COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW

[WDWRLD]

They were savvy in ensuring the times cleanly cross meal times, unless you prefer brunch or really early dinner times.

In theory they should be able to make money on the event, unless it gets overrun by members that decide not to spend a dime in the park. There are plenty of parks that exist at this size (e.g. most the beachfront parks) and those parks have been in business for decades.

It also largely depents on the quality and cost and serving size of food. While I dont mind a slightly higher price to help them reopen I also dont want to drop $7-10 for a food and wine size serving hitting up multipul booths and still be hungry after spending $75 for one person. They may get me one day but they wont get me back everyday where as if things are reasonable I just may visit every day they are open for this event.

 

[BGWnut]

Would be nice if the refill plan was on the pass or a seperate card. Kinda silly to have to carry a huge plastic cup around just for the barcode.

I’d try and see if they will let you take a picture of it on your phone and scan it off of there.

Good idea.....may take the cup as a backup the first day.

So your pass can be on your phone and that can scan. However it's my understanding that the all season drink refills aren't honored just like the dining plan isn't. They are saying you can bring a refillable cup so that you can get the 99¢ discounted refill, not so you can get your free refill.

 

[WDWRLD]

So your pass can be on your phone and that can scan. However it's my understanding that the all season drink refills aren't honored just like the dining plan isn't. They are saying you can bring a refillable cup so that you can get the 99¢ discounted refill, not so you can get your free refill.

My pass is on my phone and the dining plan is the same barcode. The refillable cup though has to scan the bar code on the cup.....its not linked to the passin any way.

 

[BGWnut]

My pass is on my phone and the dining plan is the same barcode. The refillable cup though has to scan the bar code on the cup.....its not linked to the passin any way.

Yes I know and I never said it was. That doesn't change that the dining plan and the all season refills are not able to be used during this event. The only reason for the cups is to get the reduced price refill of 99¢.

It's been argued before that you should be able to use any cup to get your refill but I disagree with that reasoning. It isn't too difficult to be expected to use the same cup for the refills.

 

[tursiops]

September is now on the reservation calendar, but nothing open yet.

 

[Nibbins]

[..]
It's been argued before that you should be able to use any cup to get your refill but I disagree with that reasoning. It isn't too difficult to be expected to use the same cup for the refills.

My issue with having to use the exact same cup is that the quality really isn't all that great. I had several of these cups melt on my in the car before.
I have a cup now that I bought sometime late September 2019 and that I am expected to use well into 2021. With the amount of times I go to the park and the frequency of my kids dropping the cup I have reasonable concerns about the longevity of the cup.

If it was possible to transfer the plan to a new cup for a small fee in case of catastrophic damage I would sleep a lot better.

 

[warfelg]

I agree with your concerns @Nibbins and I would love to see a park do a 4 plan setup:
1 - BYOC. No cups provided. Bring your own.
2 - A high quality plastic bottle that’s reusable.
3 - The Souvenir cup that you can reuse with a discount on replacements.
4 - One time use cups only.
And rather than tie it to the cup the plan is tied to your pass (seriously why does every park but SEAS do that?) so that way you can do the plans that don’t have cups/bottles with a barcode.

 

[Jonesta6]

I agree with your concerns @Nibbins and I would love to see a park do a 4 plan setup:
1 - BYOC. No cups provided. Bring your own.
2 - A high quality plastic bottle that’s reusable.
3 - The Souvenir cup that you can reuse with a discount on replacements.
4 - One time use cups only.
And rather than tie it to the cup the plan is tied to your pass (seriously why does every park but SEAS do that?) so that way you can do the plans that don’t have cups/bottles with a barcode.

I can see why from a merchandise perspective they wouldn't want to allow outside containers into the park (also now adding further complexities to security and ABC enforcement operations), but I've so far been happy with the CF drinks pass arrangement. Of course, that's only been with a wristband for the day, not adding a season-long pass (we're cheap and there's free water cups all over KD so...)

 

[BGW Family]

Not ANOTHER reject shipped to us from FL! Oh, well. Still better that the houses built here.

 

[BGWnut]

My issue with having to use the exact same cup is that the quality really isn't all that great. I had several of these cups melt on my in the car before.
I have a cup now that I bought sometime late September 2019 and that I am expected to use well into 2021. With the amount of times I go to the park and the frequency of my kids dropping the cup I have reasonable concerns about the longevity of the cup.

If it was possible to transfer the plan to a new cup for a small fee in case of catastrophic damage I would sleep a lot better.

So they will swap out your cups for you and they won't even charge you for it. Just stop by Guest relations they have done it for me a number of times.

 

[horsesboy]

So I read an interesting observation that I can't confirm is true but sounds entirely plausible. That was that the amount of the park open equals about 20 percent of the pathways in public areas. So maybe the limited opening is an attempt in more ways then we thought to try to get to that 5,000 figure the park was hoping for. Showing that the can adequately distance a 5th of the number whith a 5th of the available space seems like a farely potent argument for increased capacity.

 

[JohnKell]

Do yo think BGW will open with Tropical Storm Isaias arriving on Tuesday?

 

[Nicole]

There has been some limited theorizing in the Coasters & Craft Brews thread. Probably the real drivers will be when the storm passes through and whether the park will have time to clean up after.

Sorry. With the continually changing storm forecast, it is hard to be more helpful.

 

[warfelg]

So I was thinking about the Coasters & Craft thing, COVID's impacts on BGW, and I had an interesting thought.

Maybe something good could come from this.

Hear me out. Lets say this event does well, and BGW learns that they can do some small scale events in the park without really opening much and it can be beneficial, maybe they look to do some things. And what I'm thinking is the period from Jan-March when the park is usually closed. Maybe they start doing a small thing with the part of the park they are using now to have some shops, offseason stuff, and get some income in a time the park would be in shutdown mode. I know it's usually cold, but using the right area's and plans I think you could make something really cool.

 

[Buschfan777]

So I was thinking about the Coasters & Craft thing, COVID's impacts on BGW, and I had an interesting thought.

Maybe something good could come from this.

Hear me out. Lets say this event does well, and BGW learns that they can do some small scale events in the park without really opening much and it can be beneficial, maybe they look to do some things. And what I'm thinking is the period from Jan-March when the park is usually closed. Maybe they start doing a small thing with the part of the park they are using now to have some shops, offseason stuff, and get some income in a time the park would be in shutdown mode. I know it's usually cold, but using the right area's and plans I think you could make something really cool.

Possibly, but usually it takes them most of off season just to get all Xmas town stuff down

 

[rswashdc]

So I was thinking about the Coasters & Craft thing, COVID's impacts on BGW, and I had an interesting thought.

Maybe something good could come from this.

Hear me out. Lets say this event does well, and BGW learns that they can do some small scale events in the park without really opening much and it can be beneficial, maybe they look to do some things. And what I'm thinking is the period from Jan-March when the park is usually closed. Maybe they start doing a small thing with the part of the park they are using now to have some shops, offseason stuff, and get some income in a time the park would be in shutdown mode. I know it's usually cold, but using the right area's and plans I think you could make something really cool.

This is definitely a good opportunity to think outside the box. We did a post new year's Christmas town visit this past year and while the vibe feels weird at that point, the weather is decent enough to visit the park, go on a few rides, and spend money on food and shops. Maybe theming small events around Groundhog's Day or Valentines can open up some new revenue and business streams that didn't exist which benefit both the park and its guests.

 

[Jonesta6]

Will they be able to staff these small scale events?

Maybe like a winter animal adventure, or winter gardens.

It'd be really cool but unlikely they could do an expanded insider tour of rides including a peak at yearly off-season maintenance. But I imagine tour groups would get in the way or there wouldn't be much to see - also, outside of enthusiasts I'm not sure how popular it'd be.

 

[BGWnut]

They certainly would be able to staff events like this. They have a fair amount of full time staff and a large chunk of part time that returns each season. The bigger question is would they want to expand to January and February. I think not because then they would have to consider more people as full time than they do now.

I think it's more likely that if this proves successful they could open earlier like say the end of February and stay open in between HOS and CT.

 

[Buschfan777]

They certainly would be able to staff events like this. They have a fair amount of full time staff and a large chunk of part time that returns each season. The bigger question is would they want to expand to January and February. I think not because then they would have to consider more people as full time than they do now.

I think it's more likely that if this proves successful they could open earlier like say the end of February and stay open in between HOS and CT.

Well between HOS and CT is very unlikely because that’s when they take away all the HOS props that are still out and go full force on Xmas town install

 

[warfelg]

They certainly would be able to staff events like this. They have a fair amount of full time staff and a large chunk of part time that returns each season. The bigger question is would they want to expand to January and February. I think not because then they would have to consider more people as full time than they do now.

I think it's more likely that if this proves successful they could open earlier like say the end of February and stay open in between HOS and CT.

I like what @rswashdc suggested. Maybe they do a two week valentine special thing within the park. Not open the full time but open part of the time.