COVID-19 & Coasters: Coronavirus Impacts on the Amusement Industry

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
Sorry for the double post but this is an unrelated thought to my previous post:

Something that's going to be interesting for not just the amusement industry, but businesses in general, is going to be the cost of reopening their places of business. And I'm not talking about sanitizing and getting the equipment going. But as these things reopen amusement parks are going to have to compete with local restaurants for things like food, to go condiments, plates, silverware, drinks. They'll have to compete with businesses, local government, local hospitals, and apparently the federal government for PPE and items that can be used for testing (tests themselves and thermometers). I'm sure there's other things to be missed in that part of it.

I also wonder what it's going to do to insurance rates if a park opens and a second spread happens and people blame places like amusement parks being open. I know my car insurance has dropped due to the fact that I use Progressives snapshot tool and a majority of the time so far I've had it has been the pandemic. I wonder if something like that is going on right now that there's a different liability insurance rate that may or may not go up based on when they open.
 
New park reopening guidelines out of the San Diego consortium of parks:
www.micechat.com

BREAKING NEWS: San Diego Theme Parks Devise Reopening Plans

The drumbeat for theme parks to reopen is pounding louder and louder. Legoland, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo & Safari Park, and the USS Midway have coordinated with the San Diego Tourism Authority to craft procedures
www.micechat.com www.micechat.com

This set looks REALLY robust and well-thought-out to me. There is a lot in there that is similar to what Six Flags was putting together, but there are also some new things like converting narrow pathways to facilitate only one-way traffic, more detailed food service policies, and even water park rules. Definitely give them a read—especially since SEAS and Merlin were almost certainly instrumental in their development.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Brambo, Eric, mtorange and 4 others
Zachary said:
New park reopening guidelines out of the San Diego consortium of parks:
www.micechat.com

BREAKING NEWS: San Diego Theme Parks Devise Reopening Plans

The drumbeat for theme parks to reopen is pounding louder and louder. Legoland, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo & Safari Park, and the USS Midway have coordinated with the San Diego Tourism Authority to craft procedures
www.micechat.com www.micechat.com

This set looks REALLY robust and well-thought-out to me. There is a lot in there that is similar to what Six Flags was putting together, but there are also some new things like converting narrow pathways to facilitate only one-way traffic, more detailed food service policies, and even water park rules. Definitely give them a read—especially since SEAS and Merlin were almost certainly instrumental in their development.
Click to expand...
One thing places need to consider and I already see places that are making changes that do not meet building and fire codes. Stores using merchandise to block isles to change shoppers traffic patterns is the biggest one I am seeing everywhere. Parks will need to work through some of the same type issues.
 
GrandpaD said:
Aside from the countless other issues we've explored...parks are going to have issues (especially some trying to open in the near future) getting food. I'm sure you've been to the grocery lately...

www.foxnews.com

Wendy's locations face possible supply shortages as nation's meat supply chain struggles

It might be time to stock up on some Baconators.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com
Click to expand...

Not shocked about this at all. Mentioned it a day or two ago too. There’s a lot of things that parks are going to be behind on ordering which could effect opening timelines.
 
I have a feeling that the reopening timeline for KD and BGW will be a lot clearer after today! I hope this turns into good news and not bad news... more to come!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brambo and lightninlady
It appears you'll need a reservation for a Six Flags visit....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mtorange
GrandpaD said:
It appears you'll need a reservation for a Six Flags visit....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
Click to expand...


This is really smart and I hope all parks do this. good job, Six Flags!

Sort of related, I wanted to point out that Governor Northam said something along the lines different businesses having different guidelines. I got the assumption that all businesses would be able to open in SOME CAPACITY once Phase 1 begins on or around May 15th. Northam did not specify if guidelines would be posted online or if they would only be sent to individual businesses, but I’ll surely post here once I see guidelines for entertainment businesses posted somewhere.
 
Last edited:
I expect required reservations to become fairly commonplace honestly. I don’t know how parks can massively reduce capacity without a system like this—they’d be turning away tons of folks each day if it’s just a first come, first serve basis. Plus, it would create a Galaxy’s Edge-style arms race where everyone would try to get to the parks earlier and earlier to make sure they can get in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alf33, Unagi, GrandpaD and 2 others
The part about reservations that I wonder about is how its run. What if BGW for example takes 10,000 reservatins for a day then only 5000 show up and the other 5000 are no shows. The park will be losing money. Is there a limit on how many times a person can make a reservation or can you basically go in every day and make one? This brings up another question if you are limited to say one visit a week, how does the park charge you for a annual pass when there is a limited number of visits?
 
  • Like
Reactions: tursiops
I would imagine passes are ear marked for a certain number of daily admittance, daily tickets for a certain number, and multi-day for a certain number. Limited visits per week. As for the reservations, I'd be willing to bet the tickets are going to be prepaid, no refunds unless someone in the group has gotten a test or tested positive within a certain number of days lead time. Parks aren't going to allow reservations without a deposit and get screwed. Otherwise what's to stop me and 100 friends from getting 100 reservations each and basically having the park to ourselves?
 
It's probably like the airlines...they have algorithms of reservations vs no shows. And, just hazarding a guess, you'll be limited to the number of reservations (days, not people)you can make on a single day.

Not counting on the BGW IT Department, but perhaps they'll have a means to track when a member makes a multitude of reservations and fails to show. When that member tries to make further reservations, they're advised to contact guest servers by phone.

And @warfelg , you're saying that a season ticket holder has to buy a reservation? Even if they charged $10 a pop I'd be a tad p.o.-ed. I guess they could give you some sort of in-park credit but that'll be moot for folks with dining plans.
 
GrandpaD said:
And @warfelg , you're saying that a season ticket holder has to buy a reservation? Even if they charged $10 a pop I'd be a tad p.o.-ed. I guess they could give you some sort of in-park credit but that'll be moot for folks with dining plans.
Click to expand...

Or do it as a hold on your card (like when you rent a car). Just my standpoint it would be bad business practices to not guarantee the reservation leads to a sale. Especially since we don't know the conditions they are reopening under. What if Six Flags is going to still operate at a loss and they are doing this to just loose less each month (like say being open means operating at a $5mil deficit rather than a $12mil deficit)? They might want a way to protect from people reserving a bunch of spots and not showing.
 
Saying that they put a credit card hold on a reservation for a person that holds a membership or annual pass is insane. So say they do $10 for no shows, I as a membership holder makes a reservation for July 4th but since I visit often I only go late afternoon and evening. So then its....July and the afternoor storms roll in and it rains around 5pm for a couple hours and I decide I dont want to go in the rain so im stuck with a $40 charge for my family?
 
  • Eye-Roll
  • Like
Reactions: warfelg and GrandpaD
Disney has already set the precedent (fixed for @GrandpaD) for charging for missed reservations in a park setting. I am super in favor of a system like that being used for park reservations. $20 hold per reserved slot. Refunds are issued automatically when you visit. Seems fair to me.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: GrandpaD and warfelg
I don't get why an obvious refund situation is used as the example of why a hold for reservation is a bad idea. Strikes me as there's not really a rebuttal.
 
Bear in mind, they already have the majority of admission monies thru the season passes. Where they make a lot of the cash is through in-park food and merchandise...about $25. Per-capita was about $66 a visit.

As I guessed (above) they'll project 10k visitors and allow (just guessing) 12k reservations. It'll be on line- members log in; non-members make a ticket purchase. You can bet some local hotels will be allowed to hold some reservations based on guest count.

If they did charge a "hold" for the reservation, I'm sure they'll have a cutoff time to allow you to call/log in to cancel. After that time, you're SOL (or at the whim of whichever CSR you get connected)

Lol @Zachary it's Precedent. But knowing SEAS they might make a President of Reservations.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nicole and Zachary
I think allowing more reservations than guests allowed in would be a HUGE mistake. That's a potential 2,000 people who could show up and not be allowed in.

So if you follow some simple stuff there that you put out @GrandpaD :
- 10k visitors, and for simplicity let's assume all members, spend $66 per person, that's a $660,000 day for the park.
- Let's say 10k reservations, but only 6k show up, spend $66 per person, that's a $396,000 day for the park. $240,000 in losses via no-shows that they don't have a way to replace.
- Now lets take that last one and say a $10 hold per person. 10k sign up, 6k show up, spend $66 per person, that's still a $396,000 day for the park, but they also get $40,000 in no show money, meaning it's actually a $436,000 day for the park, only $200,000 in losses via no-shows. Do the $20 a hold like @Zachary mentioned, and that's cutting into it even more.

If it cost the park say $800,000 to be open that day (just making up a number here) vs say $200,000 to be closed, those no-shows with no way of replacing the guests through the door just became very expensive to the park.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad