Coronavirus Impacting Theme Parks

[disco2000]

1 minute ago, jensenracing77 said:

Okay, Thanks. If that is all it is then I am fine, I was thinking they wanted a doctors paperwork or something, lol. We are going to try and go one of the first 5 or 6 days but only long enough to ride Orion and leave. Sadly, I can't do a smart phone app. I hope there is another way to reserve a spot. 

At WoF, you will be able to reserve on the website, but one of the requirements coming out of WoF is that a member of the party needs to have the app while in the park and that is how they will scan in for reservations and stuff, so I would expect that will be the same at KI, but until they roll it out, we do not know for sure.

 

[chibul]

59 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

The fact of the matter is that this virus is too new and the science doesn't absolute 100% provide proof one way or the other at this point on a lot of issues surrounding this virus.

For every article someone finds to support their bias, someone else can find a contradictory article to support their bias.

In absence of that 100% absolute certainty, regulatory agencies are going to adopt and recommend we practice the commonly accepted BMPs (best management practices) to help control and contain a virus spread.  

Another fact is that no country has gone through a complete 4-seasonal cycle of this virus, so the science isn't there to prove 100% whether this spreads outdoors or not.  Again, one can find articles to support their bias.

There are still a lot of unknowns about this virus.  Some states that have opened up are now experiencing significant upticks in covid hospitalizations and Arizona has been told to activate emergency plans for their hospitals.  These instances will tend to favor the idea that it can be spread outdoors as the articles all reference outdoor areas packed with people.  Contact tracing will go a long way to help prove or disprove some of this.  But our contact tracing will more than likely never get to the level of some other countries either.

Several of the other countries that have had this virus earlier than the US has already had face masks as somewhat common place in their community and part of their culture, so that data is limited and not directly applicable to the US culture.

No other country through this pandemic has experienced the non-social distancing without face masks protests, riots, and a love for roller coasters like the Americans.  This data will be available in the coming weeks/months and will be a large data point moving forward in the science/medical community as it relates to spread outdoors.  Until that time, science tells the regulatory agencies to err on the side of historical information as it relates to virus spread and containment.

So large attractions either decide to open up and follow the BMP requirements at the time, or stay closed until the science on a new virus is more defined...

Well spoken. 

52 minutes ago, medford said:

 

If that is KI's policy to wear mask, either by company choice, or by state enforcement that is fine, it is my choice to attend or not attend and I won't complain that its "unfair" if I choose to stay home.  Those rides and experiences will all be there next year.  however, if the wearing of masks is like most other places I've been, even places where it is required, a good chunk of the people will have them down below their nose, or under their chin, open at the side, or just not on at all.  As time marches on, facial coverings will get less and less enforced and I will feel non the safer because someone is wearing a mask but touching everything around me that I touch as well.

 

Oh, I feel extremely confident in saying that that's how the mask aspect will go. Nobody's going to be there enforcing that you wear masks *in a certain way*. That's just not realistic.

 

[cdubbs727]

I think one of the ways CF is going to control capacity is through these guidelines. They don't want high capacity crowds this year; knowing that some people will refuse to come helps to control that. It's the same logic behind Disney pushing some of their new ride openings to 2021, even though they're nearly ready -- do crowd control where you can. 

I also think it's worth remembering that everywhere is facing rules like this. Just going back to the office for me (which likely won't happen until fall) will require wearing a mask, conducting meetings remotely (even if we're all on site), limiting elevators to two people. And that's for work, an essential thing to keep the lights on. 

Access to an amusement park isn't essential. It's a luxury. And so I think it's perfectly acceptable to make it a little harder to do it, especially considering the vast number of people crammed in. 

And I don't quite understand the requirement for masks on the midway if I don't have to wear them when I'm walking down the sidewalk at home. But I imagine it's much easier to make a flat policy that says "masks must be worn at all times" than to try and accommodate every situation in which they might not be necessary. Much easier to enforce. 

[chibul]

19 minutes ago, cdubbs727 said:

I think one of the ways CF is going to control capacity is through these guidelines. They don't want high capacity crowds this year; knowing that some people will refuse to come helps to control that. It's the same logic behind Disney pushing some of their new ride openings to 2021, even though they're nearly ready -- do crowd control where you can. 

I also think it's worth remembering that everywhere is facing rules like this. Just going back to the office for me (which likely won't happen until fall) will require wearing a mask, conducting meetings remotely (even if we're all on site), limiting elevators to two people. And that's for work, an essential thing to keep the lights on. 

Access to an amusement park isn't essential. It's a luxury. And so I think it's perfectly acceptable to make it a little harder to do it, especially considering the vast number of people crammed in. 

And I don't quite understand the requirement for masks on the midway if I don't have to wear them when I'm walking down the sidewalk at home. But I imagine it's much easier to make a flat policy that says "masks must be worn at all times" than to try and accommodate every situation in which they might not be necessary. Much easier to enforce. 

Excellent points, including the midway. Without the "at all times" aspect you open up to grey areas, which I'm sure is something they don't want. I'm guessing medical provisions for people without masks won't be granted either, for the reasons you mentioned.

I still don't believe they'll enforce masks on the midway though. But we'll find out soon enough.

[cdubbs727]

10 minutes ago, chibul said:

I still don't believe they'll enforce masks on the midway though. But we'll find out soon enough.

Agreed. I think it's more of a "spirit of the law" rather than a "letter of the law" type thing. I doubt many people will be thrown out for not keeping a mask secure on the midway; but it sets the expectation that they should be there. And a little perceived leeway in that area likely makes people more agreeable to comply in areas where social distancing is more difficult. 

[jensenracing77]

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

At WoF, you will be able to reserve on the website, but one of the requirements coming out of WoF is that a member of the party needs to have the app while in the park and that is how they will scan in for reservations and stuff, so I would expect that will be the same at KI, but until they roll it out, we do not know for sure.

 

That would suck if I would have to buy a cell phone. I will not be able to go if that is the case. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

10 minutes ago, jensenracing77 said:

That would suck if I would have to buy a cell phone. I will not be able to go if that is the case. 

No one in your house has a cell phone? 

[lifetimecoaster]

24 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

No one in your house has a cell phone? 

I'm impressed if that's true!! I'm not going to tell a full on lie... I want to get rid of it. I want to ditch technology as a whole. There's probably someone that lives off the grid somewhere that doesn't know that COVID is a thing, and hasn't seen the societal unrest that our country is in. They don't even know. I would like to not know. 

[King Ding Dong]

10 minutes ago, lifetimecoaster said:

I'm impressed if that's true!! I'm not going to tell a full on lie... I want to get rid of it. I want to ditch technology as a whole. There's probably someone that lives off the grid somewhere that doesn't know that COVID is a thing, and hasn't seen the societal unrest that our country is in. They don't even know. I would like to not know. 

And yet you are here.   Curious.  

[lifetimecoaster]

46 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

And yet you are here.   Curious.  

 Oh.... I saw the irony in my post, I really did..... there are just some days where I want to be LESS connected. I feel like the more connected we've become by our technology, the less connected we actually are as humans... but this is a theme park forum, and we aren't really into philosophical discussions like that round these parts.  

[King Ding Dong]

2 minutes ago, lifetimecoaster said:

 Oh.... I saw the irony in my post, I really did..... there are just some days where I want to be LESS connected. I feel like the more connected we've become by our technology, the less connected we actually are as humans... but this is a theme park forum, and we aren't really into philosophical discussions like that round these parts.  

Good thing coasters and amusement parks in general have nothing to do with technology as well.  

[lifetimecoaster]

31 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Good thing coasters and amusement parks in general have nothing to do with technology as well.  

 I think you may be better at this than me!! I may have to give in.... but I sure miss the days of skid brakes. (The only coaster I ever rode with skid brakes was the Starliner at Miracle Strip in Panama City Beach) 

[jensenracing77]

5 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

No one in your house has a cell phone? 

I have one that work provides but I can't add anything to it for personal use. I have another guy at work that is the same as me. He is actually worse, His family has no computers of any kind either. I had a trackphone for a while for vacations but got rid of it

 

[Kyle100991]

I'm going to wait a while before going. All of these restrictions sound like they are just going to create a huge cluster. I go to Kings Island to get away from all the stupidity in the world, not to be reminded of it.

[King Ding Dong]

8 minutes ago, Kyle100991 said:

I'm going to wait a while before going. All of these restrictions sound like they are just going to create a huge cluster. I go to Kings Island to get away from all the stupidity in the world, not to be reminded of it.

I don’t know Kyle, even pre-2020 I didn’t have to look very hard to see a lot of stupidity at KI.  

[Kyle100991]

1 minute ago, King Ding Dong said:

I don’t know Kyle, even pre-2020 I didn’t have to look very hard to see a lot of stupidity at KI.  

You have a point there lol

[gad198]

8 hours ago, disco2000 said:

Some states that have opened up are now experiencing significant upticks in covid hospitalizations and Arizona has been told to activate emergency plans for their hospitals.  These instances will tend to favor the idea that it can be spread outdoors as the articles all reference outdoor areas packed with people.

I agree with others who said that your post was well-written.  Having said that, some of the articles that talk about the hospital situation in Arizona also mention a couple of very important points in them.  A sampling is below:

Quote

As of Thursday, regular inpatient hospital beds were at 83% capacity statewide, up from 64% capacity toward the end of March, due to both COVID-19 and patients receiving medical care and surgeries they’d previously postponed.

Quote

and there are also more patients hospitalized for other medical needs and previously postponed surgeries

Quote

Though we have seen an uptick in cases these past couple of weeks, patients seem to be less sick than what we saw in the beginning,” said Angela Pittenger, spokeswoman for TMC. “We think this is because people are more aware of symptoms and are seeking care sooner

This is why you can't simply read an article - particularly the headline and first few sentences - and then disregard the remaining context.  Reading the whole article yields the underlying reason for the increase in hospitalizations, and an increase in coronavirus patients is only one of the reasons. 

I'm certainly not picking on anyone in particular, but these kinds of news stories are symptomatic of what's happening in much of the population.  Many people only see (often misleading) headlines, cliches and platitudes without getting everything in context.  I've been guilty of this too.  The sooner we all get away from this kind of behavior the better off we all are.

[King Ding Dong]

1 minute ago, Kyle100991 said:

You have a point there lol

I like to think most of it comes from out of state but sometimes I wonder.  

[Driver8rws]

On 6/9/2020 at 4:26 PM, PilotDude said:

Nope, looks like lines on the ground in the queue. But from the Worlds of Fun video it doesn't look very effective. They are good in front and behind you, but forget that you also need to worried with left and right as well.

 

What the hell?  Spacing the people in lines 6ft apart doesn't do any good if there are people going the other way in the line RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!?   What a ridiculous thing to even show in the video!    I would have bet my life they'd only be using EVERY OTHER lane and skipping the ones right next to each other...    

Such a "false sense" of doing the right thing.  Just like the temperature checks are.  They don't do any good unless you've been infected for 2-3 weeks and showing symptoms.

[PatchesC]

4 hours ago, Driver8rws said:

 

What the hell?  Spacing the people in lines 6ft apart doesn't do any good if there are people going the other way in the line RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!?   What a ridiculous thing to even show in the video!    I would have bet my life they'd only be using EVERY OTHER lane and skipping the ones right next to each other...    

Such a "false sense" of doing the right thing.  Just like the temperature checks are.  They don't do any good unless you've been infected for 2-3 weeks and showing symptoms.

Symptoms usually appear 2-14 days after exposure, I don't know where you are getting the 2-3 weeks from. 

[DubVLegend]

7 hours ago, King Ding Dong said:

I like to think most of it comes from out of state but sometimes I wonder.  

Yea..... unfortunately I think it’s in abundance in every state. Smh

[lifetimecoaster]

5 hours ago, Driver8rws said:

 

What the hell?  Spacing the people in lines 6ft apart doesn't do any good if there are people going the other way in the line RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!?   What a ridiculous thing to even show in the video!    I would have bet my life they'd only be using EVERY OTHER lane and skipping the ones right next to each other...    

Such a "false sense" of doing the right thing.  Just like the temperature checks are.  They don't do any good unless you've been infected for 2-3 weeks and showing symptoms.

I've learned a new phrase during this pandemic... it's "virtue signaling". Much of what's being done right now is exactly that. "Look, we care, can't you tell we care by all of these things we do? You can really tell we care!! Please notice that we care!!!" 

[PatchesC]

On the screen shot, it was grabbed when the group was still moving forward. It only shows that people will get within 6th of each other while moving through not while standing at the markings themselves.

[MDMC01]

17 hours ago, disco2000 said:

At WoF, you will be able to reserve on the website, but one of the requirements coming out of WoF is that a member of the party needs to have the app while in the park and that is how they will scan in for reservations and stuff, so I would expect that will be the same at KI, but until they roll it out, we do not know for sure.

 

Interesting... since I do not have a smartphone, I was planning on reserving online and then printing said reservation out to be scanned at the front gate (like one would a concert ticket).

And @lifetimecoaster, I agree about there being too much technology in today's world. By choice, I don't have a smartphone or any paid streaming services. However, I do have a tablet (and before that, and iPod Touch) because I know that total independence from today's app-centered technology is (nearly) impossible. This way, I can enjoy the best of both worlds.  

[Winterfestguy]

1 hour ago, PatchesC said:

On the screen shot, it was grabbed when the group was still moving forward. It only shows that people will get within 6th of each other while moving through not while standing at the markings themselves.

The video (or screenshot in time) is not a good representation of what the park is trying to achieve.   They should re-shoot and edit that portion of the video.   I know several of my friends that commented that Cedar Fair must not be all too concerned with social distancing as that video (or screenshot in time) paints a picture in one’s minds of safety precautions.  It should be just six feet all around, even if that means they need to close every other queue.

[DejaVu2001]

Closing every other queue is not a solution. A queue is a complete back and forth section. They would have to completely reconfigure the queues cutting out and re welding sections of railing.

[jimlaheyscar]

8 minutes ago, DejaVu2001 said:

Closing every other queue is not a solution. A queue is a complete back and forth section. They would have to completely reconfigure the queues cutting out and re welding sections of railing.

Or rope.  Don't most have several chain spots to shorten and lengthen the queue as needed?

 

 

[DejaVu2001]

You're not getting the point. The chains and ropes can only control how many individual back and forth sections are in use. You still walk back in the lane next to the one you walked down. Granted there are some exceptions, but most queues aren't adjustable at both ends.

[KIBeast]

21 hours ago, Kifranatic said:

I'm sitting here in disbelief that some would complain about wearing masks, doing a health screen check, receiving a temperature check and having to reserve using the app. Let me break down how much time is spent on each.

1. Health screen check assessment - 5 mins

2. Receiving a temperature check at gate - 15 seconds

3. Reserve time using app - less than a minute

How is this hard to follow or puts off some of you so much that you'd rather not go to the park? I can see the mask requirement part but it's for your own safety and for the safety of those around you. It's selfish in my opinion to not wear a mask because it's uncomfortable or inconvenient. It's also uncomfortable and inconvenient to have a ventilator in  your throat at the hospital. This pandemic hasn't just magically gone away and taking precautions is the only way to help stop the spread. Be glad the park is even opening up and taking this seriously. Frustrating to see some of you act like this pandemic isn't a big deal because it hasn't affected you or your loved ones. 

 

Let me re-iterate the original point. It's not one thing that lead to my decision not to attend. It's a combination of all the above. I have to ask you this...how close are you to Kings Island? Would you be willing to drive 3 hours, have one person in your party that registers a temperature (that may or may not be accurate) and told you are not able to come in, only to turn around and drive 3 hours back home? Or worse yet, 5 hours? (the travel time to for me to get to Carowinds) 

To assume I'm not taking it seriously or that I don't care or isn't a big deal is you just making a strawman argument. I've never stated any of the above.

As to your point #2, it will take 15 seconds to take, but you'll be waiting in line to have it checked for far longer than you are assuming. If you don't think checking everyone is going to slow down a process that already gets backed up by entering or re-entering the gate, you'll see how that turns out when you actually attend. 

Point #3, as evidenced by Six Flags' reservation system, it will likely run in to issues or just flat out crash altogether. I am not convinced nor is there evidence of any reservation issues that was due to some inferior program 6F chose to use.

I think you'll find that there will be a lot more people that travel from a long distance (especially those with kids) that will feel the same as I do. 

[PilotDude]

36 minutes ago, DejaVu2001 said:

Closing every other queue is not a solution. A queue is a complete back and forth section. They would have to completely reconfigure the queues cutting out and re welding sections of railing.

Exactly why the only solution is a virtual queue but doesn't look like Cedar Fair has chosen to not go that route.  IMHO this is a mistake as virtual queuing is the future of amusement parks, case in point Disney was using it before the COVID-19 shut down and it was receiving rave reviews.  Keep people out of cattle corrals where they can't spend money, and get them out and moving to places they can spend money, seems like common sense to me that they will pay for themselves in a short amount of time.