COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW

[Memles]

Busch Gardens Insiders on FB is actually directing complaints to specific post setup for complaints and venting on certain subjects cause they are seeing so many. For those not familiar with the group the park has loved them because they usually have a positive and up beat attitude toward the park no matter what is going on. For there to be that level of negative feelings in that group toward the park it's a VERY VERY bad sign of the state of things right now.

Yeah, the rhetoric of the admin approach went from "now guys, we like to stay positive here" to "here's a post where you can post any feedback you have to to get it our of your system" to "we know there's problems, help us solve them." The politics of that group have always been a rollercoaster, but it does say something about the objectively bad state of things that they're having to acknowledge how many people are joining the group to plan trips and then discovering where we're at.

@Rothbury, per your earlier comment: the park is definitely going above 5000. Technically, the cap on attendance is vague, and attached to what attractions are open and their stated capacity. Accordingly, it's impossible to say exactly how much they're "allowed" to have open, but there's no question that they've effectively shifted to a soft cap without marketing as such.

My feeling right now is that the park is basically weathering the storm of Spring Breaks, fully aware that the balance of staffing and attendance is untenable, but no one at corporate or local levels is interested in the only solution—limiting capacity, even if people have tickets/reservations—that is feasible given the staffing issue won't be resolved anytime soon. And so they're going to have a lot of out-of-towners who have a bad experience (the Twitter mentions are equally scathing) and members who aren't getting the benefits they were promised, which is bad word-of-mouth at a time the park shouldn't want that. But given they're the ones who took those reservations and keep selling tickets despite having eyes and realizing what's going on, I guess that's on them.

 

[horsesboy]

I am sorry but I have to firmly place blame for being in this situation with the park. I personally know several former employees that have never been so much as contacted about returning. Years ago I worked for a Summer concert venue and the very first thing we did when preparing for the season was send out cards to EVERY SINGLE employee who was in good standing at the end of the previous year. We probably got 30 to maybe 40 percent return but that both gave us a solid group of already mostly trained employees but also gave us quick hires. Why on earth especially seeing the sales pouring in and knowing that F&W and Spring Break were around the corner didn't the park start doing that a month or more ago.

 

[Memles]

I personally know several former employees that have never been so much as contacted about returning.

First, yes, I’m not saying the park didn’t make its own bed here. And second, case in point, one presumes that this is because they’re trying to hire cheaper short-term labor, hoping people are desperate for work. So again, they’ve made their choice here, and created this problem.

 

[Beachokie]

Busch Gardens Insiders on FB is actually directing complaints to specific post setup for complaints and venting on certain subjects cause they are seeing so many. For those not familiar with the group the park has loved them because they usually have a positive and up beat aditude toward the park no matter what is going on. For there to be that level of negative feelings in that group toward the park it's a VERY VERY bad sign of the state of things right now.

On another front the park litterly has Now hiring banners infront of the employee entrance.

Side note re: that BGI Facebook group...it’s absolutely cringeworthy how important some the “admins” of that group think they are. I’ve never seen such a small amount of power matter so much to someone. It’s so embarrassing

 

[Nibbins]

[...]What I have a problem with is the dining plan that doesn't work. You end up waiting for them to call a manager and they try the barcode 5 times and eventually you get through. Of course for the time you wait your food gets cold. Some of the real scams are the drink refills where you fill the largest cup and it fills the refillable cup maybe 1/2 to 3/4 way. [...]

I am far from happy that they pretty much closed all locations that are part of the dining plan or have drink refills, but that the large papercuts do not fill the souvenir cup is not correct.
If the largest paper cup is filled all the way it will fill the souvenir cup to the brim.

The fact that they expect us to stand in line for 30 minutes to get a refill and only have brezels and sauerkraut as dining options is unacceptable however.

 

[horsesboy]

The large one will fill it however if you are in a line where they are handing out cups they give you a small one to refill with.

 

[bgwfanatic]

This thread has been so depressing to read as to what BGW has become this spring. I was already upset enough that BG refuses to refund my membership payments and all-season dining plans, but to see that even if we were going, we wouldn't be getting the perks (parking), or really getting on many rides, or truly being able to use our dining plans is infuriating. As some have expressed, BGW seems to be on a slippery slope and should be careful about how damaging this could become (maybe it won't, but it always can't, until it does).

 

[horsesboy]

I am hearing that 15,000 is what the park is considering capacity at this point. I don't want to believe that but I think there is a very good chance that it's true but can not confirm.

 

[kulthus]

The large one will fill it however if you are in a line where they are handing out cups they give you a small one to refill with.

I didn't purchase one last year or this year. Can you not just keep putting drink in the small cup until your bottle is full? After all, in a normal year, they don't fill your bottle up 1/4 of the way and hand it back to you.

 

[horsesboy]

I didn't purchase one last year or this year. Can you not just keep putting drink in the small cup until your bottle is full? After all, in a normal year, they don't fill your bottle up 1/4 of the way and hand it back to you.

You can it's just a pain.

 

[William545]

Today is awful. Apollo and Griffon keep going down and they won't open alpie.

 

[Mushroom]

I am hearing that 15,000 is what the park is considering capacity at this point. I don't want to believe that but I think there is a very good chance that it's true but can not confirm.

If that's true, BGW is operating at over 60% of what Kevin Lembke told the JCC Board of Supervisors is the park's maximum capacity.

 

[rswashdc]

As busy as it was when we visited, I doubt there were anywhere near 15,000 in the park. That many would have filled up way more parking lots than what we saw. It’s just crowded as nowhere near enough attractions open to dissipate the crowds.

 

[Turbo]

Very clear that BGW solely based their attendance numbers on data / rules / profits versus actual customer experience.

 

[sereniv]

Very clear that BGW solely based their attendance numbers on data / rules / profits versus actual customer experience.

i was just discussing this with someone the other day. i'm really happy that the park is doing so well and is making money again but that's just it, they only seem to care about making a marginal profit rather than providing a safe and fun experience for the guests. i'm hoping that all of this traffic and bad service is just due to a combination of understaffing and high spring break traffic

i wouldn't be surprised if covid restrictions are lessened again during the summer, propelling yet another wave of overcrowding and poor service at the park. I've gone twice so far this season (during the st. patricks day celebration) and the lines and service issues were nothing like they've been discussed the past two weeks here on the forum.

 

[horsesboy]

i was just discussing this with someone the other day. i'm really happy that the park is doing so well and is making money again but that's just it, they only seem to care about making a marginal profit rather than providing a safe and fun experience for the guests. i'm hoping that all of this traffic and bad service is just due to a combination of understaffing and high spring break traffic

i wouldn't be surprised if covid restrictions are lessened again during the summer, propelling yet another wave of overcrowding and poor service at the park. I've gone twice so far this season (during the st. patricks day celebration) and the lines and service issues were nothing like they've been discussed the past two weeks here on the forum.

The only issue that I have with this is the idea that they are making money again and that they are doing so at a marginal amount. I have heard repeatedly that EVERY event they have done since August has surpassed their pre event projections so they have been making money for a while now. The fact that they added the January, February, and Early March events strongly supports that. Also I see no reason based on attendance and the price of park and gate fees to believe anything other then the park is pulling in significant amounts of money right now.

 

[horsesboy]

So on the big WTF my resveration said the 8th but the actual baroda downloaded as the 7th. The resveration wouldn't scan because of saying the 7th and I would say I was happy to see them stop me and hold me while they checked but while I am sitting there showing the email and dealing with them examine everything else with a supervisor and being held at the entrance for about 10 minutes before being allowed the line next to me is being waved through without resveration being scanned just glanced at and I am actually hearing the explaining that line telling guest it's OK we are not near capacity I don't need to scan anything but the tickets so which is it??.

 

[The Quist]

A - 2020 Park closed - everyone is dreaming and chatting about the park in a mostly positive way, just wanted to get back in.
B - 2020/21 Park open - experience kinda sucks, not enough staff, rides not open, people waving Covid in your face.

I'm wondering if option A is better. Like the Large Terrible Canis Lupus effect, the memory is sometimes better than the actual thing itself. The 2020 summer thing was ok for having less than half the park open. We were just happy to be back. The WinterFest or whatever, if it weren't for the those damn cute animals or if it had been my first time visit, I would said BGW is trash. Again, for nostalgia's sake, we were just glad to be there. After reading all the comments, I'm really glad we didn't waste a trip on F&W Fest.

 

[Mushroom]

I wonder if what we're seeing with BGW right now might explain why KD wasn't willing to open until so much later in the season.

 

[wombat96]

I wonder if what we're seeing with BGW right now might explain why KD wasn't willing to open until so much later in the season.

I think it's more of a case that BGW has bit more than they can chew, and they aren't willing to swallow. They know they are breaking the state capacity limits (to our knowledge) and they also know that they don't have enough staffing in order to handle the extra crowds as a result of this. The ship is sinking, but there are not enough members in the crew to help try and fill in the hole. Obviously, Pantheon will help serve as a small patch trying to fill in the giant gash on the side of the vessel, but until the park can bring in more staff it's only going to continue to sink.

I think the park is fully capable of managing 50% to even full capacity at this point, however they need to ensure that they have staff ready to go and are able to work at the park. The park is clearly operating closer to 50% than we know, but the staffing appears to be completely inadequate for the number of guests they have in the park at a time. I'm not sure if this is some sort of loophole to increase the capacity by limiting the number of employees, but BGW can not deliver the product they promise with the amount of staff they have currently.