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Whomever cannot operate this year with a 2-3 month loss of revenue.Coronavirus: Impact on Theme Parks
- Thread starter JammyH
- Start date
Whomever cannot operate this year with a 2-3 month loss of revenue.
CanobieFan
Strata Poster
Not necessarily Park related but starting yesterday Orlando (me) and all of Orange County are now under a curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
And Hillsborough County (Tampa) seems to be considering a complete / total stay inside lockdown.
Also rode my bike around Universal Property today. All non-essential roads are coned off and have security vehicles at them, as well as the entrance roads for the hotels and there's signs across the area saying parks and city walk are closed.
It also sounds like Disneyland is going to extend their closure into mid April, If they do I would assume Disney World will follow...but I've seen nothing official here on that.
And Hillsborough County (Tampa) seems to be considering a complete / total stay inside lockdown.
Also rode my bike around Universal Property today. All non-essential roads are coned off and have security vehicles at them, as well as the entrance roads for the hotels and there's signs across the area saying parks and city walk are closed.
It also sounds like Disneyland is going to extend their closure into mid April, If they do I would assume Disney World will follow...but I've seen nothing official here on that.
i305_zack
Mega Poster
I was talking with my dad earlier today and he has been in the news industry for over twenty years, hopefully a lot of you know that Washington has a small outbreak before all the other states. My dad claims that the state is already seeing less cases by the day, so hopefully Washington is on the back half of it. As for the other states, we haven’t reached that yet but expect the U.S to reach the climax point soon. As Italy said last week, we are only a couple weeks behind them to where they are at, and they are at their climax point right now, so we are a couple weeks off from reaching our climax point. If I am putting money on the table, I am betting parks will reopen around Memorial Day weekend, I don’t like to think too negative but it could be mid June, as for July, I see all parks being opened by then. Though we could see extensive cleaning on the rides when they reopen, we will have to wait and see but I am expecting we are a couple weeks away from climax, unlike what other people are saying with us not reaching that until May, don’t worry, we are a lot closer to climax then that, again, stay safe and please don’t get sick!!
Youngster Joey
Strata Poster
Yeah, testing is such a failing there's less cases by the day in Washington because they're testing fewer people and are incredibly restrictive on who's even allowed to get a test. June is likely the earliest that things will go back to "normal" and even when things do reopen there will almost assuredly be new routines and precautions parks will have to take to make sure they can safely be open and that will likely increase wait times for everything. Unless the US really get's it's **** together expect this to last through the year, not necessarily to the degree it is currently but it won't be going away anytime soon, A Vaccine is at minimum a year away. That's sadly just the reality of the situation.
Please tell me it doesn’t take you weeks to get to climax, doesn’t that hurt your hand?
It's great that parks are starting to open back up and I'm sure parks across Europe will be able to start reopening in a couple of months as well. There's a bigger issue for those of us who live in the UK though and are wanting to visit those parks this year. Already, the French government have said they will ban all UK citizens from entering their country if we don't toughen up our measures against the virus. Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Russia and Scandinavia have already banned us from entering their countries.
The measures across Europe to beat the virus are very very strict and in comparison, the UK are very behind Europe in bringing in preventative measures to try and stop the spread of the virus. Therefore, I feel the virus will get far worse here and could last for far longer in the UK than the rest of Europe. Therefore, even though parks across Europe may be starting to reopen, a further issue is that we simply may not be allowed to travel into those countries with those parks to visit them.
These travel bans could be sticking around for a long time. I don't think the Belgium government wants UK citizens into their country up to and past July of this year. One of their major festivals, Rock Werchter, is looking to scale down this year and only allow Belgian bands and Belgian residents to visit the festival, when it is normally a massive festival with international names and loads of English visitors.
For those of us in the UK, unfortunately for the most part of this year we may be stuck with the UK parks as our only option of parks to visit, as travel restrictions may simply prevent us from venturing anywhere else. And for those parks in the uk, I think we are looking at another 2-3 months before they are allowed to reopen again. I'd say even June is optimistic for the parks to reopen, perhaps July is a more plausible timescale.
Matt N
CF Legend
If the parks reopen in July, I'd be fairly happy with that outcome. They ideally need to remain closed until the virus has passed its peak, which is currently predicted to be in around the end of May by the government's modelling. If they reopen too early, then we run the risk of starting a second wave, but by July, the disease should have burned itself out to a degree, and most people should be immune (not because of a vaccine, because the body will have the immune response prepared to battle it).
FarleyFlavors
Mega Poster
To be fair, the likes of Germany and Denmark have closed their borders to everyone, not just UK citizens. We're not the pariah of Europe quite yet.
In any case, UK citizens have effectively been banned from travelling anywhere abroad by the government. Until the "avoid all but essential travel" restriction is lifted, nobody will be covered by travel insurance.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
Even though Japanese parks are reopening, there's been some concerns that they haven't tested enough people. They might have low numbers, but there's likely many more cases that aren't recorded.
That could lead to a second wave of cases and the reclosures of the parks.
China seems to have done more testing so their numbers might be more accurate, and their 2+ months of closures a more realistic expectation.
That could lead to a second wave of cases and the reclosures of the parks.
China seems to have done more testing so their numbers might be more accurate, and their 2+ months of closures a more realistic expectation.
Matt N
CF Legend
The Chinese parks shut on 25th January, and some parks are now beginning to open their doors again (Happy Valley Shanghai opened on 17th March, and Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park opened on 20th March). Shanghai Disneyland did reopen some of the hotels & shops in DisneyTown on 9th March, although the park itself is yet to reopen. Taking into account that the response in China was somewhat more rapid than the response in the Western countries seems to be, I'm going to go with Boris Johnson's estimate (he said that we can "turn the tide within 12 weeks") and guess that parks could reopen in June or so.
I think this is a sensible view. I can see the UK next month going into total lockdown with far higher deaths than Italy as the response we have taken as a country is kind of too little too late (in my opinion). The parks won't be opening in April or May for certain. Hopefully in June life will start to slowly go back to normal and the parks may be able to reopen with strict regulations in place, but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get to this stage until July or August.
The issue I have with all of this is that I personally go to a theme park to feel like im getting away from every day life and just to relax, have fun and not give a care in the world about anything else going on outside the park. Places like Phantasialand, Toverland & Europa Park really do this for me as I find they give you a surreal experience like you have been taken away to another planet and you can just enjoy life without any worries or hassle. With strict regulations in place on hygiene etc (which are bound to come into place this year after all of this has happened), I feel like instead of enjoying the parks im going to be constantly worrying about have I washed my hands, oh here's hand sanitiser in the queue lines I must put it on, got to try and avoid touching the restraints so I don't pick up any viruses. Also things like auditorium based shows, 4d cinemas and VR based attractions will definitely not be able to operate. Scare mazes in October in crammed confined spaces won't be allowed to operate. I wouldn't be surprised if many parks had to scrap the scare mazes from their halloween events this year, or just the halloween events altogether off the back of new regulations.
Basically, what im saying is I think visiting parks in general this year is going to be a completely different experience to how it's been in the past. I'm sure parks will have to enforce strict hygiene rules and regulations and I'm sure some parks will have to reduce the amount of visitors queueing in a queue line at once to try and avoid any potential virus outbreak. Hopefully, once the vaccine is readily available next year, things can return to normal and the tension will be taken away and we might just be able to relax up a little bit. Then going to theme parks will be back to normal
A seasonal park that has to stay shut until September probably wouldn't open at all that year. There wouldn't be enough time left of the season to recuperate the cost of hiring employees, stocking up on supplies, advertising, or get rides approved to operate. Might as well hunker down and wait for the next season in that case.
BlueSonicHD
Mega Poster
until theres a reliable antibody test and they, the governments, roll it out to find out who has had it and is immune (if we do develop immunity to it) then the risk of a second wave once parks open is much greater.
would be nice to see parks open in a few months time but ?
would be nice to see parks open in a few months time but ?
If there is a miracle vaccine ? by the summer and parks can re-open safely and even if it is quite late in the season there might be appetite from the public to go to theme parks even when it is quite cold in November / December completely shifting the season I reckon. That is only of course if this stay at home / self-isolation policy continues for a while. Also potentially increasing opening hours for parks in September / October when many parks close weekdays with more people taking holidays then. Should definitely make it worthwhile. I am considered a critical worker and there's definitely no point taking my holiday days now. If my USA and Finland trips get cancelled I would hopefully be able to take my holiday later in the year and get on a coaster or two.
It's a fluid situation and things could perhaps turn around quickly but it is looking desperately grim at the moment. I feel really bad for so many people, who are suffering due to this virus directly or indirectly. Stay safe everyone.
Matt N
CF Legend
I don't think there will be a vaccine for some time, but I think that the disease will eventually burn itself out. Once it passes its predicted peak, which is predicted to be in May/June, then I'd say it will be quite safe to restart living life normally. Look at China; they're starting to return to normality without major consequences.
That's not what I saw from reports on Twitter. Wuhan is still on lock down pretty much. That is now 2 months. We haven't locked down entire areas (in the UK) at all (yet).
But hope your optimism will be correct.
Matt N
CF Legend
I think some people in Wuhan are being allowed to leave their houses one at a time or something like that, although you're right in saying that they haven't exited lockdown yet. Other parts of China are starting to resume business as usual, however.
