California Governor: Mass Gatherings Unlikely Through August; Disneyland Summer In Jeopardy

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

With summer quickly upon us, many eager Disneyland Resort guests and Annual Passholders are searching for answers regarding when the parks will reopen, but it seems California Governor Gavin Newsom is putting a lid on any potential summer reopenings. During a press conference today, the governor stated that the chances of mass gatherings of any kind taking place are low. Without a vaccine in place, the prospect of allowing such gatherings would be considered negligible at best.

Gavin Newsom said the chances of mass gatherings in California for sporting events this summer was low. “The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and a vaccine,” he said. He said large gatherings in June, July and August were “unlikely.”

Along with restricting mass gatherings, the governor outlined a plan comprising of six parameters that are needed before the state can lift any stay-at-home orders and other COVID-19 interventions:

1. A widespread expansion of coronavirus testing;
2. “Vigilant” protection of California’s most vulnerable residents;
3. Focus on hospital care infrastructure and personal protective equipment, or PPE;
4. Engage researchers in academia, incuding the University of California, and at health and technology companies on the front lines of the pandemic;
5. “Redraw floor plans” at business locations with physical distancing in mind;
6. Determining when to re-institute certain measures, such as stay-at-home orders.

Is Gavin Newsom the most underrated governor in the country right now?

To view the full clip of the press conference, click here.

Disneyland Resort remains closed, along with the rest of the Disney Parks, “until further notice.” In a recent interview with Barron’s, former Disney CEO Bob Iger commented on the possibility of temperature checks for guests, but no confirmation of this being implemented at the other Disney Parks (besides Shanghai Disney Resort) has been issued.

Shanghai Disney Resort Expanding Health QR Code Checks

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, Shanghai Disney Resort has been closed since late January. However, the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, Disneytown, and Wishing Star Park resumed limited operations on March 9, with health protocols in place to keep guests safe and prevent the further spread of the virus. In a recent update to the Shanghai Disneyland website, a slight alteration has been made with regards to the use of Health QR Codes, which were previously only required upon entering dining venues, but are now required resort-wide. Only guests with a green Shanghai QR Code will be allowed to enter the resort.

The following statement was issued back when the resort announced it would reopen, under certain conditions, on March 9:

Shanghai Disneyland remains closed as we continue to closely monitor health and safety conditions and follow the direction of government regulators. However, as the first step of a phased reopening, Shanghai Disney Resort will partially resume operations on March 9, 2020 with a limited number of shopping, dining, and recreational experiences available in Disneytown, Wishing Star Park and Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. Each of these resort locations will operate under limited capacity and reduced hours of operation. The Disney Car and Coach Park and the Disneytown Parking Lot will also reopen.

The resort will provide an extensive range of measures, designed to ensure a safe and healthy experience for all guests, Cast Members and Disneytown tenant employees, including strict and comprehensive approaches on sanitization, disinfection and cleanliness. In accordance with relevant regulations, every guest entering Shanghai Disney Resort will be required to undergo temperature screening procedures upon their arrival and will need to present their Health QR Code when entering dining venues, and are required to wear a mask during their entire visit. Guests will also be reminded to maintain respectful social distances at all times while in stores, queues and restaurants.

Please refer to the Shanghai Disney Resort official website and app for the operation hours of Disneytown and Wishing Star Park.

The new statement issued today reads exactly the same, with the exception of the new QR Code regulations (in bold):

The resort will provide an extensive range of measures, designed to ensure a safe and healthy experience for all guests, Cast Members and Disneytown tenant employees, including strict and comprehensive approaches on sanitization, disinfection and cleanliness. In accordance with relevant regulations, every guest entering Shanghai Disney Resort will be required to undergo temperature screening procedures and present their Shanghai QR Code. Only guests with a green Shanghai QR Code will be allowed to enter the resort. Guests must wear a mask during their entire visit (except when dining), and will also be reminded to maintain respectful social distances at all times while in stores, queues and restaurants.

For those unfamiliar with the system, the Health QR App is a color-coded system for coronavirus tracking used across China, with those who’ve successfully maintained quarantine getting assigned a status of green and those who have been potentially exposed to the virus, or tested positive for it, given a status of orange or red. As of today, Shanghai Disneyland Park remains closed until further notice. Lumiere’s Kitchen recently reopened back in late March, with a new brunch offering available on weekends. In a recent interview with Barron’s, former Disney CEO Bob Iger commented on the possibility of similar technology being used stateside, namely temperature checks, but no confirmation of this being implemented at the other Disney Parks has been issued.

Disney Cruise Line Giving Additional 25% Cruise Credit Offer On Canceled Or Modified Cruises Through May 17th

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

As the world continues to face the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Disney Cruise Line announced last week that that they had extended their suspension of departures through May 17th. Previously, departures had only been suspended up until April 28th. Now, guests are being offered an additional 25% cruise credit on their cancelled or modified cruises.

Disney Cruise Line is reaching out to guests who were originally booked on a Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, or Disney Magic sailing that was scheduled to depart between April 29 and May 17, 2020, and who moved their sail date due to concerns about the new coronavirus (COVID-19). Since then, with the wellbeing of its guests and team members as its top priority and in line with direction from health experts and government officials, Disney Cruise Line has cancelled these sailings.

Disney Cruise Line would now like to offer guests an additional future cruise credit equal to 25% of the original voyage fare to use toward the reservation they modified. Once the modified reservation is paid in full, any remaining future cruise credit will be applied to their shipboard account as a non-refundable onboard credit. Please note that this means guests who moved a sail date or selected a placeholder date between January 30 and April 10 on a cancelled Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy or Disney Magic sailing through May 17, 2020, are offered an additional future cruise credit of 25% of the original voyage fare to use toward the reservation modified.

If your circumstances have changed and you would now like to cancel your reservation you may do so for a full refund of the original voyage fare paid. To take advantage of this offer, please contact a member of the Disney Cruise Line reservation team at 1-866-325-2112 or 407-566-3510. Guests requesting a refund should know that any refunds will be processed in the normal course of business, but may be delayed due to the high volume.

For guests who cancelled their reservation during the same time frame, Disney Cruise Line is automatically refunding any cancellation fees that may have been charged. This refund will be processed back to the original form of payment, but may be delayed due to the high volume.

The future cruise credit is equal to 25% of the original voyage fare and is only valid for sailings departing within 15 months of their original sailing. Your original reservation must be paid in full to be eligible for the future cruise credit. The future cruise credit is applied per person and is non-transferable, non-refundable and has no cash value. Standard prevailing rates apply and Guests are responsible for any balance due after the future cruise credit has been applied. If you end up not being able to use the future cruise credit, you will be eligible for a refund up to the amount of their original voyage fare. Standard cancellation policies and terms and conditions apply to future sailings. Guests who previously received a future cruise credit are not eligible for an additional future cruise credit.

Below is a list of impacted sailings:

Disney Fantasy

  • 7-Night Eastern Caribbean from Port Canaveral 5/2
  • 7-Night Western Caribbean from Port Canaveral 5/9
  • 7-Night Eastern Caribbean from Port Canaveral 5/16

Disney Dream

  • 3-Night Bahamas from Port Canaveral  5/1
  • 4-Night Bahamas from Port Canaveral  5/4
  • 3-Night Bahamas from Port Canaveral  5/8
  • 4-Night Bahamas from Port Canaveral 5/11
  • 3-Night Bahamas from Port Canaveral  5/15

Disney Magic

  • 4-Night Bahamas from Miami 4/30
  • 4-Night Bahamas from Miami 5/4
  • 3-Night Bahamas from Miami 5/8
  • 12-Night Transatlantic from Miami to Barcelona 5/11

Cast Members Staging Stay-at-Home Protests Due to Unreliable Florida Unemployment Website

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

With all non-essential Cast Members (non-union and most union members at this point) to be temporarily furloughed starting April 19, things are starting to get very real for the roughly 77,000 magic makers of Walt Disney World Resort, and frustrations are ramping up regarding the faulty unemployment filing process across the state. While Cast Members are expected to keep any health benefits they’re currently enrolled for, they’ll no longer receive wages after April 19. Many will now have to file for state unemployment, which will only garner them a maximum total of $275 a week, among the lowest in the nation. (On the Federal level, the CARES Act will be providing a $600-a-week bonus through July 31 for those who have successfully registered as unemployed.)

Between the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis and the unreliable unemployment system, Cast are staging stay-at-home protests––except they aren’t aimed at Disney. They’re aimed at the State of Florida. As Click Orlando reports, they’re taking to the streets in the form of sidewalk chalk art, window signs, and messages on mailboxes with the hashtags #WorkersCantWait to voice their concerns about the unreliable system.

As April 19 approaches, tens of thousands of furloughed employees will be flooding the unemployment websites and phone lines. So far, reports on the application process have been grim, with entire applications disappearing, long waits to get through the online queues, and applicants getting bumped out of the system halfway through completing the form. At first, the government recommended that applicants use Internet Explorer, an outdated web browser that is known for being glitchy and unresponsive. The Department of Economic Opportunity states the site has been seeing approximately 120,000 simultaneous users lately, or double the peak usage since the first furloughs started. The call-in department received roughly 3.8 million calls just last week.

For Cast Members in need of income, the only thing they can do is hope that the broken unemployment website gets fixed (or otherwise send in a paper application), and continue application attempts until they’re successful. Jeremy Haicken, president of the Unite Here Local 737 union, part of the Service Trades Council stated, “We’re not going to stop until Gov. DeSantis fixes this unemployment system.”

The main entrance to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. (Photo courtesy, Walt Disney World)

Walt Disney World closed in mid-March and remains closed “until further notice.” To access the printable unemployment application PDF, click here. To access the new mobile-friendly online unemployment application site that was recently launched, click here.

Benefit Concert For COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund To Celebrate 25 Years of Disney On Broadway

Posted on by Mathew Corn Uncategorized

Earlier this week, we told you about the “Celebrating 25 Magical Years of Disney on Broadway” concert that was going to air on April 13th. The foundation was originally going to be presenting a free broadcast of this production today (April 13) in order to raise money for the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, and after some back-and-forth with unions (and a brief cancellation), the show is back on!

The concert will feature performances by our favorite Disney on Broadway veterans, to be hosted by Ryan McCartan. Broadway’s Prince Hans of the Southern Isles himself, McCartan will be hosting live from his family home. As a famous Newsie once said, wrongs will be righted if we’re united, which was fitting for the reunion of 18 Newsies set to appear from the original Broadway and touring productions.

The concert, which was originally filmed in November, is all about celebrating the 25th anniversary of Disney on Broadway. The concert has been backed by 15 musicians and has already brought in around $570,000 for Broadway Cares.

The Disney on Broadway benefit concert will stream today, Friday, April 17, at 7:00 PM (ET). You can tune in via the YouTube Live link below: