Coronavirus Impacting Theme Parks

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

4 minutes ago, CheetahDrew said:

I thought something like this was possible given the fact that when they announced pools re opening, they said Amusement Parks and Waterparks were not included in the guidance but would have guidance in “The near future” there’s a tweet somewhere we’re Husted actually said that but I couldn’t find it. If I do I’ll post it. 

I don't think he said they would be addressed in the near future, but he did say that they are being addressed in the travel and tourism group and have not been forgotten. 

[CheetahDrew]

6 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I don't think he said they would be addressed in the near future, but he did say that they are being addressed in the travel and tourism group and have not been forgotten. 

I found the tweet that I was referring to it was actually from the Governor, he does indeed say they will be addressed in the near future, what that means though I don’t know. 

[disco2000]

No more free masks at Universal:

"Universal is requiring all guests to wear a face covering during their visit. If you don’t have a face covering, they will be available for purchase. During the proposal to the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force, Universal claimed that a free disposable mask would be given to guests who don’t have one, but that has now changed. Universal will also continue the temperature checks for each guest prior to their arrival to the theme parks and Universal CityWalk. A guest will be denied entry if they have a temperature of 100.4 degrees or greater."

https://universal.wdwinfo.com/universal-officially-reopening-june-5-hours-revealed-and-free-face-masks-retracted/

[IceePirate]

Makes sense, if you make the cost of a mask $2-3, then it'll encourage people to bring their own. Make it $5-10 and it helps recoup the costs of adjusting the park to become more covid friendly

[PatchesC]

16 minutes ago, CheetahDrew said:

I found the tweet that I was referring to it was actually from the Governor, he does indeed say they will be addressed in the near future, what that means though I don’t know. 

Near future is the equivalent of a parent saying "soon" lol. 

[disco2000]

 

26 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I don't think he said they would be addressed in the near future, but he did say that they are being addressed in the travel and tourism group and have not been forgotten. 

Still relevant as to what near future or near term or relatively soon actually means LOL

On 5/6/2020 at 12:16 PM, disco2000 said:

I cannot help but think of this when hearing near future LOL:

“Relatively soon is an interesting phrase. Relative to the entire history of earth? Sure, the vaccine is going to come real fast,” said Brad Pitt as Dr. Fauci, seated at a desk behind a stately bookcase. “But if you were going to tell a friend, ‘I’ll be over relatively soon’ and then showed up a year and a half later, well, your friend may be relatively ****ed off.”

Seen at the 40 second mark LOL...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW56CL0pk0g

 

[CheetahDrew]

15 minutes ago, PatchesC said:

Near future is the equivalent of a parent saying "soon" lol. 

Oh most definitely but at least he has to have some kind of plan in mind regardless of today’s less than hopeful news. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Another thing I could see is he doesn't know when they'll open because he doesn't know the official date they will actually open. He could give the park the green light and say they can open on a certain date. That doesn't mean they will because Cedar Fair will be the ones to choose a date for Cedar Point and Kings Island based on what the governor said. It could be weeks after the date the governor gives them. It depends on what CF does.

[King Ding Dong]

Apparently FunSpot in Orlando opened yesterday and one report said they were running every other row on the coasters. After one cycle they would use the other rows and then wipe the train down after that cycle.  As you can imagine it is a big hit to capacity but better than needling to sanitize after every cycle. 

[disco2000]

3 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

Apparently FunSpot in Orlando opened yesterday and one report said they were running every other row on the coasters. After one cycle they would use the other rows and then wipe the train down after that cycle.  As you can imagine it is a big hit to capacity but better than needling to sanitize after every cycle. 

Imagine a ride like Drop Tower where a lot of the time the guests don't go to the correct assigned seat to begin with LOL.

Would they do an even/odd seat cycle and then wipe down.  What about family members - they couldn't sit by each other in an even/odd seat pattern.  It will be interesting to see their plan for the flats.

[PatchesC]

34 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

Imagine a ride like Drop Tower where a lot of the time the guests don't go to the correct assigned seat to begin with LOL.

Would they do an even/odd seat cycle and then wipe down.  What about family members - they couldn't sit by each other in an even/odd seat pattern.  It will be interesting to see their plan for the flats.

Good news is my assigned seat at Drop Tower is right here 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

7 minutes ago, PatchesC said:

Good news is my assigned seat at Drop Tower is right here 

And I'll be over at Son of Beast and Flight Deck lol

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

**DOUBLE POST**

Apparently someone made a petition to try and get Cedar Point and Kings Island the green light to open. I signed it. However, I don't disagree with all of what DeWine has done for the safety of Ohioans. 

http://chng.it/KsVGSD5jLD

[Snowball]

15 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

**DOUBLE POST**

Apparently someone made a petition to try and get Cedar Point and Kings Island the green light to open. I signed it. However, I don't disagree with all of what DeWine has done for the safety of Ohioans. 

http://chng.it/KsVGSD5jLD

Not to be a negative nancy, but online petitions are pretty much pointless and rarely accomplish anything.

[King Ding Dong]

You are right @Snowball, but that one is very entertaining.  
 

Quote

I can assure you that the park will stay on top of making sure their guests and employees are actively following the safety measures in place and will take action should someone not follow the rules.

Hahahahaha haha haha.  Thanks for the laugh Caleb.

[PatchesC]

Eh least I can feel like I'm doing something. 

[Snowball]

From the petition comments: 

Quote

I want Kings Island and Cedar Point to get the green light to open this week and without restrictions!

Uhhm, as much as I want to go back to the park, this is going to be a resounding "Hell no!" from me. This week AND no restrictions? That's recipe for disaster.

[gforce1994]

36 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

**DOUBLE POST**

Apparently someone made a petition to try and get Cedar Point and Kings Island the green light to open. I signed it. However, I don't disagree with all of what DeWine has done for the safety of Ohioans. 

http://chng.it/KsVGSD5jLD

That guy has been creating petitions for every single park, since he was trying to “ get the park open for you guys so you actually have something to do this summer”(his words, not mine). I don’t think he’s quite got a grasp of the scale of the catastrophe.

[Driver8rws]

Once Dewine gives a DATE that "mass gatherings" can happen, THEN C.F. would have to submit their plan, get it approved, execute it and train people. 

Apparently The Ohio State Fair didn't think this was possible for August, BUT they may have also decided it wouldn't be worth the effort for a one week event.  Maybe C.F. WILL think it is worth it??  I feel that July 1 is VERY wishful thinking...   I organize an Oktoberfest in Springboro, OH (5 to 7 thousand people) that's always the weekend after Labor Day weekend, and we are very confused/torn on what to do for this year.  Our "drop dead cancellation date" is July 1.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

14 minutes ago, Driver8rws said:

Once Dewine gives a DATE that "mass gatherings" can happen, THEN C.F. would have to submit their plan, get it approved, execute it and train people. 

Apparently The Ohio State Fair didn't think this was possible for August, BUT they may have also decided it wouldn't be worth the effort for a one week event.  Maybe C.F. WILL think it is worth it??  I feel that July 1 is VERY wishful thinking...   I organize an Oktoberfest in Springboro, OH (5 to 7 thousand people) and we are very confused/torn on what to do for this year.  Our "drop dead cancellation date" is July 1.

I have a feeling that all types of mass gatherings of people are not going to all get the green light at the same time. It'll depend on the circumstance. Like I've stated in the past, Kings Island and Cedar Point is not an event. They are a large attraction that people come visit that also help bring in lots of money to the area. DeWine referenced them as a gathering of people because of how a lot of people visit the park. I can guarantee you that the large selling of the CP gold passes that caused the huge mess that weekend in October at Cedar Point makes him a little hesitant to open the parks. Events like fairs and festivals are in their own category. I'm still sticking to my original statement that amusement parks and tourist attractions like zoos and museums will open before large events like festivals can start up again. 

[bjcolglazier]

Wish DeWine would say what he is waiting for exactly. Indiana and Ohio have almost identical numbers of positive cases, and Ohio is almost 2x the population of Indiana. So one could say Indiana is in worse shape, but...Holcomb is letting Holiday World and Indiana Beach open up in June. Unless he changes his mind, but I kinda doubt it. It just all seems willy-nilly unless they let us know what they're really looking for.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

It could've been worse though. The Illinois governor when asked about SF Great America a while back went on and said large places like that won't open until stage 5 which is when a vaccine or effective treatment is in place. If I were SF Great America, I would've announced the cancellation of the season by now tbh. 

[LuckyluvsKI]

13 hours ago, bjcolglazier said:

Wish DeWine would say what he is waiting for exactly. Indiana and Ohio have almost identical numbers of positive cases, and Ohio is almost 2x the population of Indiana. So one could say Indiana is in worse shape, but...Holcomb is letting Holiday World and Indiana Beach open up in June. Unless he changes his mind, but I kinda doubt it. It just all seems willy-nilly unless they let us know what they're really looking for.

I guess the states surrounding each other abandoned the work together plan. I thought originally they were going to phase open in similar fashions otherwise your asking for extra travel. Example Indiana opening holiday world etc but Ohio keeping cp and ki closed unintentionally entice people to go where things are open. Because people are going to do what they're going to do.  If cp and ki opened similar time might encourage people to stay more local.  
It seems every state is on their own, Kentucky is still pretty locked down while Ohio is on phase 2 heading towards 3, TN is pretty much open no capacity restrictions; left up to each business to decide what beyond the guidelines to enforce etc, except Dollywood, Indiana seems to be at 3 with holiday world etc ready to open next week in June.  
 

The thing is there will always be new viruses; the flu strains mutate so much that there's still a heavy flu load even with vaccines. Every time a new strain evolves it's going to do what nature does and it will affect the weaker parties worse than the healthy. Nobody wants grandma or sister who has asthma to go so I'd hope they take the right precautions for them. The scary part is that it's likely to have hit us earlier than what was originally said because testing really didn't start till it became an obvious issue and still late to the game. They have traced cases here back to December and beyond before we even knew what we were looking at. And until testing is readily avail and free week never know for sure. I'd love piece of mind but I don't have 65$ to spare to see if I might have antibodies already. Maybe once in back at work but not atm. 

it'll be interesting to see how universal goes. disney will take longer because they are way bigger in size and scale of operations so it's no surprise to see universal and probably sea world and bush gardens open before disney does. But they will and it'll be their rules until things calm down or better treatments come out. 
 

hint for masks on hot days: material is everything- light tight cotton or a tight spandex will be cooler than flannel woven Or multiple layers etc. Personal experience I have pretty strong sneezes and sputum and I tried my various cloth masks including a single layer light cotton Lycra mix and it really did keep it in. Paper towels stayed dry right in front of my face only the mask in between.  Thanks to allergies I could test lol So there is options if hesitant about the heat etc.  

[disco2000]

If this proposal happens, the NBA players could end every interview with "I'm going to Disney World"

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/could-disney-world-really-solve-100048147.html

I wonder if that means every game will need to be on ESPN or ABC

[PatchesC]

2 hours ago, LuckyluvsKI said:

I guess the states surrounding each other abandoned the work together plan. I thought originally they were going to phase open in similar fashions otherwise your asking for extra travel. Example Indiana opening holiday world etc but Ohio keeping cp and ki closed unintentionally entice people to go where things are open. Because people are going to do what they're going to do.  If cp and ki opened similar time might encourage people to stay more local.  
It seems every state is on their own, Kentucky is still pretty locked down while Ohio is on phase 2 heading towards 3, TN is pretty much open no capacity restrictions; left up to each business to decide what beyond the guidelines to enforce etc, except Dollywood, Indiana seems to be at 3 with holiday world etc ready to open next week in June. 

I've been questioning how much the states are working together as well. I hadn't heard of anymore CP properties canceling hotel reservations past June 15th, and can still book from then out on the site. Definitely not a confirmation of date but if dates past that start to cancel as well, we may be further into summer. Also with Great Wolf Lodge at June 14th, Kalahari June 5th. You figure at least the governor should have to announce something about the status this week with Kalahari opening being so close.

Holiday World is set for June 14th -16th for passholders, and public the 17th. 

[disco2000]

I think those dates in Ohio are more place holders in anticipation of being allowed to open.  Remember Disney kept doing the same thing too. 

Having those dates out there is simply a free way for a park to gauge interest in people returning as well.  It is one thing for someone to say they would return on a survey, it is totally different to actually make a reservation and a hotel being full of reservations is a good indicator to a Disney that people will come.

Would people actually go to a Great Wolf or Kalahari if their waterparks cannot be open?  Same with a CP property if Cedar Point isn't open?

As it stands right now, the Ohio Governor's Opening Order only pertains to pools regulated by local health departments, such as public pools or health clubs.  It does not apply to waterparks and amusement parks. 

I guess Kalahari believes they are not a waterpark 

I guess we will find out if the Governor does not allow water parks to open by June 5th what it would be considered.

Kalahari may want to change their webpage as they consider themselves a waterpark...

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I have a feeling Kalahari is waiting to see if the governor allows waterparks to open by then. I think they may extend it at the last minute.

[PatchesC]

2 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I have a feeling Kalahari is waiting to see if the governor allows waterparks to open by then. I think they may extend it at the last minute.

That's what I'm keeping my eyes on because it's the closest date out of everything. At the same time I wonder if gov is waiting last minute to announce openings just so less people have time to plan for a visit. Hard telling anymore 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I have a feeling that DeWine also saw the mess that happened at CP back in October where they hit capacity and with the huge concern with the large number of gold passes sold. So that might play into why DeWine is very hesitant to open Cedar Point or even announce a time CP can open while the rest of the state is opening pretty much. I know by the end of the week 95% of the state will be open. The other 5% has to come from travel/tourism and large events. 

[bengalsguy23]

^if that’s the concern then you would still allow it but reduce the % capacity allowed. Imo.