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

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belsaas said:
I'm tired, I'm bitchy and there's really just one thing to say here.

There is zero safe way to reopen a theme park right now—anywhere. Data currently indicates that any increased amount of travel and interaction between people is going to increase cases of COVID-19. I'm sorry that people want their theme parks back, but it will kill people. No matter what rules and regulations you try to put in place, people will die.

A roller coaster and some fried food isn't worth that. Life will not be back to normal—or safe—until people are vaccinated.
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Just curious, have you been advocating closing the restaurants, bars, beaches, and other entertainment venues again too?
 
Joe said:
Just curious, have you been advocating closing the restaurants, bars, beaches, and other entertainment venues again too?
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Yes. Absolutely.

People prioritizing "returning to normal" in the midst of a pandemic are rationalizing their own comfort over others safety, and honestly I find it horrifically depressing.

I have now lost people in my life whom should not be dead—period. And it's not because they didn't follow procedure during isolation, it's because of others who decided they were better than quarantine. And I'm fucking furious.
 
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I think that reaction to the pandemic is a perfect mirror for what our society has become in the last 12 years or so. That's when I see politics become very tribal. That's the time I've seen everything put into a political context. More so in America than any other country, social media has seemed to turn us into a "what about me" instead of a "what about we" country.

So as we look at this, we've seen a lot of that counter be "well what about my rights" or "I don't see it as bad because I haven't gotten it" or "you're only doing it because you're liberal". Look at so many other countries where they understand that being safe means the country as a whole will be better off. I just don't understand why we are literally the only country where the current positive rate is the same as it was 2 fucking months ago.

We didn't flatten the curve, we prolonged the economic, social, physical, and mental impacts of a pandemic.

Congratulations America, we fucked up being fat and lazy.
 
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@warfelg , agreed. A big part of our problem as a country is that we lack a unified sense of collective well being where everyone is willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to defeat the virus or at least bring the levels down a very low level. This is a big difference between us and a lot of other countries that have greatly reduced their infection rate. Our "don't tread on me" philosophy where even in a situation like we're in now people believe their freedoms are being trampled on or mistakenly believe that they are being taken away is one of the biggest factors in why we can't collectively come together to defeat this virus. Too many want to still do what they want, when they want and don't care about who it affects and don't care what the restrictions are (masks, social distancing) that are meant to protect everyone and will disregard them. If you look at our national curve it's now going back up. We're going down a path where things are going to keep getting worse but yet no one will be willing to undertake another shut down and we're just going to have to hope for the best, watch the deaths keep on mounting (thank goodness treatments are getting way better) and wait for a vaccine to rescue us from ourselves. And even that will probably be fought over by those that think the vaccine is fake or harmful and won't get it.
 
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What's sad to me is that it took a series of literal terrorist attacks to unify the nation to a level I've never personally seen before or after, and in only 19 years the pendulum has swung so far the other direction.

Fuck man, I hate not going on rides in either park too but I'd much rather not go (no matter how much I want to) than either get sick or be the cause of someone else getting sick from what's turned out to be a deadly virus we still seem to not yet fully understand nor have a complete grasp on how to eradicate.

No matter who wins the election in November, good chance that funding a full response (research and approval of a vaccine, large-scale production, and distribution to vaccinate all citizens at no cost) and the time it takes to ramp up that response will take a lot longer if it happens at all.

So to me, keeping myself and others safe is far more important than riding rides.
 
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Jonesta6 said:
What's sad to me is that it took a series of literal terrorist attacks to unify the nation to a level I've never personally seen before or after, and in only 19 years the pendulum has swung so far the other direction.
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Even that only unified those of us who don't appear to be Middle Eastern and/or Muslim. It became significantly worse for them. Still is.
 
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Meanwhile in Indiana...

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Everytime this shit happens, park reopenings become less and less likely. What sane governor would just volunteer their state for this right now?
 
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Dorney Park will open to season pass-holders on July 8th and to the general public on July 11th. They are also offering a July 4th drive-in firework show!

There is currently no word on when the Wildwater Kingdom water park will reopen.

Amusement Park near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Dorney Park

Get two great parks for the price of one at Dorney Park! There's so much to do that you'll see why it's one of the best amusement parks in PA. Visit today!
www.dorneypark.com www.dorneypark.com
 
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If I did go to a park, I'd go for only a few hours and entirely avoid anything indoors. I'd also avoid food and drinks so I wouldn't need to use the restroom (public restrooms are the scariest place to go). I'd of course keep a mask on and social distance. The only option for me would then be SFA as that's pretty close to me. I could drive there, stay for a few hours, drive back and not have to use a public restroom. Having said all that, I'm not chancing it until I hear that people are complying and the park is doing a good job of enforcing compliance for people that don't give a shit.
 
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I'm considering that the 1000 person limit is staged for the benefit of KD and BGW. The only thing worse than not opening would be opening and then having to close again. Seaworld has their hands full in Florida.
 
bill s said:
I'm considering that the 1000 person limit is staged for the benefit of KD and BGW. The only thing worse than not opening would be opening and then having to close again. Seaworld has their hands full in Florida.
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It sounds like (I really wish I had an article to link but I heard it in passing on CNN) in Dallas amusement parks (According to the deputy mayor) is part of the issue of spread to almost the levels of bar activity.
 
warfelg said:
It sounds like (I really wish I had an article to link but I heard it in passing on CNN) in Dallas amusement parks (According to the deputy mayor) is part of the issue of spread to almost the levels of bar activity.
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I'd wonder if this is Six Flags or smaller parks that aren't putting stronger mitigation protocols in place.
 
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