Disney world reopening?

The governor of Florida is all in to reopen  the state, consequences meh.

So he asked the theme parks to submit their proposals for reopening. As you may know, Disney has a complex relationship with the state. And in general they don't take orders. They do what they want. The request to submit a proposal was met with an almost yawn.

Though of course the media ate it up because Disney was being asked for their plan. There was a palpable expectation and a little murmur.

For their part, Disney did come up with a general statement for both US parks, but was noncommittal on dates. And it wasn't a plan just a "hey we're looking into it..."

Meanwhile, sea world was trying out rides wearing masks and said they'd submit something soon. And universal jumped in and submitted its proposal to reopen, to the Orlando panel designated for such things. And that panel forwarded the plan on to the state.

But here's where it gets funny. The information about "Orlando area theme parks" submitting (or planning to submit) their proposals, along with a June 1st date for universal, was glommed up by the media as Disney has a plan to reopen on June 1st. 

Which was not the case. But don't let facts get in the way! The stock market reacted to "disneys reopening" and disneys stock price rose before anyone noticed what they fundamentally got wrong. 

Mostly silent, no one knows what Disney will do. 

Meanwhile, there was an interesting thing that happened with the NBA. They really want to finish their season and host the playoffs. But they know they can't do it in front of fans, and using stadiums around the country, with travel and other factors, wasn't going to work. 

So they've been tossing around this idea of playing "in a bubble" somewhere. This location would have to be able to have several courts in close proximity, and would have to have hotel space to host all of the teams and any staff. 

What kind of place could do those things? A few weeks ago disney worlds "wide world of sports" was mentioned as a location. On their earnings call, Disney was asked about this, and they were naturally noncommittal but said they were looking at ways to do things to get games back on espn. 

And now players are being told that there is going to be a warmup period starting in mid-June, and they may resume play in mid-to-late-July....somewhere but not in front of fans. And it will be in a single location. 

Disney world is a natural fit, of course. The large "cheer facility" could have several courts to play on. There are lots of hotels. And the espn tie-in makes this easy in many ways. 

And here's where it relates back to theme parks reopening. If this works out, you could essentially be reopening in a very controlled way. A way that benefits them as a corporation (see my previous comment about how disney does what they want) because there would a moderate number of rooms being used at whatever hotels they decide. You would need catering staff, bus drivers, and arena staff. You'd learn a lot about testing and controlling access. 

And then espn wins because there would be games to show. And all the while it works as a big advertisement. 

....and they don't have to actually open anything to the public at large. Maybe they take the teams on some specific rides and whatnot. 

If everything goes well, this lasts for a month or two, then they gradually re-open some number of rooms and offer select groups of people to come and visit and maybe gives them a few rides, too. 

Don't count out the fact that disney is masterful at putting spin on anything. "We've already reopened! Disney Springs is there! And we're going to merge sports and theme parks but don't want to expose other people from outside the bubble..."

And just like that everyone sees they are open again. Though, not really.

For us, as regular visitors, they surely will change all the rules to require reservations, limit entry, and raise prices. 

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

Rigged numbers. Yeah that sounds about right...

I sure am glad I live in a state that is looking out for the well being of its residents. Oh wait. I don't.

Funny. The official numbers were showing an uptick in cases as the state reopened. Then this lady was fired, and suddenly the numbers are much lower.

Sorcery!

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/editorials/fl-op-edit-coronavirus-florida-website-20200520-y5hqd7z5znfphan5ig2ehlh7mi-story.html

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

#Truth

Viral Sculptures

Always up for a good story. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/19/when-familys-outdoor-sculptures-were-stolen-neighbors-rallied-now-towering-art-lines-their-street/

Manipulating public thinking

In the early 1990s, arguably *the* quintessential American store, based in Arkansas was humming along with its tag line that everything they sold was made in America!

They were proud of that fact, and ran ad campaigns touting it. And the patriots who like to wrap themselves up in the flag ate it up. Murica and all.

Then came an economic downturn and an interest in a more global economy. So Wal-Mart made a business decision, and started sourcing products from China. And they re-tagged themselves with the new moniker "always the low prices."

There's a book that came out in 2006 called "the Wal-Mart effect" which talks about the nature of the company, and decisions that they made at the time to evolve into the new brand with low prices. Surely some of it was good and some of it wasn't, but it's interesting reading.

Anyway, back to the story. So they made this fundamental shift. Not made in America, but rather low prices.

And their fans, the ones who were all about American made, simply changed their thinking. Wal-Mart was masterful at marketing themselves and telling people how they could save them money.

The sheeple had very subtly had their thinking changed. Wal-Mart was still the American store. But it turns out it really didn't matter that products were American made.

It's amazing that they managed to make this happen through tv and print ads, and in store, without social media.

...and here's where this comes back to today. You could view the social media campaigns to laud or denigrate any thing the same way. Whether it's an elected official or a store, people can be easily manipulated by playing to their base thinking. Specifically "make America great again" was designed to get the same ensconce-yourself-in-the-flag folks to have a response at a base level. One they will cling to .. it seems like always.

By the way, Wal-Mart is trying to shift back to made in America but they're finding that harder. Costs are higher and it turns out people really do want to pay less.

Sacrifice.

January 20, 1961. John F Kennedy is sworn in as president. He gives his inaugural address and closes with:

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."

"My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

That is a call to civic action. To betterment of our country. To really and truly making America great by being a part of something. Of sacrificing. 

And flash forward to 2016. The nincompotus starts selling a bill of goods of making America great and protecting "our way of life".  It's in no way the same. In fact it's the opposite. 

We've become soft in many ways, watch too much reality tv, and aren't really asked to sacrifice *that* much.

It's easy to "support our troops" or wrap ourselves in the flag. Hold guns and say Murica! Or chant "USA"

There's no real sacrifice there. Send our troops somewhere and mourn those that are killed and talk about the enemy and how we'll get them!

When there's a killing spree domestically, it's a tragedy and we send those "thoughts and prayers" but don't take action because that somehow would impact our way of life.

So here we are faced with an unseen virus and we're asking for actual sacrifice. Stay home. Wear a mask. That undercuts everything that the MAGA movement stands for. We can't wrap ourselves in the flag. So the enemy becomes anyone who tries to enforce those rules.

And you hear Patrick Henry bandied about. They're willing to take a risk and take actual death (that could be avoided) for the sake of "liberty"

Because they were sold the idea that we can overcome anything through superior fire power and a belief in god.

If we had an actual leader, maybe s/he could help make the message clearer. But this guy just fans the flames for sadistic fun - and profit. 

Oh how I miss Obama, or jfk who tried to make the world a little better. Heck I even miss W, who led through a difficult period in the best way he could. The key is that he tried to lead. 

Watch jfks speech. It's inspiring even today.

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

Disney and the pandemic.

The idiot-in-Chief bungled his way through this crisis. I mean, he showed his true colors, as only caring about himself. 100k dead. Whatever, "I take no responsibility."

Look I could sit here and talk about that all day. But, on a deeper level, he created downstream issues that don't get enough press.

I'm a fan of Disney world. I enjoy going there as a way to escape reality for a few hours. It's "the bubble" and it's easy to put your troubles behind you.

When the virus first arrived, we knew it would affect travel and the theme parks. But the question was how much. They did what was reasonable, but looked for guidance from the state (or states, because Disneyland should be mentioned too) and from the federal government.

The feds could have, and *should* have been trying to understand the way this was spreading, using whatever tools other countries were using and building on that. The feds should have stepped out in front to try and actually deal with the pandemic threat rather than throwing up their hands, and passing along responsibility.

Supposing they had started screening at airports, cruise terminals, and directing states for how to test at large gatherings.

Disney surely would have followed and maybe we would have a better ideas for what to do - and, more importantly, maybe we would have innovated and found more efficient means to quickly test in gathering spots.

So disney world closed and it wasn't clear if this was going to be for a week or a month.

It's been 2. And the feds still don't have a plan. There's no thought for how to proceed and keep people safe. It's more of a "hey just reopen. What's the worst that can happen?"

And so private organizations, foundations, and companies are going to need to step into this void and try and lead and innovate in some way.

How can disney world reopen and keep guests safe? Short answer: right now they can't. So we have to wait until they figure it out, or maybe until another one of those organizations steps up and innovates. Or until a new president steps in, in January, and we get some actual leadership and direction.

Someone "admonished me" on Twitter for being more political and less about the escape of Disney.

I don't see how at this point you can separate the two. Politics (and abject stupidity) has led us here. Disneys magic is lost for now among a sea of jobless claims and a string of deaths that have nothing to do with them directly. Even if they found a way to open, who knows how many travel there? And what would the experience be like? And would those people follow the rules?

But because there's no real path for them to reopen safely, no guidance on what to do, this is ultimately on the feds and their inaction.

So, yeah, I can't talk about Disney without talking about politics. Sorry random stupid person (psych! I’m not sorry)