COVID-19 Impacts on Kings Dominion

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Well this is pretty cute! KD has published an "Enjoy Kings Dominion from home" guide for kids, which has links to on-ride POVs, suggestions for projects to design your own theme park or roller coaster, and even a handful of downloadable PDFs with coloring pages and activities related to the park. The coloring pages in particular are really cool! I especially like the Candy Apple Grove one:
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Some coronavirus-related questions worth discussing:

1. Cedar Fair said in its latest announcement that they would be adding more dates to the 2020 calendar due to COVID-19. Where should KD add dates?

2. In what ways could we see COVID-19 affect the broader scope of the season?

My analysis:

Haunt and WinterFest are easily the best times to extend the season, as both events bring out large crowds, especially Haunt. I would think that the park would add days that are typically closed the last couple weeks of summer break, too. I would like to add dates to Grand Carnivale, but I know this is much harder to do due to the fact that Carnivale is shared between parks.

Overall effects? I’m definitely not nearly as sure. Less attendance? Maybe. I’m seeing some talk in the BGW COVID-19 thread about indoor theaters being closed or operating at way less capacity; I guess I could see the Kings Dominion Theater being affected by any CDC guidelines, but I’m hoping the park can open in mid-May with COVID-19 in the rear view mirror. Anything else I’m overlooking?
 
mtorange said:
Some coronavirus-related questions worth discussing:

1. Cedar Fair said in its latest announcement that they would be adding more dates to the 2020 calendar due to COVID-19. Where should KD add dates?

2. In what ways could we see COVID-19 affect the broader scope of the season?
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1) Since Virginia is cancelling school for the rest of the year it is theoretically possible for them to kick off summer season early whenever this quarantine practice passes. They also have a few weekends between the end of Summer and Haunt where they lease the park out for private events, they could open up for those instead.

2) You know those staffing problems the amusement industry has been having problems with for the past decade? Yeah...
 
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b.mac said:
1) Since Virginia is cancelling school for the rest of the year it is theoretically possible for them to kick off summer season early whenever this quarantine practice passes. They also have a few weekends between the end of Summer and Haunt where they lease the park out for private events, they could open up for those instead.

2) You know those staffing problems the amusement industry has been having problems with for the past decade? Yeah...
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Daily operation from Opening Day through Labor Day would be a great idea!

Regarding private events, I feel like those will stay because the amount of money a corporation/business gives to the park might be more than if a park opened to the public. I think I saw that theory discussed in the BGW COVID-19 thread and it makes sense to me.

I can’t believe I overlooked that staffing issue! Definitely agree there.

Here’s to hoping we open in mid-May!
 
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If this goes into June or later, which it likely could, I don't see how KD can add enough dates to make up for the lost months. Without enough make up dates, KD would need to either make partial refunds on passes and plans or some kind of credit for 2021.
 
^^-- I figure I get my admission pass's worth in a couple of weeks, dining plan in a couple of months. It will be appreciated more than usual if somehow I get to use it without too much fear.
 
bill s said:
^^-- I figure I get my admission pass's worth in a couple of weeks, dining plan in a couple of months. It will be appreciated more than usual if somehow I get to use it without too much fear.
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We go about once a month, and a little more during Haunt and Winterfest. Cutting 3-4 months off the season really changes the value proposition of the dining plans and to some extent the season passes. Reasonable compensation would be in order just from a basic contractual obligation standpoint.
 
KD is suspending payments on passes effective today


Dear 2020 Season Passholder:

As we all continue to navigate this unprecedented situation, we want to thank you for your continued patience and support of Kings Dominion. Our team would like nothing more than to open our park and welcome you back. Clearly that is not an option for us right now, and our priority is to keep everyone safe --- our valued guests, our amazing associates, and our cherished communities.
Given the uncertainty around our park opening, we want to share that for 2020 Season Passholders participating in our Easy Pay Program, we have automatically suspended monthly billing as of April 8, 2020, and will continue to do so while the park is closed. Once the park has opened for the season, billing will resume. Passholders will need to be current on payments in order to receive 2020 Season Pass admission and associated benefits.
This is a very unusual time for all of us. Our Season Passholders represent some of our most loyal guests, and we again thank you for your understanding and loyalty to Kings Dominion.
Sincerely,
Tony Johnson
Vice President & General Manager
Kings Dominion
 
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Good job KD!

Of course I realized for some reason my payments stopped being taken out around the end of the year so I guess my passes were dropped.
 
Smart move. This makes it easier to cull back the 2020 schedule to what KD can operationally and financially handle, vice the original plan to add more dates. They can also open with a limited set of attractions without having contractual obligation issues to pass holders.
 
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I really appreciate KD and CF for going ahead and announcing this for their members. Personally, like many many others my financial situation has changed due to Covid. Now I have another year available to me of the hobby I enjoy so much. Even though it feels like the shutdown has been on forever now it's only mid-April, hopefully not all 2020 is lost.
 
I wonder how this will affect how the park operates for the next two years. Season pass sales are a huge stream of revenue for the park - supposedly more than half of all ticket sales come from season passes - and they just eliminated a tremendous chunk of those sales for 2021.

In addition to the obvious cuts we will probably see (shorter hours, lower staff), I wonder if the park will put more of an emphasis on in-park spending in 2021. This seems like the year to brainstorm every program and event in the book to get passholders opening up their wallets inside the park. This strikes me as the best way to make up for lost revenue while season pass sales are so severely limited. Any ideas on what they could do?
 
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Joe said:
I wonder how this will affect how the park operates for the next two years. Season pass sales are a huge stream of revenue for the park - supposedly more than half of all ticket sales come from season passes - and they just eliminated a tremendous chunk of those sales for 2021.

In addition to the obvious cuts we will probably see (shorter hours, lower staff), I wonder if the park will put more of an emphasis on in-park spending in 2021. This seems like the year to brainstorm every program and event in the book to get passholders opening up their wallets inside the park. This strikes me as the best way to make up for lost revenue while season pass sales are so severely limited. Any ideas on what they could do?
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I actually think we’ll see more hours to make up for lost revenue. They’ve already promised to do this in 2020, so I’d expect them to do the same in 2021. We’ll probably see more frequent in-park events. This has already been the CF strategy, but I think we’ll see it being ramped up at a faster pace now. It’s likely too late for this to happen in 2020, but could they extend the length of Grand Carnivale next season? I know it was a big success in 2019 and I’d love to see an extra week or two at each park. I think it would be good for KD to potentially add Haunt dates for both 2020 and 2021; they could extend operation to Thursday nights like BGW does. Maybe they could begin daily operation earlier for WinterFest, too? Haunt especially is a giant moneymaker for the park, so I don’t see them cutting hours during that anytime soon.

Outside of events, I’m not too sure. Maybe they could start a pin-trading program similar to BGW? I don’t typically pay attention to the merchandise as much, so I’m trying to think of other merch they could market and sell. Adding the label of “limited edition” to almost anything could boost sales. Any other ideas?
 
mtorange said:
I actually think we’ll see more hours to make up for lost revenue. They’ve already promised to do this in 2020, so I’d expect them to do the same in 2021. We’ll probably see more frequent in-park events. This has already been the CF strategy, but I think we’ll see it being ramped up at a faster pace now. It’s likely too late for this to happen in 2020, but could they extend the length of Grand Carnivale next season? I know it was a big success in 2019 and I’d love to see an extra week or two at each park. I think it would be good for KD to potentially add Haunt dates for both 2020 and 2021; they could extend operation to Thursday nights like BGW does. Maybe they could begin daily operation earlier for WinterFest, too? Haunt especially is a giant moneymaker for the park, so I don’t see them cutting hours during that anytime soon.

Outside of events, I’m not too sure. Maybe they could start a pin-trading program similar to BGW? I don’t typically pay attention to the merchandise as much, so I’m trying to think of other merch they could market and sell. Adding the label of “limited edition” to almost anything could boost sales. Any other ideas?
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I guess we don't really know what the park's finances are and what the ROI of extending hours is. For example: if KD switched from 10pm closings to 9pm closings, would they lose more revenue from guests choosing to eat dinner after they leave the park than they spend by staying open that extra hour? I don't think any of us can know a definitive answer one way or another without knowing the park's finances.

But other than that, you raise some good points.
 
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