46 minutes ago, keith_h said:

When they reopen it will be a lot different. One of the things about Raglan Road to us wasn't just the entertainment but also the loud and boisterous atmosphere. I don't know how you maintain that with restricted seating. I can also see restricted seating causing the restaurants to decide not to reopen early due to the financials. 

That's been discussed on a lot of the local and national news broadcasts.

Places that were able to switch over to take out/delivery fairly successfully are wondering if it's worth going back to dine in if they can't fill the seats.

While they aren't making as much $$ on the take outs, their overheads have been less so they are almost doing as good as they did before the restrictions.

Of course there are still a lot of workers without jobs because they didn't need as large of a staff.

13 minutes ago, kadancer said:

If you walk into a grocery store and can smell the produce, the virus will pass through your mask in either direction.....

Or the unwashed people 15 feet away...

Disney Springs announced that it will reopen in phases beginning Wednesday, May 20, marking first steps to reopening for the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. But how many Disney Springs restaurants plan to open on that day? We wanted to make sure our readers know the answer to that question.

Here’s a list of every Disney Springs restaurant that will be open starting May 20. This list includes restaurants that have either confirmed a reopening date on or after May 20, as well as restaurants that have confirmed they are yet to select an official reopening date.

Disney Springs Restaurants Opening on May 20

Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill

Chef Wolfgang’s restaurant will reopen. This news was confirmed by Inside the Magic on OpenTable. However, since the discovery, all available dining reservations for the opening day have been taken.

STK Orlando

OpenTable also confirmed that STK Orlando will also be open and as of Monday, May 11, there are still several time slots available to reserve for May 20.

Wine Bar George

Wine Bar George was the first restaurant to be discovered on OpenTable. As of Monday, May 11, there were two-time slots left available for Wine Bar George on opening day.

Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC

Erin McKenna’s Bakery NYC confirmed on their location’s voicemail that they will also be reopening on May 20.

YeSake

YeSake confirmed on their Instagram page today that they will also be reopening on May 20.

Disney Springs Restaurants Opening After May 20

Splitsville Orlando

Splitsville’s Disney Springs location confirmed over the phone that they will not be a part of Disney Springs’ first reopening phase. They are aiming for a date closer to June 1, however, no official date has been determined.

Raglan Road™ Irish Pub and Restaurant

While they also do not have an official reopening date at this time, Raglan Road also confirmed over the phone that they will not open on May 20 and that a date closer to June 1 is more likely.

Disney Springs Restaurants with No Reopening Confirmation

Jaleo’s by José Andrés

Jaleo did not confirm with Inside the Magic that they were going to be open on May 20, but they provide us with a statement:

We are working towards a gradual re-opening of the restaurant once it is legal and safe for both our staff and our guests. As of right now, we are actively working on solutions to help us open our doors safely, but until then, stay tuned to our social and we’ll be sure to let you know when we are ready to welcome you back to our Disney Springs location. 

The BOATHOUSE®: Great Food, Waterfront Dining, Dream Boats™

The BOATHOUSE confirmed by phone that they are currently deciding on a reopening date, they could neither confirm nor deny if they will reopen in Disney Spring’s first phase of reopening or not.

Disney Springs Reopening

At this time, all other Disney Springs restaurants such as The Edison, Morimoto Asia, Amorette’s Patisserie, and the Rainforest Cafe have not made any indication on their socials, over the phone, or on OpenTable confirming or denying that they will be open on May 20.

Please note that while we have confirmation that these restaurants will be open on May 20, that does not guarantee that there will be availabilities. Please check directly with each restaurant for their up-to-date availability.

Also, we want to remind our viewers that all of these revelations are either coming from OpenTable or the restaurants themselves. The My Disney Experience app and the Walt Disney World resort website still do not show any availabilities before June 1. Any reservation at any other Disney World restaurants in the theme parks or at the resort hotels, or any Disney resort hotel reservation, can now only be made after July 1.

I just sent this to my family.

My wife won a pair of the $10 lottery for tickets last year and we saw it in Tampa.

We were shocked when we walked into the theater figuring we had nose bleed seats.

Everyone that won the lottery tickets sat in the FRONT ROW!

Just now, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Toilet paper, sanitizing wipes, bleach, flour, yeast and any kind of meat.

Annnnnnnd...... go!

 

Done...

30 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Of course it's been around longer... we discussed this several weeks back.  What this shows us, is that this virus is not as dangerous as we were told.  Knowing that it's been circulating, that it's infected more than originally thought and thousands more have survived... it shows that this virus does not warrant the control that is being placed on the American people.  The list is SO long.  The economic devastation that has caused an increase in depression and suicides, domestic abuse has spiked, substance abuse has increased, the diseases that have not been treated because they were not "essential" (my sister-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 6 weeks ago, but she has been "on hold" because they consider the surgery to try to remove the cancer as non-essential).  Folks have been feared into not going to the hospital, even though heart attacks, strokes, the rest of life's ugly sicknesses are still happening.  Schools are a hot mess.  Education budgets are blown and reduction will be made because there is no money.... yet there's a bill on table to monitor, test and quarantine the American people from this virus, at the tune of $100 BILLION per year.  I mean... the list goes on an on.  It's insane. 

Obviously you feel strongly about this situation as an anti-mask and getting life back to normal side.

And others feel just as strongly supporting the wearing of a mask and erring on the side of caution.

Carrying this thread on without it being directly related to Disney isn't going to do anyone any good and end up causing hurt feelings.

If Disney says masks on and someone doesn't want to wear one, then they don't have to go. 

Same as people saying that Disney is too $$$, if you don't want to pay don't go.

And Disney will need to enforce their rules (whatever they decide on).

4 minutes ago, PGHFiend said:

I see the masks being worn simply protect the people that have to work in the store in case YOU have it. I don't want to be so selfish that I won't think of the people who are working to provide food and services for us when they may be scared to even go to work. 

Does having to wear a shirt in the store strip your liberties? 

If so let's go topless for COVID!

Where does the sex trafficking come in?

Are you ok?

That's one of the biggest problems with this virus, so many people have possibly had it, currently have it, and it was so mild or they are asymptomatic that they may have been spreading it and not even known it.

They are just now looking at people that were sick in the US back in October and November thinking they may have had mild cases back then and no one knew what it was.

I know someone that a good chunk of their office was sick with similar symptoms to Covid/flu back in November, they were told it wasn't the flu and to just take OTC meds and rest.  Drs. didn't know what it was.

IMHO. They should open the parks to people who are willing to sign a liability waiver and give employees the choice of whether to work or not.  And provide masks, and EDUCATION to all arriving guests.  

I saw a couple of posts (nothing official) that suggested this might be something you will have to do to gain access to the parks and resorts, giving up any possibility of suing Disney.

I wouldn't be surprised if they added it to the fine print when purchasing tickets and making reservations.

And I'm sure all the theme parks and any place (stadiums, concert halls, etc.) with crowds will be looking at doing the same thing.

About masks and the heat, there's a great meme on FB

The top part is a picture of a guy with a mask on saying "I can't breathe in this in a theme park in the summer"

Bottom shows Chip and Dale saying "Pretty sure you can!"

9 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

I wonder how will people drink around the world with a mask. A lot of people hold a drink the whole way around. 

They can purchase the official flexible Drinking Around the World Straw (DAWS) for the low low price of $19.99 so they sip and stroll with masks still on.

57 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

The tough part is, for some masks are truly very tough (if not impossible) for them to physically wear.  I understand that Disney is a theme park so (unlike a market, where you need to go buy food), you don't need to go there.  But, such a bummer if you have a family where maybe only 1 or 2 members would have an issue with the mask.  For some folks, a Disney vacation is a once in a lifetime and they've been planning it for a long time.  Personally, I think the idea of wearing a mask at Walt Disney World is going to pose a risk for a lot of folks.... at least during the really hot and humid days.  I mean, how many times do we hear (or see) someone needing help because they are suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.  Wearing a mask would have to exacerbate that.   I don't see any good coming from that policy, if they enforce it.  But, that's just my opinion.  

I agree, wearing a mask outdoors in the summer (really most of the year) in FL is going to be miserable for a lot of people, but if Disney says they need to wear masks, they will have to decide to go and obey the rules or stay home.

People will need to learn how to pace themselves and maybe find a quiet out of the way place to slip their mask off for a few minutes and get cooled down. 

But it's really no different  than following common sense to avoid heat stress or heat stroke.  And I know some people will physically be unable to wear a mask under any situation.

And the biggest issue is going to be if Disney has that rule and doesn't enforce it. There was a video of a guy getting verbally abusive to employees and a guard at a S FL Publix because they wouldn't let him in without a mask.

We all know how evenly they enforce the rules at the Fort!

22 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I agree- the problem will not be having guests show up. 
 

The problem is going to be deliberate defiance of whatever safeguards Disney puts in place. 
 

If Disney says face masks must be worn, who is going to stop the self-entitled buffoons who know better and take their masks off after they are admitted to the park?

There’s a local grocery store here that made mask wearing mandatory by customers.  The last time I went, I’d say 25% or more of the customers took their masks off after they were in the store.  I know it’s debatable whether masks do any good, but if the store asks customers to wear masks, then customers should follow the rules.  
 

Thanks to the current administrations in charge of Florida and our nation, the a**holes among us are empowered to continue with their behavior.

I wouldn’t blame Disney to put that free money the government gave them in their pocket and not bother reopening this year.

TCD

 

The world revolves those special people that don't have to follow rules.  

Partly due to the so called "leaders" we have with the one saying people who defy the rules are A-OK in his book.

And the other problem is stores that are afraid of offending customers and then being bad mouthed by them.  That isn't anything new, but now is the time they can crack down and make the people toe the line.

I was at Costco two days after they posted their rules that everyone needs a mask to shop.  Guy walks up with two women, the women had masks, he didn't .  Worker told him he had to wear a mask, gave him a disposable one, and told him next time to bring his own. What are the odds he does the same thing next time...

6 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

Those are my favorite!  Some people like to pull that one out every time Disney does something they don't like.  And yet I'd bet you that $10k they still show up!

And if they really don't... well we all know how that equation goes.  For every person that decides they're not going to WDW because [insert reason here], 12 more people line up to take their place.  In this case given what they saw with Shanghai's reopening and how quickly they "sold out" it may be more like 1200.

I think it's 1500 waiting to take any cancelled Fort reservations..... 

7 minutes ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

 

Walt Disney World Now Only Accepts New Reservations Starting July 1st

https://dapsmagic.com/2020/05/walt-disney-world-now-only-accepts-new-reservations-starting-july-1st/

Also announced on the local Orlando news.

I've seen that in a few places, but of course there are people saying that they just got reservations in June...

Now they may have meant that they got them earlier for June,  and they may be surprised to find them cancelled like Disney is doing for the May reservations.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/08/shanghai-disneyland-tickets-sellout-for-opening-day.html

It'll be worse here!

It seems Chinese consumers aren’t afraid to return to theme parks. Tickets for Monday’s reopening of Shanghai Disney sold out within minutes.

Shanghai Disney, which closed since Jan. 25, will be the first major theme park to reopen since the Covid-19 shutdowns. 

Usually, that park sees around 80,000 visitors per day, but the government has mandated Disney operate at 30% capacity, or about 24,000 visitors. 

CEO Bob Chapek said during an earnings call Tuesday that the park would initially operate well below that capacity and then ramp up to reach that 30% cap over the course of several weeks.

Guests are required to purchase their admission tickets before arriving at the park, and annual pass holders will need to make reservations. 

Disney will implement the government-issued Shanghai Health QR code, a contact tracing and early detection system that is used widely in China, and require all guests must wear masks throughout the park except while dining.

Chinese third-party ticket vendors Fliggy and MeiTuan also have said their allotted tickets for reopening day have sold out. It is unclear how many tickets each vendor was permitted to sell.

Fliggy said the platform’s tickets for Monday and May 16 sold out within three minutes.

It’s unclear how other dates on the calendar are selling, as there appears to be a glitch on the resort’s website. Sometimes, dates like May 12, May 13, May 15 and May 16 appear to be unavailable for ticket purchases. However, some of those dates appear to become available when refreshing the page.

Representatives for Disney did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. 

37 minutes ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

Found this late last night with regards to Shanghai Disney Resort. Does not appear to be coming from an official source but I don't speak Chinese. However I think it originally did come from one with some of the footage they have. It does have English subtitles. 
 

 

A couple of the images at the beginning look like the same ones that were posted a while ago about them using CM's to test out the new policies.  I'm guessing it's an official ad that's going to be run on the media in the days before the park reopens.

And was that a Disney CM in uniform at the temperature scanner, or someone supplied by the government?

22 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

This is a discussion happening right now in NH where the first phase of reopening allows restaurants to open up outside seating areas only on May 18. 

The second phase still being discussed would open indoor dining areas to open but with major restrictions to the number of people allowed in at one time.  Some restaurant owners are saying they may stick with takeout and delivery instead because, while they're staying afloat doing that now (and that's best case) it's simply not profitable for them to open up further under such limited circumstances. 

Here in Tampa at some of the areas with a lot of small mom and pop restaurants the city is blocking off the streets to allow them to expand outside dining areas.

But one person they interviewed said what happens if the inside is at their reduced capacity cap and the weather outside turns bad suddenly (not uncommon here in FL)? 

They can't move the people indoors, do they refund $$ if the people haven't been served, do they comp the diners something if their dining is cut short?

Some are having the commercial larger ez-up type canopies erected, but they will be un-bearably hot if they can't have fans running creating a breeze.

I saw in the Netherlands they are enclosing the outside tables in small clear vinyl greenhouse type structures.  Can you imagine sitting in one of those in FL?

1 minute ago, Duane said:

I saw the night pictures on Facebook a couple of weeks ago... This photographer is really good at what he does!

What's interesting is that it pops up on the screen that these were taken before the park was shut down for the virus.

I saw these on FB, and I had seen some others  previously at night (not sure if it was the same photographer) and they explained that they were not given any special treatment (allowed to stay after hours) while taking them and it was a matter of being very patient (and maybe a little photoshop?) so no one was in the photos.

12 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

This is interesting.  Thanks for posting.  My daughter and son in law live near Disneyland and that is MUCH more annual pass based.  Here in Florida we get in on my wife's silver pass, but the cost for annual passes seem to be much more of a limiting factor in addition to the smaller population.  I enjoy going to both resorts and find there is a different atmosphere at both due to the different local/tourist mix.  I find Disneyland more "home town feeling" while Disney World has more to do.

Even with the FL resident "discount" for AP's, they are pretty pricey, especially for a family with 2 or 3 kids. 

For our resident silver AP's its almost $80 a month for our 2 passes and that was with our renewal discount.

Disney is not dumb, when they allow monthly payments it seems more affordable, just like car payments, until you look at the total cost!

I guess we could use our stimulus checks to upgrade and support the economy! 

39 minutes ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

A bunch of weirdly eerie aerial pics of an empty MK and surrounding area...

https://wdwnt.com/2020/05/photos-survey-a-fully-empty-park-with-stunning-new-aerial-images-of-magic-kingdom/?fbclid=IwAR2xDSRd_edfzpgQCJiV4oBcYtjsisprhUk1nJ4m0TwtzKh4VeLuik--wJU

I saw those the other day, they are pretty impressive.

Now check this out    

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202005/7436/

May 6, 2020, 5:07 PM · When Disney announced yesterday the reopening of the Shanghai Disneyland Resort, executives made clear that they are planning a "go slow" approach for all of their park reopenings around the world, whenever they might be. Reopenings at resorts such as Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Walt Disney World will come in phases, with limited guest capacities.

That's great and should help keep the public safe, but what happens when thousands of annual passholders want to come back as soon as the parks reopen? How will they react if limited availability keeps them from being able to use their passes?

For years, Disney and other theme parks have been pushing annual passes as a hedge against the variance of daily ticket sales, which can suffer with bad weather, rising gas prices, and competing events in the area. Annual and seasonal pass sales allow parks to get their money upfront while giving passholders an incentive to keep visiting throughout the season, since they've already paid for their ticket.

With monthly payment plans, theme parks have taken their annual and seasonal pass sales to a new level. Now you don't need to pay the full cost of a pass upfront, just the cost of a daily ticket and then relatively low pro-rated monthly payments after that. Six Flags even has extended the monthly payment concept to an open-ended membership plan, giving its theme parks a similar business model to your local gym.

Cheap monthly payments have driven record attendance throughout the industry, as many fans who feel priced out of daily tickets end up (somewhat ironically) finding annual passes a more affordable deal. That's especially true at Disneyland, where reportedly more than a million Southern Californians have bought Disneyland Resort annual passes.

The crush of annual passholders led Disneyland last year to introduce its new Disney Flex Pass, which required its passholders to make advance reservations online to come to the park on most days instead of simply showing up whenever the pass was valid. Disney likely will use that reservation technology for all of its annual passholders as it looks control park attendance in the first phases of its reopenings.

But what happens when all those other passholders who bought their passes with the understanding that they would be able to use them whenever they are valid have to make reservations - and possibly find them unavailable - instead? It's one thing to restrict the sale of date-specific tickets when you're trying to hold down attendance. It's something else entirely to effectively rescind admissions that you've already sold.

If you read the fine print when you buy any Disney annual pass, you'll see that it notes that admission is subject to park capacity. So, legally, Disney's in the clear telling annual passholders who don't make the capacity cut in an advance reservation that they can't use their pass that day. But, as Disney found out in the furor over collecting monthly AP payments during its parks' closures, being right legally doesn't earn you a win in the court of public opinion.

Cedar Fair, SeaWorld, and Six Flags have avoided this issue by extending their passes through the entire 2021 season, upgrading people's pass and membership levels, or even both. For passholders to those parks, anything they get in 2020 is a bonus, so I'd bet that those passholders are likely not to take a denied advance reservation that badly.

Disney's taking a different approach. Essentially, Disney is trying, quietly, to dump as much of its annual pass base as it can.

Disney has stopped collecting monthly payments on its passes, but unless passholders tell Disney otherwise, it's not extending those passes. That gives those passholders what amounts to a pro-rated discount on their passes. And it also means that many passes are expiring each month that the parks remain closed, reducing the Disney's annual pass base if those passhodlers do not renew, which many cash-strapped passholders are not.

Fewer annual passholders means less pressure on Disney's advance reservation system when the parks reopen. That's not that big of a deal in Florida, where a smaller local population and annual pass base can have the parks to themselves when they reopen, as international and even interstate travel looks to remain pretty much nonexistent this summer and into the fall... and maybe even beyond that.

But in California - where attendance at Disneyland typically soars when travel goes south, as the resort becomes the vacation getaway for millions of locals - advance reservations to get into the parks are going to become the hottest ticket in town as soon as they become available. With all the headaches that Disney is facing in preparing its theme parks for the social-distancing era, the last thing the company wants is PR blowback or even a lawsuit from frustrated annual passholders who can't get in.

So that's Disney's annual pass problem. Being in charge of Disney's AP program right now must feel like being a passenger on one of those theme park ride where it's all gone terribly wrong. But with a reopening in California months away, according to the state's governor, Disney has plenty of time to find a way out.

Perhaps Disney offers to straight-up cancel passes, offering struggling passholders the "flexibility" to avoid having to make any remaining payments when the parks reopen or to get a cash refund on paid-in-full passes. Perhaps it decides to continue not collecting monthly payments during a capacity-controlled reopening, declaring that APs won't be valid until the park is open to all. Or perhaps it decides to allow passholders to take their chances on getting reservations, but doesn't collect a payment or start the clock on those passes until the passholder gets a reservation.

Lots of options here. As we approach the parks' eventual return, annual passholders will be eager to hear how their passes will, or will not, figure into Disney's reopening plans.

35 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

This is what I think will happen.  A friend of mine works in the Team Disney building.  He said he is furloughed until the parks reopen.  He is not sure when that will happen but said he thinks it is feasible to see Disney Springs open before the parks.  Someone posted on another site they saw trucks pulling into Disney Springs with workers' cars parked on the surface lot next to Cirque.  The garages are closed.  How knows what is happening but it would be a start.

This article was from March 9th, but I never saw a followup about it, whether it really opened and how successful it was.

The Shanghai Disney Resort partially reopened Monday after the entire Shanghai Disney park closed over a month ago amid growing concerns over the spread of coronavirus. 

The Shanghai Disneyland park remains closed, according to the park's official website. But to kick off a "step of a phased reopening," a "limited number of shopping, dining and recreational experiences" resume Monday at Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and Shanghai Disney Hotel. 

Every guest entering the resort will be required to go through temperature screening procedures, "will need to present their Health QR Code when entering dining venues, and will be required to wear a mask during their entire visit," Disney Shanghai told guests.

Not too sure if Americans will follow these type of rules?  Only time will tell.

CONFIRMED: Shanghai Disneyland Opens May 11th with Reservation-Only Limited Attendance and Temperature Screening, Chapek States Other Disney Parks Will Follow Same Protocol When Reopening

Over the span of the last few weeks, we’ve seen various forms of testing going on at the Shanghai resort, from the return of character dining, to new seating guidelines at shows and theaters, plus newly-installed temporary queues with floor markings to establish social distancing. Shanghai Disneyland is also where we’ve seen the expanded use of Health QR and temperature checks; with only those showing normal temperatures and a green QR code allowed in. All of these procedures will remain throughout the reopening.

Visitors will also need to make reservations to visit in order for the resort to limit and control the number of guests in the park. No further details are available at this time regarding how the booking process will work.

During the Q&A segment of the earnings call, Chapek pointed out that Shanghai Disneyland has a max capacity of 80,000 guests a day. The local government has indicated that the park is to run at 30% of the maximum capacity, meaning that the park must operate at a maximum of 24,000 guests until those restrictions are lifted. Their goal is to make sure no lines are backing up at the entrance to the park and throughout the park.

Shanghai Disneyland’s reopening is generally seen as a test of sorts for the other Disney Parks around the world to follow. CEO Bob Chapek indicated that similar social distancing measures to attend parks and within attractions, restaurants, and shows will be taken at other Disney theme parks around the world as they return to service.

Not sure about State parks (non camping activities) but some county parks are opening for hiking non contact activities etc, but the bathrooms will not be open.

That will cut down on the amount of time people spend there!

No mention on how he got out there.  Swim, boat, if boating where did he launch from and how did he get a boat on property un seen?