COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW

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Thank you Memles for using so many words to simply say, personal responsibility does indeed trump social responsibility, as do all of the reports on this page. By attrition, personal responsibility would conglomerate into social responsibility. The typical social responsibility I've seen is this same careless and very unresponsively selfish general public.

I take my own measures to be safe because, pained as rainbow as you dream, most people aren't going to do it for me. Not gonna' hold my breath for that. Wait, maybe I should since they are 6 inches from my face without a mask on while trying to shake my hand. So, to add up what I said earlier, the public and BGW are just a bunch of people. Unfortunately, people are people. High hopes, but still the same creatures of hapless habit in the end. Don't dream it. Be it.
 
I wasnt going to post anything after last nights visit because I didnt want the "thats just what you saw" comments but mask use was down from the night before including team members at food locations that were directly dealing with guests. Many groups of people enjoying adult drinks and so on. BGW security...havent seen one inside the park yet just two actual local police, only seen security at the temp check stations. I thnk....and this is just me they need some indoor rest locations since there are no indoor attractions and gift shops have seemed extra warm these past few days. Theres basically no where to go other that a hot outdoor place.

Now about the comments about there should be more frequent cleaning of rides, we watched FF the other night after it had rained and was super damp...ride was down 20 minutes as they looked like they were trying to get the cleaner to dry. After a cycle they still spent a long time towel drying the seats. Now for tables, we have sat in a few locations for almost a hour watching and have yet to see widespread cleaning of tables. In fact Friday night the first table near Trappers had ketchup all over it and the second looked like spilled soda. In the 30 or so minutes we ate no one cleaned them. What I think would be a good policy is a small plastic table standee saying "table cleaned" that after a guest used the table they lay it down to alert staff to clean it for the next guest. They could also wipe a plastic standee as they cleaned. Some resorts are using a system where guests are asked to fold the lounge chairs backs down after use so they know which ones need cleaning.
 
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So. Today, in my opinion, was very different than Wednesday.

Social distancing and mask wearing were much less prevalent. It seemed as if every group had at least one person with his or her nose sticking out. People also kept filing in the queues, as if it was just a normal day. The combination was sub-optimal.

While policies were being enforced inside ride stations, the queues, paths, and dining locations were unmonitored and apparently reliant on the honor system. Moreover, I watched staff walk past people with their masks positioned to protect their chins from the harsh elements and do nothing to rectify the situation.

I also noticed that holding a beer is viewed as some kind of get out of jail free card. Regardless of whether you are drinking it, apparently merely the act of holding a cup with sone kind of liquid in it entities you to walk around the park without any kind of face covering. I really think BGW should adopt the Disney policy of requiring guests to sit or stand in one socially distanced place, while eating and drinking, especially given how narrow the pathways are in some locations.

Finally, as excited as I am with the idea of their bringing out their animals throughout the day, they need to find places, where guests can gather safely. More than once we came upon tightly packed groups of people blocking a path, while clustered around a keeper and some furrry or feathered ambassador. I think they need to select a wide open space and put down distanced markers, so everyone can easily remain properly spread out. I really think this event is the perfect time for the zoology department to contribute, but they need to rethink the best was to showcase their animals.

I am still hopeful that the park can fix the flaws in their operations and provide safe events for the rest of 2020.
 
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Nicole said:
While policies were being enforced inside ride stations, the queues, paths, and dining locations were unmonitored and apparently reliant on the honor system. Moreover, I watched staff walk past people with their masks positioned to protect their chins from the harsh elements and do nothing to rectify the situation.

I also noticed that holding a beer is viewed as some kind of get out of jail free card. Regardless of whether you are drinking it, apparently merely the act of holding a cup with sone kind of liquid in it entities you to walk around the park without any kind of face covering. I really think BGW should adopt the Disney policy of requiring guests to sit or stand in one socially distanced place, while eating and drinking, especially given how narrow the pathways are in some locations.
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This was my biggest gripe on Saturday! So many people were holding drinks and just casually walking around talking with their masks off, not even pretending to be drinking.
They really need to either put safety monitors/security around the park to ensure people are following the rules and/or you can only eat or drink while stationary.
I total understand the skeleton crew, but they need at least a handful more to keep people in line. I really don't want Richmond to get wind of this and shut things down again because I don't doubt they will.
 
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^^-- because of course Virginia and BG can stop this pandemic unilaterally (sarcasm).


Perhaps there is a enforcement fatigue by Sunday. Also enforcement of any policy is strongest or sometimes excessive after Getting the Speech. An ironic aspect of human nature is one gets more comfortable the longer they are in a place, thus more likely to get lax in the situation where that is worst.

I know one thing, noses can look huge over a mask, maybe they could do something to point that out! On my Hershey trip last Monday I saw a lot of it. Bigger the beak, more likely to not be covered.

SFA was much better yesterday and also had some line spacing enforcement. Previous trip less so but also light crowd before they started closing on Mondays. I don't advocate a mask Gestapo and wouldn't be there myself if they had security looking for people getting a bit of ventilation in a way conscious of their surroundings. The problem is the people that simply don't care, and kids that impulsively crowd your space as if that will somehow get them on the ride sooner.
 
Zachary said:
3rd point is the big one. Not unexpected, but good that they are confident enough to talk about it at this point.
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I’m glad they’re not pretending the restriction is going away anytime soon and planning with this format in mind. I’m wary about enforcement after last night, but I suppose I’m enough of a glutton for punishment that I’m presuming cooler weather will make people more likely to leave masks on?
 
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Memles said:
I’m glad they’re not pretending the restriction is going away anytime soon and planning with this format in mind. I’m wary about enforcement after last night, but I suppose I’m enough of a glutton for punishment that I’m presuming cooler weather will make people more likely to leave masks on?
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It'd be really unfortunate if BGW couldn't get restrictions eased. Both MD and PA have parks open with contact tracing in place, and neither are seeing outbreaks at the parks. Even if the governor doesn't like looking at FL for guidance, MD and PA are good examples of the safety of BGW opening further.

Cooler weather helps quite a bit for masks. I've noticed that in my park trips that at 80 and under heat index, the mask isn't a big deal at all. Above 80 is where it starts going down hill as I need to drink a lot more water and if it's humid sweat starts causing varying issues.
 
So with the VA government released contact tracing app, if there was a way incentivize it's use within the park I think that'd be a real easy way to show commitment to guest safety in a pandemic as well as more or less outsource the need for a system developed by the park.

Thinking all staff would be required to have it installed and on, guests aren't required per se but by proving it's installed and on would give perks of some sort - maybe a special invite to ride Pantheon on a special day before it's opening, maybe something else that holds lots of value to any guest no matter what type of admission they have (single-day tickets to Platinum memberships and everything in between) that ideally adds to the park's bottom line.
 
Jonesta6 said:
Thinking all staff would be required to have it installed and on.
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So employment would be based on them having a smartphone and having to show their employer their device? Also, for a example the person at Trappers that directs you to which line. We were one night standing within 6-8 foot of here for about 15 minutes. So what happens if it’s required and they get a alert on their phone that they were exposed? Does that become a worker’s compensation issue?
 
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WDWRLD said:
So employment would be based on them having a smartphone and having to show their employer their device? Also, for a example the person at Trappers that directs you to which line. We were one night standing within 6-8 foot of here for about 15 minutes. So what happens if it’s required and they get a alert on their phone that they were exposed? Does that become a worker’s compensation issue?
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So there's nuance needed - obviously one cannot use an app if they don't have the appropriate equipment to do so.

Good question about what to do if a front-line employee was exposed to a potentially deadly virus while at work, @WDWRLD.

I'll counter with this: if the employee was using the app on their own without any influence from their employer in a venue with higher than normal scrutiny for safety by the government and public, and got an exposure warning, wouldn't it be great PR for the venue to do everything it can to lead the crisis from the front instead of going on the defensive and losing credibility and/or business?
 
Worker’s Compensation is statutory and determined by state. Is there an implied objection to BGW employees receiving this benefit, if tracing indicated they were exposed to COVID in the course of their duties?



Across the states that NCCI surveyed, the threshold question to determine if an injured worker will obtain workers compensation benefits is: Did the worker’s injury or death arise out of the course and scope of employment? Depending on the state, “arising out of” employment generally requires a causal connection between the injury and the employment, whereas “in the course of” employment refers to a causal connection to the workplace and looks at the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident or injury occurred. Across NCCI states, “course and scope” statutes generally appear as providing compensation for personal/accidental injury arising in and out of employment and occupational disease arising in and out of employment.

...

Similar to an injury, an occupational disease—which is often generally defined as a disease or illness under workers compensation—must arise in and out of the course of employment. Some states may have a separate statutory section specific to occupational diseases, other states may include occupational diseases under standard workers compensation laws, while a minority do not define an occupational disease at all.
Examples of how state statutes may address an Occupational Disease:
• “Occupational disease” not specifically defined: (AK, DC, HI, MS, TN)
• “Occupational disease” is included in the definition of “injury” or is generally treated the same as “injuries”: (AL, AK, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IL, KS, KY, LA, MS, NE, NH, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WV)

...

For an occupational disease to arise in and out of the course of employment, some states may require that the following elements be met:
• Causal connection or direct causal connection between the conditions under which work is performed and the occupational disease (AZ, IL, KY, MS,
NM, NV, VA, WV)
• The disease can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the work as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment
(AZ, KY, NM, NV, VA, WV)
• The disease can be fairly traced to the employment as the proximate cause (AZ, KY, NM, NV, VA, WV)
• The disease does not come from a hazard to which the employee would have been equally exposed outside of the employment (AZ, NV, WV)
• The disease is neither a disease to which an employee may have had substantial exposure outside of the employment, nor any condition of the
neck, back, or spinal column (VA)
• The disease is incidental to the character of the business and not independent of the relation of employer and employee (AZ, VA, WV)
• The disease appears to have had its origin in a risk connected with the employment and to have flowed from that source as a natural consequence,
though it need not have been foreseen or expected before its contraction (AZ, VA, WV)
 
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Jonesta6 said:
So there's nuance needed - obviously one cannot use an app if they don't have the appropriate equipment to do so.

Good question about what to do if a front-line employee was exposed to a potentially deadly virus while at work, @WDWRLD.

I'll counter with this: if the employee was using the app on their own without any influence from their employer in a venue with higher than normal scrutiny for safety by the government and public, and got an exposure warning, wouldn't it be great PR for the venue to do everything it can to lead the crisis from the front instead of going on the defensive and losing credibility and/or business?
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My point is if a employee has this installed on their own device on their own then its on them. If its required by a employer then that person gets a alert they were exposed then where does that liability fall for the park? Does the park then have to pay to get the person tested, does the park not let that person work? Does the park provide health insurance to cover the cost of testing and does the employee have sick leave to still get paid while out waiting for the test to return.

I think the park would be walking a fine line requiring all employes have the app and have it working. Also does the park have a policy about sell phone use? I think any employer mandating the use of the app is wrong unless they are using a company supplied device or recieve a stippend for the device. Im not saying the app is bad just that when employers get involved things could get complicated.
 
I have a strange conspiracy theory...some of the hand sanitizer is homemade based on cheap liquor that would have otherwise gone unused.

I have never used a hand sanitizer that has that low viscosity before.

Honestly just a shitpost don't take it seriously
 
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The only way they'll have issues with the state is if the park is willfully disregarding the state's mark policy. If they are disciplining employees who violate mask protocols and communicating the rules, the park will be fine.
 
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