COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW
- Thread starter WDWRLD
- Start date
At this point you have to wonder if start up costs are going to come into play. When Ph 3 begins there will be clarification on 50% or 1000. Then you have to consider whether the 1000 includes the employees. If it takes until Ph 4 or later to open the parks it just may not be financially feasible to even consider opening for the season. DW asked me a while ago what I wanted to do for Father's Day. I said go to BGW. I miss it, too. Just so many questions and no answers. You just have to wonder where SEAS has drawn the make or break line for 2020.
First off, capacity limits do not apply to employees. They generally never have. So I don't know why people keep bringing that up as if it were a major factor. Yes there is uncertainty in the requirements the way they are written, but that does not have anything to do with employees versus guests.
Next, I was told that BGW's cutoff for closing early was set around 1K guests. If attendance dropped below that for an hour, they would close early. Keeping that in mind, if capacity were limited to 1K guests, I do not believe the park would open. WCUSA has a similar setup where they make the determination to close at 500 guests. So I would say it is more likely for WCUSA to open than BGW based on those numbers alone.
Next, I was told that BGW's cutoff for closing early was set around 1K guests. If attendance dropped below that for an hour, they would close early. Keeping that in mind, if capacity were limited to 1K guests, I do not believe the park would open. WCUSA has a similar setup where they make the determination to close at 500 guests. So I would say it is more likely for WCUSA to open than BGW based on those numbers alone.
We often go for Father's day weekend also. The consolation is with this weather we wouldn't be going anyway.
Lol I noticed that too! They've clearly got Busch confused with KD, but we all understood. Busch still gave a reply and a promising one at that!
Glad I decided to substitute BGT for BGW this Father's Day weekend.
OT, but certainly of interest to folks here neither Universal or BGT were wiping down handles, seats, et cetera between loads this weekend.
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There is clarification on the capacity limit on the governor's website. I'm pretty sure that they will go with 50% of the lowest capacity given that they did say they were going to open this season and 1000 just seems so unreasonable. If they went with 1000 people max, it wouldn't be financially worth it to open.
This lack of clarity on the capacity issue, especially for a business like BGW and it's high occupancy capacity, is exactly why I submitted an online contact form to the Governor's office a couple of days ago asking for clarity on this and/or for him to issue BGW and KD a waiver from the Phase 3 limit rule. I have not received a reply as of yet.
Someone in one of the other "Entertainment and Public Amusement" industries reached out to me (thank you!) and shared that it's their understanding of the rules that it's 50% of allowed max capacity UP TO a max of 1000. We also spoke to a lawyer yesterday who told us their reading of the rule was that the count couldn't exceed EITHER of those numbers (50% OR 1000 total).
Unless some additional clarity is provided through updates from the governor, I'm going to assume the consensus of those two sources is correct—meaning that under the rules as they're written currently, parks effectively cannot open in Phase 3 without some sort of exemption.
Unless some additional clarity is provided through updates from the governor, I'm going to assume the consensus of those two sources is correct—meaning that under the rules as they're written currently, parks effectively cannot open in Phase 3 without some sort of exemption.
Meh, it's still early. When we have a Phase 3 date, it'll become more important for everyone to know what exactly will be allowed.
But wouldn't BGW, WCUSA and KD need to know in advance logistically? Not like they can fully staff up if the governor clarifies things on Tuesday and announces Phase 3 starts Friday.
Even if they get a waiver on capacity, the parks will need a waiver on the 10ft physical distancing rule to open rides to anything resembling reasonable capacity - e.g, every roller coaster at BGW could fill a max of 2 rows per train. This rule is similar to the one at gyms and pools, so it may be harder to argue for than the capacity one.
I agree, but with how fast things are moving, a lot of people aren't getting all the information they want as soon as they'd want it.
If that’s true, what an idiotic policy. The fact that a 3 acre minor league baseball stadium and a 250 acre theme park are subject to the same limit is mind-blowingly stupid.
I really have a hard time envisioning how a HOS would be done unless things change significantly between now and September. I just can't see how the event can work.
For the record, I agree. I hope there’s yet-to-be-announced nuance when it comes time for actual implementation.
FWIW as it relates to what might be seen when WCUSA reopens - At Aquatica and Adventure Island this weekend, sneaker keepers were still in use, and outside of entrance area, retail shops, and food lines, very few masks in sight on the paths and in lounge chairs. The only time I heard staff say anything about masks was when folks were attempting to wear them into the water.