In the Amusement Industry thread I posted Marc Swanson said it worked take 2-4 weeks to ramp up to get Seaworld ready to open. I'd assume about the same for BGW.
COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW
- Thread starter WDWRLD
- Start date
My thought is if the parks in Florida or Texas actually re-open, there's going to be a lot of pressure on other states to get theirs re-opened. For comparison once some states said they could have professional sports matches, all of sudden New York and California quickly matched as well.
Meanwhile, I have heard that BGW is actively installing new measures into the park. Things like plexiglass barriers and such.
My point is, this wonderful leadership we have is holding us back. We cant even go out on our local beaches without being harrassed by the police because they are closed. Theres no end in sight for Virginia to be moving toward opening places like BGW.
There is only a limited national approach to our response to this pandemic other than the guidelines for reopening. Thus, there is no correlation between what is happening in any other state and Virginia. All that matters is whether our state and local leaders are following the phasing and carefully opening up the economy in a way that doesn’t force us to close back down.
In my opinion, our governor is doing just that. There are arguments, in fact, that Florida failed to implement the timelines laid out by the President, so I don’t see the problem with our going more slowly.
In my opinion, our governor is doing just that. There are arguments, in fact, that Florida failed to implement the timelines laid out by the President, so I don’t see the problem with our going more slowly.
I also think having a shopping/entertainment/dining district has really helped Universal and Disney with reopening opposed to stand alone parks. These districts can act as test locations that can open earlier and test out new procedures and tweak things without dealing with large crowds instantly. I imagine the experiences at the parks when they reopen will be more seamless and find tuned.
As this relates to BGW, I can only imagine that things will be very, very rough when they reopen initially and it will take time for procedures to really be worked out well.
As this relates to BGW, I can only imagine that things will be very, very rough when they reopen initially and it will take time for procedures to really be worked out well.
That's news to me, and maybe good news. But who's installing the new barriers? I thought that their maintenance team is still on furlough unless of course some were recalled recently.
Not everyone in maintenance is furloughed. They still need to keep someone to respond for unexpected emergencies. I'm not certain exactly who is doing the installation, but I have heard whispers of it happening, maybe someone else can confirm with more detail?
Having a park that is pulling tourists from all over the country does not sound like a benefit during a pandemic.
I rather have BGW open a few weeks later if that means we have less tourists coming here. (if there even is a correlation)
Also, with the reduced capacity in the park having less tourists sounds great even without considering the virus.
While you have good points our economy does rely on those tourists. Local governments budgets are already devastated, so it is important to find balance between health and economy. It's scary to think about the lasting effects of all of this.
So here's the issue with tourism industry:
Even if you open everything back up and provide the safest experience you can....there's no guarantee that the tourists come. Now yea for the locality is $500,000 in tourism taxes better than $0? Absolutely. But if they are used to getting $50,000,000 that $500,000 isn't helping as much as one would think.
State and local governments budgets are shot for about 3-4 years. My guess would mean the county/state backed programs such as infrastructure will be more in 'repair what we have mode' rather than expand. So something like the I-64 project might either slow to a minimal expansion, or just wrap up where they are until funding is back.
So the impact is likely already felt by the localities. So rather than 2 years of substandard tourism, they might rather see 1 year of nothing, then because of a vaccine being produced having year 2 be 50% more than what they are used to having. That will help everyone get back on track faster.
Basically: Local business buildup is going to happen much faster than tourism, so finding that balance between health and economy likely won't help tourism as much as some might project.
Legit question - are you referring to the new HRBT expansion or the ongoing road widening through Richmond?
My understanding is that both sets of projects have already been funded to some extent, so work can still continue for awhile.
However, to your point about tourism - local infrastructure not tied to federal funding/grants is definitely affected by the setbacks.
The span from RVA -> The Triangle. There's no chance it's 100% funded. So either take the remainder funding and try to finish up the project to where it was build to this point and make it look good or slow the pace of the construction by cutting staff, extending deadlines, and work only at one end. The reason you slow down is the funding might last 13 months at the current pace but the project is slated to go another 36. Without knowing when your funding will roll in again you run the risk of running out of money without finishing.
Also - local infrastructure tied to federal funding/grants is definitely affected right now. There isn't as much money to go around, so unless you already had it, you likely aren't getting it unless it's something major like a broken main line or a massive sink hole in a road.
I've had to make that call before. It's not fun. I literally lost sleep for about 2 weeks.
Thanks for the details - in that case I'm wondering how bad things will get before we can rebuild.