Disneyland Reopening Speculation Superthread

[StarWarsNerd24]

I hope this is ok to do and if not I apologize. Here is a very good video from one of the Disneyland Vloggers about the opening of Shanghai park.

 

[alvernon90]

There will be mandated procedures and guidelines that are and will be coming out for safety issues but key word of "Reasonable" is the lynch pin for this. A business (doesn't mater what it is) will have to implement these procedures to the best of there abilities but unless said business can be found to be purposefully not following the new procedures (I think it is very difficult to prove purposeful neglect) then actually being successful in a lawsuit would difficult.

As an example if the new rule are to wipe down a handrail in the que for a ride like Radiator springs is every 10 mins and its done then they are being reasonable and responsible in their adherence to said rule. Now if 1 min later someone that has the Covid-19 virus sneezes and then touches the just recently cleaned handrail and someone else touches that handrail and then contracts the virus i don't see anyway a Disney could be held liable. If they are not following the set rules that's one thing but if they are then I can't see how a person could win a lawsuit.

Sorry for the long ramble and I don't disagree in principal just not sure how easy it would be sue.

Yeah, this is exactly right. Precautions have to be reasonable, but they don't have to be perfect and they don't have to be 100% successful. Some people will get sick, just like some people will get sick while shopping for groceries. But with no well-established standards for reasonable action, I expect Disney will proceed with maximum caution. I think you're seeing that at Disney Springs in WDW, where they are opening only for the third-party tenants while Disney watches and waits.

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

As shown and talked about in the video, if the abundance of staff is a true indication of Disney's (Shanghai) commitment to educating and enforcing the new normal, and if the North American parks follow a similar practice then things may indeed be brighter then I thought.

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

Yeah, this is exactly right. Precautions have to be reasonable, but they don't have to be perfect and they don't have to be 100% successful. Some people will get sick, just like some people will get sick while shopping for groceries. But with no well-established standards for reasonable action, I expect Disney will proceed with maximum caution. I think you're seeing that at Disney Springs in WDW, where they are opening only for the third-party tenants while Disney watches and waits

 

[dieumeye]

This LA times article was posted in another thread, but I didn’t see it here.

To me, it paints a pretty bleak picture about the ability of Disneyland to open again anytime soon. A quote in the article attributes the increase in cases to the relaxing of social distancing, and specifically mentions Orange County cases doubling every 18.5 days. I don’t want to be a downer, but it seems like it’s going to be difficult to justify opening Disneyland with those kind of reports.

 

[littlea905]

This LA times article was posted in another thread, but I didn’t see it here.

To me, it paints a pretty bleak picture about the ability of Disneyland to open again anytime soon. A quote in the article attributes the increase in cases to the relaxing of social distancing, and specifically mentions Orange County cases doubling every 18.5 days. I don’t want to be a downer, but it seems like it’s going to be difficult to justify opening Disneyland with those kind of reports.

I don’t live in California but here in Maryland we’ve been ultra conservative as well. The difference is that they’ve stopped putting a lot of weight in the number of cases. They are naturally going up here as we test more and more. What we’re looking at is the amount of hospital admissions, icu bed usage and deaths. Even though our cases are going up, the bed usage is going down as well as the daily number of deaths. They are using that to determine reopening.

 

[guynhawaii]

I think we can agree most people are fine with wearing masks for a short amount of time but not the whole day.

What if DLR operated the rest of 2020 with Morning/Afternoon/Evening tickets? Cheap tickets good for a set time range. Hard close to sweep out the group and do a deep clean/sanitize in preparation for the next group.

Aloha,

Not for the hotel guests.

 

[SeaDis]

Wow, the videos that accompany these articles are eye-opening! The people are crowded together more tightly than I would have expected. If the crowds are this thick in U.S. parks, where we know people are not going to keep their masks on all day, there is no way I would visit.

I learned this morning (CNBC) the standard in Shanghai is 3-feet of distance, compared to our 6-feet. I would bet Disneyland is being setup with all those ground markings, further apart. So maybe groups will appear more spaced out at DLR, when the time comes.

 

[Aurora0427]

Honestly I have no idea how the mask thing is supposed to work for a theme park like DL.
I don’t know what the guidance is in the US but here in Germany you are only supposed to only wear the mask till it is moist (if possible less than 1h) and then you are supposed to change it. For changing it you are obviously not supposed to touch the mask itself and store it in a closed bag till you either dispose it or “clean” it. For that you are supposed to iron it or wash it hot in a washing mashine...
So for a day at DL you would need over a dozen of masks per day for one person... and then iron them at night or wash them...

I really like the effort FL Shanghai is doing for cleaning and sanitizing all handrails over and over again... they even removed the padding of the handle bars so they can be cleaned easier
Also the social distancing markers on the ground look like a good idea that’s going to work...

I don’t either.... the cross contamination issues make me cringe. So maybe my cough or sneeze doesn’t travel as far, but my kids touch everything and touch their masks all day, just spreading germs to themselves and everyone else.

 

[dieumeye]

I don’t live in California but here in Maryland we’ve been ultra conservative as well. The difference is that they’ve stopped putting a lot of weight in the number of cases. They are naturally going up here as we test more and more. What we’re looking at is the amount of hospital admissions, icu bed usage and deaths. Even though our cases are going up, the bed usage is going down as well as the daily number of deaths. They are using that to determine reopening.

It’s not so much that cases are increasing, but the fact that they increased more than expected, even knowing that social distancing rules were being relaxed. And at least the researchers in this article specifically attribute that relaxing to the higher than expected increase.

That could mean a lot of things, but it could mean that, at least in some areas of California, opening back up now could cause a more rapid expansion of cases than expected. That’s the issue. If they are seeing unexpectedly high results even with minimal relaxing of restrictions, imagine what it would be like if large gatherings, like Disneyland, started happening again sometime soon.

I don’t want to be a fear monger, but this was super disappointing to see. Especially since California seemed to be ahead of the curve in shutting down, and that seemed to prevent the kind of outbreaks seen elsewhere like New York. But maybe that still wasn’t enough.

Also of note, they mention a couple other states that had higher than expected increases in cases. One of those states is Florida.

 

[tenneycjt]

Just from what im seeing on the news with the relaxation of some rules, they open something up trails or beaches and no one wearing masks, people not practicing socail distancing. Really after 2 months of this and people still cant wear a mask. At my work, masks are made available and they know im high risk but no one wears a mask. I cant believe people sometimes, It doesnt give me hope that some people at disneyland will be responsible.. I hope not . I just think tokyo disneyland and hong kong and shanghai, will have an easier time, the culture respects rules more and they do tend to think of others more thna here in america. I think disney will do its besst, but i think bob chapek said on tv today, that it will be up to the guests to be responsible too. i just disney fans will take that extra step.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think it is impossible to enforce it perfectly, but there is a simple solution for enforcing it and that is to tell people that if they are seen without their masks they will be ejected from the park without a refund. People will still complain because FREEDOM and 'MURICA and MY BABIES DESERVE 100% COMFORT AT ALL TIMES. But with rigorous enforcement they could probably get the level of mask cheating down to, say, the level of smoking area cheating.

The incentive to do so is very strong -- not government rules, but lawsuit exposure. Every time a grandmother dies and the source of her infection can be traced to DLR, Disney will find itself in a multi-million dollar lawsuit, plus news articles about how a day at Disneyland is killing people. The measles outbreak was horrible publicity and that wasn't even Disney's fault. I doubt they want more of that.



Having all shoppers touch the exact same item could potentially be a problem.

This comment isn’t directed at you specifically, but your post sparked a thought in my head.

Does anyone think for a minute that masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing decals on the ground are going to prevent COVID from spreading in an environment where thousands of people are congregating? I don’t. If contagious people enter DL, people will be infected. If anyone (myself included) is considering going to DL while this virus is still around (which could be years, or forever), I think we need to understand we might get it.
We might also get the flu or norovirus or the common cold or any number of other easily spread contagious diseases. I can’t see people suing Disney because they chose to take a risk and go to a theme park during a pandemic.

I also think Disney is taking a lot of these measures to show what steps they are taking to mitigate risk and to help people feel more comfortable about coming to the parks (It’s safe! Everyone is wearing masks! There is hand sanitizer! We have to stand six feet apart in the queues!) rather than to actually prevent people from getting COVID.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

This LA times article was posted in another thread, but I didn’t see it here.

To me, it paints a pretty bleak picture about the ability of Disneyland to open again anytime soon. A quote in the article attributes the increase in cases to the relaxing of social distancing, and specifically mentions Orange County cases doubling every 18.5 days. I don’t want to be a downer, but it seems like it’s going to be difficult to justify opening Disneyland with those kind of reports.

It seems obvious that cases would rise as more testing becomes available. Cases rising doesn’t concern me. People can get COVID and fully recover, which is great for them and also great for our herd immunity. What concerns me is rising deaths and hospitalizations.
If anyone is interested in Orange County specific numbers, this is updated daily:

https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/
https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/coronavirus-in-oc

 

[mentos]

Just from what im seeing on the news with the relaxation of some rules, they open something up trails or beaches and no one wearing masks, people not practicing socail distancing. Really after 2 months of this and people still cant wear a mask. At my work, masks are made available and they know im high risk but no one wears a mask. I cant believe people sometimes, It doesnt give me hope that some people at disneyland will be responsible.. I hope not . I just think tokyo disneyland and hong kong and shanghai, will have an easier time, the culture respects rules more and they do tend to think of others more thna here in america. I think disney will do its besst, but i think bob chapek said on tv today, that it will be up to the guests to be responsible too. i just disney fans will take that extra step.

I think it’s experience first and culture second, East Asia went through SARS and masks are just a normal part of life.

Bring up masks in the United States and you get everything from “I’m not sick!” to “It’s unconstitutional!” with the most common (and valid) reason being that it’s just plain uncomfortable.

No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service.

I predict low level annoyance with people wearing masks wrong/taking it off, and the occasional fight breaking out and getting caught on camera/going viral.

I mean, people can’t even sneeze into the crook of their arm correctly in 2020. I’m being realistic, masks in the US = lead balloon. But if it checks off a liability box and gets the park open, I’m all for it.

 

[Aurora0427]

It’s not so much that cases are increasing, but the fact that they increased more than expected, even knowing that social distancing rules were being relaxed. And at least the researchers in this article specifically attribute that relaxing to the higher than expected increase.

That could mean a lot of things, but it could mean that, at least in some areas of California, opening back up now could cause a more rapid expansion of cases than expected. That’s the issue. If they are seeing unexpectedly high results even with minimal relaxing of restrictions, imagine what it would be like if large gatherings, like Disneyland, started happening again sometime soon.

I don’t want to be a fear monger, but this was super disappointing to see. Especially since California seemed to be ahead of the curve in shutting down, and that seemed to prevent the kind of outbreaks seen elsewhere like New York. But maybe that still wasn’t enough.

Also of note, they mention a couple other states that had higher than expected increases in cases. One of those states is Florida.

There’s plenty of discrepancies in how they report numbers as well.... we also live in a state with huge metropolitan areas and lots of homeless people. There’s also been two huge outbreaks in prisons this week driving up those numbers. There have also been instances where they’ve gone back and looked for possible COVID deaths and that increases the numbers. Even though those people died months ago.

I mean we’ve been locked down for almost 8 weeks..... what’s happening with our numbers doesn’t make sense. Everything should be going down, similar to what’s happening in other states with similar lockdown policies. Which makes me ask a lot of questions. Either way, Disneyland is a long way from opening in any capacity.

 

[mentos]

I mean we’ve been locked down for almost 8 weeks..... what’s happening with our numbers doesn’t make sense. Everything should be going down, similar to what’s happening in other states with similar lockdown policies. Which makes me ask a lot of questions. Either way, Disneyland is a long way from opening in any capacity.

We've been locked down, but I can tell you that people are just getting tired of it and have been out and about the past few weeks. If not mingling at Target, they're doing so at home. I see it driving to/from work, traffic almost seems normal.

I put no stock in the # of positive tests, only the hospitalization rate, the number of tests is going to fluctuate based on availability. So far stable (this is bending the curve, yes?)

 

[Aurora0427]

We've been locked down, but I can tell you that people are just getting tired of it and have been out and about the past few weeks. If not mingling at Target, they're doing so at home. I see it driving to/from work, traffic almost seems normal.

I put no stock in the # of positive tests, only the hospitalization rate, the number of tests is going to fluctuate based on availability. So far stable (this is bending the curve, yes?)

Yes. In San Diego County the increase in cases correlates directly with the increases in testing. And if you calculate the percentage of deaths based on population, the number is basically zero. I even have graphs if you’d like to see. But this isn’t how it’s being widely reported.

 

[midnight star]

Yes. In San Diego County the increase in cases correlates directly with the increases in testing. And if you calculate the percentage of deaths based on population, the number is basically zero. I even have graphs if you’d like to see. But this isn’t how it’s being widely reported.

The same in Los Angeles and we are the epicenter...

 

[alvernon90]

Does anyone think for a minute that masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing decals on the ground are going to prevent COVID from spreading in an environment where thousands of people are congregating? I don’t.

It will not 100% "prevent" the spread of the virus but all of those things certainly will reduce the transmission of the virus and infect fewer people. It will still be too many, though.

I can’t see people suing Disney because they chose to take a risk and go to a theme park during a pandemic.

Ah, I see, it's your first week here. Welcome to America! Here nothing is ever our fault and we sue each other for any reason or no reason at all...

 

[midnight star]

We've been locked down, but I can tell you that people are just getting tired of it and have been out and about the past few weeks. If not mingling at Target, they're doing so at home. I see it driving to/from work, traffic almost seems normal.

I put no stock in the # of positive tests, only the hospitalization rate, the number of tests is going to fluctuate based on availability. So far stable (this is bending the curve, yes?)

On Friday when we moved to phase 2 there was traffic! People are ready to get out already, including me.