Disney World News: Union Standoff, More Reopenings, AP Changes, Project Nugget
We have more news & rumors from Walt Disney World, as it’s been a busy few days since our last roundup. This time, we have Project Nugget at Magic Kingdom, more restaurants & entertainment reopening, and changes to an Annual Pass. We’ll start with Disney’s standoff with one union, which just took an odd twist and is (seemingly?) now resolved.
The State of Florida announced a new public testing site at the “Maingate Complex” in Kissimmee, which is near Animal Kingdom in an office park on Walt Disney World property that begins operating today. As with other testing sites in Florida, this is a public-private partnership operated by eTrueNorth.
Following that announcement, the Actors’ Equity Association sent out a press release with a timeline of past negotiations with Walt Disney World. There was also this quote: “We have been consistent that testing is an important part of ensuring a safe workplace for Equity performers, and today, I’m pleased to see that Disney World has agreed. With the news that Disney will make testing available for Equity performers and others in the park, I’m happy to announce that Equity’s executive committee has signed a memorandum of understanding with Disney for Equity performers to return,” said Kate Shindle, President of Actors’ Equity Association.
Within a couple of hours, Walt Disney World issued another statement: “We have offered the location to help with community testing. The Florida Division of Emergency Management will operate the location, which is available to Cast Members and their immediate families as well as Florida residents. Any suggestion that this has been done as a result of any one union is unfounded. Our actions support all cast and our community at large.”
It’s tough to reconcile these statements and actions while treating all of this as true. But here’s our speculation as to how this all likely played out. Walt Disney World offered the Maingate Complex space to Florida and eTrueNorth as a mutually beneficial and convenient location; it’d facilitate easier tests for Cast Members and reduce the burden on other locations. Disney then notified Cast Members it would be an option for them and their families (while perhaps omitting that it would also be available to the general public?).
It’s possible that the union saw their window of opportunity closing and sentiment turning against the union among its membership. Consequently, the Actors’ Equity Association could’ve seized on this otherwise unrelated news, finding a way to spin it as a concession offered by Walt Disney World to its demands.
In parsing the language of the Actors’ Equity Association’s press release, there’s not an express agreement between the parties. There’s the suggestion that Disney implicitly agreed with the union’s sentiment, and in a separate sentence, the union acted in response to the news of the testing site. The latter didn’t necessarily cause the former. It’s also worth noting that this does not address any previous demands by the union.
Following said news of the testing site, the Actors’ Equity Association signed a memorandum of understanding for Equity performers to return. This is what’s tougher to reconcile, but our guess is that the union signed something that was already on the table, or acted unilaterally–perhaps they’re mischaracterizing a letter of intent. In any case, it’s difficult to imagine that a new agreement was reached in a span of hours, but that Disney would then so quickly issue a statement brushing back the union.
Again, all of this is completely speculative on our part. We are not privy to any inside information here; this is predicated entirely on the statements issued by each party and their subtext, using the backdrop of what has happened thus far to further contextualize things. As we’ve said before, our reaction has been that this isn’t going to end well for the union–they’ve overplayed their hand.
What remains to be seen is what this means in terms of callbacks for Walt Disney World performers, as well as the return of some shows. It’s unfortunate and disappointing that Cast Members have been put in the middle of this, and we’re hopeful that these shows will return soon so they can get back to work. However, with park hours and other costs already being cut, I’m not overly optimistic that will happen immediately.
Speaking of Walt Disney World park hours cuts (which we discuss in greater detail here), the “EPCOT After 4” Annual Pass will temporarily become the “EPCOT After 2” (not in name, just in practice) Annual Pass starting September 8.
Annual Passholders with the “EPCOT After 4” AP will be able to enter the park as early as 2:00 pm from that date through October 31, 2020. This is a change due to the park hours being reduced by two hours, with EPCOT closing at 7 pm in September and October.
Note that Disney Park Pass reservations will still be required, and those are presently tough to come by for Annual Passholders–even at EPCOT! What we’d love to see happen is for EPCOT to simply drop the requirement for reservations after 2 pm. This could be easily accommodated in terms of park capacity, as Epcot is a ghost town in the afternoons and evenings.
This move would also have upside for both guests and Walt Disney World. It would increase the number of locals in EPCOT, helping bump up merchandise and food & beverage numbers. It’d help with the reportedly anemic Taste of EPCOT Food & Wine Festival sales, and might even make it viable for additional World Showcase restaurants to reopen.
It continues to confound us that Walt Disney World has not reallocated surplus Park Pass capacity to APs–this would be a quick fix to whatever issues exist in that system, and one with minimal downside and tremendous upside.
Next, some reopening news as more venues resume operations at Disney Springs. The Edison, Maria & Enzo’s Ristorante, and Enzo’s Hideaway are all now open for dinner service beginning at 5 pm daily. These restaurants are all operated by Patina Group, which continues to slowly ramp back up (notably, Patina is also behind Space 220 Restaurant at EPCOT).
There is unquestionably the demand for more dining at Disney Springs. We’re overdue for a report from the complex, but we’ve been a couple of times in recent weeks and it has been bonkers (definitely no longer a “ghost town” as was the case during our visits prior to the parks reopening). We can’t speak to viability with the capacity reductions, but there’s definitely no longer a shortage of guests at Disney Springs.
In other Disney Springs news, an email was sent to A-List members detailing AMC Theaters’ plans for reopening. Starting August 20, AMC plans to reopen more than 100 theaters, including the Disney Springs location. AMC plans to screen Disney’s The New Mutants starting August 28, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet starting September 3, and a range of legacy titles (at discounted rates).
As part of its new safety measures, AMC will require all staff and customers to wear masks at all times, there will be continuous extra cleaning and disinfecting of high traffic areas, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes will be widely available, and AMC will significantly limit seating capacity in our auditoriums. Additionally, AMC will use “high-tech HEPA vacuums” and “increased fresh air handling and use of upgraded MERV 13 air filters wherever possible.”
We really want to see Tenet in theaters, but not this much. The use of air filters is intriguing and potentially promising, but still not enough to convince us to return to a movie theater anytime soon. Definitely cancelling our A-List memberships, sadly. Nevertheless, we wish AMC Theaters the best. Hopefully they truly are committed to safety and this goes smoothly–we don’t want to see movie theaters disappear.
Finally, Walt Disney World has filed a couple of new permits for “Project Nugget” at Magic Kingdom’s fireworks launch point (credit to danlb_2000 on WDWMagic, the main source for permits in the Walt Disney World fan community). The prospect of Project Nugget had me pretty excited…initially.
After all, Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary is right around the corner and “nugget” seems like a typically oblique reference to something for that golden milestone. Moreover, project status is something frequently bestowed on larger and more involved additions, like new attractions, hotels, or nighttime spectaculars. Installation of a new HVAC system or lighting package isn’t typically given the project moniker.
Unfortunately, a wet blanket was quickly thrown on all of my excitement. Walt Disney World insider Martin responded in the permits thread that Project Nugget is infrastructure work, “finishing something that needed finishing.” He’s a highly credible source giving a frank and direct statement, and there’s no reason to doubt that. I wish there were!
While it would seem that Project Nugget is nothing noteworthy from a guest-facing perspective, we maintain that Walt Disney World Should Go Big for the 50th Anniversary. With economic and travel recovery years away, it’s the perfect opportunity to entice longtime fans to return to bolster numbers. At this point, the best option for that is via entertainment. In the nearer term, Disney might want to consider a temporary replacement for Happily Ever After if nighttime spectaculars cannot run by next spring. Something along the lines of the Tree of Life Awakenings–unscheduled, brief projection interludes that offer a satisfying end to the day, but don’t run the risk of attracting large congregations of people on Main Street for prolonged periods of time.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of this Walt Disney World news? Speculation of your own about the ‘backstory’ on the Maingate Complex testing center and continued back and forth between Disney and the union? Hopeful that insiders are wrong and Project Nugget actually is something big? What about the EPCOT After 4 changes, or the idea of that park not requiring reservations? Thoughts on more Disney Springs restaurants or AMC Theaters reopening? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
This may be a stupid question but with the new one park per day rule, can we still leave the park and re-enter the park on the same day? Thanks
Yes you can, you’re just locked into the same park for the entire day as far as the park you’re able to access… not physically locked in 🙂
Thanks Erik- I actually wouldn’t mind it at this point-lol!
Have you heard anything or do you have any best guesses as to when Disney will start selling Annual Passes again? My family moved to Orlando a few days ago and we are anxious to go but I would rather not waste money on regular park tickets (which won’t even go towards the cost of an AP) if APs are likely to be sold again soon. We might even be forced to buy US APs to tide us over until Disney decides to sell theirs again.
Are there any (credible) rumours on when shows/fireworks are meant to restart? We’re meant to be heading over from the UK in late Feb 2021 (if we’re allowed!) and I’m desperately hoping they’ll be on as they’re without doubt my favourite part of the trip!
Universal has an amazing FL resident promo going right now! You should totally do it.
probably won’t be any credible rumors until the new daily cases is extremely low. I have a trip planned for January and am not really expecting them to happen. I guess I’d be excited if they did, but will do other things if they don’t.
Are the Disney World Express buses still operating from Orlando airport ? If not and rental car is then necessary, Is there a parking fee to stay in the Disney onsite resorts? If so,and therefore driving to parks, is there free parking due to staying onsite?
Magical Express is still running to and from the airport. We typically use magical express when we arrive and get an Uber back to the airport so we can stay at the parks longer.
That being said I just rented a Midsize car on Priceline (Alamo) for Sep 3 -7 for $185.00. It’s free to park at the hotel if you are using DVC points but they now charge for cash pay guests. And the nicer the hotel the more expensive parking is(don’t get me started on that)
We decided to get the rental car instead of using the buses to social distance
Also if you are staying on property parking at the parks is free
Hi Tom – love your reviews. We are heading to WDW for Labor Day weekend from Dallas. Staying on property at the Poly. If we have reservations for one park (say animal kingdom that closes at 6:00pm) is it possible to get into Epcot on that same evening for dinner? Can you score an evening reservation for a second park late in the day?
You cannot. best thing to do is head to a different resort or DS for dinner.
Something you may also want to consider, though there may not be much availability is a Tiffins reservation closer to 6pm.
Tom,
I realize this will be rampant speculation on your part, and I will hold you accountable for none of your opinions on the subject; but what do you think is the over/under for some of the more popular restaurants being back in operation by December? My wife and I have a trip and we were really looking forward to trying some new to us places like Boma, Storybook Dining, and especially Hoop-Dee-Doo.
Thanks!
I’d expect many more restaurants to open by December, but cannot speak to those in particular. Hoop-Dee-Doo will probably be one of the last options to return given its nature.
Was there a site redesign or is there something wrong on my end? The text is huge now. Like I accidentally hit zoom a few times (I checked, I didn’t).
From what I can tell, something changed with the site as the text gets much larger unless javascript is allowed. Something must have changed in the last week or two as that wasn’t the case before.
If anyone is interested….was at DS during the week…..daytime…..it was a ghost town. Ate at Homecomin’ and walked around. Very pleasant.
Any additional or updated insights you can offer us with regard to the opening of Epcot’s Rattatouille?
Movie theatres reopening seem like the worst idea possible. Enclosed indoor spaces for an extended period of time? Where no one is wearing masks because they’re all eating popcorn? I don’t want employees to not be able to work and earn, but this seems like a very poor idea at this time.
Tom, off topic, but big burning question for me: I have read several online musings of Skyliner expansion either going towards Coronado/Blizzard/Animal Kingdom or over to Typhoon/Disney Springs/Saratoga. When we purchased Riviera the DVC rep last year said it was definitely happening, but he didn’t give timetables (pre Corona anyway,) and didn’t say which direction it would go.
Any intel or opinions on it? We bought Riviera to a great extent based on Skyliner ease of transportation. We’re looking forward to using it a ton!
There are no credible plans for Skyliner expansion and never were. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen eventually, but it’s not something being seriously considered.
Tom, sticking with the Skyliner speculation, are they building one from the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the Magic Kingdom entrance? It seems unlikely but the construction in both areas made me wonder.
I’m not quite as baffled over the reduced hours and hurdles that Disney is placing in front of guests. In my opinion, Disney does not want guests back in their parks. They are more afraid of bad PR over crowds and potential covid cases coming from the parks than further loss in revenue–they’ll just write that off come tax time. 2020 is a wash for them anyway, given how little people are looking to travel, let alone go to a theme park. I believe they are trying to lay low while trying to get things slowly operational in time for the 50th anniversary.
I hope I’m wrong, but my gut says I’m not.
Tom,
Regarding the AMC A-List memberships, the email that I (and, apparently you) received today from AMC indicates that paused memberships will only be reactivated when the member desires, up to December 1, 2020, when all paused memberships will be reactivated. It would seem that there is no reason to cancel A-List until at least that time. As long as I am not being charged for A-List, I’m happy to wait and see how the reopening goes.
Yeah, I’ll wait and see at least a couple of months on the cancellation. The problem is that I don’t expect to be back in a movie theater until next spring, and I don’t want to wait until the last minute to cancel. I tried doing that back in March, and there were multi-hour waits on the phone and online chat.
To each his own, but after being subjected to the disturbing and savagely violent sneak preview of Tenet that was included with the IMAX screening of Rise of Skywalker, I have no desire to ever see Tenet – in the theater or otherwise.
Well, I just watched both trailers and didn’t see anything really violent in it. It’s PG-13, after all. And it’s a Christopher Nolan film so I expect a lot. He’s kind of the modern day Kubrick in many ways.
With more restaurants opening at Disney Springs something has to be done about parking for people with restaurant reservations! We recently had Rainforest Cafe advanced reservations using MyDisneyExperience for 6 people on a Saturday night at 7:30. When we arrived at Disney Springs at 6, the traffic was horrendous. We discovered that only the Lime and Orange garages were open. (We now learned that this information has been posted and we understand them trying to keep crowds down at Disney Springs because of COVID-19) When we arrived the Lime garage was closed because it reached capacity. Hundreds of cars were trying to get into the Orange garage which we were sure had already reached capacity but was not posted as such. We gave up after waiting a half hour trying to park. We called the Rainforest Cafe and they informed us that there was nowhere else to park other than the two garages. We told them that could not park and therefore could not make our reservation and had to cancel. We were told we would still be charged the $10 a head, $60!!, because we cancelled the reservation. The charge showed up on our credit card. We know this is the policy when canceling a reservation made online, but in this case it is ridiculous!! We were there but had nowhere to park! We emailed Disney and Rainforest Cafe to ask for a refund but have received no response. So this is a warning to others trying to park to make it to a restaurant reservation. Good luck!
Absolutely ridiculous! I would absolutely not make reservation again at any Disney owned property at DS unless they provide a solution. That’s just wrong. They could easily open more space and have people show their reservation on MDE as they’re coming in if needed.
I did suggest in my email to Disney the same thing. Open a separate garage or the surface parking for only those with reservations. And you would have to show proof of the reservation. I know they still have to limit the occupancy of Disney Springs but they need to do something. I read in another blog that Disney is not supposed to charge the $10 if a reservation is canceled when Disney Springs closes because it reaches capacity. There was no indication to us that the capacity had been reached but our bet was that it had. As Tom pointed out, Disney Springs is starting to get very crowded. Another comment on Tom’s post about the reduced park hours starting in September also warned that Disney Springs will probably get very crowded after the parks close. I bet that will happen and the problem with getting to a restaurant reservation will be even a bigger problem. We just plan on staying away. No more reservations and no more attempts at going to Disney Springs.
That really stinks, and I hope you are able to get a refund. One work around that we have used before when realizing last minute that we wouldn’t be able to get to our ADR, we modified the reservation to another day, and THEN canceled it without any fees.
This has been going on for awhile. Time to open more parking spaces up.
Wow Michelle! Never thought of that! Thanks for the tip. But of course at the time we were pretty upset with the situation and were just trying to get out of the traffic jam. We will try to think more clearly next time.
Sorry reposting – original in wrong spot – still new to this site
Michelle —
Wasn’t aware you could do that. How close to your ADR were you when you went in and change reservation? Were you still hours from the time or closer?
We are habit eaters at home — always eating a certain time for lunch and dinner but that all changes when on vacation. Hate having to know now when you might be hungry while on vacation. And, not knowing we will correctly plan to be near the ADR location or at the chosen ADR time. In past sometimes found ourselves not hungry or didn’t plan right and no place close to the ADR location — this was before $10 fee. Haven’t been since and heading to Disney in Sept.
Mike,
We have done this many times at various locations (parks, hotels, Disney Springs) for various reasons. You would be safe to change it an hour out – I have successfully done it as close as 30 minutes before. I do it in the MDE app. You just have to go in and modify your reservation. I usually push it to another day, but if you are in a crunch for time, get it for any later time. Once you have a cushion of time, you can then change it to another time/day you want to actually go or change it to any random time more than 24 away. After the initial modification, you can go in and cancel the updated reservation. I have not tried this less than 30 minutes out, however, I have gone to the podium when one of us was ill and canceled in person. I was not charged the fee.
Sometimes if you get too close to the ADR time, modifying via app won’t work. In which case, you can still modify by calling (407) WDW-DINE. That works even after the reservation time.
Thanks Tom for that additional tip! So we have a $60 lesson learned. We’ll try not to get bit again 🙂 Still unfair that we got charged when we were there trying to get to restaurant but couldn’t even park!
Did you make the reservation using MDE? If so, in the future you can reschedule for a later date and then cancel the reservation (usually you cant cancel until the day after you reschedule). This way you avoid the no show fee. Ive done this a couple times.
Sorry, now I see this was already posted. All the comments hadnt loaded when I was writing.
Thank you Majorfriend!
I agree Tom, need much more for the 50th, in a HUGE way. Projections, while much better and actually interesting now the the horrible early ones (which sucked and were not even close to Disney standards) are not close to an acceptable substitute for massive pyrotechnics the event requires. More pyro!
I am hoping for a really awesome replacement for Illuminations, something better than the original, better, version. Saw the little ‘kites’ flown at Epcot and wasn’t impressed. I vaguely remember the daytime WS lagoon show in the 90s with ultralights trailing smoke and that was more interesting. Recently found a few pictures of that show!
The long-term nighttime spectacular for EPCOT is Harmonious, and construction work just resumed on that. Not sure when it’ll debut–my guess would be October 2021.
Michelle – Wasn’t aware you could do that. How close to your ADR were you when you went in and change reservation? Were you still hours from the time or closer?
We are habit eaters at home – always eating a certain time for lunch and dinner but that all changes when on vacation. Hate having to know now when you might be hungry while on vacation. And, not knowing we will correctly plan to be near the ADR at our chosen ADR time. In past sometimes found ourselves not hungy or didn’t plan right and no place close to the ADR location – this was before $10 fee. Haven’t been since and heading to Disney in Sept.
Thanks for the update Tom.
The whole Actor’s Equity thing is intriguing at best.
Just a bit of editing to consider….when you mention the new slate of restaurants opening you mention 5 PM, but you don’t mention which date. I know it’s today, but since you don’t date your articles many people would have no idea when this is happening.
Unions = self-serving parasitic organisms. I really hope they get burned on this for trying to twist the company more.
Mrnico
Although I agree some unions need to improve and perhaps this union has gone too far, however, I believe calling all unions “self-serving parasitic organisms” is way off base and hyperbolic. All workers benefit from unions, because unions set pay standards, workplace protections, sick leave, vacation time, and health plans.
As with most things in life, the truth is usually not black and white, but varying shades of gray.
Michelle W
By saying “All workers benefit from unions” aren’t you guilty of the same generalizatiin Mrnico is guilty of? I think you may mean that some workers outside of unions may benefit from union actions – Which I would agree with. But I have known many workers who have not benefitted – both dues paying and otherwise. In general Unions are another layer of management with a different focus…over history sometimes this has been good and sometimes this hasn’t, very situationally dependent.
Kevin,
I probably should have said “most” instead of “all”. While many people bad mouth unions, historically, unions have done a lot of good for the workers. Unions are the reason we have what is now considered standard – the 5 day, 40 hour work week and laws for overtime. Although there are exceptions and many people are taken advantage of in the workplace. The current norms of workplace conditions were not incorporated by benevolent bosses or CEOs, but fought for by the unions of the past.
Michelle,I’m sure there are a few unions out there which actually provide benefits such as quality apprentice training, etc. Things they should be doing. My experience in dealing directly with them, especially in the construction industry in half of the states and education, shows nothing good, however. All they provided for us as the contractor was increased cost for the owner, lower profits for the prime and subcontractors, longer schedules, re-work, fighting, and poor attitudes from many workers. In Denver we had to send numerous unqualified “equipment operators” back and tell the hall not to send them to our jobs again. In education, it’s a joke. The NEA does nothing for teachers. My parents are both retired public school teachers/administrators and wised up pretty early. Greedy unions destroyed the steel and auto industries in these USA. They have zero business making any political contributions or recommendations.
The things you attribute to unions were a long time ago, and those groups are not even similar to what we have now. One of the biggest issues was safety, before OSHA existed. My grandfather worked in a meat plant for 25 cents a day back then and no, it was a safe or good environment!
Walt Disney had problems with unions from the start. And it wasn’t just aversion to his father’s socialist views, but simple things and poor attitudes.
At least it seems like we might be able to see some shows by fall.
If I am an Annual Passholder with hotel reservations, do the same hurdles exist? Or am I am able to book as a hotel guest (without the limits for Passholders?
We stay on property and have passes, so I’m wondering how this will play out for our October and December reservations when we make park reservations.
“If I am an Annual Passholder with hotel reservations, do the same hurdles exist?”
No. It’s smooth sailing for you! Here’s the availability calendar: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/availability-calendar/?segments=tickets,resort,passholder&defaultSegment=passholders
You won’t have the same issues if you have hotel reservations. Much like you, I’m an AP who also stays on property while visiting. I’ve had two separate 3-day stays since the parks reopened and have had zero issues getting access to any park. WIth that said, if you have your hotel stays booked, I’d go ahead and make park reservations now. Get them on the books in case something happens. You can change them down the road if need be, but if you have your dates, I’d make them now.
Tom…….Question to your last point………..When do you anticipate Disney adding back the shows, fireworks, etc.? Being an out of state visitor, it is important to us to have somewhat “normal” park operating times, shows, fireworks, etc. for us to justify the time and money for a trip……..we are scheduled for spring of 2021 but we might possibly postpone it until later in the year or possibly even 2022
This is something I’d be curious about too. We were originally scheduled for the end of April this year but had to push it back because of everything first optimistically to November and now to May 2021. We’re coming from Canada though and it will be my siblings first time there. Nighttime entertainment is some of my favourite parts of visiting and I’d rather not have them experience it without that.
I don’t have any idea as to the timeline for more entertainment. Walt Disney World’s stated reason is for physical distancing and safety, but with attendance being so low (and park hours so short), not having fireworks and other entertainment is also a cost-savings.
So it becomes a question of at what point is it both safe and cost-effective to resume entertainment? My guess is next spring or summer.