estimates if they're willing to make it happen.

Just think if the parks close how clean and trained staff could be when time comes to open back up. Imagine if all the staff redid traditions for a solid week. This is an opportunity for Disney to take a much needed breather and hit the issues they've neglected for years.

 

[Krandor]

I'm saying that I don't think our situation is necessarily as dire as Italy's current situation. I don't think I mentioned anything about how we need to be handling things, rather just trying to calm some people's fears that we are sentencing our elderly to certain death as some are posting.

Although cancelling all flights in/out of Europe is essentially pointless...but I digress.

we are not at Italy level today. Italy wasn’t at Italy levels two weeks ago.

So want to calm fears. So what do you think people should do? Go on about their life as normal and wash their hands more and all will be fine?

 

[tjkraz]

Aloha,

I am at a total loss of the mass panic over the Cornavirus. More people are killed in auto accidents yet we don't stop driving. More people die of smoking related cancer yet smoking remains legal. More people die of illegal drug use yet it is tolerated. Life continued with the Swine Flu and other flu's. Yes, some people get sick. Some worse than others. As we know, most especially from South Korea which has the best stats and medical care of the most affected countries, people most susceptible to serious illness or death are age 70+ with pre-existing conditions. This is NOT like a biblical or Middle Ages plague which wiped out 30% - 50% of the population. The panic is greatly harming our economy and way of life which will affect more of us than the Cornavirus. In time we will reflect and realize just how much we grossly overreacted and freaked out and the unnecessary collateral damage our over reactions caused.

The virus is contagious as hell and it can take up to 14 days for infected individuals to develop symptoms. Low risk individuals who think they have little to worry about are unwitting carriers of the virus, potentially infecting higher risk family members, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Imagine that you were infected a week ago. How many people have you come in contact with over the last 7 days that you've potentially exposed? Now multiply that by a country of 300 million. This isn't a run-of-the-mill flu bug going around an elementary school.

We can point to a 97-98% survival rate and think "see, that's not so bad." The problem is in order to survive, many are going to need treatment from healthcare professionals. If left unchecked, our healthcare system isn't equipped to have 10...20...30% of the population infected in short order. The mortality rate will rise due to insufficient resources to treat COVID-19, and people suffering from a variety of other ailments which are normally manageable (survivable) will not be able to get the treatment they need because hospitals and ERs are completely overwhelmed.

Among those who survive, many are facing long-term damage to their respiratory system and other side effects.

Nobody knows...with 100% certainty...what the next few weeks will bring. But it seems incredibly negligent to assume it will simply blow over if we continue living our lives normally. The closures and restrictions we see now are designed to limit the spread of the infection to a volume that doctors and hospitals can effectively treat. If the number of infected rises too quickly, the mortality rate will be much higher than 2-3%.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm saying that I don't think our situation is necessarily as dire as Italy's current situation.

If the US does not become "as dire as Italy", it will be because of the aggressive steps taken now to slow the spread. This thing isn't just going away on its own.

 

[Farro]

we are not at Italy level today. Italy wasn’t at Italy levels two weeks ago.

So want to calm fears. So what do you think people should do? Go on about their life as normal and wash their hands more and all will be fine?

Dude...stay healthy!

 

[Brianstl]

We have over 93 million people in this country over the age of 55, but soothe yourself by thinking our demographics make us less at risk than Italy.

 

[rteetz]

I think here it’s best we don’t turn into Facebook and stick to discussing how this is impacting disney and the parks. I don’t want to have to shutdown these threads but will if we get to that point.

 

[XXRAINMANX]

The virus is contagious as hell and it can take up to 14 days for infected individuals to develop symptoms. Low risk individuals who think they have little to worry about are unwitting carriers of the virus, potentially infecting higher risk family members, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Imagine that you were infected a week ago. How many people have you come in contact with over the last 7 days that you've potentially exposed? Now multiply that by a country of 300 million. This isn't a run-of-the-mill flu bug going around an elementary school.

We can point to a 97-98% survival rate and think "see, that's not so bad." The problem is in order to survive, many are going to need treatment from healthcare professionals. If left unchecked, our healthcare system isn't equipped to have 10...20...30% of the population infected in short order. The mortality rate will rise due to insufficient resources to treat COVID-19, and people suffering from a variety of other ailments which are normally manageable (survivable) will not be able to get the treatment they need because hospitals and ERs are completely overwhelmed.

Among those who survive, many are facing long-term damage to their respiratory system and other side effects.

Nobody knows...with 100% certainty...what the next few weeks will bring. But it seems incredibly negligent to assume it will simply blow over if we continue living our lives normally. The closures and restrictions we see now are designed to limit the spread of the infection to a volume that doctors and hospitals can effectively treat. If the number of infected rises too quickly, the mortality rate will be much higher than 2-3%.

This all assumes everyone gets infected. Personally, given the amount of tested etc I think South Koreas numbers are most accurate at .6% mortality. If we combine that with historic flu infection data of 20-30% of the population we're talking moderate concerns. This virus is only 4x deadlier than the common flu is annually. Our biggest concerns should be like always with elderly, and individuals with compromised immune systems. Those 2 areas have the highest chance of mortality. So nursing homes and hospice Facilities are where we should focus the bulk of or efforts, but reality is even in the best of situations ANY serious outbreak in these type of Facilities tend to have high mortality rates due to the nature of individuals residing within.