Disney, In the Time of COVID (And Other News)
It hasn't been the best first week on the job for new CEO Bob Chapek. Not that any of it is his fault. Not only is COVID-19, the illness caused by the new strain of coronavirus, spreading, but also several unusual and unpredictable mishaps have occurred at Walt Disney World, beginning last week and going into this week.
So in this blog, we're going to round up the latest, not-so-greatest, Walt Disney World news.
Let's start with the 800 lb gorilla in the room: COVID-19
By now everyone knows about the coronavirus. In China, there are still quarantines in space, travel to the United States from or through China, South Korea, and Italy has been banned and there are additional restrictions on travel from or through Hong Kong and Japan. Canadians are buying all the toilet paper on the shelves (someone, please explain to me why toilet paper is the one essential element for survival?), and there is a shortage of Purell hand sanitizer and surgical masks, although the latter does nothing to prevent the disease, according to the CDC.
Disney has already been hit hard. The two China Disney theme parks, Disneyland Shanghai and Disneyland Hong Kong, have been closes since late January with no defined date of re-opening. This week, Tokyo Disney has also closed its theme parks with a planned re-opening date of March 16.
But looked at one way, the park closings may be good news to the Disney tourist as they seem to serve as proof that should the virus spread to endanger park guests, the company will close its parks. So far, we're not at that point in the United States and the CDC has not placed any restriction on travel within the United States.
The Disney Cruise Line may be another story. While the CDC has not restricted travel, they have formally recognized the greater risk to cruising and have advised caution. As John Oliver says, cruise ships are basically petri dishes. As we tragically learned with the Diamond Princess cruise ship, a quarantine aboard ship basically exposes everyone on the ship to the virus because the air within the ship is recirculated and there isn't a way to filter it enough or to cut off one section of the ship's air supply.
Disney has released a statement that they are screening all passengers boarding the cruise. Anyone who has come from the banned travel areas will not be able to board. Anyone who has come into contact with people traveling from the banned areas will also not be able to board. And finally, anyone with a fever of 100.4 or higher will not be able to board.
If you are traveling to Disney soon and are worried, or if you just want some general hygiene advice during this time, check out our post on How to Avoid Getting Sick at Disney in the Related Posts section.
Moving on to unexpected ride accidents...
If you had asked me two weeks ago what rides at Walt Disney World were likely to have accidents, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority would have been the last ride I named. Jungle Cruise would rank pretty low as well. These rides are sedate journeys.. definitely not thrill rides and yet both have had minor incidents recently.
On February 28th, two TTA cars apparently collided prompting an evacuation of the ride. There were no injuries.
The previous day, on February 27th, a jungle cruise boat apparently sank in shallow water. Guests may have gotten their feet wet. There are photos of a ride attendant (maybe the skipper?) in waist deep water at one point was the boat went down. The boat that sank was apparently one of the two wheelchair accessible boats on the ride, so while the ride reopened shortly after, guests in wheelchairs may notice longer wait times.
Image from Foxnews.com
Part of me really hopes the skipper hammed it up while the boat was going down, but kudos to the skipper either way for getting guests to safety quickly and radioing for help.
But wait there's more...
If you thought that was the end of mishaps in this roundup, you are sadly mistaken. Because two days ago, a women reportedly jumped from the top of the Contemporary Resort around 4 PM, committing suicide. Some guests, particularly those riding the monorail, claim to have seen her fall.
I have so many questions. But - apparently this isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it happened exactly four years ago as well (that time, a male jumped).
If you or someone you know may be contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
In addition, on February 27th, the Skyliner was shut down for a while and SWAT teams were deployed at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club resort due to a report of a suspicious person (turned out to be nothing).
Sounds like Disney's had a rough couple of weeks. None of this would stop me from visiting, though. For all the bad, no guests were injured in the ride accidents, and overall, Disney remains a safe place to visit. Just wash those hands!
This week, to cheer things up, I'm going to leave you with the video gone viral (in the good way) from Vietnam about washing your hands. Enjoy, and until next time...
