How Proactive Has Disney Been during the Pandemic?
When Coronavirus became a thing, The Walt Disney Company reached a crossroads.
Right when the theme parks had reached unprecedented attendance levels, a disease prevented guests from visiting the parks.
Over the next four months, Disney planned its next step, while MickeyBlog thought about the situation from a cast member’s perspective.
What changes would Disney need to make? Well, we mostly know the answers now, and so we can finally answer the question.
How proactive has Disney been this summer in perfecting the theme park of tomorrow?
About Eliminating Buffets
I want to remain as fair as possible here. So, I will reference a couple of articles that I wrote from March and April about Disney’s predicament.
I evaluated ways that Disney may look different in a couple of years, an idea I always enjoy that I’ve already updated with a follow-up that will publish later.
The other topic I discussed was immediate park changes Disney should make.
Now, I won’t claim that both articles featured ideas that Disney absolutely must implement.
However, I feel like they’re a good baseline about what people should expect over the next 18 months as the parks adapt to the pandemic.
One of the easiest predictions involved buffets. By now, everyone recognizes that high-touch areas present health hazards to diners.
So, Disney had to end its buffets. That felt like a slam dunk back in March, and it’s proven correct on several levels.
Some long standing and/or recently popular buffet restaurant changes have either closed stores or collapsed entirely.
At Walt Disney World, all the previous buffets remain closed or updated, so that cast members bring the food to the table.
If buffets ever do make a comeback in our society, it’s going to a slow, tedious uphill battle.
About Virtual Queues
I felt strongly that Disney should double and triple down on the use of virtual queues.
As a reminder, virtual queuing allows guests to “stand in line” for a ride even though they’re not physically present in the line queue.
Disney introduced this concept long ago with FastPasses, and we’ve witnessed more modern implementations recently.
MaxPass at Disneyland and Boarding Groups for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance both qualify as virtual queues.
So, you can tell which direction Disney is heading with its park strategies.
I grew so confident that the parks would emphasize digital queues that I even wrote an article about how they would work. Oops.
When Walt Disney World reopened, the parks went an entirely different way.
The management team understood that capacity limits and social distancing needs altered the circumstances.
Disney chose to eliminate FastPasses almost entirely, at least for now.
The only virtual queuing that exists at Walt Disney World is the Boarding Group system at Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
In truth, Disney not only hasn’t moved forward with this strategy. The company has willingly regressed.
However, this move appears temporary.
Disney previously announced the impending arrival of Genie, the My Disney Experience companion (or replacement?).
We still have every reason to believe that this system will arrive as soon as pandemic-related safety concerns lessen.
Virtual queuing remains an integral part of Disney’s future. It’s just not necessary at the moment with park attendance artificially low.
About Entrance Procedures
Another topic of interest involves the entrance procedures at the various theme parks.
I’d previously mentioned how the fingerprint scanners simply cannot operate during the pandemic. Disney agreed as these devices remain shut down.
Unfortunately, the company only receives partial credit on some other needed changes.
The parks have not added automated doors in enough places yet. Disney must take this step to protect guests from high-touch door handles.
For now, the places without automated doors require cast members to hold open doors…which defeats the purpose of a door.
Similarly, Disney has introduced better metal detector services at some of its parks. At these places, you can simply walk through the scanner.
The system has proved significantly more efficient.
Also, it’s already prevented at least two people from bringing guns into the park. So, this process works.
The other area where Disney hasn’t progressed yet is with facial recognition.
One Universal Studios park in Singapore has already implemented this technology, which means Disney has fallen behind the competition.
If we can unlock a phone with our faces, we should be able to do the same to enter a Disney theme park.
About Cleaning Improvements/Training
MickeyBlog has covered this topic exhaustively. However, this article doubles as my taking a cold, hard look at my performance, too.
I need to hold up a mirror to ensure that I’m providing the information you’ve come to expect from MickeyBlog.
On this topic, Disney has exceeded my highest expectations.
I thought the company would switch to powerful cleaning agents, ones whose effectiveness lasts for weeks, not hours.
Similarly, I expected Disney to institute temperature checks in the parks.
What I couldn’t have anticipated was the degree to which Disney would implement safety precautions.
The company has done so well that many Floridians feel safer at the parks than at the local grocery store!
As for the training, cast members have undeniably had to learn new job duties.
Some of them now do nothing else but wipe down high-touch spots and remind guests to honor social distancing and wear their masks.
In this regard, Disney’s demonstrated precisely the kind of proactive leadership that the corporate world is sadly lacking.
I’m proud to call myself a Disney fan, given how the company has responded to the pandemic.
About Lowered Prices and Limited Admissions
The final topic where I’d suggested Disney must change qualifies as something of a mixed bag.
The theme parks absolutely have limited attendance, starting with the Park Pass system. Even annual passholders need a Park Pass to enter the parks.
Disney hasn’t confirmed the capacity limit in place, at least not in the United States.
We know that Shanghai Disneyland started lower than the Chinese government required and has remained under one-third capacity.
Judging by the crowds at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, in particular, Disney has taken the same approach with its American parks.
However, Disney hasn’t lowered prices per se. Now, the situation remains fluid, so that could change at any point.
Thus far, the management team has extended existing discounts rather than provided cheaper tickets.
Part of the explanation here stems from Disney not selling tickets or annual passholders for a while.
Also, Disney hasn’t had a need to lower ticket prices yet. The capacity has primarily reached acceptable levels.
During a recent conference call, CEO Bob Chapek emphasized that Coronavirus fears have caused some cancellations.
So, Disney could service more guests, but it’s comfortable with the current situation.
Down the road, Disney may yet lower ticket prices if the economy continues to struggle. And if they don’t, that’s the best possible sign about the pandemic.
When Disney sells full-price tickets to the parks and people are still going, that means the pandemic has dissipated, and the economy has improved.