COVID-19 Impacts on Kings Dominion

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
In his memoir Always Cedar Point, Cedar Point's former GM H. John Hildebrandt explains how Cedar Fair first began collecting zip codes of its guests in, I think, the late 90s or early 2000s. Hildebrandt was also CP's director of marketing before becoming GM, and his book makes it very clear that not only did CP gather every possible bit of information about its guests' demographics, but it made doing so a top priority. I'm sure the same is true for the rest of Cedar Fair - and the rest of the industry.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Crunchewy, wombat96, horsesboy and 1 other person
snowman6996 said:
Always Cedar Point is an excellent book if anyone hasn't read it yet.
Click to expand...

Same with the (fairly short) Dick Kinzel memoir, and probably more germane to KD Theme Park Babylon. Though I doubt Dale will write a new version, would be interesting to take it and rewrite it for modern times at KD including mentioning defunct rides in the boneyard.
 
Sorry for the double post though different topics and timeframe - anyone else get an email ad for purchasing a meal plan lately?
 
Well as usual; it is a disappointment that KD will not be open this year for the Fall Season. I was blessed to get Halloween off and tried to book a reservation for Bush Gardens. Of course they were booked for all evening times, which makes it a nightmare trying to get down there for the morning reservations. This forced me to book a reservation to a park that I really didn't want to go to. Since my friend is coming into town and I had never been to SFA, I gave in and booked reservations. To my amazement, Six Flags America does not limit it's guest to reservation times. You select an arrival time and you can stay clean up until the park closes. Maybe this has a lot to do with Maryland's success in the covid-19 realm. Or do you think this is how the company chose to do it?

Back to KD. Let's pretend that Virginia still has new covid cases, come time March. The company looks at the overall picture and says; the park cannot afford to stay closed for another season. So they give in and select an opening date. Does the state require Bush Gardens and KD to do the current reservation slots that they are currently doing? Or can they select the Six Flags America method and require only an arrival time? The reason I ask this is because for one to stay a whole day in Bush Gardens, requires you to pay for all three time slots. At least that's what the girl on the phone told me. If it does; this can be costly to those seeking an entire day at the theme park. Cedar Fair knows how much the DC/MD/VA loves KD. I'd probably be one of the fanboy suckers that gives in and pays for 3 time slots, so that I can spend the entire day at the park. But my question is; how many of you think time slots would be successful at KD vs Six Flags America's, arrival time and stay as late as you want?
 
MikeLovesKD said:
Back to KD. Let's pretend that Virginia still has new covid cases, come time March.
Click to expand...

There is a zero percent chance of there being no new COVID cases come March. The hope would be that between the availability of treatments, early distribution of a vaccine, and the potential for national mask mandates, there will be a more controlled environment related to the virus, but the idea it will be gone anytime before the end of 2021 is out of the picture.

The company looks at the overall picture and says; the park cannot afford to stay closed for another season. So they give in and select an opening date. Does the state require Bush Gardens and KD to do the current reservation slots that they are currently doing? Or can they select the Six Flags America method and require only an arrival time?
Click to expand...

I would expect that come March—or May, if the numbers aren't in solid shape—the parks will be having a more serious conversation with the State, and there will be a lot of scrutiny about the California opening among others around the country. I would imagine that there is a possibility of an increase in capacity within a "Phase 4" set of restrictions by Spring, but there's a huge amount of runway between now and then for us to say anything definitive. But at the moment, BGW's limited windows are based on the need to meet the 1000-person cap and still get 2000-3000 people into the park on a given day. If those restrictions are still in place, we'll see the same strategy in play.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zachary
BGW is using time slots, so they can get more people in the park each day. The restriction in Virginia is 1000 people in the park at once. The parks can either let those 1000 people stay all day, or have multiple time slots allowing them to cycle groups of 1000 through. This allows them to make more money on ticket, merchandise, and possible food sales. If I were not a pass member and planned to visit more than once, I would probably look at purchasing a Fun Card, rather than buying multiple single-entry tickets.

It is also worth noting that will only part o the park open, I have never needed more than four hours to do everything I wanted to.

Regardless, we don't know what the restrictions will be in March. Virginia may change the requirements for amusement parks by then.

All of that is to say, that no, KD does not have to use the same model at BGW, but it might make financial sense. I don't think anyone here has the data to make a informed guess.
 
Ok so now that Virginia theme parks can have more capacity, do you guys think that if might open for a winterfest type event?
 
Pompeiiboy said:
Ok so now that Virginia theme parks can have more capacity, do you guys think that if might open for a winterfest type event?
Click to expand...

Carowinds suggests that Cedar Fair is open to the possibility, but they don’t have any competition in the Carolinas, and had more time to spoil up and start marketing outreach than KD would have. I have to think they’re considering it, but they might just see this as a clearer sign they’ll be able to open in March as planned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Twisted_Airtime
Unless there were lobbying alongside BGW it would seem that they didn't really have any indication this would happen. My guess is that it's too late for them to do anything. Especially considering that they would still need to bring people back and get the park ready. Maybe they could have things ready in a month. Then the question for them is whether that's worth it or not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mtorange
I’m afraid that it might be too late for them to pull something together this late in the calendar, but who knows at this point? I could see the above post’s idea of a December event becoming a reality if it garners enough interest.

I’ll keep an eye on job postings, but I have a feeling that we’ll have an answer by Wednesday morning at the latest, as Cedar Fair is hosting its Q3 earnings call at that time. The major news of park closures was announced before the Q2 call back in August, so there’s a chance that any additional “Taste of the Season” events could be announced or teased before Wednesday’s call. If not, an investor will probably ask about it during the Q&A session, as special events have been a significant interest to certain investors in the past couple of calls.
 
Zachary said:
According to multiple people I've spoken to, there are still no plans for KD to open in 2020.
Click to expand...

That tracks. I have to imagine this just gives them a clear runway that barring a shift back to Phase Two, they can make plans for an “Everything but Flight of Fear” opening in March.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BGWnut
Zachary said:
According to multiple people I've spoken to, there are still no plans for KD to open in 2020.
Click to expand...

Thought so. If Northam had made the change much earlier, I think this would’ve been a realistic possibility. Oh well, at least we have Carowinds!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Twisted_Airtime
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad