Coronavirus and theme parks

[themagician]

[Brad2912]

I agree Skeet. We saw what happened last time parks didn’t heed safety advice. 

it a stupid short sighted decision imo...

from a PR perspective if a cluster begins at a park... they’ll be ruined. 

I reckon their hands will be forced quick smart...

Edited March 13, 2020 by Brad2912

[New display name]

I honestly don't know what the parks should do @Brad2912 but I have seen what people are saying on social media.  Its not a good look.  The government is being wishy-washy and it just a confusing message being sent out.  

[themagician]

When I briefly visited yesterday you can tell that it is effecting the parks. @Adventures With JWorld you were there too so feel free to provide your thoughts on this. It was Friday, but I’ve been on that day before and they’ve been much busier. Queue wait times were very low and there was only one tourist group in the whole park. The rest seemed to be locals or inter-state guests

I am surprised they haven’t decided to close for the rest of the month like Disney and Universal. If the big guys are doing it, even if they haven’t directly been impacted yet, then our parks should do too. Even if it is just for the 2 weeks. 

[Rivals]

45 minutes ago, themagician said:

When I briefly visited yesterday you can tell that it is effecting the parks. @Adventures With JWorld you were there too so feel free to provide your thoughts on this. It was Friday, but I’ve been on that day before and they’ve been much busier. Queue wait times were very low and there was only one tourist group in the whole park. The rest seemed to be locals or inter-state guests

I am surprised they haven’t decided to close for the rest of the month like Disney and Universal. If the big guys are doing it, even if they haven’t directly been impacted yet, then our parks should do too. Even if it is just for the 2 weeks. 

America has a larger number of cases ( 2,084 ) whereas Australia only has around 200 cases. Once the number of Cases in Australia, especially on the Gold Coast increase, I wouldn’t be surprised if the parks decide to close for a period of time. 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Rivals

[New display name]

[New display name]

@Rivals i was talking to my mother & sister from Portland yesterday and the numbers are definitely higher than what the government is releasing.  People are struggling to get a test if they need to be tested and they also have to pay for a test.  

[gavinfulikes]

Dreamworld may be cost cutting by extending some of the rides maintenance schedule because of low crowds from Covid-19

BuzzSaw was meant to reopen on the 7th, then the 11th, then the 13th and now the 16th

MDMC was meant to reopen on the 9th, then the 11th, then the 13th and now the 15th

Play School Wheel was meant to reopen on the 13th and now the 20th

The Rip is meant to reopen now in April 

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

2 hours ago, themagician said:

When I briefly visited yesterday you can tell that it is effecting the parks. @Adventures With JWorld you were there too so feel free to provide your thoughts on this. It was Friday, but I’ve been on that day before and they’ve been much busier. Queue wait times were very low and there was only one tourist group in the whole park. The rest seemed to be locals or inter-state guests

I have been to all properties on the Gold Coast since the COVID-19 outbreak occurred and will say from observation all properties have been affected but will say MW is probably doing the best out of all of them at this current time,  PC still had quite a few tourist groups when I went a month ago, but ain’t aware if this has increased or decreased since then. 

From observation, attendance hasn't been high from recent visits at WNW/SW/DW/WWW, but I think the weather, lack of rides open and the coroner’s report may have had more a contributing factor to this rather than COVID-19 

[Jobe]

13 hours ago, Gazza said:

Sydney Royal Show has been cancelled. I had flights booked for the first weekend.

Yeah I was taking the family for the first time in years- was also going on the first weekend!! Have already booked accommodation but hadn’t bought any RES tickets which is a good thing. Looks like we will be looking for something else to do in Sydney that weekend!! 

13 hours ago, HussRainbow87 said:

As of now our rides won't be working until at least May... frustrating to say the least... See you in 2021 SRES!

Huss it’s a shame for you guys- the RES is your biggest show!! I was looking forward to seeing all the ride companies best offerings come together this year!!

LPS hasn’t said if they are closing yet ( however LPM have voluntarily closed for 2 weeks) do you know if they had any traveling rides scheduled for the school holiday period? I think it’s only a matter of time before we see a similar announcement from LPS, however. 

 

 

[Jobe]

18 hours ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Arent "most of our parks" Village and Ardent parks lol

Depends on how you look at it doesn’t it? They are our biggest parks for sure, but if you add up all the smaller parks in the other states (including Aussie World) then they are very much in the minority. Whilst the GC is the hub for amusement parks in Australia- our Orlando if you will- it’s important to note that the amusement park industry is not just GC centric. Our smaller parks are an important part of the amusement park landscape in Australia, let’s not forget the important part they play as well as the bigger players. 

[Tim Dasco]

8 minutes ago, Jobe said:

Depends on how you look at it doesn’t it? They are our biggest parks for sure, but if you add up all the smaller parks in the other states (including Aussie World) then they are very much in the minority. Whilst the GC is the hub for amusement parks in Australia- our Orlando if you will- it’s important to note that the amusement park industry is not just GC centric. Our smaller parks are an important part of the amusement park landscape in Australia, let’s not forget the important part they play as well as the bigger players. 

In terms of scale Ardent Leisure and Village Roadshow theme parks are off course the large portion. But in terms of numbers the other parks are the majority. 

- Aussie World

- Gumbya World

- Raging Waters Sydney

- Jamberoo Action Park

- FunFields

- Luna Park Melbroune

- Luna Park Sydney

- Adventure World

- Outback Splash

[Aw hype]

Thanks to whoever merged the two threads talking about the same things. I know that on a lot of mine sites right now they are fever checking people at the gate and redirecting those who don't pass. Would it be possible to upscale that to our parks?

Edited March 14, 2020 by Aw hype

[Levithian]

4 hours ago, themagician said:

I am surprised they haven’t decided to close for the rest of the month like Disney and Universal. If the big guys are doing it, even if they haven’t directly been impacted yet, then our parks should do too. Even if it is just for the 2 weeks. 

Not sure how it works at disney, but apparently VRTP staff wont get paid if they close any of their parks as there is something in their contracts that means they dont have to if they shutdown. So its probably a pretty big consideration if/when they close and how long for, the hardships it will cause staff. Youd just be listening to government advisers. They havent closed schools yet for example.

2 weeks, even a month isnt going to make you safe while its still spreading. People are going to keep getting sick even though cricket and footy are closed games. How long does it go on for? Is there a point where the risk is low enough to resume? Because you cant completely remove the threat..

Will it slow progress? I guess thats their point, but how do you stop multiple waves occurring? Do you close parks for 2 weeks anytime there is a positive test from a guest or staff member? This could drag on for months. That chief medical officer was saying it may be mid year before peak is reached .

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Levithian

[Park Addict 93]

20 minutes ago, Aw hype said:

Thanks to whoever merged the two threads talking about the same things. I know that on a lot of mine sites right now they are fever checking people at the gate and redirecting those who don't pass. Would it be possible to upscale that to our parks?

I would certainly support that being done at the GC parks, Universal Studios Singapore have been doing it for awhile now.

 

 

[Original]

^^ That’s what I agree with. 
If health officials say most of the population will end up with this and will end up in circulation like so many viruses before it why are we crippling our economy even further. 
ScoMo can’t bail every industry out of this hole. 

[franky]

16 minutes ago, Original said:

If health officials say most of the population will end up with this and will end up in circulation like so many viruses before it why are we crippling our economy even further. 

Already covered off in this thread my friend (bolded for reference)

On 13/03/2020 at 3:49 PM, Gazza said:

It's not just the flu though. This doesn't have a vaccine, nor does it have treatments like Tamiflu.

So the flu has things that mitigate its potential impacts.

This doesn't have those backstops, so it has the potential to overwhelm the  healthcare system if allowed to spread quickly, which causes indirect deaths because people with all your regular illnesses and injuries can't get access for proper treatment.

It's one of those Y2K bug situations. If we take measures to slow its spread, and we avert a spike, then people will say those measures were over the top because it was a fizzer.

 

[Original]

And what about how the health care system could be overwhelmed by every dumb Tom, Dick and Harry who sneezes and runs off to the hospital thinking they have it because of how much they’re being scared by it. 
Or leading to a recession by our carry on and the deaths that result in that. 
And what about how officials say this isn’t going away, this virus is going to become the norm like Swine Flu, how long are we meant to shut everything down for then? Until the vaccine is available in a year? And surely everyone realised keeping things closed that long is unattainable.

Lets remember Swine Flu became so common they just stopped testing for it and said if you’ve got the flu stay home unless it gets worse, then visit a hospital. 

[rappa]

Just because a contract states that stuff don’t HAVE to be paid doesn’t mean you can’t choose to pay them. If that’s a concern for closing it’s easy to remove and voluntarily pay staff. 

[Levithian]

5 hours ago, djrappa said:

Just because a contract states that stuff don’t HAVE to be paid doesn’t mean you can’t choose to pay them. If that’s a concern for closing it’s easy to remove and voluntarily pay staff. 

They didnt get paid when it flooded and people were sent home apparently. That was just a number of hours. What happens when thats weeks? 

[Jdude95]

It's up to the business and the contracts their employees have with them. Any casuals would be screwed. Anyone with a contract will probably be covered for a bit. ultimately, it's the business with how they handle their staff during a situation like this. There's many things they could do but until they do it, no one knows what will happen.

[New display name]

Did the casual worker get paid when DW closed after the killing of 4 people?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 13/03/2020 at 5:28 PM, Original said:

I'm sorry but you'll never convince me that this is all over the top bullshit. 

Most people don't get vaccinated for the flu each year and it kills more people and this is what this will become, the common flu. 

The hysteria from media, panic buying groceries and closing all these things IMO only puts a greater strain on the health care system because people sneeze and they show up at a hospital to get tested, only putting them at greater risk of being in contact with someone who could have it. 

Oh my fuck the stupid.

At present, testing is by referral. You need a referral from a GP to get tested, and GP consults can be done over the phone \ facetime bulk billed by medicare.

I've already discussed this, so I won't dwell the point - Covid spreads faster than the flu. It remains undetected longer than the flu. We have no mitigating strategies.

We're seeing exponential growth in the number of infections, and the number of deaths, mainly due to the stupid actions of those countries who haven't locked down. Those who aren't seeing large spikes are countries that already lived through epidemics like SARS, and learned from it - singapore, thailand, etc.

The only reason we're so far seeing such low numbers is because we're an island nation and we're able to more tightly control our borders.

But Australia today is where Italy was 2-3 weeks ago. And they didn't lock down. and now their health system is overwhelmed.

Don't be so fucking selfish.

On 13/03/2020 at 11:05 PM, Skeeta said:

I honestly don't know what the parks should do @Brad2912 but I have seen what people are saying on social media.  Its not a good look.  The government is being wishy-washy and it just a confusing message being sent out.  

They should follow the lead of the market leaders and fucking close down.

On 14/03/2020 at 6:23 AM, themagician said:

If the big guys are doing it, even if they haven’t directly been impacted yet, then our parks should do too. Even if it is just for the 2 weeks. 

Precisely.

On 14/03/2020 at 8:45 AM, gavinfulikes said:

Dreamworld may be cost cutting by extending some of the rides maintenance schedule because of low crowds from Covid-19

BuzzSaw was meant to reopen on the 7th, then the 11th, then the 13th and now the 16th

MDMC was meant to reopen on the 9th, then the 11th, then the 13th and now the 15th

Play School Wheel was meant to reopen on the 13th and now the 20th

The Rip is meant to reopen now in April 

Yeah, you said that already.

On 14/03/2020 at 10:45 AM, Levithian said:

Not sure how it works at disney, but apparently VRTP staff wont get paid if they close any of their parks as there is something in their contracts that means they dont have to if they shutdown. So its probably a pretty big consideration if/when they close and how long for, the hardships it will cause staff. Youd just be listening to government advisers. They havent closed schools yet for example.

2 weeks, even a month isnt going to make you safe while its still spreading. People are going to keep getting sick even though cricket and footy are closed games. How long does it go on for? Is there a point where the risk is low enough to resume? Because you cant completely remove the threat..

Will it slow progress? I guess thats their point, but how do you stop multiple waves occurring? Do you close parks for 2 weeks anytime there is a positive test from a guest or staff member? This could drag on for months. That chief medical officer was saying it may be mid year before peak is reached .

 

Less people are going to get sick at once if less people are exposed to it. #flattenthecurve

Many parks that have closed have flagged an open date, and then revised it based on latest advice. I think closing for two weeks now would be a good start.

27 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

Did the casual worker get paid when DW closed after the killing of 4 people?

I'm pretty sure they all did.

[Naazon]

On 13/03/2020 at 8:43 PM, Gazza said:

Sydney Royal Show has been cancelled. I had flights booked for the first weekend.

I think most airlines are offering fee-free change of dates. see if you can push it back 12 months?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Most airlines are offering fee-free change of dates, but most airlines don't publish flights more than 364 days in advance...