Coronavirus Impacting Theme Parks

[Kenban]

We are about to find out, Santa Clara California has issued a ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people.  It states indoor or confined outdoor gathering, so possible it does not apply to theme parks.

California’s Great America has its opening day scheduled for the 21st.  No word from the park if they will open on time or reschedule.

[Gordon Bombay]

9 hours ago, bjcolglazier said:

Until the virus spread hits a peak and starts going down in US, it's a hot mess "out there". Much panic, despite the small numbers currently. Local schools are making preparations to close with one positive, so yeah, I figure amusement parks are probably top-of-the-list to get shutdown, too. I sure hope not, but when you see entire countries locking down that does not bode well for parks of a few hundred acres.

I don't think it's fair to call it a "panic," yet or even a "hot mess." Yes, there are some people probably being a little overzealous gobbling up all the hand sanitizer (but who's surprised when even the thought of snow triggers long lines at Kroger), but rather people are taking this seriously and preparing. There's a lot of risk and unlike previous global viruses, the transmission is easier. We haven't seen anything quite like this in sometime. Even if you're not in the at-risk demographic, there's still a threat to many people. Can most afford to "self quarantine?" Can most afford to take time off work? Can students on a specific educational track afford to be delayed? Etc. There's also glaring, nationwide issues with testing and testing availability and affordability. If you can avoid being sick, no need to worry about testing. 

Better to be prepared. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

One thing we need to keep in mind, Knott's has not closed since the start of all of this. I was there the week of President's Day. I visited there, SFMM and Universal. Seemed to be business as usual. I don't see that changing in Ohio.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

6 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

One thing we need to keep in mind, Knott's has not closed since the start of all of this. I was there the week of President's Day. I visited there, SFMM and Universal. Seemed to be business as usual. I don't see that changing in Ohio.

I was going to say the same thing. I'm surprised Knott's hasn't come out with some sort of statement yet since they are like the only CF park operating right now. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

The bigger question I have for everyone here. Is it going to slow you down from going to KI? 

For me and my family, not one bit.

[Gordon Bombay]

4 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

The bigger question I have for everyone here. Is it going to slow you down from going to KI? 

For me and my family, not one bit.

Look, I get it, this website has to serve as a cheerleader for the park in some respects and you say all this now (nor am I in no way trying to deter you from visiting). But I would keep an eye on the news and developments as things progress before you declare "not one bit" and jump in line with tons of people all touching the same queue rails. How things were in February are very different from how things are in March. How things are today could be very different a month from now—both for the worse or for better. 

[King Ding Dong]

46 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

One thing we need to keep in mind, Knott's has not closed since the start of all of this. I was there the week of President's Day. I visited there, SFMM and Universal. Seemed to be business as usual. I don't see that changing in Ohio.

LA has had relatively few cases given the population.  Same with Ohio.  Confused what you don't see changing.  Park operations independent of severity of local cases? 

38 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I was going to say the same thing. I'm surprised Knott's hasn't come out with some sort of statement yet since they are like the only CF park operating right now. 

What do you expect them to say with operations at normal? 

 

25 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

The bigger question I have for everyone here. Is it going to slow you down from going to KI? 

For me and my family, not one bit.

With no reported cases in the area, of course not.  So you would go regardless of how many cases there are or how many people are dying?  Not that I can draw the line at any number.  That is why I follow the recommendations of public health experts and scientists.  Would you still go if any of your family was exposed even if asymptomatic?

Not going to make any decision based on someone's "hunch".

[ThrillKingsFitzy]

10 hours ago, Benjamin22 said:

Wonder if they would offer refunds for passes if they end up being closed for over a majority of the season?

We should just stop stressing over this. What happens with the park happens. It's not like it's going to get torn down. Also, people who have the virus would probably be smart enough to not enter the park.

[IndyGuy4KI]

2 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

With no reported cases in the area, of course not.  So you would go regardless of how many cases there are or how many people are dying?  Not that I can draw the line at any number.  That is why I follow the recommendations of public health experts and scientists.  

The Avon school outbreak Malem posted earlier is the school system next to ours. We shop and eat in the Avon district often. I have not changed my shopping and eating habits since hearing about it. Our county health department has said the risk is low, no need for other schools to close, and no need to panic.  The biggest thing they are pushing is having good hygiene, which I am being even more conscious about than I was before. 

So, with today's knowledge and information from health officials, my future plans which includes going to KI still stands. Obviously if things change as Gordon mentioned I will rethink my position on it.

[King Ding Dong]

That sounds reasonable, your previous statement did not.

31 minutes ago, ThrillKingsFitzy said:

Also, people who have the virus would probably be smart enough to not enter the park.

Not so much.  https://abcnews.go.com/Health/school-cancelled-health-officials-issue-stern-warning-missouri/story?id=69484627.  Dad took daughter to school dance despite self isolation orders.  I am from St. Louis, Ladue is a very wealthy area and Villa is an very exclusive and expensive private school.  These are not peopleofwalmart. 

Your statement also presumes people know if they are carriers of the virus.  Correct me if I am wrong but the "test", that is not available to everyone as some claim, can only provide a positive result if one is symptomatic.  One can be an asymptomatic carrier and not know.

[Benjamin22]

28 minutes ago, ThrillKingsFitzy said:

We should just stop stressing over this. What happens with the park happens. It's not like it's going to get torn down. Also, people who have the virus would probably be smart enough to not enter the park.

The problem is people don’t know they’re infected due to the long incubation period. Furthermore there’s already been several cases of people breaking their quarantine and visiting places.

[ThrillKingsFitzy]

They should put in a new system where you are tested for the virus before entering the park.

[flightoffear1996]

25 minutes ago, ThrillKingsFitzy said:

They should put in a new system where you are tested for the virus before entering the park.

Guys this isn't much more than a cold. I am sure there is a lot of people that have it or had that didn't even know. Wash your hands and move on with your day. We can't shelter from everything. 

[ThrillKingsFitzy]

15 minutes ago, flightoffear1996 said:

Guys this isn't much more than a cold. I am sure there is a lot of people that have it or had that didn't even know. Wash your hands and move on with your day. We can't shelter from everything. 

I agree. What happens happens. Their not going to tear down the park, and the world won't go extinct.

[gforce1994]

Disneyland Paris workers were tested, and the results showed they had the coronavirus.

[tcraig88]

A friend sent me this post they saw on Facebook, from March 4th, I found it interesting. I don't use Facebook so I'm not sure whether the specific source is a reputable or not though. 

Either way, it shows that there are more alarming things out there right now, not to take away the severity of the Coronavirus though. Personally, I don't see parks closing unless local area are affected. I don't see a park closing because the state has a case or two. However, I believe parks and guests should take precautions.

Quote

82,000 People are sick with Coronavirus at the moment,

of which 77,000 are in China.

This means that if you are not in or haven't recently visited China, this should eliminate 94% of your concern.

 

If you do contract Coronavirus, this still is not a cause for panic because:

81% of the Cases are MILD

14% of the Cases are MODERATE

Only 5% of the Cases are CRITICAL

 

Which means that even if you do get the virus, you are most likely to recover from it.

 

Some have said, “but this is worse than SARS!”. SARS had a fatality rate of 10% while COVID-19 has a fatality rate of 2%

 

Moreover, looking at the ages of those who are dying of this virus, the death rate for the people UNDER 50 years of age is only 0.2%

 

This means that:

if you are under 50 years of age and don't live in China - you are more likely to win the lottery (which has a 1 in 45,000,000 chance)

 

Let’s take one of the worst days so far, the 10th of February, when 108 people in CHINA died of Coronavirus.

 

On the same day:

26,283 people died of Cancer

24,641 people died of Heart Disease

4,300 people died of Diabetes

Suicide took 28 times more lives than the virus did.

 

Mosquitoes kill 2,740 people every day, HUMANS kill 1,300 fellow humans every day, and Snakes kill 137 people every day. (Sharks kill 2 people a year)

Source

[ThrillKingsFitzy]

1 minute ago, tcraig88 said:

A friend sent me this post they saw on Facebook, from March 4th, I found it interesting. I don't use Facebook so I'm not sure whether the specific source is a reputable or not though. 

Either way, it shows that there are more alarming things out there right now, not to take away the severity of the Coronavirus though. Personally, I don't see parks closing unless local area are affected. I don't see a park closing because the state has a case or two. However, I believe parks and guests should take precautions.

Source

This is so true. I really think people are overreacting, as I've been saying for the past few weeks. This has fully proved my point.

[LuckyluvsKI]

1 hour ago, Benjamin22 said:

The problem is people don’t know they’re infected due to the long incubation period. Furthermore there’s already been several cases of people breaking their quarantine and visiting places.

Up to you how much of a bubble you want to live in- or what you decide is too risky- you're 10xs more likely to catch the flu than corona. if you're young and healthy nothing to worry about besides wash your hands properly, basic hygiene.  Do you quit living because you might catch a cold? People are carriers of many things and you'll never know unless you pay(afford to pay) for testing. If you're worried about spreading; the people who are in danger normally don't flock to theme parks anyways like elderly and immunocompromised because of the risks of catching any type of bug.  This also has been a very specific pattern every election year-big scary bug so people lose their minds and because fear is very easy to manipulate.  Nobody seems to be concerned about Zika or Sars( a different strain of coronavirus mind you) same with MERS Another corona virus strand same family), or Ebola anymore yet those viruses are still out there. You all need to take a breath and just keep up on your hand washing and general hygiene and you'll be ok, keep track of what the CDC and your local county health departments say not news-News stations just blow things up to make ratings.  

 

 

[malem]

27 minutes ago, ThrillKingsFitzy said:

They should put in a new system where you are tested for the virus before entering the park.

Testing for the virus itself wouldn't be possible, as the test takes hours and capacity for testing is limited. The amusement park industry could theoretically follow the cruise industry in adopting health screenings for symptoms like cough and fever, but the risk is a lot lower in an open air park versus sharing a boat for a week with thousands of crew and guests.

According to the CDC, people are most likely to spread the virus after they're showing symptoms, at which point most are hopefully heeding the advice of public health officials and staying home.

 

Just now, flightoffear1996 said:

Guys this isn't much more than a cold. I am sure there is a lot of people that have it or had that didn't even know. Wash your hands and move on with your day. We can't shelter from everything. 

Personally, I'm a lot more worried about potentially spreading it to others than about getting seriously ill from the virus myself. It's quite dangerous to vulnerable populations, and it does have the capability of making even otherwise healthy people very ill.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

People need to understand that while yes I do think the media took it a little far, it's a new virus and we don't really know what it's going to do or what it really can do. So I do think it's okay to be a little concerned over this situation. 

[LuckyluvsKI]

1 minute ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

People need to understand that while yes I do think the media took it a little far, it's a new virus and we don't really know what it's going to do or what it really can do. So I do think it's okay to be a little concerned over this situation. 

its a new strain of already existing coronvirases likes Sars and MERS which have been around for years. Be mindful and observant but you'll feel better not feeding into the mass hysteria.  viruses mutate constantly Hence why the flu is so prevalent and the flu shot is their best guess on what strands will be prevalent that year. It is why you can get the shot and still get the flu because its still hit or miss but better to have some protection vs none at all.

An easy and not super expensive would be to just install those hand sanitizer stations at the exits of coasters, and in prime areas around flats etc so people can sanitize quicker after riding and such between hand washing. 

[King Ding Dong]

20 minutes ago, LuckyluvsKI said:

An easy and not super expensive would be to just install those hand sanitizer stations at the exits of coasters, and in prime areas around flats etc so people can sanitize quicker after riding and such between hand washing. 

I like the idea of the All-Season Hand Sanitizer Plan.   There could even be 15 minute cool down like the drink plan, so the kids don't go overboard flinging at each other each other's eyes or starting fires. 

1 hour ago, flightoffear1996 said:

Guys this isn't much more than a cold.

This part of your statement is just not factual by any measure.  These kinds of statements are dangerous.

[flightoffear1996]

4 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

I like the idea of the All-Season Hand Sanitizer Plan.   There could even be 15 minute cool down like the drink plan, so the kids don't go overboard flinging at each other each other's eyes or starting fires. 

This part of your statement is just not factual by any measure.  These kinds of statements are dangerous.

 

[SnakePlissken]

5 minutes ago, flightoffear1996 said:

 

That still does not make it factual. You need sources.

[malem]

It's true that many coronaviruses cause common colds, but others were responsible for SARS (9.6% fatality rate) and MERS (34% fatality rate).

It's unfortunate that COVID-19, a coronavirus, was coined "Coronavirus".

Comic: XKCD https://xkcd.com/2275/

[bjcolglazier]

Ridiculous to try and classify all coronaviruses as simply the common cold. We've all heard of Ebola. However, there's actually several different varieties of ebolavirus. Some are crazy deadly, and others not deadly at all. 

[King Ding Dong]

[bjcolglazier]

25 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Hey, wait---that is free disaster supplies. Delivered, free of charge.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Tbh I think this topic would be a good one for John Matarese and WCPO to do. No, I'm not going to contact him lol we are past that. I'm surprised we haven't heard anything from the park yet over this. 

[SOBwasaSOB]

One of the smartest men in this field gives almost 2 hrs of unbiased information lacking the hysteria you will get from every news channel.  Basically, it is very serious and a high priority, but there is no need to panic.  A healthy lifestyle is your best defense (exercise, diet,...etc). Hand sanitizer is darn near useless in preventing the spread of this virus. 

 

I've found conflicting info on the hand sanitizer so I may be wrong on that one.  Face masks only seem to be beneficial when it is someone carrying the virus wearing them though, not so much a healthy person wearing one to prevent getting sick.