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

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rswashdc said:
Most the parks don't have enough cash on hand to do this for long. Without revenue, the parks will become insolvent at some point and tax breaks don't help on that side of the cash flow. If this is a 3-6 month issue, solvency becomes a real issue.

Looking at the limited reopening of Shanghai Disney isn't promising for what is even feasible for a park to do in this pandemic. That limited opening can't be bringing much revenue in and isn't sustainable.
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You are exactly right. And the reality is, the amusement industry is pretty much considered a luxury item in the scheme of life. If we see a breakdown of large scale proportions, no one is going to be thinking about how to save SEAS or SIX. We might be wondering how to save Safeway and Food Lion.
 
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UncleDuncan said:
You are exactly right. And the reality is, the amusement industry is pretty much considered a luxury item in the scheme of life. If we see a breakdown of large scale proportions, no one is going to be thinking about how to save SEAS or SIX. We might be wondering how to save Safeway and Food Lion.
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Very true. So if no one will think about how to save them, they need to think about how to save themselves.

I work in an industry that’s gone through it twice and has been successful. The 2008 crash, 2013Tiger crash. Golf started investing more in short courses, 9, 12, 18 hole courses. Top Golf came out. Foot Golf became a thing. FlingGolf became a thing. Golf literally saved itself by making the sport more affordable and take less time. But it only happened because “competitors” came together and said “how are we going to help each other stay afloat”.
 
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Doing a quick look at SEAS financials, they have $40M cash on hand and another $50M in receivables, which aren't a guaranteed thing right now. Their SGA alone is over $20M a month and interest payments are another $7M, which means they can go maybe 3 months max without major layoffs and cutbacks.

A one month closure is almost certain in the current conditions. Longer than that, financial viability gets dicey.
 
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rswashdc said:
Doing a quick look at SEAS financials, they have $40M cash on hand and another $50M in receivables, which aren't a guaranteed thing right now. Their SGA alone is over $20M a month and interest payments are another $7M, which means they can go maybe 3 months max without major layoffs and cutbacks.

A one month closure is almost certain in the current conditions. Longer than that, financial viability gets dicey.
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Sure, but that's assuming none of the government assistance programs pass which SEAS will certainly be eligible for and will take advantage of.
 
GrandpaD said:
The Spring influx of thousands of school kids is "Spectrum" and "Musicale" band competitions. It's organizer is in Richmond. There are a lot of buses bringing school kids in each weekend. The latter had 15 dates! That's a lot of lost revenue. What @BGWnut says may be true regarding refunds in a normal situation, but because of the pandemic, they might work out something for this firm they've worked with for a good many years.
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While I can't say for sure, those tickets are open ended and good through the end of HOS because those groups organize trips all year. At the end of the season the park might buy back some of their tickets if they didn't sell them but my guess would be that the groups will just use them up in the fall for groups instead of purchasing more tickets. So you it would effect Q3 ticket sales but but Q3 attendance
 
While any announcement may generate out of BGW (although their local marketing department is highly suspect) I expect any decision to originate from SEAS corporate. I'm sure they're waiting to see what Disney/Universal will do.

I think there's two factors they might consider - (1) What they anticipate and currently see (for the parks now open) attendance levels and (2) if they'll have sufficient staffing to safely and efficiently run the entire operation. The public isn't going to accept paying a high admission price only to find much within the park closed or limited.

And, yes, investors are a factor. They want to see their investment takes proactive steps to insure loses are minimized as much as possible. As I type, most Amusement industry stocks are tanking - SEAS down 20%, Disney -11%, Six Flags -19%, Comcast -4%.
 
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Lolers said:
Having just spent the last 10 minutes sifting through Facebook-and-Twitter-level political trolling in the Coronavirus threads (wasn't there just a long discussion about how trolling is unacceptable?) hoping to find a discussion on what I believed was purpose of this forum (the amusement industry, not opinions on the healthcare industry), it doesn't look like BGW has made any statements about the impact of the virus on opening weekend at this point. Has anyone heard anything about precautions they're taking, and whether they'll even be open this weekend?
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BGW is increasing signage throughout the park encouraging handwashing. Similar to SWO and BGT they are going to wiping everything down more regularly and enforce stricter cleanliness standards. Also they are increasing the amount of hand sanitizer locations throughout the park.
 
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mtorange said:
Wasn’t sure which COVID-19 thread to put this in, but anyway...

Public school systems are beginning to announce staff workdays to prepare students with online materials for long-term closures.

RVA’s Mayor has also suggested that any events that gather large crowds be cancelled or postponed, which has resulted in Shamrock the Block and the Monument Avenue 10K being postponed.

I’m sure there’s more to come.
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Purposely quoted my post from the generic thread.

These preparations and postponements make it even more likely that parks will be affected by this virus. As another forum member said, it’s now a matter of when this will take effect. I’m even starting to wonder how long this will take effect.

To add on to the revenue conversation: Now we don’t know how long this will last and what long-term effects will be, but I’m grateful that it’s happening now versus later on in the busier parts of the season (Peak of summer, Halloween, Christmas). Revenue will be lost, but I’m sure the impact would be worse if this virus was one that could survive very hot climates.
 
UncleDuncan said:
1. Just because most won't die doesn't make it somehow not a devastating event. Imagine everyone sick as shit at the same time. Kids. Husbands. Wives. The elderly. All simultaneously experiencing a disastrous flu. And not just kind of sick. Runaway fevers. Nonstop body aches. Coughing and wheezing for days on end. That's what we're dealing with. Not the run of the mill, kinda scratchy throat shit.
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I wanted to come back to this point because it is overly alarmist.

The statistics so far show 80% of people go contract COVID-19 will experience mild to no symptoms.

So, making a statement that everyone will be super sick at the same time is wrong and could invite panic.
 
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BGWnut said:
BGW is increasing signage throughout the park encouraging handwashing. Similar to SWO and BGT they are going to wiping everything down more regularly and enforce stricter cleanliness standards. Also they are increasing the amount of hand sanitizer locations throughout the park.
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Unless people are separated by at least 6 feet each, the risk of the virus passing through coughing, sneezing, talking/breathing are looking to be higher than through touching surfaces. I'm not sure how you can physically separate people at the park, short of greatly limiting capacity, which then brings the question of actual cost viability in even opening the park.
 
mtorange said:
To add on to the revenue conversation: Now we don’t know how long this will last and what long-term effects will be, but I’m grateful that it’s happening now versus later on in the busier parts of the season (Peak of summer, Halloween, Christmas). Revenue will be lost, but I’m sure the impact would be worse if this virus was one that could survive very hot climates.
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Is there data that says that it can’t survive in very hot climates? I didn’t think we knew enough about COVID-19 to make confident assessments about it yet.
 
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Honestly shutting down the park seems like the best option. Avoid any lawsuits from people saying the staff didn't clean surfaces correctly etc.
Avoid a financial hit that could start spilling into the summer and even HOS depending on how long this lasts.
I know they are not the same thing but if the NBA is shutting down their season indefinitely, it seems like a logical thing to do.
 
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SeaWorld dropping prices for locals..

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And Disney goes a bit more proactive...

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And this new California law could effect shows, etc. within the parks...

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Nicole said:
Is there data that says that it can’t survive in very hot climates? I didn’t think we knew enough about COVID-19 to make confident assessments about it yet.
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I probably should have worded that better. It’s true that we don’t know much about the virus (that’s an ongoing problem with this whole crisis in general), but similar viruses don’t tend to spread in higher climates from what I understand. Again, unsure, but hoping things get better before the summer.

I’m sure those who know more about the medical field and such could provide a better insight on what’s going on. I’ll admit that my knowledge of the subject is limited.
 
It can survive on surfaces for up to 3 days at 37 degrees Celsius or 98 degrees Fahrenheit (longer at colder temperatures). Plus remain airborne for up to 30 minutes. Studies were released last week in Practical Preventive Medicine. Most epidemiologists are saying minimal seasonal variations.
 
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