Here — for what it’s worth — is my Hot Take.
It’s over. It’s all over and it will never be the same again.
“We’ve rebooked our trip for late April and we’re crossing our fingers!” Give it up. It’s not happening. You’re not going. You’re in Stage 1 of Grief — Denial.
Look around you at what’s happening. For the first time in its nearly fifty year history, Disney World is shutting down all on-site customer operations for two weeks. The USA has banned all non-citizens from entering the country from the entire continent of Europe. That’s three quarters of a billion people. (For two weeks? Nah. It’ll be longer.) Virgin Atlantic has told its staff to take eight weeks unpaid leave. It’s cancelling 85% of its flights in April. It’s cancelling some routes — including to the US — completely.
Here’s the UK’s main stock market index over the last year —
It’s dropped by a third in under two months.
The Dow Jones shut down almost as soon as it opened this morning. Stocks are in freefall.
This is all virtually unprecedented. We’re in wartime conditions.
A lot of people are going to lose their jobs and livelihoods. If I were Len Testa, I’d be worried for my own, quick frankly, because I don’t know if this site will continue to have a purpose.
I watched a live feed of HEA last night. And I seriously thought to myself, I wonder if I’ll ever see that live again.
Let’s flash forward to the future, shall we. Look! Here is Main Street, with the Castle at the end —
And here is the Skyliner, transportation of the future!
If you think your April trip is going ahead — think again. Or your May trip. Or your June trip . . .
We are slowly waking up to the New Normal. It’s going to be rough for a while and we’ll eventually find a new equilibrium. But the days of FPPs and ADRs may be behind us forever.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m Cassandra.
If you think I am wrong, try to work out what the path is from here to “back to normal”. I don’t see it.
I’ve done denial. I’ve done anger. I’m not sure what bargaining means in this context. Then depression, then acceptance.
WDW. It was good while it lasted.