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Coronavirus Impacting Theme Parks


Hawaiian Coasters 325

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2 hours ago, disco2000 said:

I'm confused. I thought the Butler County Fair got cancelled. Either I am thinking of another fair or they called it back on at the last minute.

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2 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I'm confused. I thought the Butler County Fair got cancelled. Either I am thinking of another fair or they called it back on at the last minute.

You are correct - they cancelled it and then changed in June when the Governor gave guidance about trying to still hold portions for 4H and junior competition, so the offerings are way down from past years.

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12 hours ago, disco2000 said:

You are correct - they cancelled it and then changed in June when the Governor gave guidance about trying to still hold portions for 4H and junior competition, so the offerings are way down from past years.

Ok makes sense. Kinda wish it was like that in Indiana. I used to live near the largest county fair in Indiana (Jackson County) and since I moved back to Cincy, I usually go there to visit during Fair week. It was cancelled due to COVID and for 4H they are doing it virtual. It would've been held this week. 

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I think the fact that there's virtually zero known outbreaks at amusement parks - not just in Kings Island, but Cedar Point, Disney, etc - is a real testament to the safety precautions put in place. I think we're going back to the park on Sunday/Monday - one last hurrah before my wife has to go back to work (school) in 10 days.

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It is starting to sound like the current design of Epic Universe will never be built.  Construction was supposed to start soon with a planned opening in 3 years.  But everyone working on the project has been laid off, and Comcast has officially announced an indefinite delay.  Rumors point at its likely to be a very long delay.  Needing an actual recovery before any work will start again, and if it’s anything like after 9/11 it could be a decade.

I have been hearing rumors that Universal is between a rock and a hard place here with contractual obligations to build Nintendo World in Orlando.  If Epic Universe is delayed it’s going to have to be built somewhere, which likely means it’s original location replacing the kid zone in USF.

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Went to the park earlier. Figured even with escalating numbers, based on my last visit in early July I'd still feel great about it.

Nope.

Park was actually fairly busy, based on this new environment, which is good for the park. But enforcement of the covid protocols was non-existent. Diamondback queue looked exactly as if everything were normal - ZERO social distancing, everyone piled in right next to one another. I counted at least 25 people walking around with no mask on at all, and numerous employees that walked right by them without saying a word. If I had to count the number of people with masks below their nose, that number would've multiplied by 5.

Going back tomorrow because we're in town anyway and because hopefully Monday + bad weather = better compliance/less people...but this was a really bad look. We ended up just eating dinner with the meal plan (yay Pub Burger) and just leaving shortly after. Zero rides.

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3 minutes ago, chibul said:

Went to the park earlier. Figured even with escalating numbers, based on my last visit in early July I'd still feel great about it.

Nope.

Park was actually fairly busy, based on this new environment, which is good for the park. But enforcement of the covid protocols was non-existent. Diamondback queue looked exactly as if everything were normal - ZERO social distancing, everyone piled in right next to one another. I counted at least 25 people walking around with no mask on at all, and numerous employees that walked right by them without saying a word. If I had to count the number of people with masks below their nose, that number would've multiplied by 5.

Going back tomorrow because we're in town anyway and because hopefully Monday + bad weather = better compliance/less people...but this was a really bad look. We ended up just eating dinner with the meal plan (yay Pub Burger) and just leaving shortly after. Zero rides.

Just got back from hershey and dorney.  Masks were decent at hershey bust there was a lack of social distancing at both.  You had to be vocal.  no one seems to care

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1 minute ago, coaster sally said:

Just got back from hershey and dorney.  Masks were decent at hershey bust there was a lack of social distancing at both.  You had to be vocal.  no one seems to care

We thought about doing Dorney this weekend. Glad we didn't now.

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Just got back from Cedar Point.  I was expecting things to be not-so great by the reviews I've seen and I could not have been more wrong.  It felt just like KI with the exception of 2 things.  1) ALOT of EMT's in red shirts walking around with their packs in the case of anyone needing help. 2) cleaning EVERYWHERE.  Everything was either being wiped down or sprayed.  On most of the flats they were wiping down seats every cycle.

We stayed at the Breakers and it was great.  Social distancing and masks were being worn (you always have your occasional people who forget, tapping your mask seems to put them in line).  Also even on the beach social distancing was being followed.  Also there were signs on the elevators for 1 party at a time and you had to get a temp check every 2 days.  They gave you a wristband (they would replace it if it was lost) and you needed it to be on the boardwalk or the beach.  We went to Perkins in the hotel and they made sure we all had adequate bands on.

There were also tons of shows.  all outdoor and all very good.  The country show usually in the red garter saloon had a stage set up across the walkway.  Nice to see the entertainment department getting some love up there.  My granddaughter who is 5 was involved in one of the shows.  They would put down hula-hoops to make sure those participating were socially distanced and at the end they gave her a toy yo-yo using "grabbers" as to not touch them.  It was very cute.

Everything was running and I only noticed about 1 or 2 shops/eateries closed.  One other big thing I noticed was on Thursday no games were open at all.  They were open Fri-Sun but on Thursday they were all closed up (the ones to the right on the main midway).  They must have needed the employees in other places and it's nice to see them not going for the money-grab.

All in all we had a great time.  Breakers and the park both did an admirable job and we are all glad we went.  Kudo's to both the hotel and the park.

 

 

 

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44 minutes ago, chibul said:

Went to the park earlier. Figured even with escalating numbers, based on my last visit in early July I'd still feel great about it.

Nope.

That's interesting. We went today, and were very impressed. In the lines most folks were certainly trying to social distance. And yeah that included Diamondback. The Orion line in particular was crazy stretched out when we were in line. I don't recall seeing a single person "walking around" without a mask, but it sounds like you were spending quite a bit of your time counting them. I saw people sitting eating/drinking/chilling without them, but not walking around. We felt extremely safe in the environment. I think it just varies on each guest's paranoia level. And I'm not saying paranoia right now is a bad thing, but it is still a thing. We had a great day, and thought guest "protocol-following" was "high"! 

I didn't think it was very busy today either. A modest crowd.

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37 minutes ago, bjcolglazier said:

That's interesting. We went today, and were very impressed. In the lines most folks were certainly trying to social distance. And yeah that included Diamondback. The Orion line in particular was crazy stretched out when we were in line. I don't recall seeing a single person "walking around" without a mask, but it sounds like you were spending quite a bit of your time counting them. I saw people sitting eating/drinking/chilling without them, but not walking around. We felt extremely safe in the environment. I think it just varies on each guest's paranoia level. And I'm not saying paranoia right now is a bad thing, but it is still a thing. We had a great day, and thought guest "protocol-following" was "high"! 

I didn't think it was very busy today either. A modest crowd.

Maybe we were there at different times. Definitely had different experiences, from the sound of it, and it wasn't paranoia, for sure.

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Could be. We were there 11:40am - 2:55pm. I mentioned your comment to my wife. She mentioned she saw 2 people walking around without wearing their mask right. She said one woman was doing the, "I have my mask down while I walk around while I sip on my bottle of soda" thing. But she also mentioned an employee saw her and started following her. I dunno. We were not trying to count vigilante actions, that's true. 

 

Also want to mention we had many, many positive encounters with KI working folks today. A ton of "how is your day going?" "Are you having fun today?" "Have you ridden Orion yet?". Last one was an older guy on our way out simply thanking us for coming, have a great rest of your day. Speaks well of the company. After my first visit today it is clear to me they are trying to do everything they can to provide a safe and enjoyable experience. And they delivered for our family. Your mileage may vary, but I saw a lot of people having a good time today. Even with all the protocols. 

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We went on Saturday. Most people were pretty good with masks. I feel like people are much better about wearing their masks on cooler days like yesterday.

Distancing in lines was very hit-or-miss. A lot of people just seem unwilling to keep their distance in lines, which is kind of ridiculous / frustrating to me. Like, stopping on the marked spots isn’t gonna cause you to get on the ride any later. I agree with @chibul, there were a few times in lines when it just seemed like a normal day with no social distancing.

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2 hours ago, bjcolglazier said:

Could be. We were there 11:40am - 2:55pm. I mentioned your comment to my wife. She mentioned she saw 2 people walking around without wearing their mask right. She said one woman was doing the, "I have my mask down while I walk around while I sip on my bottle of soda" thing. But she also mentioned an employee saw her and started following her. I dunno. We were not trying to count vigilante actions, that's true. 

Yeah, we didn't get there until around 4:30, and were only there an hour. It definitely could be a thing where compliance waned later in the day, in that case.

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5 hours ago, chibul said:

Going back tomorrow because we're in town anyway and because hopefully Monday + bad weather = better compliance/less people...but this was a really bad look. We ended up just eating dinner with the meal plan (yay Pub Burger) and just leaving shortly after. Zero rides.

I was there from about 5:45 to close today- in both the Diamondback and Orion Queues, there were security guards posted that were doing nothing but social distancing and mask enforcement. I was impressed. 

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28 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

"No Covid-19 spike as a result of Kings Island opening" is not a particularly news-grabbing headline as it were. The virus is dangerous. Not suggesting it is not. But all the headlines making money are doom and gloom.

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