Coronavirus Impacting Theme Parks

[disco2000]

Just now, bjcolglazier said:

I said to another Ding Dong the other night in a private message...If you don't want the park to open...don't go to the park! Simple as that. The park wants to open. I want to go to the park. You don't have to. The governor should be providing all sorts of information so people can decide if they want to go. He should not be the dictator over Kings Island and their customers.

Again, where did I say I wasn't going to go to the park?

When the park opens, I want the park to stay open.  Part of that will be people respecting and following the requirements set forth by the business in order to remain open.  It really isn't that hard of a concept to understand, yet so many believe the requirements don't apply to them.

[refrigerator]

2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

I know that, but I said if the park makes masks a requirement, that is their choice as a business.  I was simply using that as an example.  But if their re-open plan to the Governor says masks will be required for guests and the state sees an overwhelming amount of people not complying with the businesses own plan, guess what happens...

He should be focusing his time on the riots, massive unemployment, and over 75% of coronavirus deaths in Ohio being in long term care facilities, not if people are wearing masks in an amusement park.

 

[disco2000]

2 minutes ago, refrigerator said:

He should be focusing his time on the riots, massive unemployment, and over 75% of coronavirus deaths in Ohio being in long term care facilities, not if people are wearing masks in an amusement park.

 

Which was why I ended my post with:

(or it will be business as usual...which is probably what will happen)

But just because their attention will be elsewhere isn't an excuse to disobey whatever requirements KI has regarding opening up their park...

[King Ding Dong]

If you don’t want to follow park rules.   Don’t go to the park.

[bjcolglazier]

2 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

If you don’t want to follow park rules.   Don’t go to the park.

I'm good with that. I just have a feeling the park itself doesn't like the rules...nor do "we".

[refrigerator]

1 minute ago, King Ding Dong said:

If you don’t want to follow park rules.   Don’t go to the park.

I don't think anyone in this thread said they were not going to follow park rules.

The recent discussion was about Dewine hovering over Kings Island and following all their moves when there are clearly much bigger issues at hand.

[JimParker85]

I still wonder about a mask on Top Thrill Dragster. Seems very likely that several would fly off on every launch. We booked Silver Dollar City and they are requiring masks, but not while riding their high thrill and water rides.

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, refrigerator said:

I don't think anyone in this thread said they were not going to follow park rules.

The recent discussion was about Dewine hovering over Kings Island and following all their moves when there are clearly much bigger issues at hand.

Let's be real, it will be the "Karen's" of the world documenting it all and sending to the media and DeWine.  The state doesn't have enough staff to hover over every business.

Doesn't KI have some neighbors that are absolutely loving the silence they have enjoyed this summer....a pass would be a cheap investment to bring that silence back...

[King Ding Dong]

4 minutes ago, refrigerator said:

I don't think anyone in this thread said they were not going to follow park rules.

 

They have said the park should not enforce the rules. 

[refrigerator]

1 minute ago, King Ding Dong said:

They have said the park should not enforce the rules. 

How has the park enforced the smoking only in designated areas rules?  People are just going by track record of the park.

[silver2005]

One of,  if not,  the primary reason I'll be avoiding parks until next season is due to not trusting people to wear masks and properly social distance plus the parks' lack of ability to get people to do so due to the whole bridge too far stance (which, granted, is its own nuanced discussion, but I'm in a TL:DR kinda mood right now).

 

[Pagoda Gift Shop]

If Six Flags, Sea World, Disney, and Universal all independently made the decision that masks should be required in their parks, does that not hold any kind of weight?  These kinds of things are debated and researched by committees before being decided.  Many of these parks are located in places where the climate is worse than Ohio.

Masks are inconvenient, but I think it may come down to the fact that it is unlikely that people will be able to maintain safe social distancing the entire time while at the park.  Because of that, masks are the only way the park can maintain that they are doing their best to ensure every guest is being as protected as possible.

[disco2000]

15 minutes ago, bjcolglazier said:

I'm good with that. I just have a feeling the park itself doesn't like the rules...nor do "we".

Mark Twain once said something like “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.” as a reference to unfortunately laws have to exist because the few that are unreasonable, irresponsible, and lack common sense ruin it for the rest of us...and then even with the laws, they are still broken, bringing on a whole new set of further restrictions...

[chibul]

30 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

I know that, but I said if the park makes masks a requirement, that is their choice as a business.  I was simply using that as an example.  But if their re-open plan to the Governor says masks will be required for guests and the state sees an overwhelming amount of people not complying with the businesses own plan, guess what happens...

The state isn't going to shut the park down if people don't comply with a park rule that isn't a state rule. That doesn't even make sense.

Now, if social distancing isn't enforced, or if the attendance limits aren't kept, sure. But there's no chance the state would shut down the park if people didn't wear masks.

[chibul]

14 minutes ago, JimParker85 said:

I still wonder about a mask on Top Thrill Dragster. Seems very likely that several would fly off on every launch. We booked Silver Dollar City and they are requiring masks, but not while riding their high thrill and water rides.

Exactly. Masks at an outdoor amusement park make little sense other than when standing in line. 

[chibul]

13 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

They have said the park should not enforce the rules. 

No, we said they're not going to kick people out for taking a mask off. It's not worth the bad publicity, it's not a state requirement and quite frankly they need the paying customers right now. 

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, chibul said:

The state isn't going to shut the park down if people don't comply with a park rule that isn't a state rule. That doesn't even make sense.

Now, if social distancing isn't enforced, or if the attendance limits aren't kept, sure. But there's no chance the state would shut down the park if people didn't wear masks.

So if Cedar Fair says they will require masks for guests, enforce social distancing, and limit attendance, why would the state close them for the last two but not the first?  If that is the condition of their re-open plan submitted and approved by the state, then non-compliance can be a condition to close them as well.  Many business sectors were allowed to open without a capacity limit.

If Cedar Fair feels they can control it or enforce it within their park, then they would be better off to not make it a condition to re-open.

There is a saying in business - under commit and over deliver.

[chibul]

 

4 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

So if Cedar Fair says they will require masks for guests, enforce social distancing, and limit attendance, why would the state close them for the last two but not the first?  If that is the condition of their re-open plan submitted and approved by the state, then non-compliance can be a condition to close them as well.  Many business sectors were allowed to open without a capacity limit.

If Cedar Fair feels they can control it or enforce it within their park, then they would be better off to not make it a condition to re-open.

Well we definitely agree on the last part at least.

As far as why the state would close for the latter two - those are state guidelines for reopening, are they not? You can't socially distance at full capacity, and social distancing is very much a mandate still. But masks are not - that was made clear today. I'm 100% confident they wouldn't be shut down for people removing masks. 

I mean ultimately, it's entirely their decision as to whether or not they require masks - I think they'll lose more business than they would by not mandating them. As I said, I personally won't attend if they do, because walking around all day with a mask on an 85 degree day sounds like absolute hell. Not to mention there's no way my wife would be able to manage doing so. And this is coming, as I mentioned before, from two people who have worn them every time we've went into an establishment. 

We'll find out what happens soon enough. 

[refrigerator]

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/06/cedar-point-kings-island-water-parks-can-reopen-june-19-says-ohio-gov-mike-dewine.html

 

According to this article with direct quotes from the CEO of Cedar Fair it looks like Kings Island could open the weekend of June 19th, if not then, soon after that.

[disco2000]

10 minutes ago, chibul said:

As far as why the state would close for the latter two - those are state guidelines for reopening, are they not? You can't socially distance at full capacity, and social distancing is very much a mandate still. But masks are not - that was made clear today. I'm 100% confident they wouldn't be shut down for people removing masks. 

Actually, when restaurants were allowed to open, he specifically said he was not going to limit their capacity - it was up to each individual business to decide how best to accomplish social distancing requirements.  So if a restaurant wanted to put up shower curtains or plexiglass around every table so they could fill their existing tables and run at 100% capacity, he would allow that.  Some have done exactly that, some have removed tables so they are no closer than 6 feet, and yet others have not opened up indoor seating yet.  He put the responsibility in the business hands that they have to develop their own plan, but they then have to comply with whatever their plan was.  And that is how some restaurants were being scrutinized and looked at closer recently because they were not complying with their own plan.

Day cares and weddings are I believe the only ones limited in capacity by a number.  Maybe a few more, but it is not consistent across the sectors.

Many were expecting he would limit capacity like other states did and he did not.

I agree with you - masks will be horrible in the heat, but if that is the requirement Cedar Fair puts in, they will have to enforce it.

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, refrigerator said:

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/06/cedar-point-kings-island-water-parks-can-reopen-june-19-says-ohio-gov-mike-dewine.html

 

According to this article with direct quotes from the CEO of Cedar Fair it looks like Kings Island could open the weekend of June 19th, if not then, soon after that.

This is an even more telling piece from that article:

In response to a reporter’s question after Friday’s press conference, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the parks will conduct temperature monitoring prior to entrance. DeWine said capacity would be capped at 20% to start, and work up to 50% later in the season.

[spooky21]

As of right now masks are up to the business not Dewine or a DR. There is no state law requiring you to wear a mask. Not saying I'm not going to but I agree it's kind of silly, especially since all these projections are far wrong. Wheres those 5k+ new cases everyday like they said? I mean your more likely to die from a car crash to or from the park than Covid so there's that. Don't see anyone freaking about driving though...

 

[King Ding Dong]

15 minutes ago, chibul said:

No, we said they're not going to kick people out for taking a mask off. It's not worth the bad publicity, it's not a state requirement and quite frankly they need the paying customers right now. 

If there are no consequences for not following a rule it makes no sense to have the rule. 

[refrigerator]

2 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

This is an even more telling piece from that article:

In response to a reporter’s question after Friday’s press conference, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the parks will conduct temperature monitoring prior to entrance. DeWine said capacity would be capped at 20% to start, and work up to 50% later in the season.

Whats capacity?  I worked at Kings Island when we had 65,000 people in the park which was about 7 years ago and the water park was not open.

[spooky21]

Just now, King Ding Dong said:

If there are no consequences for not following a rule it makes no sense to have the rule. 

Ummmm phones on rides? KI PR has even shared people taking selfies on rides. What about smoking in lines, I called the tip# last year and even sent pics of someone smoking, they didn't do anything.

 

[disco2000]

4 minutes ago, refrigerator said:

Whats capacity?  I worked at Kings Island when we had 65,000 people in the park.

Earlier in this thread, employees had said it was around that 65,000 number, so 20% of that would be 13,000 guests. 

They will have a demand for much more than that...based on previous articles Cedar Fair reps reported most parks run at 50% capacity during the summer, so a typical Wednesday at the park will now be half of what we used to see using that analogy. 

A lot of social distancing can occur with that number, except for at Orion 

[King Ding Dong]

11 minutes ago, spooky21 said:

As of right now masks are up to the business not Dewine or a DR. There is no state law requiring you to wear a mask. Not saying I'm not going to but I agree it's kind of silly, especially since all these projections are far wrong. Wheres those 5k+ new cases everyday like they said? I mean your more likely to die from a car crash to or from the park than Covid so there's that. Don't see anyone freaking about driving though...

 

This is the second time this false argument has been made in this thread.   NHTSA estimates 36,120 traffic fatalities in the US for 2019.  How many COVID-19 deaths have we had so far this year?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-traffic-fatalities/u-s-traffic-deaths-fell-in-2019-for-third-straight-year-idUSKBN22H1OF

 

8 minutes ago, spooky21 said:

Ummmm phones on rides? KI PR has even shared people taking selfies on rides. What about smoking in lines, I called the tip# last year and even sent pics of someone smoking, they didn't do anything.

 

So we agree then?  Since the park does not enforce the rules, they should not have them.

[refrigerator]

5 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Earlier in this thread, employees had said it was around that 65,000 number, so 20% of that would be 13,000 guests. 

They will have a demand for much more than that...based on previous articles Cedar Fair reps reported most parks run at 50% capacity during the summer, so a typical Wednesday at the park will now be half of what we used to see using that analogy. 

A lot of social distancing can occur with that number, except for at Orion 

Links to those articles?  

[disco2000]

5 minutes ago, refrigerator said:

Links to those articles?  

They are linked somewhere in these 116 pages of posts LOL.

Edit - here is one I found quickly:  https://www.cleveland.com/business/2020/05/cedar-fair-considering-capacity-limits-virtual-queuing-in-reopening-of-cedar-point-other-parks.html

and from their Q1 conference call: But what I can say is that given the fact that most of the parks don't operate anywhere near theoretical capacity and only close to half, we can do numbers that are significantly less than theoretical capacity and still be at a very profitable level in terms of daily operations.

Edited June 6, 2020 by disco2000
added link

[refrigerator]

3 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

This is the second time this false argument has been made in this thread.   NHTSA estimates 36,120 traffic fatalities in the US for 2019.  How many COVID-19 deaths have we had so far this year?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-traffic-fatalities/u-s-traffic-deaths-fell-in-2019-for-third-straight-year-idUSKBN22H1OF

 

So we agree then?  Since the park does not enforce the rules, they should not have them.

I think that person was specifically saying you, yourself has a higher chance to die of a car crash than to coronavirus.  Unless you are over the age of 65 you have a super low chance of dying to coronavirus.  In Ohio alone over 71% of people that have died to coronavirus were from long term care facilities.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ETm51GayRjlnoaRVtUOWfkolEeAQZ-zPhXkCbVe4_ik/edit#gid=435667374