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I would be understanding if BGW was honest with us, but with basically no statement I automatically think they are trying to suck every penny out of everyone. A simple statement saying they understand that everyone and every business in the country is struggling and at this time they have not decided the best and fairest way of honering their comitment in providing a product for which guests are paying for. What do I think they should do? Halt payments for the number of months they are closed for monthly ezpay and extend paid in full passes for the same amount. Giving me a couple quick queues that will probably exclude the popular attractions isnt going to cut it, neither is a free meal. For those that purchased the meal plans throw in something like free dessert once a day for the remainder of the season up until HOS begins. Theres lots of things they could do but right now their path of action is to do nothing and make it difficult.
 
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Even more shady to be told that the 3 month deferment was old policy and now decided monthly. Plus, I HAVE to call back monthly. If it wasn't for the wait, I'd call again to see what a different representative might tell me. Or, just not worry about it and cancel the membership. I also can't get a good answer on what the dinning plan situation is. Having used it once, I certainly haven't gotten any value from it and it wasn't cheap.

Seeing what the new rides will be like, and the main reason of seeing all our friends we have at the park, we decided to give it another year before canceling. Looks like that might get pushed up. One great email from Carowinds versus the total silence from BGW...it makes me feel like I should just cut my losses and leave. I want to remember BGW with fondness and joy, not disappointment and bitterness.

Edit: PLUS charging members anyway, after telling them they would not be.
 
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That’s my understanding too for people who are still in their initial 12 month commitment. We still have no idea how that impacts people outside of their initial 12 months though—and the park is deflecting all questions about it to the call center where, reportedly, people are being offered a one-time-over-the-lifetime-of-the-account deferment option of 3 months.

I emailed SeaWorld yesterday (SEAGuestRelationsTeam@seaworld.com), and below is the response I received this morning. Needless to say, I am keeping every single email I send and receive, so as to ensure the complimentary time period is granted once the parks reopen.

Thank you for emailing Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

The monthly installments will continue to come out, you will receive compensation in the form of complimentary time by a period at least as long as the temporary closure. For example, should the park be closed for three months, when we reopen you will not be charged for the following three months. In order to ensure you receive this compensation we will need your first and last name, barcode and email address to process any additional time granted.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance.
 
Thanks for sharing @I64 Trekker! I assume you’re out of your first 12 months, yeah?

It is interesting that they’re asking for all of that pass information. I wonder if they have any plans to implement this policy across the board or just for people who specifically request it.
 
Seeing that SEAS is effectively insolvent right now, it's not much of a surprise they wouldn't pause monthly payments through the closure. They need any revenue they can coming in, even if it is bad for customer relations. At this point, if you don't want to keep paying monthly for who knows how long, you need to consider cancelling the account and restarting it once the situation resolves itself.
 
Thanks for sharing @I64 Trekker! I assume you’re out of your first 12 months, yeah?

It is interesting that they’re asking for all of that pass information. I wonder if they have any plans to implement this policy across the board or just for people who specifically request it.

Correct, I am outside the first 12 months.
 
Seeing that SEAS is effectively insolvent right now, it's not much of a surprise they wouldn't pause monthly payments through the closure. They need any revenue they can coming in, even if it is bad for customer relations. At this point, if you don't want to keep paying monthly for who knows how long, you need to consider cancelling the account and restarting it once the situation resolves itself.

Yes, cancelling my membership certainly crossed my mind, as I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago. That said, I think we will have much more clarity on where things stand a month from now, at which time I can cancel if the park reopening looks like it will be in the fall or 2021.
 
Yes, cancelling my membership certainly crossed my mind, as I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago. That said, I think we will have much more clarity on where things stand a month from now, at which time I can cancel if the park reopening looks like it will be in the fall or 2021.

I'll try to find the article on twitter to back this up, but looking at a pure ports perspective, MLB/NFL/NHL/NBA are all doing models for if attendance in venue were to drop by 30-70% and how that would affect profits. Basically major sports are bracing for the fact that when they return the combination of restrictions, people who don't feel comfortable being out, and people still sick from this is going to have a major impact on the ability to fill stadiums.

If that's true for sporting events, I wonder the impact on a seasonal park like BGW. Like if football comes back but says no fans because it isn't safe, first off why are players playing, but second why should a place like BGW be open (especially since football doesn't start until September).

I feel like parks in general (not just BGW) should start talking to creditors, vendors, and employees about payments and everything as if they won't open, and let it be a surprise if they do. They need to be active about "we got nothing coming in so we can't send anything out". In the end this might end up in a great sell off of parks by some companies, a great swing in closure of parks by some companies, or some other company springing on the opportunity to purchase a value depressed asset.

As for the small business grants (sorry, I know unrelated to your post); I would be interested more in how that goes. Like my company, our major share holder is a Japanese company who employs about 1500 people. But we're still considered our own company despite this, and you take out franchised locations, you end up with 498 corporate employees. Just under the number needed. So what SEAS needs to do is see if each park can apply on their own (as if they operate as separate entities with one financial shareholder. It does feel like each park has it's own level of autonomy); if they need to include part time seasonal employees (because if they don't that's a huge part of the work force); and what the loan/grant needs to be size wise then. Contracted employees don't count because they are not considered a park employee rather an employee of the business they work for (ex - When Panda Express was still in KD, KD could claim they were PE employees contracted to work in KD). I think if they can get past the first hurdle, of can each park treat itself as it's own business, they might be able to get unexpected help. But don't quote me on that.
 
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I feel like parks in general (not just BGW) should start talking to creditors, vendors, and employees about payments and everything as if they won't open, and let it be a surprise if they do. They need to be active about "we got nothing coming in so we can't send anything out". In the end this might end up in a great sell off of parks by some companies, a great swing in closure of parks by some companies, or some other company springing on the opportunity to purchase a value depressed asset.

This is what bankruptcy court is for. Creditors and vendors want to be paid on time, not at some unforeseen date months from now. SEAS going into Ch11 bankruptcy is what will be needed for them to obtain protection from creditors while trying to reorganize their debt. During that time a buyer or merger partner may come in and purchase SEAS. I don't think you'd see a purchase at the current time, unless it's someone sitting on cash that really wants a theme park chain, as the company doesn't have a prospective re-opening date making any purchase a high risk.
 
The issue with Chpt 11 bankruptcy to avoid payments is it’s not going to be one or two places struggling with this, it’s going to be every park. So vendors and creditors would be smart to work with parks (and businesses in general) right now rather then forcing a lot of them to face Chp 11 bankruptcy.

And it doesn’t have to be the whole chain that gets sold. Let’s say CF said internally “we want a park in SD”. SEAS is facing major cash flow problems, but CF can get the cash, and CF comes to them with an offer, SEAS might be smart to take it. Same if someone came to them for the BG parks.
 
SEAS is in a much worse financial position for this pandemic than Cedar Fair or Six Flags, while Disney and Universal's parents have money coming in from their other businesses to get them through the worst period. SEAS is basically insolvent and has no prospect for paying vendors and creditors in full until the parks re-open, which could be a long time from now. Assuming SEAS has multiple creditors, no individual creditor is going to take a haircut while others get paid in full. That is why a bankruptcy is likely. The court can negotiate a re-organization that balances all claims, where individual claimants won't necessarily give in.
 
SEAS is extremely against breaking up the chain. It has been talked about feeling off the BG parks, but SEAS doesn't want to loose any part of itself.
 
SEAS is in a much worse financial position for this pandemic than Cedar Fair or Six Flags, while Disney and Universal's parents have money coming in from their other businesses to get them through the worst period. SEAS is basically insolvent and has no prospect for paying vendors and creditors in full until the parks re-open, which could be a long time from now. Assuming SEAS has multiple creditors, no individual creditor is going to take a haircut while others get paid in full. That is why a bankruptcy is likely. The court can negotiate a re-organization that balances all claims, where individual claimants won't necessarily give in.

When I was talking about that I was talking about more than just amusement companies. In general this is happening around the world. Having so many companies be forced to go Chpt 11 rather than developing an alternative is going to be bad.
 
When I was talking about that I was talking about more than just amusement companies. In general this is happening around the world. Having so many companies be forced to go Chpt 11 rather than developing an alternative is going to be bad.

The CARES Act does help a lot of these companies get bridge-type loans to get through the pandemic without going into bankruptcy. The problem is that bigger amusement companies don't fit well in that bill's financial model, and SEAS animal care-taking costs are a real problem for them specifically. Compare SEAS to Six Flags, who despite a lot of debt on the books can shut down most their parks and has said they can survive into 2021 without opening.
 
Hence the things I put out there they could try.

EDIT:
The big thing here is even though this thread is BGW specific, SEAS is not the only company struggling with these things. We can’t have hundreds of companies doing this stuff to avoid payments. Companies are going to work with creditors/vendors to come up with solutions to continue getting paid but at reduced rate that they can afford.
 
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I’ve always wondered if CF has ever had any desire to own BGW. They would absolutely dominate the East Coast market with a trifecta of BGW, KD, and Caro. It almost certainly won’t happen, but if they wanted to, maybe this would be the time to do it.
 
So what happens if the country reopens in 20 days, how long before BGW opens? And if they dont open for another month after that but still take payments?
 
Hence the things I put out there they could try.

EDIT:
The big thing here is even though this thread is BGW specific, SEAS is not the only company struggling with these things. We can’t have hundreds of companies doing this stuff to avoid payments. Companies are going to work with creditors/vendors to come up with solutions to continue getting paid but at reduced rate that they can afford.


AMC filing for bankruptcy is comparable to SEAS situation. No revenue coming in and one of the harder types of businesses to re-open with the virus still around.

Maybe if SEAS was a smaller company with a single creditor, they could work things out, but a larger company like SEAS has numerous creditors and vendors with all kinds of terms and covenants to navigate. They might be able to extend some loans and payment periods, but that only goes so far.
 
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