Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[SaintsManiac]

Without getting too off topic, I'd say Hulk, Gringotts, Mummy and Forbidden Journey (haven't been on Hagrid's) and I think those are better than Everest or FOP. But I know that others will definitely disagree with me so concede that you could be right.

Hagrid's is the best ride in Orlando, IMO.

 

[JacknSally]

For anyone interested, the DisUnplugged is going live on YouTube to discuss the reopening plans for UO.

 

[tlmadden73]

What did Universal do with its hotel reservations? have they been cancelling them in a rolling manner like Disney or did they just cancel all reservations at once?
Has Universal resorts been taking reservations for June or did they stop them like Disney?

Just curious how both parks (UO and Disney) plan on integrating their existing reservations with being open .. but at a limited capacity. Obviously UO has it a lot easier with only a few resorts super close to the parks and the parks with one point of entry (the parking garage) to get to City Walk and then both parks. Disney's widespread layout is probably a detriment to some of these safety procedures.

 

[RamblingMad]

Universal is much easier to plan for and I think that Universal's top rides are generally better as a group than those of Disney. If Universal had better dining options (I'm not a huge fan of their dining) then we might do a Universal-only trip anyway. I suspect next trip -- probably in 2021 since there's going to be another virus surge in the fall -- we'll split our time equally between the two, whereas in the past it was usually 80% of the time at Disney. But that has nothing to do with how Disney has handled the pandemic response, since I think they've been spot on.

I agree with you about the dining. This is why I’ll book Disney resort dining even though I’ll only go to Universal during the day. I can still get decent ADRs via their app.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

I'd disagree with that statement. What are Universal's top rides? Hulk, Hagrid's and Gringotts? I'd say ROTR, FOP and Everest are better than those.

Agreed that UO's best rides are wildly overrated. I personally prefer the UO of the older days, Jaws, King Kong, etc, over the many screen based rides it has now.

Any agression towards Hagrids will not stand, man. (I hope to god one person gets this reference on this board)

 

[FlagrantFleur]

Hmm I think an interesting thing to walk away from this is that UOR opening plan still needs to be approved by DeSantis.

There is a chance that this may not be approved, and they don't make that June 5th mark, and then there are going to be a lot of unhappy people who took today's meeting as set in stone.

I think THAT is the reason Disney will present their proposal privately and release the information on their own terms.

I definitely see your point, we shouldn't see this as set in stone. However, I would not be surprised if Universal and DeSantis came to a mutual agreement beforehand. I doubt a company like Universal would make this announcement with the possibility of being denied by DeSantis. That just sounds like a PR nightmare they would want to avoid at all costs.

 

[Britty2]

I don't see a downside to letting Universal go first in case it blows up in their face. No reason for Disney to take the risk. They have a much bigger target on their back than Universal does.

good point. People act like things are going great. There were still 4000 cases in Florida from the 15-20. Which was about the same number the previous 5 days. If things are leveled out at 4000 per 5 days that’s still not good. It just means it’s not to the point of needing things closed. When you put 10s of thousands of people everyday who knows what will happen. Then you are adding all the additional travel. Disney would be smart to wait the 2-3 weeks because the backlash of starting any spreading issues is a lot worse than not opening the same time as Universal. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Pickle Rick]

What did Universal do with its hotel reservations? have they been cancelling them in a rolling manner like Disney or did they just cancel all reservations at once?
Has Universal resorts been taking reservations for June or did they stop them like Disney?

Just curious how both parks (UO and Disney) plan on integrating their existing reservations with being open .. but at a limited capacity. Obviously UO has it a lot easier with only a few resorts super close to the parks and the parks with one point of entry (the parking garage) to get to City Walk and then both parks. Disney's widespread layout is probably a detriment to some of these safety procedures.

UO hotels are third party.

 

[imjustafatkid]

Shoutout to UO though. They were the first to say “hey we’re closing through at least May 31st” then they worked hard to stick to that timeline as close as possible, and were first to present a clear and transparent plan.

Their leadership team has been much more impressive through this than Disney's. Opening June 5 just cements that. There's no scientific or legal reason to be closed any further along than that. I still believe June 1 was realistic.

 

[Mit88]

Hagrids is a great ride, but its not better than FOP or ROTR. I think Spider-Man is still the best ride on Universal property

 

[Dis_Fan]

I'd disagree with that statement. What are Universal's top rides? Hulk, Hagrid's and Gringotts? I'd say ROTR, FOP and Everest are better than those.

Hulk, Spider-Man, Mummy, All of Harry Potter, Bluto Raft Barge are all top rides (last one is kind of a personal favorite I will concede).

Even some of the non "top rides" stack up. Jurrassic Park is equally as fun as Splash Mountain and MiB is equally as good as Buzz or Midway Mayhem shooting rides.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

100% DeSantis will approve UO

Advisor to the Gov: “Sir, here is UO plan to reopen. If you’ll see on slide 1 I’ll sta...”
Ronnie: “APPROVED”
Advisor: “But sir we haven’t...”
Ronnie:”I SAID APPROVED!!”

 

[SaintsManiac]

Hagrids is a great ride, but its not better than FOP or ROTR. I think Spider-Man is still the best ride on Universal property

I keep forgetting about RotR. We left a week before it opened.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Sure unless it’s b/c they’re waiting on a better deal from the nba.

C"mon now, snap out of it. You got this stuck in your head now. Disney will handle the NBA if that is what they decide, but it will have zero effect on the parks/hotels outside of maybe one Hotel (and that won't be for the players).

 

[Mit88]

Hulk, Spider-Man, Mummy, All of Harry Potter, Bluto Raft Barge are all top rides (last one is kind of a personal favorite I will concede).

Even some of the non "top rides" stack up. Jurrassic Park is equally as fun as Splash Mountain and MiB is equally as good as Buzz or Midway Mayhem shooting rides.

 

[JayhawkCruiser]

Hagrids is a great ride, but its not better than FOP or ROTR. I think Spider-Man is still the best ride on Universal property

We’re all entitled to our opinions, no matter how wrong they may be

 

[Eric Smith]

We're the same way. I've wanted to see the HP stuff for a while, but it's so much easier to just stay at Disney. Plus they keep adding new HP stuff, which makes me put off thinking of going until it's all done.

It is worth going a day to see the HP stuff, but that's the only thing in either park that I feel is on the level of the Disney parks. The rest of it is like a nicer regional park.

 

[imjustafatkid]

I'll take the long-shot bet - if they get the NBA, they will wait until after - sometime in July.

I'm truly curious. What makes people think Disney would keep everything closed just because they got the NBA? If anything, that helps them gain more revenue while still opening the parks. It's not like the NBA players at the WWOS would be crossing over with park guests much. This seems like a very simple thing to plan around.

 

[Dis_Fan]

Hagrids is a great ride, but its not better than FOP or ROTR. I think Spider-Man is still the best ride on Universal property

The Simpsons, while not as technical, is better then FOP for me.

 

[Eric Smith]

Agreed that UO's best rides are wildly overrated. I personally prefer the UO of the older days, Jaws, King Kong, etc, over the many screen based rides it has now.

I really like that old King Kong ride.