disco2000

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

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/