Coasters and Craft Brews 2020

[BGWnut]

At some point there is a significant likelihood that it will not be his call. I heard a very detailed legal analysts that said that by their very nature emergency orders are to be temporarily. There seems to be some legal grey area as to how long you can keep an emergency order in place but according to this very good lawyer there could be a very good chance that with us hitting the six month mark that the courts would say that he has to go through the legislature to keep them.

You would be correct as far as my understanding and discussions I've had with some attorneys that I work with. The bigger question though is will someone want to bring the lawsuit? That's one that I don't know about. I am sure that we would see the state legislature codify some of these regulations as they should as @Memles said. It would be interesting if they did make any changes. It's possible in that scenario that SEAS and Cedar Fair could lobby enough that they could be allowed 5000 people in their parks that would allow them to operate more.

 

[Memles]

You would be correct as far as my understanding and discussions I've had with some attorneys that I work with. The bigger question though is will someone want to bring the lawsuit? That's one that I don't know about. I am sure that we would see the state legislature codify some of these regulations as they should as @Memles said. It would be interesting if they did make any changes. It's possible in that scenario that SEAS and Cedar Fair could lobby enough that they could be allowed 5000 people in their parks that would allow them to operate more.

I mean, given that Cedar Fair corporate gave up on the season today, my sense is that either they don't see it as a likely scenario in terms of being able to secure additional capacity this calendar year, or they don't like the optics of ASKING for additional capacity this year. (Also, as far as I could tell from my searching, SEAS does have an active lobbyist in Richmond but Cedar Fair does not).

I think some of this comes down to Christmas Town, to be honest: whereas Winterfest is a newer event without as much brand recognition, Christmas Town is more established, and I think BGW/SEAS would very much like to be able to run some version of it. And so it's possible they see a greater upside to playing nice for an event or two, and then using that as leverage to get the legislature to move to a higher number come November/December.

 

[BGWnut]

I mean, given that Cedar Fair corporate gave up on the season today, my sense is that either they don't see it as a likely scenario in terms of being able to secure additional capacity this calendar year, or they don't like the optics of ASKING for additional capacity this year. (Also, as far as I could tell from my searching, SEAS does have an active lobbyist in Richmond but Cedar Fair does not).

I think some of this comes down to Christmas Town, to be honest: whereas Winterfest is a newer event without as much brand recognition, Christmas Town is more established, and I think BGW/SEAS would very much like to be able to run some version of it. And so it's possible they see a greater upside to playing nice for an event or two, and then using that as leverage to get the legislature to move to a higher number come November/December.

Yes I posted before I read about KD not opening period this year. However that doesn't mean that they won't want to attempt to have limits made higher because we don't know what things will look like next march. We could still be under a fair number of restrictions

 

[bill s]

Christmas Town also started out as a very small event while Winterfest did not.

 

[Buschfan777]

I’m excited to see how Busch gardens goes tonight, I won’t be there so those who go post updates on how things are going over there!

 

[Zachary]

As always, expect coverage on these social media pages in descending order of detail: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

 

[rswashdc]

I mean, given that Cedar Fair corporate gave up on the season today, my sense is that either they don't see it as a likely scenario in terms of being able to secure additional capacity this calendar year, or they don't like the optics of ASKING for additional capacity this year. (Also, as far as I could tell from my searching, SEAS does have an active lobbyist in Richmond but Cedar Fair does not).

I think some of this comes down to Christmas Town, to be honest: whereas Winterfest is a newer event without as much brand recognition, Christmas Town is more established, and I think BGW/SEAS would very much like to be able to run some version of it. And so it's possible they see a greater upside to playing nice for an event or two, and then using that as leverage to get the legislature to move to a higher number come November/December.

It's possible that CF realizes there is little possibility BGW can do something at this point which could materially hurt KD - e.g. launching Pantheon to hurt KD's ticket sales. Haunt and Winterfest both cost money to put on and with limited daily ticket sales, they would end up being little more than loss leaders. At this point its easier to let BGW take all the risk and just follow their coattails.

 

[BGWnut]

To those that are attending, please don't be afraid to spend some money on food and merchandise. From everything I've heard this is just as much a test by the park to prove that these events can be feasible as it is to the state that they can be open and enforce guidelines to allow more attendance.

I've been told from multiple people that the biggest thing this weekend is that they need to see if their revenue projection models are accurate for these smaller scale events. If they prove accurate then they will be looking to add dates to this and doing some other things.

I'm not saying to go spend hundreds of dollars while there, but maybe don't plan on getting food before you get there and eat at the smokehouse and get some drinks and snacks from the snack stands. And look at some merch.

 

[musicman3204]

Interesting question. All indications point to this being sold out from a member, legacy pass holder, fun card holder, and single event ticket holder? But, a friend just sent me this. When he added tickets to the cart for 8/8/2020, two reservations for the same day auto-loaded. Could they be blocking previously purchased tickets from reserving and only allowing people who buy tickets expressly for the event to reserve??

 

[wombat96]

My biggest fear with this event is pass holders could be booked multiple days in a row and are solely going for rides and just to walk around. I love walking around the park and soaking up the atmosphere as much as the next guy, but if this is the majority of the crowd, the park will close again. I’m hoping they can pull a profit on this so we can see a continuation of this format throughout the year.

Anyways, it’s been a long 213 days of off-season, go have a good time everyone. We’re lucky that we’re even having a form of a season this year, just make sure to wear your mask, and maybe splurge on the trappers smokehouse special so we can pay off these linens and open Pantheon. It’s going to be very different and it’s not going to be the BGW we’re used to, but still very excited to return to the park nonetheless.

Also, can we make a rule if anyone from the site is seen with a mask, but has their nose sticking out, that it’s permaban worthy?

 

[warfelg]

My biggest fear with this event is pass holders could be booked multiple days in a row and are solely going for rides and just to walk around. I love walking around the park and soaking up the atmosphere as much as the next guy, but if this is the majority of the crowd, the park will close again. I’m hoping they can pull a profit on this so we can see a continuation of this format throughout the year.

Thats my fear too, and evidently BGWs as well if they capped the daily attendance for pass/member holders. I think what would hurt the plans more is pass/member holders booking and no showing. Especially if they are doing a few days in a row to hedge bets on bad weather.

 

[Rothbury]

I can tell you for sure there are members who have reserved every one of the 12 event times that were available. It seemed that if you got home from work on the day reservations opened up they were already sold out. Have had several friends and neighbors tell me since they only live 15 minutes away they have tickets for every time and will go IF the weather is good.
I can't go for health reasons but I hope the best for them and hope it works out for BGW. I can't help but think the state will have health "observers" there watching to see what happens. Too many slip ups and they'll shut it down.

 

[WDWRLD]

I will say I have quite a few reservations....not every day but close but I also plan on being there every reservation I have. Right now I plan on eating every trip but with that said if the food options are lacking that could change but I hope not.

 

[lilleape]

To those that are attending, please don't be afraid to spend some money on food and merchandise. From everything I've heard this is just as much a test by the park to prove that these events can be feasible as it is to the state that they can be open and enforce guidelines to allow more attendance.

I've been told from multiple people that the biggest thing this weekend is that they need to see if their revenue projection models are accurate for these smaller scale events. If they prove accurate then they will be looking to add dates to this and doing some other things.

I'm not saying to go spend hundreds of dollars while there, but maybe don't plan on getting food before you get there and eat at the smokehouse and get some drinks and snacks from the snack stands. And look at some merch.

I'm going tonight with two of my kids. We will definitely be eating dinner at Trappers, I will probably buy a pretzel at Grogan's for my son even though it's not one of the Germany pretzels, and hopefully they will be doing funnel cakes. Will also let them pick out something in the Ireland toy shop.

 

[Buschfan777]

To those that are attending, please don't be afraid to spend some money on food and merchandise. From everything I've heard this is just as much a test by the park to prove that these events can be feasible as it is to the state that they can be open and enforce guidelines to allow more attendance.

I've been told from multiple people that the biggest thing this weekend is that they need to see if their revenue projection models are accurate for these smaller scale events. If they prove accurate then they will be looking to add dates to this and doing some other things.

I'm not saying to go spend hundreds of dollars while there, but maybe don't plan on getting food before you get there and eat at the smokehouse and get some drinks and snacks from the snack stands. And look at some merch.

When I go on Friday I’m going both time slots so I’m planning on eating at Grogans pub for lunch and then trappers for dinner I also plan on buying some stuff at the gift shop especially if they have a cool Busch Gardens mask and definitely if they have pins

 

[Zachary]

Have had several friends and neighbors tell me since they only live 15 minutes away they have tickets for every time and will go IF the weather is good.

This is ENRAGING.

The fact that BGW didn’t cap the number of days OR implement a penalty for noshows facilities this behavior and it NEEDS to be stopped ASAP.

I took 3 reservations total and already started to feel guilty about having that many—despite knowing that, baring hell or high water, I’d be there spending money. The fact that anyone—let alone multiple people—have blocked out the whole event for themselves “just in case” is sickening and it will be partially their fault if we don’t get to go back to BGW after this initial event run.

 

[lilleape]

This is ENRAGING.

The fact that BGW didn’t cap the number of days OR implement a penalty for noshows facilities this behavior and it NEEDS to be stopped ASAP.

I took 3 reservations total and already started to feel guilty about having that many—despite knowing that, baring hell or high water, I’d be there spending money. The fact that anyone—let alone multiple people—have blocked out the whole event for themselves “just in case” is sickening and it will be partially their fault if we don’t get to go back to BGW after this initial event run.

Agreed. My local private pool has a reservation system now. It's capped at 100 ppl per time slot. You can only sign up for one time slot per day and if you don't show up, there's a monetary penalty applied to your account. If a dinky local pool can figure that out, BG should be able to as well.

 

[I64 Trekker]

I will say I have quite a few reservations....not every day but close but I also plan on being there every reservation I have. Right now I plan on eating every trip but with that said if the food options are lacking that could change but I hope not.

I am booked two days, as we normally go for a day 2-3 weekends each month. As for food and drink, I am certainly aware of the business model for this event and plan to spend more than I usually do at the park. The only caveat is if lines for food and drink are long, as Trappers can have long lines even on slow days.

 

[Diamond Dave]

Agreed. My local private pool has a reservation system now. It's capped at 100 ppl per time slot. You can only sign up for one time slot per day and if you don't show up, there's a monetary penalty applied to your account. If a dinky local pool can figure that out, BG should be able to as well.

IMO, if you don't attend a day you reserved for this event, subsequent reservations should be canceled (at least for this event).

 

[Memles]

Don't disagree that they needed to cap reservations. I admittedly do have several, but plan on either using all of them or releasing some in time for them to be open to members.

And as for spending, I went into the BGW Facebook Fan Group trenches to try to emphasize some best practices to ensure that the event is either extended/repeated. Not sure it will make a huge difference, of course, but I woke up early and realized that between safety and feasibility, more messaging is better messaging.