NBA finishing the season at WDW?

OK so I’ve been seeing a few articles float around about this and more recently (today) - and this is still just rumor as far as I know at least - that WDW is considering hosting all NBA players (and their families presumably?) at one or two resorts to finish the season.
Am I the only one that is wondering why this is happening? I don’t see why the remainder of the NBA season has to be at Disney…it seems like a ton of extra people being brought in (I’m assuming 300+ players plus spouses and/or kids but I really have no idea) all during a time when they are limiting capacity and while guests w/ vacations need to get their in park resections squared away, etc…
Also does anyone know when they’re looking at starting this and how long it will last for the remainder of the season? Not trying to be negative, I’m legitimately asking b/c I have no idea lol. :):joy:

Follow the discussion already in progress :slight_smile:

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But does anyone know how that would work w/ capacity at whichever hotel they decide to host them at? I have heard CS/Gran Destino and Four Seasons floated around

They would take over the whole hotel/resort.

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That was kind of my thought…it’s not just players but coaches, spouses, kids etc, etc… I guess I just don’t get why this is something Disney would want to do. And I get that it would likely be one dedicated resort, but what about all other guests who have already booked at said resort and now they don’t have room due to limited capacity, or if they do have room, maybe they don’t want to stay at the resort overrun w/ hundreds of extra people. Furthermore, will this affect the availability of in park reservations, and dining reservations and so on…It just seems weird to me.

Last I knew NBA was a pretty rich organization, just sayin’ :smirk:

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NBA playoffs will be televised live on ESPN and ABC, which are owned by the Walt Disney Company.

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Sports reporters have said for the most part it will not be families. If it is the whole league (to finish the season it could be less than 10 games) it is about 1050 people.

Once the playoffs start it is fewer and fewer people.

Why? Because it brings pleasure and hope to a lot of people.

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Yes! ESPN needs this!

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They own ESPN and it would bring in a ton of revenue.

They have stopped all new reservations while they figure everything out. I highly doubt people would get bumped to a “lesser” resort, so they will probably all be pretty happy with the upgrade. I don’t think Disney will be allowing any of the resorts to be overrun.

The NBA is trying to create a “bubble”. It is highly unlikely they will be going to the parks.

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WDW Theme Parks will be operating at only 25-50% capacity for the next several months.

They are not going to be able to have enough Theme Park capacity to allow all resort guests to enter if the resorts are at 85-90% occupancy.

Better to take some resort capacity and redirect it to a different revenue stream, ie TV ad revenue.

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Well that would be better if players only, not families as well, would definitely cut down on the number of extra people.

The prevailing thought is that most families won’t come. If NBA wants to maintain their “bubble,” that would mean nobody in or out. So the families wouldn’t be allowed to go to the parks or anything.

That’s a fair point, I doubt Disney would downgrade anyone, I just feel bad for people who had particular reasons for wanting to stay at what resort they booked and perhaps would rather not move. Could be a location preference, room particulars, dining or just family tradition. I realize they’ve stopped all new ticket sales/reservations/canceled all dining but that’s part of my point, planning Disney this year has already had it’s challenges prior to this inject, and I just feel another offsite hotel would be a better option. But I get the pros of it too, especially revenue for ESPN, which is desperately needed.

Today’s New York Times

Well that’s good to hear; how will they keep them all in though?! I can see why they’d want to clear any other guests out of said resort to keep them in their bubble but for the entire time they’d literally be in room/playing??

That’s for the NBA powers that be to figure out! :crazy_face:

I agree about the revenue stream, as long as having extra people in the NBA bubble there doesn’t impact other paying guest vacations.

Indeed lol!

I think we’re all going to need to be a bit flexible and understanding on a lot of things. Disney has lost sooooo much money over the last few months, and there are things they are going to need to do for economic reasons to make sure they are stable financially and able to resume some of the refurb and new construction that will benefit us all going forward.

Regardless of the NBA taking up a hotel, it is possible they will be shuffling guests around and consolidating them so not all hotels will be available. If the parks do not have enough capacity to hold all on site guests, they can save money by not re-opening all hotels. This also frees up buses so they can have more buses from hotels that are open with better social distancing.

It is understandably disappointing for people not to have the exact Disney vacation they’d been planning, especially given the costs involved, but the world is going to be significantly disrupted for a while and we are going to need to muster up all the patience and understanding we can. The alternative is to choose frustration and anger over a situation that doesn’t have easy solutions that will please everyone.

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