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Coronavirus: Impact on Theme Parks

JoshC.

Strata Poster
I went to Thorpe today for first time this year. Was a very weird visit.

I've been to the park too many times to count. I've been there on super quiet days. On days where everything has gone wrong and most rides closed down. And the feeling on park was unlike any of that. The atmosphere felt closer to closed season, a few weeks before the park opens up, when some rides are running, some aren't, with a few people just wandering around aimlessly.

With the constant signage too, along with so many closed rides, it very much felt like the escapism of a theme park wasn't there. It did feel like being in a pandemic still. I sort of expected that too given the circumstances, so that's not a negative. It's a shame though. It'll be interesting to see if that improves as more rides open, and how I feel in other parks.

Since all the rides that were open require a mask to be worn, everyone was wearing masks on rides. I didn't see anyone not wearing one. A fair few wearing it round the park too. Social distancing was largely done well, bar a couple of groups here and there.

So yeah, fair play to the park for handling the situation pretty damn well all things considered. Here's hoping that we can get some sort of progress with the atmosphere in the near future.
 

BlueSonicHD

Mega Poster
I don’t think that the ‘safer’ should go on as normal... While the vulnerable shield... Because they won’t :)

:) I never said I was going back to normal tho, still sticking to the rules .. just not gonna worry about dying IF catch it

anyways ... moving on

The VAT for theme parks has been cut to 5% so hopefully that will give them a bit more money to play with,
cant see them passing the savings onto visitors tho
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
:) I never said I was going back to normal tho, still sticking to the rules .. just not gonna worry about dying IF catch it

anyways ... moving on

The VAT for theme parks has been cut to 5% so hopefully that will give them a bit more money to play with,
cant see them passing the savings onto visitors tho
I know... I was defending you... Read further back in the thread ??

VAT cut for pubs too ? ?
 

BlueSonicHD

Mega Poster
I know... I was defending you... Read further back in the thread ??

VAT cut for pubs too ? ?
?

Cheep booze. Now if only I drank alcohol ?

Michigan's Adventure is opening their waterpark.


Masks at a water park ? That’s doesn’t sound safe !
Or is it not a Waterpark ?
 

Dar

Hyper Poster
Saw some worrying stuff about neurological symptoms that are also present in some people, including inflammation of nerves in the brain and spine :(

Mind you, brain damage combined with total loss of taste can only mean good things for Gerstlauer et al :p
 

UP87

Mega Poster
You need to start comparing daily figures to the same day 7 days / a week ago...

new infections down by over 100 in 7 days... Despite today marking the all important 5 day average incubation time since pubs opening..,
As you can see in Tulsa (USA) right now it can be up to about two weeks untill you see the spike happening.
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
As you can see in Tulsa (USA) right now it can be up to about two weeks untill you see the spike happening.
Yes, that is why quarantine is 14 days :) however you would expect a slow down in the rate of decline at least after 5-7 days, as the average incubation period is 5 days :)

The UK ‘rate’ of decline appears to actually be accelerating on my charts ? But there’s still a few days yet for a change to raise it’s ugly head... Fingers crossed it doesn’t ?
 

davidm

Strata Poster
Does this mean the parks would be cheaper for us as consumers?

Blooloop reporting that Merlin will pass it on ; https://blooloop.com/news/merlin-attractions-vat-cut-uk/

The cost of tickets will be cut for major attractions, including Merlin’s Alton Towers, Madame Tussauds, Legoland Windsor, Chessington World of Adventures, The London Eye, and Thorpe Park.

BUT note that that (the Blooloop article) is referring to another article (this one) rather than quoting Merlin/Nick Varley directly so treat that as speculation for the moment.
 

Professor

Previously AndrewRollercoaster
Rita has reopened at Alton Towers as of today.
Still without 13 which I guess will stay closed as long as they can't fill the trains fully.
 

Tonkso

Hyper Poster
Possibly a dumb question, but can they not get out the water dummies? Or is there a safety consideration there when using with riders on board?
 

JammyH

Hyper Poster
Sorry for the question, but I'm trying to plan if, where and when I want to go to a park this summer. A big factor for me is queueing, I don't really want to be standing in ridiculous lines due to slow operations e.g. like at Alton Towers so far. I know parks like Phantasialand and Europa Park are operating efficiently still but I was also wondering if any parks were still running fastrack to anyone's knowledge?

I know fastrack isn't operating at most parks this season but I heard it's possibly running at Parc Asterix, and I was wondering if it was operational at PortAventura too?

Just something for me to consider, especially if people are disregarding social distancing in slow-moving main lines.
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
Sorry for the question, but I'm trying to plan if, where and when I want to go to a park this summer. A big factor for me is queueing, I don't really want to be standing in ridiculous lines due to slow operations e.g. like at Alton Towers so far. I know parks like Phantasialand and Europa Park are operating efficiently still but I was also wondering if any parks were still running fastrack to anyone's knowledge?

I know fastrack isn't operating at most parks this season but I heard it's possibly running at Parc Asterix, and I was wondering if it was operational at PortAventura too?

Just something for me to consider, especially if people are disregarding social distancing in slow-moving main lines.
Definitely running at Asterix... We had it :)
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
Yes, that is why quarantine is 14 days :) however you would expect a slow down in the rate of decline at least after 5-7 days, as the average incubation period is 5 days :)

The UK ‘rate’ of decline appears to actually be accelerating on my charts ? But there’s still a few days yet for a change to raise it’s ugly head... Fingers crossed it doesn’t ?
Todays daily new cases is higher than last week’s Thursday figure... Squeeky bum time... Will be watching closely the next few days ?
 

JammyH

Hyper Poster
Todays daily new cases is higher than last week’s Thursday figure... Squeeky bum time... Will be watching closely the next few days ?

Yep, +642, highest it’s been in a few days now, and higher than this time last week. Definitely the effects of the unlocking. I wish we had suppressed the virus more before reopening everything again.
 
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