disco2000

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

The Ohio Governor's announcement last week only pertains to pools regulated by local health departments, such as public pools or health clubs. It does not apply to waterparks and amusement parks. I guess Kalahari believes they are not a waterpark I guess we will find out if the Governor does not allow water parks to open by June 5th what it would be considered.. Kalahari may want to change their webpage as they consider themselves a waterpark...

I agree! I have been saying for years here that the behaviors of guests have changed (or maybe more that opportunities present themselves now easier like cell phones out on rides or sidewalk chalk that were not around when the park opened) to the point that they should consider having a security person be part of the ride op staff rotation. Maybe it is their job to enforce it or maybe it is their job to inform the guest and call security for non-compliance, but most people do not like confrontation, especially a young teenager wanting to work in rides. Again there are exceptions and we have ride-ops on this forum that do a great job, but I have witnessed smoking in station and when reported to a ride op, they simply shrug their shoulders. I have also seen ride-ops from this forum going above and beyond and be walking to/from break and stop a guest to inform them about the smoking policy. Or even better, they are a guest in the park and bring it to the guests attention! But I have also seen security walk right past someone smoking and it was obvious they were smoking and do nothing...enforcement is inconsistent at best. No joke - last year at CP a dude was smoking a cigarette in the queue line at Magnum and was next to get on the ride and was literally blowing his smoke into the employee's face standing there and NOT A THING was said to the guest...I pointed it out to a super and they shrugged their shoulders. It comes down to training. And training probably is more safety oriented than park policy oriented. And management willing to stand behind and empower and reward employees for doing their job. As @LuckyluvsKIpoints out, Disney is a different situation. Security at KI can or will only do so much. Rarely have I seen them actually throw someone out of the park. If Diamondback calls for security because someone had their phone out, it usually follows the route of the security person tells them of the policy and they go about the rest of their day. If the guest gets unruly, that is when they may get tossed. Again always exceptions and your experience may vary, but that has been mine...

And they do a generally poor job of enforcing no phones out and those hurt even worse than a mask or ball cap would... I have literally been on rides where someone ahead of me has a phone out, employee comes over speaker and makes the phones are not allowed under Ohio Law please put away and the person doesn't put it away and the ride op simply lets the ride continue. They did start to make an effort last year and in many instances they would actually stop the ride and go up and retrieve the phone, but way too many continued on without stopping. Again, does a wide-eyed teenager whose heart is set on operating a ride want to now be an enforcer of that policy...if they wanted to be an enforcer they would have applied to security!

Exactly - you are quoting from the EMPLOYEES requirements - your check mark is to indicate that they legally cannot turn away a guest for choosing to wear a face mask (unless covered by another law). The part of my post that you re-posted was in reference to guests and facemasks, not the employees. And guests are not mandated to wear masks by Ohio Government - that is a business decision. Employees are required unless they meet the exceptions, but that was a different part of my post... Go to the next page of the fact sheet you referenced (which I also referenced) that shows requirements for CUSTOMERS...face masks for customers is in the recommended category...

Masks are required of the employees, but not the customers...that is a business decision if they will require guests to wear face masks... https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/05/15/covid-19-salons-barbershops-reopen-ohio/5197024002/ Hair salon and barber fact sheet

Ohio Governor had already back-peddled on it - a couple weeks ago he said it would be mandatory for customers to wear face masks, and then retracted it the next day - before any business even had to experience trying to enforce it... Employees are required to wear masks though, unless they fall under certain exceptions. If he isn't making it a requirement for indoor places, I doubt he would for KI. He seems to really be of the mindset now of letting it be an individual business decision as well as an individual decision.

How about starting out these types of threads you like to create as Proposed or Speculation or Rumor since this isn't fact...

That sounds...um miserable LOL, but we do what we gotta do to work and make money! I am sure many KI employees will also be in the same situation as you that the elastic is too long, and many wear glasses, so there will be lots of issues. Wonder if KI will ask for one of the "exceptions" allowing some positions to not be required to wear masks?

True, but we do not know yet what requirements will be needed at KI....and even a cloth mask wearing it out in the heat all day can lead to irritation and acne issues. Oh yea, how is it for you back to work wearing a mask in hot conditions? I do not remember if you gave an update, other than just now with the ears issue? https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/how-to-prevent-rash-mask-and-other-mask-wearing-issues/2356975/

Yeah, if doctors and nurses look like this at the end of a shift, imagine what a KI employee will look like after working an open-to-close out in the heat...or a guest for that matter... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-health-care-bruised-faces-masks-ppe-hospitals-doctors-nurses-italy-new-york/

Too bad you don't live in Indiana, you could have ended your post with: Hoosier King Ding Dong now (it sounds funnier saying it out loud though)

Oh, so when the high school kids walk over to city hall and ask for anything KI related to the next unannounced attraction, they need to add Fax to their FOIA requests (teenagers now doing a google search on what a Fax is)

I think it is fine - every thread started that gets past 3 or 4 pages, and certainly one like this that is at 85 pages and counting, will have the "side-bar" type discussion at some point - in most cases it is fine. If it goes too far off the rails like a certain topic over in the Orion Construction thread, then the admins will spin it off into it's own thread. These discussions are certainly relevant to the topic at hand, and can hopefully help the next person that gets exposed and assisting them in knowing what to do.

Exactly...and scenes like this last night do not help the situation... You know if KI opens that it will look way worse than this concerning crowds and photos will make it's way to social media - and may result in closure of the park - no doubt the Governor is watching these sort of things as he determines when to let the next sector open! https://www.wlwt.com/article/cranley-cincinnati-bars-that-do-not-follow-social-distancing-guidelines-can-and-will-be-shut-down/32524300

Memories can change or formulate different opinions in subsequent years as we experience different and new things. Look at Beast or Vortex and peoples memories on how they got rougher over time or time length for example and then someone matches an old POV to a recent one of Beast showing the brakes, etc. have always been there. Vortex probably didn't get rougher, but we got older and bigger and rides like Diamondback were introduced that were smooth and thus made Vortex feel rougher... And how old were you in 2012? Age can make a difference on perception as well... Speaking of subjective, I thought Copperhead Strike was more intense than Maverick. It is probably mainly because it is a different ride experience and restraints. Every parent that got off Copperhead strike were hugging their kids and thankful they didn't fall out of the ride. Copperhead Strike with their restraints and emphasis on "upside down air" or hangtime can give the impression that you may fall out. You don't get that feeling on Maverick, mainly because of the restraints and pacing.

Personally, I think the 4 "choices" are kind of "extreme" ends of various scenarios, and it is a way to gauge how eager people are to come to the park. I cannot see any of them being implemented exactly as they are, but I could see a blending of several of them. I think logistically from a staffing and start-up and daily inspection standpoint, 8am to midnight is out of the question. Having entry being first-come, first serve would create a logistical nightmare and total non-compliance with social distancing efforts. I think the hours would remain the same 10am to 10pm. They will have to have some sort of reservation type system to control the crowds at the entrance. Don't know if it will be 15-min or 30-min intervals, but some set interval. I could also see them on lighter days try to split the day up into two segments 10am-4pm and 4pm to 10pm, or maybe put in an hour in-between to clear out guests and do a wipe down. Probably a Tuesday for that day and maybe cater the 10am entry to the older clientele? The issue with this one would be controlling the crowd rush at the beginning of each "shift" as people would want to get as much time in the park as possible. I do think people will show up regardless - look at all the videos being posted of people crowding restaurants and bars. As I mentioned earlier, what will probably end up happening with the reservation system is now it will become "exclusive" and the demand will be higher than if there was no reservation system - FOMO is real and a reservation system feeds that feeling..