Coronavirus and theme parks

[themagician]

@Zac Beckwith yeah there will be a reservation system and contact tracing on all guests through the park 

[Zac Beckwith]

Since we've got this news from Shanghai, is there any slight chance of the GC parks reopening? They could see how shanghai goes and then if it works well they could open and implement similar measures. Maybe the fictional "May 31st" reopening date may become a reality.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

The last I heard is unlikely until at least July.

[themagician]

18 minutes ago, AlexB said:

The last I heard is unlikely until at least July.

Possible reopening by September holidays, but it mostly comes down to the government 

Edited May 7, 2020 by themagician

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

44 minutes ago, themagician said:

Possible reopening by September holidays, but it mostly comes down to the government 

7News reported last night that QLD Government set a late July timeframe for all the parks to reopen by if all goes to plan 

[Brad2912]

The QLD LNP put out their roadmap which has theme parks at end of July - however they are the opposition and not in government so frankly it means nothing (didn’t stop TPSN posting it as fact as he doesn’t have a clue who the govt is). 
 

Personally I think July is very conservative, it will be mid winter and the virus at its most potent or transmissible. 
 

Sept seems far more likely to me 

[themagician]

Disney Springs will reopen on May 20. The rest of WDW including parks and hotels will remain closed. There will be a limited capacity, parking and reduced hours 

[themagician]

They are hoping step 3 will be by the end of july, so we could see the parks open earlier than expected (depending on Qlds situation)

Edited May 8, 2020 by themagician

[Slick]

FYI - amusement parks are in Step 2 - roll-out of these steps is determined at the state level.

[New display name]

[themagician]

With the maximum of 20 people permitted, this would impact quite a few attractions (All speculated of how they may operate)

Overall:

- Social distancing within all queues 

- Character meet and greets will be unlikely

 

Movie World

- Roxy Theatre will need to remain closed

- SDSC, JL and SE will most likely need to use the outdoor queue and only a max of 20 guests will be let inside at once to board the trains/cars.

- 20 people max inside Showcase

- HWSD, either closed or reduced capacity with only certain rows of seats used

- Parade may not operate 

 

Sea World

- Storm Coaster will need an outdoor queue

- Spongebob 3D remains closed

- Underway viewing of Penguins, Shark Bay and Polar Bear Shores will either be closed or limited guests.

- Shows not operated or rescued conducts of social distancing 
 

Dreamworld

- Sky Voyager will need reduced capacity 

- Giant Drop will need to use its outdoor queue 

[New display name]

The parks might believe the 20 count is to hard to police and wait till July.

[Park Addict 93]

The 20 count has this little *



I'm thinking the parks will reopen as soon as they can, with a COVID SAFE Plan. I'm sure that will entail changes to usual operations.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Jordan M.

[themagician]

@Skeeta Or they may open once they are allowed too, but will keep certain attractions closed until July because it might not be worth having staff on for the limit of 20 people. I’m sure all rides will be operated a minimum capacity where possible so they can keep the staff budget low due to the high revenue loss

I wonder if they will keep WnW and WWW closed until the temperatures start to warm up again too?

Edited May 8, 2020 by themagician

[New display name]

@themagician  If you go by @Jordan M. keen eyes it looks like the parks could get some relaxations on the rules.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Skeeta

[Brad2912]

Does the 20 rule in stage 2 apply to individual rides/attractions or the park as a whole? 
a pub can’t have 20 people in each dining area, it’s 20 total. A playground can’t have 20 people on each piece of equipment, it’s 20 total. 

my initial thought would be the park from entry gate onwards can only have 20 in stage 2 which wouldn’t make opening even considerable. 

As Jordan said though, businesses can get a possible increase by having an accepted covid plan in place. 

[New display name]

Walking balls would solve all the worlds problems.

 

Or the parks could hire out Sumo suits.

 

 

 

[themagician]

1 hour ago, Brad2912 said:

Does the 20 rule in stage 2 apply to individual rides/attractions or the park as a whole? 
a pub can’t have 20 people in each dining area, it’s 20 total. A playground can’t have 20 people on each piece of equipment, it’s 20 total.

I would say the 20 rule is within a building. And that’s why there is probably an Astrix there. It could mean, you can have x number of people within the gates, but when there is an indoor attraction/queue, only 20 people will be allowed within that space. Because with 20 people within the park, or even the 100 at stage 3 doesn’t make sense. They’d reach that number in staff 

[New display name]

18 minutes ago, themagician said:

20 people will be allowed within that space. Because with 20 people within the park, or even the 100 at stage 3 doesn’t make sense.

That's why if you have an accepted covid 19 plan they can go higher.  The max 20 is just forcing the parks to have a plan if they want to open.  The max 20 is more for the Mr slingshot amusement park guy.

[colonelbmx]

Its funny reading all this when 2 months ago when they were open and they were only allowed 500 people gatherings outside and everyone was up in arms about how they can still be open with the limits and they should close immediately to now trying to work a way around opening back up when the limit is 20 people for gatherings, 

The saving grace maybe the job keeper payment meaning they can have staff there with out the added cost, they already have minimum staff there to look after the animals (SW, DW, Aus zoo, PC) but on the other hand is it really worth rushing to open back up with the limited crowds and most likely below par experience ( no shows, limited shows/attractions )and now receiving money from the government to ease the pressure takes a bit of the sting out of it.

Anyways I'm putting my money on end of July if not later 

[Brad2912]

8 hours ago, themagician said:

I would say the 20 rule is within a building. And that’s why there is probably an Astrix there. It could mean, you can have x number of people within the gates, but when there is an indoor attraction/queue, only 20 people will be allowed within that space. Because with 20 people within the park, or even the 100 at stage 3 doesn’t make sense. They’d reach that number in staff 

It’s not indoor mate. 
it’s outdoor Or indoor gatherings with a max of 20 people. That’s been made clear. 

and I agree, even with a limit of 100 people, the parks can’t reopen as there would be not far off that in staffing alone. so at this point there really is no re-opening date for theme parks. 
————————————————————————

What will happen to the Gold Coast’s themeparks?

Gold Coast themeparks are still working out what it might mean to re-open post coronavirus with strict limits on visitor numbers. 

GOLD Coast theme parks are still trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Under the State Government’s three step plan, amusements and attractions including indoor movie theatres, concert venues, stadiums, galleries, museums and zoos will be allowed to have up to 20 patrons – and only during stage two, which will rollout in mid June.

But the Gold Coast’s two major theme park operators say there is a huge difference between being allowed to open in theory and opening in practice.

Village Roadshow themeparks and resorts COO Bikash Randhawa said while he appreciated the work that had gone into the road map by state and federal governments, limits of 20 to 100 people were unviable.

“We are working to get an outcome where we open themeparks as soon as possible, given how important they are in the Gold Coast’s economic supply chain,” Mr Randhawa said.

“This plan lacks basic business fundamentals from a commercial point of view, it doesn’t take theme parks into consideration.”

“Given the enormous impact open theme parks could have on accelerating the Gold Coast economy again, we would hope for engagement with the Government to come up with a way we can strike a balance.

“We have a number of suppliers reaching out to use us for work, laundries, auto mechanics caterers, so if we are up and running again so are they.”

“So themeparks should be front and centre of discussions.”

Mr Randhawa said given the mass amounts of infrastructure it could take anything from four to five weeks to reopen any of the parks, with the need for around 2000 staff on site.

“Once you look at the infrastructure required it is easy to see that opening for 100 customers isn’t viable.

“There is a financial impact and investment we would need to make to open, so we need transparency and a clear runway telling us to ‘go ahead do what you need to do’.

“Until then we have suppliers reaching out to us and I am not sure what I can say to them, I feel for small business at the moment.

“I have a big fear that if we allow people to open under such hurdles and restrictions we may see a lot of small business go bust.

“The numbers may not stack up.”

A spokesman for Dreamworld said they were also looking into the detail of the restrictions, to see how viable any reopening may be.

“Like everyone else, we are encouraged by some of the restrictions being lifted as a result of the good work undertaken by all Australians over the past few months,” the spokesman said.

“We note that theme parks have been included in Stage 2 of the Queensland road map and are looking to understand the details more to ensure it is economically viable for our Parks and Attractions to reopen at this time”.

https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/business/what-will-happen-to-the-gold-coasts-themeparks/news-story/2e51f7fc6ae5047b5cdc0eb53db56a69

Edited May 8, 2020 by Brad2912

[New display name]

9 hours ago, colonelbmx said:

Its funny reading all this when 2 months ago when they were open and they were only allowed 500 people gatherings outside and everyone was up in arms about how they can still be open with the limits and they should close immediately to now trying to work a way around opening back up when the limit is 20 people for gatherings, 

The saving grace maybe the job keeper payment meaning they can have staff there with out the added cost, they already have minimum staff there to look after the animals (SW, DW, Aus zoo, PC) but on the other hand is it really worth rushing to open back up with the limited crowds and most likely below par experience ( no shows, limited shows/attractions )and now receiving money from the government to ease the pressure takes a bit of the sting out of it.

Anyways I'm putting my money on end of July if not later 

I'm sorry but I haven't said they "should" reopen and I don't think anybody has.  What is being discussed is when they might reopen.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

7 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

It’s not indoor mate. 
it’s outdoor Or indoor gatherings with a max of 20 people. That’s been made clear. 

and I agree, even with a limit of 100 people, the parks can’t reopen as there would be not far off that in staffing alone. so at this point there really is no re-opening date for theme parks. 
 

@Skeeta pretty much got it spot on 

Notice how the amusement parks for Stage 2 has a little asterisk saying “More with COVID SAFE Plan approved by health authorities”?

I assume, that’s if I am indeed reading into this all correctly, if the all the parks can show how they can implement a COVID Safe plan than what is expected of them, they maybe given more to work with so possible more attendance allowed in the parks? Where is if they just went with just good ol social distancing and that’s it, 20-100 people max inside.

I’ll say the whole of next two weeks now, will see both VRTP and Ardent develop their COVID Safe plan and submit it to QLD Government and say in three weeks time, we should get a date confirmation and what is to be expected when they reopen (restrictions etc) That’s my take on the whole situation

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Adventures With JWorld

[Brad2912]

@Adventures With JWorld

i completely understand the asterisk concept and that situationally more people will be considered if you have a watertight plan. 

however, no amount of planning is going to get you a 3,000-5,000 person capacity limit whilst the majority of the country is operating at 20 or 100 people. 
 

We’re heading into winter and I can’t count the amount of times I’ve been in queue lines at parks in winter over the years with people coughing and spluttering all over the place. 
 

You can say if you are sick stay home, but a lot of people are just dead selfish and don’t care, we’ve seen that with people’s actions during the tighter restrictions, those people will become even more lax and ignorant now we see a loosening of rules. 
 

For mine at a minimum they are going to have to prove they can keep surfaces clear from the virus - and that will be incredibly hard given the life cycle of the virus on metal surfaces. Will they need to remove queue rails so people can’t touch them and just have floor markings with crosses every 1.5m? Harnesses will undoubtedly have to be wiped down after every cycle. Sanitisation of hands before and after every ride. Parades and shows can’t happen as there is no way to monitor social distancing when 3000 people rock up on Main Street at once.At some point the bean counters will ask is it worth it? Or do we just keep paying job keeper to our permanent staff which costs us nothing until mid sept ? 

 

if I am honest, I don’t see an easy way Or an economic way for theme parks to reopen until capacity limits are lifted entirely and we are basically on the other side (and through winter). 

Edited May 9, 2020 by Brad2912

[Levithian]

Its simple. The parks will have a break even limit. If they cant get exemptions for at minimum that level, theyll ride out the restrictions as long as the government funding holds out and address potential redundancies and job losses if it progresses further. 

Dont forget they will have factored in the complete lack of international visitors too and if state border restrictions continue longer, its only going to hurt numbers further. 

Its also worth noting that social distancing rules apply even when these restrictions are relaxed. So youre still expected to maintain your 1.5m spacings and limit indoors to the 4sqm rule as before.

How do you plan to maintain that on a roller coaster? Run cars/trains at 1/4 capacity?

Edited May 9, 2020 by Levithian