disco2000

Imagine a ride like Drop Tower where a lot of the time the guests don't go to the correct assigned seat to begin with LOL. Would they do an even/odd seat cycle and then wipe down. What about family members - they couldn't sit by each other in an even/odd seat pattern. It will be interesting to see their plan for the flats.

Still relevant as to what near future or near term or relatively soon actually means LOL

No more free masks at Universal: "Universal is requiring all guests to wear a face covering during their visit. If you don’t have a face covering, they will be available for purchase. During the proposal to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force, Universal claimed that a free disposable mask would be given to guests who don’t have one, but that has now changed. Universal will also continue the temperature checks for each guest prior to their arrival to the theme parks and Universal CityWalk. A guest will be denied entry if they have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or greater." https://universal.wdwinfo.com/universal-officially-reopening-june-5-hours-revealed-and-free-face-masks-retracted/

The one thing about DeWine is that he seems to be a straight-shooter and in his previous press conferences when a reporter would ask him something like when could salon's or daycare open and he would say he wasn't ready to make an announcement on it or he would have an announcement on it later in the week, you knew then he had a date in mind but wasn't ready to share it. Following that pattern, it is clear he doesn't even have a date in mind yet concerning amusement parks. Or he has a great poker face regarding this announcement and should make an appearance on the World Series of Poker What is more telling is a reporter asked him last week about his thoughts regarding the Ohio State Fair (that happens end of July to early August) cancelling for 2020 and DeWine said it was a good decision. A follow up question then centered on County Fairs and he gave an answer alluding to they will probably follow what the Ohio State Fair had done but that he hoped that at least the 4-H competition aspect could occur in some form or fashion if a procedure could be developed to allow it to do so. I get the feeling that he doesn't have a desire to open up anything he considers a mass gathering of people anytime soon. Now pressure from other avenues may change that or force his hand, but as of right now, it isn't looking promising. Then throw in the fact that a lot of KI seasonal employees probably took jobs elsewhere and would they give that up for less than a month of daily operation, coupled with universities like Notre Dame announcing they are starting the fall term two weeks early to try to get fall semester completed in-person, and the candidate pool of people eager and wanting to work there shrinks. Yes we have lot's of people unemployed, but that doesn't mean they are required to apply or work there and a lot of them probably make more on unemployment than they would working at KI.

Read the post he was replying to - it was in reference to American Dream Mall...

Here is an article with a link to the "Meet the Press" interview. https://www.wkyc.com/article/entertainment/places/cedar-point/cedar-point-reopening-process-ohio-governor-mike-dewine/95-23367287-f0bb-4ee6-93b5-1533d0d441ac

DeWine is a family man, so with Monday a holiday I doubt it will change (Yeah it is hard to believe Memorial Day is here already!)

Did you notice he called it a place of a mass gathering of people... One has to wonder again if they do re-open this summer - CF reps on the quarterly call indicated how long it would take them to re-open once a date is given and one could take away from that call that they didn't plan on bringing staff in to train until that date has passed...now that thought process could change as we get into June, but if they don't start calling in seasonal staff to start training and open up new job openings soon in anticipation of an opening date, a lack of staff may be the bigger issue in re-opening at some point...

On "Meet the Press", DeWine said Cedar Point is an area of interest that has yet to be given a re-open date, but he does not have a date in mind for what he called places of mass gatherings of people to re-open. He alluded to we need to get more data on places starting to open up and determine the spread and highly recommended people where masks and follow the guidelines/protocols in place for businesses open to help contain the spread. Now he may surprise us this week with an announcement, but his body language and tone certainly did not come across as someone that had a date in mind and was sheepishly saying he didn't. If he announces Tuesday an opening date, that dude needs to play poker as he could have a winning hand and act like he has nothing LOL

Not that the media is always right, but a TV station is reporting it as well: https://www.wkyc.com/mobile/article/entertainment/places/cedar-point/meet-the-press-chuck-todd-praises-cedar-point/95-b30af8a3-9ed5-40a2-95d5-2248fb30a70d

Even when an attraction opens up in defiance of a Governor order people show up in mass...wonder what a park will look like when they are allowed to open! https://www.yahoo.com/news/hundreds-line-houston-area-waterpark-172847936.html

Here is a click-bait headline for the Cincinnati Zoo reopen plan where the headline says they plan to reopen June 1, but you read the article and makes no mention of a date (plus Governor has not issued a date allowing them to reopen)... (edit - since the media outlet original posting of their article, they updated it to remove the June 1 date, but it still shows in the URL). https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/cincinnati-zoo-announces-plan-for-limited-reopening-on-june-1 And the official Zoo press release for once they are allowed to open and is subject to change based on any further restrictions the Governor's office requires as a condition for re-opening and says opening date TBD: http://cincinnatizoo.org/prepare-for-your-zoo-visit/

They cannot give an opening date until the Governor says amusement parks can open. If he says they can open, I am guessing opening between June 26th to July 4th. After that I don't know if it makes since to open. But nobody really knows at this point.

Governor Press Conference update: Bowling alleys, miniature golf, batting cages can open May 26th. All sports can start skills training and conditioning May 26th, but no competitions, games, scrimmages, or tournaments. Wedding receptions modified to catering and banquet centers can open June 1st and have to comply with all requirements of a restaurant such as tables greater than 6 feet and no congregating at like the bar or dance floor. Limited to 300 people. No other openings to be announced today.

Look how long the flats lines were at Winterfest!

You are getting too caught up on "definitions". If you take it literally, one could argue mass gatherings simply means just church services.... It's the letter of the law not the intent analogy at this point. You will understand what that means once you are in the business world. As an example, DeWine also said school kids were getting a 3 week spring break - the intent was they were going to be off for 3 weeks, not an actual 3 week spring break. It is more an interpretation issue based on actually watching the press conferences and how it is reported in the press and more importantly, officially released information in the State of Ohio press releases. Many tourism and travel destinations are also mass gatherings. Until DeWine makes an announcement providing a date when amusement parks can open and "exempting" them from the closure list, they still fall under a category not allowed to open yet, mainly because they are a place with mass gatherings, or a lot of people in one place - that is the intent of the Order. If they are not considered mass gatherings, then why are they not open yet - it is all about intent of the Order... In fact, as you will see below, the official press release has a category for Entertainment/Recreation and there is not a tourism and travel category. Just because he mentioned there is a Tourism and Travel Task Force looking at it doesn't mean that the official designations per the Order have it broken down by the categories of the task force. There will be overlap of many task forces. KI has restaurants, could they open up just the restaurants under the restaurant order? Are we eating in the FestHaus today? A task force is not a legal binding organization. Do we AT THIS MOMENT have a date for when amusement parks and water parks can open in Ohio - NO. Why is that? Here are some articles that allude to that: https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/05/summers-sorta-back-heres-what-mike-dewine-and-jon-husted-said-are-not-reopening-yet.html - However, if you’re planning on placing a bet at a casino, riding a roller coaster or seeing a movie in theaters any time soon, you’ll have to wait for a later announcement. Several limitations are still in place as of now, with Husted citing several specific places that will remain closed at Thursday’s briefing. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/04/will-ohio-pools-zoos-open-this-summer-amid-coronavirus-risk-what-about-vacations-ohio-gov-mike-dewine-responds.html - “We all love amusement parks. We all love going to baseball games and doing other things,” DeWine said. "But the reality is simply not changed. The reality is we have kept the curve down so our hospitals are not overrun, but we still have the virus out there.” https://www.wsaz.com/content/news/Gov-DeWine-announces-reopening-dates-for-childcare-gyms-pools-and-more-570476251.html- Officials say this does not include water parks or amusement parks. Gov. DeWine says those businesses will be addressed in the near future. https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/resources/news-releases-news-you-can-use/new-restartohio-opening-dates -Official Media Release - This does not apply to water parks or amusement parks. Safety protocols for these venues are in development. https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/ohio/list-businesses-must-remain-closed-ohio-stay-at-home-order-coronavirus/95-151847a1-1336-4cad-858e-0b31f0bb556c -All places of public amusement, whether indoors or outdoors, including, but not limited to, locations with amusement rides, carnivals, amusement parks, water parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, arcades, fairs, children's play centers, playgrounds, funplexes, theme parks, bowling alleys, concert and music halls, and country clubs or social clubs shall be closed. And finally, from the most recent Official State of Ohio Press Release of Continued Business Closures, it shows that Amusement Parks are lumped into the same category as fairs that are still to remain closed... So as it stands right now AT THIS MOMENT, amusement parks and fairs still fall under the same category until DeWine releases a press release that excludes them from this list or amends their status, just like he did for recreation sports, sports leagues, gyms, local pools.

He has called fairs and amusement parks and sporting events and concerts as mass gatherings several times....it can fall under the travel and tourism task force and still be considered a mass gathering. Regardless, amusement parks and fairs currently fall under the same category under the official orders issued by the Governor until he amends them.

Well amusement parks in Ohio are still considered "mass gathering" until DeWine makes an announcement otherwise...stay tuned... "Update" from your buddy https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/theme-parks-begin-to-announce-reopening-plans

It's an 11x17 anniversary park map we can purchase

Close, but it is actually READY TO GO

FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY TO MAKE A POINT!!!! Capacity for Orion will now fall somewhere between 36 riders per hour and 1,400 riders per hour LOL. Theoretical capacity is like 1,650 per hour. Actual prior to Covid would probably be like 1,400 per hour. Normally seats 32 riders per train. 3 trains. 8 rows. 44 dispatches an hour = 1,408 riders per hour. Now deal with Covid. Do you allow families to ride together? What about the solo enthusiast? To maintain 6 feet separation probably really need to skip 2 rows. So 3 rows of 4 each made up of families, so 12 per train as families of 4. 3 people per train if only solo riders. Gotta clean each train. Drops dispatches to 12 trains per hour (5 minutes to unload, disinfect, reload) Capacity will range from 36 to 144 riders per hour. 1,440 riders for the day instead of per hour LOL. This was an attempt (hopefully an extreme attempt) to demonstrate and prepare folks for how much longer it will take to ride your favorite ride. This should be a worse-case example if the park opens, but one could argue that this is the intent to comply with the current Order of social distancing (some members of the forum probably think this is accurate). In practicality, just in dealing with all the new requirements, we will probably see riders per hour initially be about 30% of its capacity and raise up to about 50-60% as the employees get used to what they need to do as do the guests (hopefully), and higher capacities if requirements relax more. These are the types of things the park needs to consider when deciding how best to meet these requirements. In addition to all the PPE and social distancing requirements, they have to also consider the riding habits of the guests. Do they eliminate the solo rider as that takes up more space than dealing with a family of four? Do they have a designated solo row? Do they eliminate FastLane this year or significantly alter the opportunity for re-rides? Do they allow Take-two-Tuesday where you stay in your seat and ride the ride twice to minimize people going back around in line to ride again? Will it be impractical to operate some rides or attractions - how do you maintain 6 foot separation in the Eiffel Tower Elevator? One should go to the park not expecting ride marathons and a substantial increase in ride time waits. People come to this forum and complain about the slowness of opening day weekend and long food lines, etc. - well it will get a lot worse now as NOBODY at KI has had experience operating the park or rides or food like they will have to now. Hopefully it all goes smoothly, but it will be a different experience. Expect there to be problems and issues. If those things bother you, then wait a couple of weeks or month to let them figure it all out.

But then everything gets wet and CP wouldn't run the rides then cause that is the same as spit of rain Oh wait wrong park forum...

And the sad thing is, it wasn't until 7 months ago that the ODA was even required to have an engineer on their staff. Legislation passed at the end of 2019, in response to the Ohio State Fair accident two years prior, added the provision to add a Professional Engineer as a non-voting member to the ODA Advisory Council on Amusement Ride Safety. So even when they add a professional engineer, they strip them of voting rights on any recommendations...

Some places are using these and others are considering adding "disinfectant tunnels," structures that spray sanitizers onto customers. Those spray mists in ride lines may be more than water now

Short drive to Cedar Point of course