Disneyland Reopening Speculation Superthread

[theluckyrabbit]

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In the very wise words of Thumper (and Thumper's mama and father):

 

[mentos]

So with two parks either open (SDL) or about to be open this week (HKDL), here are my working assumptions about DLR ahead of any official announcement:

1) APs limited to one park day per seven day rolling window

Open question: whether DL and DCA will be treated separately​

Reasoning: current published policy at SDL and now HKDL​

​

2) Multi-day ticketholders will be able consecutively book

Open question: how far in advance will ticketholders be allowed to book?​

Reasoning: third-party ticketing agency rumor​

3) On-park hotel guests will have park ticketing priority

Open question: what about on-park hotel guests who are AP holders? Same priority, or are APs elevated to the AP queue regardless?​

Reasoning: current SDL published policy, WDW initial email (I have not personally seen it) confirmed by mods​

4) Initial opening capacity = 20,000 guests

Reasoning: SWAG (scientific wild.... guess)​

5) Everyone who wants to ride ROTR will get a boarding group

Reasoning: wishful thinking​

Reminder: this is my own opinion/speculation. I realized this doesn’t change my travel plans much except some of my longer 3-4 day trips may be in jeopardy if APs are still limited despite staying on site.

Hoping for more news this coming week! But I’m not optimistic, HKDL gave roughly 4 days notice (and I think 24 hour noticefor AP reservations). Since DLR has the Flex pass, I am imagining that it would be easier from an IT standpoint to simply apply that existing reservation system to all active passes. Again, possibly wishful thinking.

ETA: I just realized, they need to manage attendance through a combination of AP and ticket holders, it could just be an entirely new system build from scratch.

 

[dieumeye]

1) APs limited to one park day per seven day rolling window

I see how you’re getting to this, but I don’t see how that will be acceptable at all without some additional refund or extension to make up for the extreme devaluing of the AP.

Under that system, an AP that was previously good every day of the month would be limited to 4-5 days per month. 5 days out of 31 is an abysmal 16%. That means the AP would lose a staggering 84% of the previous admission days.

That’s way too much of a devaluation without something else in the mix. Very curious what they come up with.

 

[mentos]

I see how you’re getting to this, but I don’t see how that will be acceptable at all without some additional refund or extension to make up for the extreme devaluing of the AP.

Under that system, an AP that was previously good every day of the month would be limited to 4-5 days per month. 5 days out of 31 is an abysmal 16%. That means the AP would lose a staggering 84% of the previous admission days.

That’s way too much of a devaluation without something else in the mix. Very curious what they come up with.

I believe DLR will not restart the clocks on AP so this functions as “free time” like Shanghai.

HKDL seemed a little different in that they will restart the clocks but add 30 days as a buffer (possibly will be extended if necessary) to account for reduced access. Perhaps they’re anticipating only implementing reduced access for only a month.

At the end of it, I think they will have guaranteed 365 days of previously agreed upon access, or provide prorated refunds and just end unrestricted passes.

I think the new normal will be that every pass will have some level of reservation requirement. I had thought this was a possibility when they introduced Flex, now I’m convinced this is the way.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

When you report back, also put it on the main reopening page. I'm sure you aren't the only international passholder who is dealing with the situation of travel restrictions.

I've posted the quote from UK-Simon regarding his answer from the AP line in the Official Reopening Superthread. Now people can find the info on both the main board and the Community board.

 

[gelatoni fan]

So with two parks either open (SDL) or about to be open this week (HKDL), here are my working assumptions about DLR ahead of any official announcement:

1) APs limited to one park day per seven day rolling window

Open question: whether DL and DCA will be treated separately​

Reasoning: current published policy at SDL and now HKDL​

​

2) Multi-day ticketholders will be able consecutively book

Open question: how far in advance will ticketholders be allowed to book?​

Reasoning: third-party ticketing agency rumor​

3) On-park hotel guests will have park ticketing priority

Open question: what about on-park hotel guests who are AP holders? Same priority, or are APs elevated to the AP queue regardless?​

Reasoning: current SDL published policy, WDW initial email (I have not personally seen it) confirmed by mods​

4) Initial opening capacity = 20,000 guests

Reasoning: SWAG (scientific wild.... guess)​

5) Everyone who wants to ride ROTR will get a boarding group

Reasoning: wishful thinking​

Reminder: this is my own opinion/speculation. I realized this doesn’t change my travel plans much except some of my longer 3-4 day trips may be in jeopardy if APs are still limited despite staying on site.

Hoping for more news this coming week! But I’m not optimistic, HKDL gave roughly 4 days notice (and I think 24 hour noticefor AP reservations). Since DLR has the Flex pass, I am imagining that it would be easier from an IT standpoint to simply apply that existing reservation system to all active passes. Again, possibly wishful thinking.

ETA: I just realized, they need to manage attendance through a combination of AP and ticket holders, it could just be an entirely new system build from scratch.

A bit more info about HKDL. There was zero notice for AP reservations. Official channels announced the reoopening at about 10AM this morning (15th of June) and then emails went out to AP holders about an hour later by which time there was already people in the online queue for reservations. Regular ticket holders will be able to book starting tomorrow at noon. Eventually it becomes 7 days in advance for ticket holders and 8 days in advance for AP. The system doesn't have a way to enter that you're a hotel guest and the phone line was busy all day so I couldn't check if hotel guests get any priority.

Given that most amusement parks around the world seem to be reopening at around 25% capacity, 20K for Disneyland isn't a bad guess at all.

 

[audrey2580]

Do SDL hotel guest have priority?

 

[EmJ]

4-7 days notice would be... rough... for people flying in

 

[cruisehopeful]

Questions for those with AP's that don't like having to reserve days or that are afraid of not being able to reserve multiple days would you be okay with them keeping AP's frozen until the reservation period is over (which could be another year or more) but having to buy day tickets to go to the park in the mean time?

I pay for 3 FlexPass with monthly payments. My last payment was in March. From what I understand, I haven't needed to pay for the closed months and my passes will still expire in September. My ideal situation would be that I don't pay for the passes at all anymore and they expire in September. When we go in October, we will buy Signature passes. If they aren't selling new passes/tickets in October, I guess we will be out of luck. Perhaps I'd just purchase a Halloween party if that was a choice.

I don't love my FlexPass. I had Signature prior and with the way I had been visiting, it made sense to get a FlexPass instead. Well, everything changed and I ended up visiting on days that needed reservations and also not visiting with my daughter who still has a Signature with free parking. I thought I already bought all the merchandise I would want and that I wouldn't need the 20% off, but then I still "needed" stuff.

 

[abent]

I pay for 3 FlexPass with monthly payments. My last payment was in March. From what I understand, I haven't needed to pay for the closed months and my passes will still expire in September. My ideal situation would be that I don't pay for the passes at all anymore and they expire in September. When we go in October, we will buy Signature passes. If they aren't selling new passes/tickets in October, I guess we will be out of luck. Perhaps I'd just purchase a Halloween party if that was a choice.

I don't love my FlexPass. I had Signature prior and with the way I had been visiting, it made sense to get a FlexPass instead. Well, everything changed and I ended up visiting on days that needed reservations and also not visiting with my daughter who still has a Signature with free parking. I thought I already bought all the merchandise I would want and that I wouldn't need the 20% off, but then I still "needed" stuff.

I am so hoping AP‘s will be available for purchase as well by October. I did not choose to extend mine past my December expiration, becasue I know I will not be able to return by April. I do however feel sad at the thought of not being able renew when I am ready.

 

[jacandjan]

Would you be okay with your pass being frozen but having to pay for day tickets?

No this would not work at least for us. We are coming with our kids and grandkids who have multi day tickets. While it appears that they will be able to make multi-day reservations with their getaway today bought tickets we would have to spend nearly $700 if we could not use our Flex pass. I suppose there's no easy solution to this and Disneyland is definitely going to have to have its own set of rules. The bottom line is it just wouldn't be worth it for those of us coming from out of state

 

[DLorBust]

4-7 days notice would be... rough... for people flying in

I hear you, the travel planning stress goes up every day flight prices increase. But, I could see how that might be what they are hoping, to discourage people from travelling far distances. Most cities/counties in Northern California (where we are) are still asking people not to leave their county or region. Our local lake is only allowing people with proof of local residence to enter the gate. It just makes the potential for virus spread, and subsequent tracking, a lot trickier if that contact map extends to other parts of the country/world.

 

[dec2009mama]

Sorry appears I mis-read what had been said, yes they are willing to do a partial refund based on the amount of time they were closed, so looks like essentially 4 months. But as of now there is no separate protocol for International Passholders that’s any different. So as it stands our passes will become valid again based on the information they will release soon, and not later than that if the border remains closed. I think it’s probably worth an email into some senior CM’s just to get it on their radar. I don’t need a refund of any kind but I do think it would be right to extend my ticket to the date when the border reopens.

Fellow international AP holder here
Thanks for looking into this but I have a feeling disney won't make any exception for those of us unable to travel due to decisions beyond of our control
I'm just waiting for the detailed announcement on re-opening once Disney gets the approval, if they do!
Maybe there will be an option at that time to keep APs inactive until a time they feel it is safe for them to return

 

[jodybird511]

A question I have is about modifying or upgrading existing multi-day tickets. We had originally planned to stop off at DLR on our way to Aulani next week. Obviously, that trip has been canceled for awhile now, and we decided to take a longer trip to just DLR right before Christmas. We previously only had a 2-day ticket, but since we are now staying more days at DLR, I'd like to add on at least one day or maybe two. In the past, when we wanted to add days, we would just go to guest services on day one to add the day. Obviously, that could cause us to get locked out of a park reservation if we wait for that. So now wondering what our options might be, as we purchased our tix from Undercover Tourist. Anyone with thoughts or ideas?

 

[CastAStone]

A question I have is about modifying or upgrading existing multi-day tickets. We had originally planned to stop off at DLR on our way to Aulani next week. Obviously, that trip has been canceled for awhile now, and we decided to take a longer trip to just DLR right before Christmas. We previously only had a 2-day ticket, but since we are now staying more days at DLR, I'd like to add on at least one day or maybe two. In the past, when we wanted to add days, we would just go to guest services on day one to add the day. Obviously, that could cause us to get locked out of a park reservation if we wait for that. So now wondering what our options might be, as we purchased our tix from Undercover Tourist. Anyone with thoughts or ideas?

I have the same problem. Normally I’d just add a day at Guest Services but now I’m thinking that will likely lock me out of a park reservation. Following along.

 

[EmJ]

I hear you, the travel planning stress goes up every day flight prices increase. But, I could see how that might be what they are hoping, to discourage people from travelling far distances. Most cities/counties in Northern California (where we are) are still asking people not to leave their county or region. Our local lake is only allowing people with proof of local residence to enter the gate. It just makes the potential for virus spread, and subsequent tracking, a lot trickier if that contact map extends to other parts of the country/world.

I agree; I actually told my husband this morning that the last-minute notice might be a feature, not a bug, intended to depress demand.

That said, if Disney is serious about wanting to discourage out-of-state travelers, then they need to do something about previously purchased multi-day tickets, which expire in January. It is not those ticket holders' fault that the tickets were not used this summer, and they are literally the only class of pass/ticket holders that have not even been mentioned by Disney in all their refund and expiration accommodation offers. Yes, the tickets hold their value, and yes, they can be applied to new tickets in the future, but at higher cost--and potentially a much higher cost. It's really quite unfair for Disney to say, we closed down the parks for three months, then purposefully created rules making it really hard for you to come at all once it reopened, and we compensated literally every other class of guest, but your tickets are expiring and now you get to pay an extra $50 per head or whatever we decide if you come back in the future.

 

[midnight star]

I've posted the quote from UK-Simon regarding his answer from the AP line in the Official Reopening Superthread. Now people can find the info on both the main board and the Community board.

Saw That! Great!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Anyone with thoughts or ideas?

Contact UT when they begin selling again. If it’s an eticket, they can cancel it and will sell you a 3-day ticket.

I received the MouseSavers Newsletter this morning and UT will continue to have discounted DL tickets but all the Newsletter UT links aren’t yet live. Actually all the links aren’t working for DL nor WDW but the Newsletter was sent in anticipation of the reopening of ticket sales.

 

[Dr. G]

Sure hope it doesn't work like HKDL when DL in CA reopens. My wife and I are out-of-state FlexPass holders who have purchased 5-day Parkhoppers for our son, daughter-in-law and grandkids to go with us. If it works like this and you are out-of-state and can only use one day per week that just won't work. No way I'm taking the family to Disneyland, paying for hotel and food etc and going in one day out of 5 with them. I guess we'll see if we need to keep pushing out our trip. If it is just one day per week, Disney should extend the FlexPass expiration date out until the pass can actually be used. It will be nice when the uncertainty of the process is gone and we know what we are dealing with.

 

[cm123]

Sure hope it doesn't work like HKDL when DL in CA reopens. My wife and I are out-of-state FlexPass holders who have purchased 5-day Parkhoppers for our son, daughter-in-law and grandkids to go with us. If it works like this and you are out-of-state and can only use one day per week that just won't work. No way I'm taking the family to Disneyland, paying for hotel and food etc and going in one day out of 5 with them. I guess we'll see if we need to keep pushing out our trip. If it is just one day per week, Disney should extend the FlexPass expiration date out until the pass can actually be used. It will be nice when the uncertainty of the process is gone and we know what we are dealing with.

I think that'll be how it works when they first open up. Disney needs to limit how many people want to come and the situation that you are in might be a "sacrifice" they are willing to make.

Something tells me that all AP holders are going to get a chance to refund the whole amount of their AP's that are left on them when the shutdown started.