Mardi Gras 2022

[super7]

Look, I'm going to be frank here: I think you people are being ridiculous. All you have to do is look at the weather forecast. If the forecast calls for a ton of precipitation, you don't want to go to the park. Why? Nothing will be open and they may very well close since no one but you is going to be there. It's just that simple.

Should BGW have called today earlier? For sure. Trying to use this as some enormous condemnation of year-round operations, the current state of BGW, or the events their putting on is just ludicrous though. I decided against going to the park today like three days ago—you know, when I saw the forecast was calling for nonstop rain and I assumed the park was likely to close.

Also, this isn't a winter thing. Guess what happens during the normal season when it's forecast to pour down rain all day? Nothing opens, the park sucks, and often the park closes because no one but you showed up. Welcome to being a regional outdoor theme park? I don't know what you people want.

My opinion is that of a traveling customer. I’m not coming when a park is infamous for closing for weather. It’s not worth &
$400-$500 of travel and lodging to come to a closed park.

Maybe I have been lucky but I have not experienced BGW closing due to weather in normal season. It’s been a few years, but I recall a full day at Christmas Town in the pouring rain, with enough to do between shows, train, lights, etc.

A bad reputation for closures also prevents people from even planning on coming. It really only appeals to local season passholders who aren’t highly inconvenienced and make closely locall trips to the park

Between the general lack of things to at these winter events (leading to small attendance). and the constant closures, there’s no way this is financially successful.

I still wonder how they keep employees when they constantly cut hours.

 

[warfelg]

Honestly at times some people sound ungrateful that they can’t do what they want when they want.

I’m sure employees are fine with a few days off and also understand the dynamics of an Outdoor job. Hell when I would interview people for outside ops jobs I would straight up ask their feelings on random shift cancelations. Never once heard a complaint.

 

[bill s]

I always thought they ran rides in light rain. I've been to KD when they closed early, but everything ran in heavy rain until then. But at least on a rainy day in the main season, it would be surrounded by better days. This time it was surrounded by days that are worse. I would have normally never considered trying to make it down there on a Friday but have been watching the weather for a month and can't be the only one. If by cancelling they saved me another waste of time that's good, but don't see why that would have been the case. The forecast improved considerably right before I saw the closure, and nearly made it out the door.

If we can get a couple more degrees Sunday it could be a better day to go. If they changed their policies to allow running a couple degrees cooler or were more helpful on predicting what will happen that would also make Sunday the better day, because it certainly will look better.

 

[AIR]

I still wonder how they keep employees when they constantly cut hours.

When the park is closed, for quite a few (not all) employees, hours and overtime actually get raised and a lot more work can get done when guests aren't there.

 

[warfelg]

I always thought they ran rides in light rain. I've been to KD when they closed early, but everything ran in heavy rain until then. But at least on a rainy day in the main season, it would be surrounded by better days. This time it was surrounded by days that are worse. I would have normally never considered trying to make it down there on a Friday but have been watching the weather for a month and can't be the only one. If by cancelling they saved me another waste of time that's good, but don't see why that would have been the case. The forecast improved considerably right before I saw the closure, and nearly made it out the door.

If we can get a couple more degrees Sunday it could be a better day to go. If they changed their policies to allow running a couple degrees cooler or were more helpful on predicting what will happen that would also make Sunday the better day, because it certainly will look better.

And it’s tough. They don’t want to call it too soon then it’s nice. You might make the trip last second.

Weather closures and delays are some of the hardest things to do as someone in charge. Someone always thinks you are wrong. You get complaints of closed too early, too late, didn’t warn well enough.

 

[WDWRLD]

When the park is closed, for quite a few (not all) employees, hours and overtime actually get raised and a lot more work can get done when guests aren't there.

Can you explain this more? So your saying yesterday they got things done at the park since it was closed?

 

[AIR]

Yes. Entertainment, Maintenance, Park Ops, Merchandise and other departments can all work on things that aren't direct customer service: Fixing utilities, stocking shops, prepping areas and food, decorating, cleaning, ride maintenance. There are close to an unlimited amount of hours of work to do at the park. Ride operators and line workers are seasonal positions that require direct guest interaction which allows them them to have a job. So that job may have limited or unreliable hours That's why they're seasonal/part time positions. There are a significant amount of those positions but some of them can choose to come in when the park is closed or their rides aren't running to sweep paths or do other things to help. The park operates 24/7 whether guests in it or not.

 

[horsesboy]

I always thought they ran rides in light rain. I've been to KD when they closed early, but everything ran in heavy rain until then. But at least on a rainy day in the main season, it would be surrounded by better days. This time it was surrounded by days that are worse. I would have normally never considered trying to make it down there on a Friday but have been watching the weather for a month and can't be the only one. If by cancelling they saved me another waste of time that's good, but don't see why that would have been the case. The forecast improved considerably right before I saw the closure, and nearly made it out the door.

If we can get a couple more degrees Sunday it could be a better day to go. If they changed their policies to allow running a couple degrees cooler or were more helpful on predicting what will happen that would also make Sunday the better day, because it certainly will look better.

I don't understand why people think changing policies to run rides colder equals more guests coming. Last Friday they were running coasters at right above the cut off. I rode several times and not one time in that visit did I see more then a half dozen in line to ride. This has been my experience everytime and at every park that I have riden coasters once the temp drops bellow 50. So what will running those rides in colder temps accomplish?

 

[WDWRLD]

Yes. Entertainment, Maintenance, Park Ops, Merchandise and other departments can all work on things that aren't direct customer service: Fixing utilities, stocking shops, prepping areas and food, decorating, cleaning, ride maintenance. There are close to an unlimited amount of hours of work to do at the park. Ride operators and line workers are seasonal positions that require direct guest interaction which allows them them to have a job. So that job may have limited or unreliable hours That's why they're seasonal/part time positions. There are a significant amount of those positions but some of them can choose to come in when the park is closed or their rides aren't running to sweep paths or do other things to help. The park operates 24/7 whether guests in it or not.

If this is true then why do things like food ops close a hour before the park closes and employees are frantically cleaning and heading out of the park before the posted closing times….or from a guest point of view thats how it seems.

 

[WDWRLD]

I don't understand why people think changing policies to run rides colder equals more guests coming. Last Friday they were running coasters at right above the cut off. I rode several times and not one time in that visit did I see more then a half dozen in line to ride. This has been my experience everytime and at every park that I have riden coasters once the temp drops bellow 50. So what will running those rides in colder temps accomplish?

I think a more standard and reliable oops would bring in more people than you mention. Thing is at BGW you never know what your going to get…..and this isn’t just for winter weekends.

 

[BGWnut]

My opinion is that of a traveling customer. I’m not coming when a park is infamous for closing for weather. It’s not worth &
$400-$500 of travel and lodging to come to a closed park.

Maybe I have been lucky but I have not experienced BGW closing due to weather in normal season. It’s been a few years, but I recall a full day at Christmas Town in the pouring rain, with enough to do between shows, train, lights, etc.

A bad reputation for closures also prevents people from even planning on coming. It really only appeals to local season passholders who aren’t highly inconvenienced and make closely locall trips to the park

Between the general lack of things to at these winter events (leading to small attendance). and the constant closures, there’s no way this is financially successful.

I still wonder how they keep employees when they constantly cut hours.

A bad reputation for closing? You are referring to bad weather that 3 weeks in a row shutting down operations. Last year there was 0 weather impacted days during January and February. And if you want to avoid weather impacted closings then I am afraid you should only visit parks like Great Wolf Lodge and nickelodeon universe because this isn't a BGW issue.

You seem to be hyper focused on finding something to say about BGW when this isn't a BGW specific problem. It's an industry wide issue. Yesterday is really the only day that it could be argued that they could have opened despite the forecast, but the forecast was still bad and it was justified for them to close. I just wish it had been earlier.

 

[Nicole]

For what it is worth, the water parks in Florida keep shutting down, because of the weather, as well.

Although I don’t support year-round operations in Virginia in principle, I think this particular discussion is sounding a bit petty. The weather has been unusually bad, and meteorologists have been having difficulty making accurate predictions across the region.

 

[horsesboy]

A bad reputation for closing? You are referring to bad weather that 3 weeks in a row shutting down operations. Last year there was 0 weather impacted days during January and February. And if you want to avoid weather impacted closings then I am afraid you should only visit parks like Great Wolf Lodge and nickelodeon universe because this isn't a BGW issue.

You seem to be hyper focused on finding something to say about BGW when this isn't a BGW specific problem. It's an industry wide issue. Yesterday is really the only day that it could be argued that they could have opened despite the forecast, but the forecast was still bad and it was justified for them to close. I just wish it had been earlier.

BGW in NY experience has been one of the better parks in keeping weather related closers to a minimum. There have been numerous days that they have opened that I have wondered why they did. vFor the record the guest count that I have heard from last Friday was around 400. I also heard the park lost heavily in prepared food and stuff that day. If that info is even remotely close then not opening and risking a repeat of that this week was 100% the right call.

On another note crowds are light but business seems to be fairly decent for the park today with lines at every booth this afternoon.

 

[WDWRLD]

For what it is worth, the water parks in Florida keep shutting down, because of the weather, as well.

You really cant compare the two, when its cold at the Florida Water parks you cant exactly put a coat on to keep warm. At BGW you can.

 

[Zachary]

You really cant compare the two, when its cold at the Florida Water parks you cant exactly put a coat on to keep warm. At BGW you can.

You can compare the two.

People don't want to go to a water park when it's cold so they don't show up. Said water parks close when it's going to be cold because people aren't going to show up and they'll lose a bunch of money.

People don't want to go to a regional theme park with a heavy reliance on outdoor attractions when it's pouring down rain so they don't show up. Said parks close when it's going to be pouring down rain because people aren't going to show up and they'll lose a bunch of money.

The rational is literally identical.

If these FL water parks were going to make money despite the cold temperatures, they would be open. They are closing for the same financial reasoning BGW employed when they closed on Friday.

 

[super7]

A bad reputation for closing? You are referring to bad weather that 3 weeks in a row shutting down operations. Last year there was 0 weather impacted days during January and February. And if you want to avoid weather impacted closings then I am afraid you should only visit parks like Great Wolf Lodge and nickelodeon universe because this isn't a BGW issue.

You seem to be hyper focused on finding something to say about BGW when this isn't a BGW specific problem. It's an industry wide issue. Yesterday is really the only day that it could be argued that they could have opened despite the forecast, but the forecast was still bad and it was justified for them to close. I just wish it had been earlier.

I’m not hyper focused on anything lol. Just stating facts. I’m not traveling to the event. Period. It’s plagued with closures and not much to do in cold weather. They can’t be getting any traveling customers and the few local ones attending probably aren’t bringing in much extra revenue. I doubt if the operate in Jan Feb next year. Poorly planned events normally don’t return.

 

[Zachary]

I’m not hyper focused on anything lol. Just stating facts. I’m not traveling to the event. Period. It’s plagued with closures and not much to do in cold weather. They can’t be getting any traveling customers and the few local ones attending probably aren’t bringing in much extra revenue. I doubt if the operate in Jan Feb next year. Poorly planned events normally don’t return.

BGW doesn't want you to travel for this event. It's for locals to buy food and booze.

 

[BGWnut]

I’m not hyper focused on anything lol. Just stating facts. I’m not traveling to the event. Period. It’s plagued with closures and not much to do in cold weather. They can’t be getting any traveling customers and the few local ones attending probably aren’t bringing in much extra revenue. I doubt if the operate in Jan Feb next year. Poorly planned events normally don’t return.

It's already on the calendar for next year. Hate to be the one to burst that bubble for you. It was very well attended last year when the weather cooperated on a weekly basis.

You aren't stating facts as BGW has no such reputation to anyone but yourself. You are nitpicking and focusing on only BGW as if it's a problem that's only specific to BGW. Instead it's an industry wide issue.

 

[super7]

It may well be an industry wide issue now. I have been burnt by Cedar Fair closures multiple times after traveling. For rain. Just rain.

There is a point where people find something else to do. It’s laughable how locals defend poorly run parks because they don’t do anything else.

 

[Zachary]

It’s laughable how locals defend poorly run parks because they don’t do anything else.

Says the person who apparently travels to Williamsburg, VA exclusively for BGW and can't find anything to do indoors in Hampton Roads during a rained-out weekend trip...?

I wasn't going to go down this route, but since you opened the door, yes, there's a ton of great stuff to do around here. If you book a hotel and then the weather changes and it looks like a total washout, that sucks, but it happens. In fact, it happens on vacations to almost any type of destination. Ever tried to go hiking or camping only for it to rain the whole time? I have. You just gotta make the best of a bad situation and find something else to do. Luckily, unlike some small town up in the mountains, Hampton Roads features many indoor, year-round, weather-resilient, historical/cultural/scientific/educational attractions that are well worth your time and money.