If anyone is wondering, Owen Matthews is Kings Dominion's Director of Finance.
COVID-19 & Coasters: Coronavirus Impacts on the Amusement Industry
- Thread starter GrandpaD
- Start date
Wanted to issue a quick correction to my initial post. According to the article listed below, the task force will also figure out the details of Phase One in addition to figuring out Phases Two and Three. I initially said that they would only discusses Phases 2 and 3. My apologies!
www.richmond.com
UPDATE: Virginia COVID-19 cases increase by 989, deaths up by 23
The Virginia Department of Health reported Monday that the state has 25,070 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 989 over the 24,081 reported Sunday .
Why Walt Disney World might have a tougher recovery than Disneyland. (The theories might apply to all Orlando parks)
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Why Disney World May Face Tougher Recovery Than Disneyland
Walt Disney World will have a much more difficult time bouncing back once the major theme parks are allowed to reopen post-coronavirus pandemic, contends one analyst.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
Cedar Fair will be announcing their first quarter earnings and an update on their business outlook on May 6th at 10am ET.
apnews.com
Cedar Fair Sets Date to Announce 2020 First Quarter Results
SANDUSKY, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 22, 2020-- Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, said today it will issue its 2020 first quarter financial results in the pre-market hours of Wednesday, May 6, 2020.
apnews.com
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Rumor - Disney to "soft open/beta test" a single park?
Theme Park Insider
Get updates and vacation planning tips for Disney, Universal and other theme parks around the world. Theme Park Insider is an award-winning theme park news website.
www.themeparkinsider.com
I have some SERIOUS questions about DHS being the best solution for a first-to-open WDW park. DHS is a relatively small and VERY tightly packed park—social distancing on paths won’t be easy. There is also a ton of out-of-market demand for DHS right now because of Galaxy’s Edge—people will legitimately book trips just to experience Galaxy’s Edge in a non-flooded condition. Due to the park’s poor food selection, socially distanced dining will be very difficult as well. Pair that with relatively difficult-to-clean attractions like Smuggler’s Run, and DHS strikes me as a really bad choice.
In my opinion, Animal Kingdom is, far and away, the best “beta test” park. All of the major attractions are easy to clean, the park is expansive, and many of the dining areas are spread out in outdoor areas. Additionally, Animal Kingdom almost certainly has the highest non-flexible operating costs on property because of the animals. Since Disney is already having to pay to “run” some of the park’s primarily attractions (read: the animals), it seems to me that DAK would likely be the cheapest to spin up.
I also think Magic Kingdom is a far superior option for a “test case park” than DHS. Again, the park is huge, dining areas are plentiful, and most attractions are fairly easy to clean (omnimovers being the obvious exception). Additionally, MK is the one park that HAS to be open as Disney marches towards a full reopening. Slowly spinning it up from the start to have it running optimally as other parks eventually comes online seems sane to me. Transport to and from MK is the obvious issue, but maybe Disney could just run socially distanced trams all the way from parking to the bus loop?
In my opinion, Animal Kingdom is, far and away, the best “beta test” park. All of the major attractions are easy to clean, the park is expansive, and many of the dining areas are spread out in outdoor areas. Additionally, Animal Kingdom almost certainly has the highest non-flexible operating costs on property because of the animals. Since Disney is already having to pay to “run” some of the park’s primarily attractions (read: the animals), it seems to me that DAK would likely be the cheapest to spin up.
I also think Magic Kingdom is a far superior option for a “test case park” than DHS. Again, the park is huge, dining areas are plentiful, and most attractions are fairly easy to clean (omnimovers being the obvious exception). Additionally, MK is the one park that HAS to be open as Disney marches towards a full reopening. Slowly spinning it up from the start to have it running optimally as other parks eventually comes online seems sane to me. Transport to and from MK is the obvious issue, but maybe Disney could just run socially distanced trams all the way from parking to the bus loop?
I'll be honest that Epcot actually was the one that came to my ming for ease opening. It's fairly big, attractions are spread out. Dining is an issue, but I feel like that could be solved.
I hate to be a pessimist, but, I mean, they might open up. And then they'll be shut back down once the 2nd wave starts as a result. Maybe in Georgia or Florida you'll get a brief chance to be part of the making this problem even worse crowd. Best to look for other ways to entertain yourself. Get the disappointment over with now. I'm going back to Animal Crossing. See you in 2021. Hopefully.
If half of Epcot wasn’t a construction site and the other half wasn’t, in large part, staffed by cultural representatives from other countries, I’d agree with you. That said, those two things combined make Epcot seem like a good candidate for the last park to reopen unfortunately.
I honestly forgot about the staffed by cultural representatives part. As for the construction part, I honestly don't think that matters as much given the restrictions there would be anyways.
My concern with the construction is honestly about how tight a lot of the bypass pathways and temporary facilities (MouseGear in particular) are. If they can somehow still staff World Showcase, it could be viable... but it does seem more difficult than DAK or MK to me.
PS: Anyone have any clever ideas on how to sanitize an omnimover each cycle?
PS: Anyone have any clever ideas on how to sanitize an omnimover each cycle?
It would seem like Disney would be best off trying to open their water parks before going on to the theme parks. The water parks are much easier to manage social distancing and sanitizing in compared to dealing with indoor rides and attractions. Use prepaid food or dining plan options to deal with food transactions and figure out some virtual queue for a few attractions if needed. The water parks can also be more realistically supported through local/regional visitors so the resort hotels can stay largely closed.
Nothing will be packed if admission is limited to FL pass holders and the park(s) is/are capped at between 25 and 50 percent capacity (as is rumored).
It could make a lot of sense to spin up one park at a time to prevent over-investing in an uncertain market. Remember, if public health conditions worsen again, it’s very likely the parks will have to close again. Spending oodles of money to reopen all four parks just to find out they all have to close again three weeks later would be a financial nightmare. Plus, implementing the policies being tossed around will cost A LOT of money. It makes sense to test those procedures on a smaller scale, fix issues, AND THEN scale things up.
By taking WDW’s reopening slow, they minimize financial AND public health risks. Seems like a no-brainer honestly.
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I don't see how people think WDW will be crowded. First, 26 million+ people are currently unemployed and some might not have a job to return. Secondly, the airline industry have massively cut back capacity (70%) and they say it may be a few years before they get back to a sense of normal. That means higher airfares as seats are limited.
I agree with the article and what @Zachary wrote. They're going to take a slow, sensible approach to adjust to a new normal we'll all have to adapt to.
I agree with the article and what @Zachary wrote. They're going to take a slow, sensible approach to adjust to a new normal we'll all have to adapt to.
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A counterpoint to @Zachary .
While I agree that Animal Kingdom’s rides are probably easier to keep disinfected that omnimovers, I would argue that the paths themselves are (designed to be) very tight and crowded, even on slow days.
I can see arguments for and against all of the parks, actually.
While I agree that Animal Kingdom’s rides are probably easier to keep disinfected that omnimovers, I would argue that the paths themselves are (designed to be) very tight and crowded, even on slow days.
I can see arguments for and against all of the parks, actually.
I don't have the link, but there was an article saying that WDW is requiring online check-in for at least some resorts when they reopen as part of the new social distancing guidelines. This may be easier to accomplish than thought. With most people getting their magic bands mailed to them before arrival, they could easily just text to check-in or use the app, and go straight to the room.
This kind of contactless transaction is becoming the new norm. I’m seeing this at take out, retail pick up, and golf courses. It’s basically a rapid implementation of digital operations that were already available but hadn’t been implemented for cultural or inertia reasons.
So for example on SSE in the turn between load and unload if they build a UV tunnel that has openings basically just larger than the ride vehicle then with a light blocking material. Inside the tunnel completely foil line it then each vehicle will be blasted wuth UV light to sanitize the same way they are cleaning n95 masks.
Now as far as WDW opening its going to be closed until it can all open at once. I do believe hotels will open over a weeks time then the parks will open all 4 at once. Now when will this happen? I think WDW will be the last holdout, and they will wait till late fall or even end of the year. I dont see many parks opening before at the earliest mid summer. I think Disney has too many things interweaved across the property that a partial opening will not work financially.
Now when they open who will they let in? Who knows but what I do think would be a way of making the health check lines at the parks shorter would be a wrist band system. So for resort guests there could be a health check area in the resort, you go answer the questions, get a temp scan and then if you pass the wristband for the day. Then when you arrive at the park you bypass the park health checks by showing your band of that day. Now how does the health questions apply to HIPPA....who knows but that could be a problem. Where I work we have to use numbers and not employee names for the health checks due to HIPPA.
Lastly how many will travel? Well my fastpass window opened today for our July 4th trip which I expect to be canceled but im still holding out hope......but anyway I saw no diffrence in the avaliable selections than any other trip over the past few years. The first few days many popular rides were completely gone so that alone seems to me that people are still planning trips and you could saw we people booked trips before this happened. Thats true but FP selection is just happening now for July. I honestly thought I would have wide open selections for rides, but nope those Slinky and Mine Train FP+ are just as hard as always.
This is interesting....
As one of the comments noted that in China all indoor theatres are closed as well as any attraction that groups >10 in an enclosed space (ala Haunted Mansion,' if I recall the load)
Also, I guess SeaWorld doesn't fit anywhere...lol
As one of the comments noted that in China all indoor theatres are closed as well as any attraction that groups >10 in an enclosed space (ala Haunted Mansion,' if I recall the load)
Also, I guess SeaWorld doesn't fit anywhere...lol