Coronavirus Impacting Theme Parks

[gforce1994]

City of Toronto has banned public events up to June 30th.

[bjcolglazier]

15 minutes ago, CorkscrewMcPuke said:

Citation?

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.23.20039446v2

https://www.foxnews.com/health/coronavirus-could-be-airborne-study-suggests

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/31/coronavirus-masks-cdc/

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-03-31/fauci-white-house-close-to-decision-on-public-wearing-masks-amid-coronavirus-pandemic

They are telling us not to buy or wear masks because they don't want to scare us, and our healthcare providers on the front-lines need them most. And there is a shortage. But it's in the air, so they don't know quite what to tell us. 

[King Ding Dong]

This is not new news, other than the increased distance.  It has always been known to be airborne.  That is why there are no masks available.  

[disco2000]

19 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

City of Toronto has banned public events up to June 30th.

Next big town over is where Canada's Wonderland resides...so following the trend, they will follow as Toronto with a lag of about two weeks, pushing their banning of events until mid-July...looks like Wonderland will see their season washed too...

[bjcolglazier]

1 minute ago, King Ding Dong said:

This is not new news, other than the increased distance.  It has always been known to be airborne.  That is why there are no masks available.  

For those really paying attention yes! For those just flipping channels, no.

[King Ding Dong]

12 hours ago, bjcolglazier said:

For those really paying attention yes! For those just flipping channels, no.

Oh No!  Canada’s Wonderland is my home park.  I am so screwed  now.  

[bjcolglazier]

12 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

Oh No!  Canada’s Wonderland is my home park.  I am so screwed  now.  

I just hope folks reading this thread can read between the lines of what our government is telling us, and what they are not. The word is out it's airborne. Probably a good bet Fauci and Birx suspected as much long ago...they are not stupid. Take care of yourselves---everyone, and I hope to bump into you at Kings Island later on even though we won't even know we did. :-)

[disco2000]

6 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Oh No!  Canada’s Wonderland is my home park.  I am so screwed  now.  

Get in the "make me whole" line ...oh wait, wrong park...

[Benjamin22]

Interesting quick read, amusement park chains are ripe for acquisition right now. IIRC Cedar Fair has preventive measures to prevent a hostile takeover after the Apollo deal. 
 

https://www.fool.com/amp/investing/2020/03/31/six-flags-shields-itself-from-takeover-with-a-one.aspx?__twitter_impression=true

[disco2000]

5 hours ago, bjcolglazier said:

 I just hope folks reading this thread can read between the lines of what our government is telling us, and what they are not. The word is out it's airborne. Probably a good bet Fauci and Birx suspected as much long ago...they are not stupid. Take care of yourselves---everyone, and I hope to bump into you at Kings Island later on even though we won't even know we did. :-)

In addition many posters, including myself, have posted content here in a "read between the lines" context...

Speaking of "reading between the lines"...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cdc-considering-encouraging-people-cover-101158880.html

[King Ding Dong]

Think this coaster will get a rename?

https://rcdb.com/6727.htm

[Klabergian Empire]

7 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Think this coaster will get a rename?

https://rcdb.com/6727.htm

No. A re-theme

[Joshua]

42 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Think this coaster will get a rename?

https://rcdb.com/6727.htm

Does that mean a certain beer company will have to change their name? 

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, Joshua said:

Does that mean a certain beer company will have to change their name? 

They already did lol

 

[King Ding Dong]

7 minutes ago, Joshua said:

Does that mean a certain beer company will have to change their name? 

That is a possibility.   Another strategy would be to sideline the brand for a time and launch some others to fill the void.  Still making it for the true fans, but lowering production and the marketing budget substantially until this is all over.  I know its sales are down, just not sure by how much.

2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

They already did lol

We need a cringe emoji.

[disco2000]

4 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

That is a possibility.   Another strategy would be to sideline the brand for a time and launch some others to fill the void.  Still making it for the true fans, but lowering production and the marketing budget substantially until this is all over.  I know its sales are down, just not sure by how much.

Actually Corona sales are up after an initial decline...

https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/corona-beer-among-winners-coronavirus-sales-surge/2247211

[King Ding Dong]

Good for them. 

[Joshua]

6 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

That is a possibility.   Another strategy would be to sideline the brand for a time and launch some others to fill the void. 

Then they can bring it back as "Corona Classic." 

[flightoffear1996]

Remember ITEOTWAWKI?   

[disco2000]

12 hours ago, Benjamin22 said:

Interesting quick read, amusement park chains are ripe for acquisition right now. IIRC Cedar Fair has preventive measures to prevent a hostile takeover after the Apollo deal. 
 

https://www.fool.com/amp/investing/2020/03/31/six-flags-shields-itself-from-takeover-with-a-one.aspx?__twitter_impression=true

I had mentioned earlier in the thread that it is very possible we could see movie/media companies make a bid at the regional parks currently taking a nosedive in an effort to help market their movies if they could get the parks at the right price...imagine if Paramount bought Cedar Fair...I am sure we can come up with some re-names

Paramount Korea is under construction and currently slated to open in 2025, so it isn't like they are completely out of the picture or not interested in parks again...

 

[SonofBaconator]

**BREAKING**

I think the park is planning on opening next week:

Here's the link if anyone wants to find out more

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

**BREAKING**

I think the park is planning on opening next week:

Here's the link if anyone wants to find out more

I thought it was this link: 

In other park news, Kings Dominion still shows a mid-May opening despite Governor stay home orders thru June 10th...

[flightoffear1996]

The governor of Ohio said this will be slow process on turning things back on and getting life back to normal. I would think that almost condemns the park to being closed all season.  

[CoastersRZ]

It is only April 1st.  Yes, it is questionable whether the park will be able to open mid-May, but to say that the park will not be able to open at all this season is a bit early to send in the white flag.  Things could be drastically different come August.  We just don`t know.  Heck, look how drastically things have changed in the last few weeks even.  Who would have thought on March 1st, that Ohio would essentially be locked down now, going on week three?

[CoasterFan3180]

Kennywood has announced that they will not be opening on time this year, and that 2020 Passholders will have their passes extended through June 2021. I wonder if we might see something like this for other parks’ passholders.

http://www.Kennywood.com/COVID-19

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

8 minutes ago, CoasterFan3180 said:

Kennywood has announced that they will not be opening on time this year, and that 2020 Passholders will have their passes extended through June 2021. I wonder if we might see something like this for other parks’ passholders.

http://www.Kennywood.com/COVID-19

I say if we get to a point where we open in mid-late summer or not at all, that's when we could see something like that happen. 

[SonofBaconator]

My advice would be to not get your hopes up when it comes to speculating a date for opening day. Things could change in one night. 

[gforce1994]

Carnival has cancelled numerous cruises through December of 2020.

[disco2000]

University of Cincinnati just announced summer semester (May 11 to August 8th) has now switched to remote learning...just a matter of time before K-12 goes to remote rest of school year in Ohio...and possibly into the start of next school year...

Ohio State going remote for summer term as well..

 

[Kenban]

1 hour ago, CoasterFan3180 said:

Kennywood has announced that they will not be opening on time this year, and that 2020 Passholders will have their passes extended through June 2021. I wonder if we might see something like this for other parks’ passholders.

http://www.Kennywood.com/COVID-19

Six Flags has already announced they are doing something similar for pass holders.  Basically however long your home park is closed this year you can use your 2020 pass through the end of that month in 2021.  If anything it is the Six Flags members getting screwed, they are continuing to charge the monthly fee, and giving free months at the end of your membership, which means after you cancel.  The upside for members is they are getting the next tier benefits for the rest of the year, but at the same time that means a lot more customers will get free skip the line passes every visit.  Just an FYI if anyone ever sees Six Flags offer free months on memberships, that is the same deal, you get the months after you cancel.

I am expecting Cedar Fair will come to the same conclusion once they have to move the opening date far enough it will not be possible to add enough days to the operating calendar.  I am expecting 2020 annual passes will work for a portion of 2021, and there will be heavily discounted upgrade options to finish off 2021.  The big problem is most parks are now giving the end of the season for free if they buy a pass for the next year, it might not make much sense to upgrade to a full 2021 annual pass if you already are getting half the season due to having a 2020 annual pass.