Theme Parks Reopening Post COVID-19

[themagician]

7 hours ago, StingRay said:

So a little movie magic and no one will know the difference.

People are absolutely going to notice though. If half the rides are shut and you are leaving the park at lunch time because you’ve done everything, I think people will notice.

I have been told that not all the rides are remaining closed for maintenance, but because they are complex and take time to get recommissioned. We may not see all rides open at the park until December holidays 

[Naazon]

6 hours ago, Spotty said:

Funny thing about that is, the majority of VRTP staff are actually PPT especially for attractions. But yes, the retraining does take time. Not sure on WnW But I know that at Movie World it was at least 1 day of training (8am - 5pm) for each ride and training is only groups of 2 - 3 people at a time. Some rides did take 2 days of training (Superman, WBK / RoadRunner, Scooby off the top of my head) + 2x extra 4 hour evacuation training sessions for Scooby. So it would take a fair bit of time to re-train multiple groups of people, so you will likely see the same staff on the same rides for a little while until they can all be retrained on multiple rides.

 

1 hour ago, themagician said:

People are absolutely going to notice though. If half the rides are shut and you are leaving the park at lunch time because you’ve done everything, I think people will notice.

I have been told that not all the rides are remaining closed for maintenance, but because they are complex and take time to get recommissioned. We may not see all rides open at the park until December holidays 

Jet Rescue was brought forward by a few weeks (23rd August to now the 9th August). Could this be the reason for that?

If so, we could see similar shortening of downtime's for other rides

[Zac Beckwith]

9 hours ago, themagician said:

Doesn’t look like there will be much to do at WnW

 

at least we can go to whirlpool springs!

[red dragin]

2 hours ago, themagician said:

People are absolutely going to notice though. If half the rides are shut and you are leaving the park at lunch time because you’ve done everything, I think people will notice.

I have been told that not all the rides are remaining closed for maintenance, but because they are complex and take time to get recommissioned. We may not see all rides open at the park until December holidays 

Recommisioning, re-certification, ride trainer refresher, then staff refresher training.

All with limited resources.

[Jpw25111]

So don't go

[StingRay]

Estimation of WnW training and recertification is around 8 days.

[Jpw25111]

Aussie World opens today.

 

https://www.facebook.com/114201288605731/posts/4558605280831954/?sfnsn=mo

[Naazon]

Dreamworld have ceased selling tickets (understandable).

What offers do you think they will have to attract people once reopened?

 

Village are offering $350 worth of vouchers.

[Flynn_Smith]

18 minutes ago, Naazon said:

Dreamworld have ceased selling tickets (understandable).

What offers do you think they will have to attract people once reopened?

 

Village are offering $350 worth of vouchers.

Maybe they'll have their rides open.

[Park Addict 93]

Dreamworld ceased selling tickets immediately after closing. SkyPoint is back to selling tickets once again so I assume once we have a firm reopening date DW ticketing will also resume.

VRTP have been good with their offer, extending it to existing pass holders even. It's smart as almost all the offers require an additional spend. Bring a friend to Carnival for free being the exception.

Must redeem by July 15 with each offer having different expiry's/conditions.

[joz]

Yeah hadn't looked at the vouchers before, but agree that it's a good idea to encourage some extra spending on extras that pass holders wouldn't normally buy.

 

Pass holders don't traditionally don't do things like stay at the resort or do a helicopter flight, so giving them a deal to keep those things ticking over is a winner to me in an environment where there are fewer tourists which is the normal market for those things.

 

Locals get a deal to do things they don't normally do, the parks get to use that excess capacity that's currently being wasted and generate some revenue, win win I reckon.

[Naazon]

2 hours ago, joz said:

Yeah hadn't looked at the vouchers before, but agree that it's a good idea to encourage some extra spending on extras that pass holders wouldn't normally buy.

 

Pass holders don't traditionally don't do things like stay at the resort or do a helicopter flight, so giving them a deal to keep those things ticking over is a winner to me in an environment where there are fewer tourists which is the normal market for those things.

 

Locals get a deal to do things they don't normally do, the parks get to use that excess capacity that's currently being wasted and generate some revenue, win win I reckon.

Personally, my family were planning on visiting Falls Creek but the new Victoria ban means we can't so were holidaying on the coast and will use some of the vouchers (like Outback Spectacular).

 

Also the $$$ savings means we can also get Dreamworld passes which is what brought this to mind. Guess we will see in the coming weeks.

[Ash]

Just renewed our pass at seaworld with the family and they gave us a bunch of extra vouchers for AOS and others. Was only there 3 hours, being the only ride really was the storm open. Was quite busy today actually, a lot of pissed of people with the boats only half loaded etc but staff were good

[themagician]

It amazes me that people are getting pissed off. It isn’t surprising, but still amazes me that they do. They know COVID is a thing. They should be aware the parks have restrictions in place, hence the reason they are allowed to open.

[AheadMatthewawsome]

1 hour ago, themagician said:

It amazes me that people are getting pissed off. It isn’t surprising, but still amazes me that they do. They know COVID is a thing. They should be aware the parks have restrictions in place, hence the reason they are allowed to open.

And we have it there so a Second Wave does no happen. Many innocent lives have already been lost, we don't want more. I am sicken that nobody is Social Distancing, and it makes me terrified! My Dad has just had Open Heart Surgery, and my Grandmother has just gotten a Pacemaker put in. If somebody infects me because they were silly not to Social Distance. It would set back severely their recovery or kill them! Almost every family has at least one member who could get seriously sick for life or dead from COVID-19. But some people seem like they clearly do not care for their family's! It is just not fair!

[Smol bean]

Did anyone go to Aussie world today if so what was it like there with social distancing and all that jazz

[Prequel]

7 minutes ago, Smol bean said:

Did anyone go to Aussie world today if so what was it like there with social distancing and all that jazz

Didn't realise that there was jazz playing, i should of went if that was the case!

[-nick.white.1543]

4 hours ago, themagician said:

It amazes me that people are getting pissed off. It isn’t surprising, but still amazes me that they do. They know COVID is a thing. They should be aware the parks have restrictions in place, hence the reason they are allowed to open.

I work at a significant tourist attraction on Phillip Island in Victoria and I am seeing the same thing which amazes me as well - especially when I’m just creating conversation with guests while they wait for something and they mention things like they are coming down from some of the hotspots, and then even more when they complain and/or ignore restrictions 🙄

[Tim Dasco]

5 hours ago, themagician said:

It amazes me that people are getting pissed off. It isn’t surprising, but still amazes me that they do. They know COVID is a thing. They should be aware the parks have restrictions in place, hence the reason they are allowed to open.

I think people getting annoyed is more to storm being the only ride open, and the massive lack of rides at sea world in general.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

9 hours ago, Tim Dasco said:

I think people getting annoyed is more to storm being the only ride open, and the massive lack of rides at sea world in general.

But that is no excuse. The parks have been clear about what they do and don't have available. Sea World has not had many rides for a while. And, the park has enough shows and exhibits to occupy a family for a significant portion of the day.

Yes its unfortunate that all the rides aren't open, but by all accounts maintenance was paused during the shutdown, as workers were required to work in close proximity, which was a no-no. Now the park has to assess and recertify each attraction, as well as clear a backlog of maintenance, which is also likely to be impacted as supplies and parts may also be delayed.

Regardless of the reason, they posted what rides are available on the website and at the front gate. Sure, its shitty that more isn't available, but they've clearly advised what's there. People getting annoyed or pissed off is down to their own lack of research, and assuming that 'park is open' means 'all rides are open' which is on them and them alone.

Sure, we know VRTP are at least partly motivated by the conditions of sale meaning more money for shareholders if the parks are open when the sale goes through. But businesses everywhere are trying to reopen under whatever conditions they can and it isn't always going to be perfect.

I am wondering how many seats AOS has booked for their reopening too... but as I said a while back - businesses have to accept they're likely to take a hit in the short term, but they have to open in order to establish 'business as usual' when the people come back. visitation numbers are not a light switch you can simply flick to return to full capacity.

Now, I know some may view what i'm saying here as 'giving them a pass'. It isn't. Its a case of being realistic. It's quite likely that when Dreamworld opens, they'll have caught up on all their maintenance backlog and mostly everything will be open with distancing restrictions taken into account. If Dreamworld had opened at this point, they'd have a significant number of rides offline too (and they don't have the same entertainment offering that Sea World has to compensate). But even when they open, it will take a while for the visitation to return, and even though village is opening with a large reduction in attractions, their 'new normal' will have a headstart on Dreamworld simply because they're already opening up.

[rappa]

The other thing which I haven’t brought up to this point is to spare a thought for staff. 
 

Financial matters aside a lot of people draw a great deal of self worth and purpose from being able to go to work. I know a lot of people across a great number of industries that have had mental health issues with being stood down for so long and lacking purpose. 
If the parks being open mean people can get back to work and that helps their mental wellbeing then I’m all for that. And I’d go to far as to say for me that’s more important than the disappointment of some people that they can’t ride their favorite attraction just yet. 

[AheadMatthewawsome]

I went to Luna Park Sydney today on their first day open. I will have more information on my Youtube Channel sometime later. But simply, when you get in via the Face and other entrances, Security are at the front gate so that only the people who have tickets come in, the rest are turned away. You can only go to the Merchandise Store when you are leaving or arriving.

You then line up in a queue where people are supposed to social distance on. Then they scan your ticket when you get to the front of the line. If you have a Annual Pass, Multi Visit Pass, Companion Card, or other cards to enter the park that is free, you need to show ID. They have a desk where they scan them, then right behind the desk is a table. There is on the desk some badges, and a thermometer. They then take your temperature, and then give you a badge with a number, the number depends on how many people are in your group, your badge acts as a ticket.

Once you get in, all staff except the management and showtime performers. The Showtime performers are always behind 3 stages around the park, one at Dodgem City, one at the Sideshow Games, and at the Ferries Wheel. Some rides have had some of their seats not available, like Volare. Some rides were closed for maintenance, like Moon Ranger and Tumble Bug, and some areas were closed off in Coney Island like Joy Wheel, the Course, and the Left and Middle Slide, because of COVID. Hungry Horse Restaurant has been converted to a Showbag Shop temporarily.

There is 3 new temporary rides at Maloney's Corner. Those are, Rockin Tug, Sizzler, and Power Surge (Not yet opened). All owned by Joylands.

You need to use hand sanitizer as you come on and off rides, you also social distance in queues (but no virtual queues), you can only pay with card, no outside food nor drinks are allowed to come, the lockers can't be used, and bring some beer as you can have them with you.

Other than everything above, everything is fine and normal at Luna Park. Actually, it is the best time to come. If you get tickets now, you can be in a mostly quiet Luna Park, with only having to wait less than 10 minutes for a ride.

[themagician]

DC Rivals is currently undergoing testing 

[Zac Beckwith]

 

[Smol bean]

So it looks like movie world are doing a daily countdown with a video showing a ride each day until movie world is back open