Coronavirus: Impact on Theme Parks
- Thread starter JammyH
- Start date
I wonder at the accuracy of temperature checks that are not done by contact to one's ears. They measured 35 degrees with a temperature gun on my girlfriend where she works, which would mean she had hypothermia. I can imagine these checks happening indeed but they will be totally ineffective going by the amount of asymptomatic spreaders (some put as high as 80%, some as low as 50%). I guess it is better than nothing but I really think a temperature check would be more for show than anything.
Also can you imagine if we adopt some other of these Asian theme park rules here...?
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Youngster Joey
Strata Poster
I mean Fuji-Q has closed again due to "spread of the new coronavirus infectious disease in response to the emergency." so...
Germany's minister of health said this week that "parties and funfairs" will not be happening for a long time. This puts serious doubts on this years Oktoberfest.
Also the NZZ had an article on travel after Corona and its noted there that international travel is highly unlikely this year. It "might" be possible again next year but only if there is a medication or a vaccine. Source (German): https://www.nzz.ch/reisen/corona-tourismus-experte-zum-reisen-in-zeiten-des-virus-ld.1549850
Also the NZZ had an article on travel after Corona and its noted there that international travel is highly unlikely this year. It "might" be possible again next year but only if there is a medication or a vaccine. Source (German): https://www.nzz.ch/reisen/corona-tourismus-experte-zum-reisen-in-zeiten-des-virus-ld.1549850
Matt N
CF Legend
Patrick Vallance said in the press conference yesterday that numbers of cases were moving "in the right direction" (basically, we're not seeing a huge acceleration), and that under the previous rate of growth in terms of deaths, we would have been at 1,400 deaths per day by now. However, he did say that it needed "another week or two" before we can tell. I think we are beginning to head in the right direction, and lockdown is beginning to work, personally.
Oktoberfest will really struggle to go ahead. It relies on visitors coming from all over the world. I went last year and met people from France, Australia, Brazil, USA, so many other countries and then of course a lot of German locals are there too. Not to mention as well at Oktoberfest there are millions of people and the beer tents are relatively cramped spaces, with thousands of people inside each one, with close human contact and people sharing beer tankards etc. I really don't think it stands a chance this year at all unfortunately.
A lot of the German fairs are also similar to Oktoberfest in the sense that they are huge "parties" where all the locals dress up, gather and drink in massive beer halls. I did Düsseldorf, Bremen and Oktoberfest last year and they are all similar really; the rides are only one aspect of the fair. That's why letting any German fairs go ahead will be a massive push as they are essentially the same as letting festivals go ahead. UK funfairs( bar potentially Nottingham and hull and WW) tend to be on a much more remote and local scale, so the chances of them being able to re-operate this season are higher.
Nevertheless, the chances of the parks themselves opening this year are significantly higher than the fairs being able to operate, as in the parks I think it is easier to enforce social distancing measures, better standards of hygiene and cleanliness etc. However, if international travel is potentially written off for the whole year then I question the worth of some of the bigger parks even opening, for example:
Phantasialand, whilst most visitors are mainly German, does also rely on dutch and English visitors to generate income (PHL is a very popular destination for English school trips and scout groups).
Europa Park, has a significant amount of its workforce coming from France, who may well not be able to get to work. EP is also significantly relies on international visitors, from France, Switzerland, Russia and England.
Disneyland Paris relies heavily on international visitors, especially from the UK and also from other countries such as Germany.
Other parks such as Portaventura and Efteling also rely a lot on international guests to increase revenue.
That's just looking on a European scale, obviously Disney Orlando resort is heavily reliant on international visitors as well and people come from all over the world to visit the Disney and universal resorts in America. If international travel is off the cards for the whole year, then it really questions whether it is "worth" the parks even trying to reopen.
A lot of the parks on a more local scale, for example a lot of the more local based UK parks(Drayton, Thorpe, Chessington) and European parks (such as tusenfryd, sarkanniemi, linnanmaki) mainly generate revenue from locals, and therefore from a business perspective, if possible, it would be more worthwhile to open these parks, albeit with measures in place, as the loss in revenue isn't going to be so great as if you rely heavily on international visitors.
Matt N
CF Legend
I don't personally see foreign travel being written off for the entire year, as that would be utterly catastrophic for the world economy as well as the airline industry. By the time most countries have comfortably passed their peak by a good period of time (by maybe Q3 of 2020, if modelling is accurate), then I could see air travel beginning to reignite to an extent, maybe with new measures in place like temperature testing. The governments of the world are trying to balance the human and economic impacts, and if air travel is grounded for too long, then the economic impacts would be beyond catastrophic and would potentially cause more harm to people than the virus itself.
It's not really going to help stop the spread, but I read more of that interview with Bob Iger and his angle was for reassurance for customers visiting the parks.
Sandman
Giga Poster
I'm really not optimistic about anything at this stage. I do believe that to mitigate any disappointment, people should really just write off 2020 and look towards 2021 for any future plans and to resume normal life. The UK Government has been pretty shambolic so far.The fact that certain workers (which realistically, are not key workers) are still being forced into work and public transport (particularly some London tube services) being full of commuters as if nothing is happening, is pretty disgraceful.
Not to mention the lack of ventilators for ill patients and extreme lack of PPE for NHS workers. We're so desperate we've got retired doctors coming back into work, contracting the virus and unfortunately dying. Someone from my old team at work (a healthy lady in her mid 30's) sadly passed only yesterday. I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, as much as it sounds like I am. It's just very disconcerting and rather than looking at loosening restrictions we should be tightening them, if anything. That is surely the most effective way to get this over with faster.
I understand certain countries and parks are postponing stuff in gradual stages, which may seem optimistic as though things will get better sooner. But the facts aren't showing that to be the case.
For those of you who are actually interested, I'd definitely recommend the videos of Dr. John Campbell. He's been doing daily updates since early January about this and he has been pretty bang on at every stage. He's very good to listen to and puts things in layman's terms which I feel is useful for those of us who just seem to get vague updates from the Government and hyperbole from the media.
Not to mention the lack of ventilators for ill patients and extreme lack of PPE for NHS workers. We're so desperate we've got retired doctors coming back into work, contracting the virus and unfortunately dying. Someone from my old team at work (a healthy lady in her mid 30's) sadly passed only yesterday. I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, as much as it sounds like I am. It's just very disconcerting and rather than looking at loosening restrictions we should be tightening them, if anything. That is surely the most effective way to get this over with faster.
I understand certain countries and parks are postponing stuff in gradual stages, which may seem optimistic as though things will get better sooner. But the facts aren't showing that to be the case.
For those of you who are actually interested, I'd definitely recommend the videos of Dr. John Campbell. He's been doing daily updates since early January about this and he has been pretty bang on at every stage. He's very good to listen to and puts things in layman's terms which I feel is useful for those of us who just seem to get vague updates from the Government and hyperbole from the media.
But many of us may be trying to be optimistic because we have already booked things? I had booked a week trip in October which I'm still clinging to. I've had to cancel virtually everything else including my wedding, honeymoon and 30th birthday, but I'm still hoping that literally the ONLY remaining event I had might go ahead. I know it might be futile, but it is all I have left to cling on to.
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Sandman
Giga Poster
I don't think it's bad to find optimism in things, obviously it's a coping mechanism in hard times, good for mental health and all.
But it's best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
It seems like a lot of people are optimistic about things getting better sooner. That will more than likely dash their hopes even more when it is inevitably delayed beyond what we are being told at the moment. It's like clock watching, the more you anticipate, the harder it'll get. Best to focus on the present. Nearly everyone is going to be disrupted at some level (and I'm sorry to hear you've had to cancel the wedding etc, I know a few others in the same boat). I suppose the most optimistic thing right now would be to know that family and friends alike are keeping safe and are healthy. I think if we can say that, then we're luckier than many others. Like everyone, I'd love for this to have an easy fix and be over, but it's going to be a long slog.
But it's best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
It seems like a lot of people are optimistic about things getting better sooner. That will more than likely dash their hopes even more when it is inevitably delayed beyond what we are being told at the moment. It's like clock watching, the more you anticipate, the harder it'll get. Best to focus on the present. Nearly everyone is going to be disrupted at some level (and I'm sorry to hear you've had to cancel the wedding etc, I know a few others in the same boat). I suppose the most optimistic thing right now would be to know that family and friends alike are keeping safe and are healthy. I think if we can say that, then we're luckier than many others. Like everyone, I'd love for this to have an easy fix and be over, but it's going to be a long slog.
That's if the company is sold off. We're talking about a situation where the company goes completely belly-up and is dissolved, its assets sold off and the creditors eat the losses. Selling the park as one big asset might give creditors more money back than selling it piecemeal. In that situation, the park may re-emerge as an entirely new entity, legally speaking, and it would have a lot freer reins under new owners.
But again... not sure if that will happen anywhere. I guess we can indulge in the hypothetical possibility. Got a feeling that's all we're getting for entertainment on the theme park side of things this season.
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
I don’t think this will go on longer than June personally... I expect all major northern hemisphere economies to be in full swing again by July.
Forget the scare mongering headlines suggesting a year of lockdown, the UK economy HAS to be back up and running by mid June, or it will completely collapse.
Measure will be loosened around the end April to mid may, and most will be gone by July.
The job retention scheme runs until the end of May.
Forget the scare mongering headlines suggesting a year of lockdown, the UK economy HAS to be back up and running by mid June, or it will completely collapse.
Measure will be loosened around the end April to mid may, and most will be gone by July.
The job retention scheme runs until the end of May.
This message hasn't made its way to the virus yet.
You talk as if this is a political thing that could be changed overnight. If the virus keeps spreading, there's not a whole lot you can do.
davidm
Strata Poster
Six Flags issued some investor notices yesterday;
Link ; https://investors.sixflags.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/04-08-2020-211458352
Key thing (goon-wise) to note is "Intends to eliminate at least $30-40 million of additional non-labor operating costs in 2020, including the increased investments the company announced in its fourth quarter 2019 earnings release to improve the guest experiences." and "deferring or eliminating at least $40-50 million of discretionary capital projects planned for 2020."
Not as though their 2020 additions were that exciting anyway, but now they gone (well OK, the ones they not yet built / paid for!)
Link ; https://investors.sixflags.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2020/04-08-2020-211458352
Key thing (goon-wise) to note is "Intends to eliminate at least $30-40 million of additional non-labor operating costs in 2020, including the increased investments the company announced in its fourth quarter 2019 earnings release to improve the guest experiences." and "deferring or eliminating at least $40-50 million of discretionary capital projects planned for 2020."
Not as though their 2020 additions were that exciting anyway, but now they gone (well OK, the ones they not yet built / paid for!)
This bit makes me wonder... which of the ones that would even come across our radar won't have been paid for (or at least, the necessary contracts asking for payment)? Surely any of the ride manufacturers have already started production of the hardware, even if the site work hasn't started yet?
I wonder how much of this is other things like restaurant upgrades, midway planting, etc, that added up across 20+ sites comes to the $40-50m figure.
davidm
Strata Poster
Yeah but doesn't mean SF have paid for it yet ; would fully expect them not to pay for things until they are installed/up and running*.
(* not based on any evidence that of course, just contracts -> purchase order -> delivery -> invoice -> payment tends to be the usual way things are done in the world, with penalty clauses if you change your mind after signing contracts, which you then employ an army of lawyers to get you out of paying citing exceptional circumstances / force majeure and then the supplier eventually agrees to defer delivery/payment 12 months. </pure speculation>)
Yeah, I suppose it's the last bit that's the clincher. The signed contracts will usually (based on the work I do, at least) include commitments regarding payments, and timelines for invoicing and payment, so the manufacturer may still invoice according to the signed contract (we've built the hardware, you owe us 50% of the money now, etc), but then it's up to Six Flags (and their lawyers) to argue back.
In the end it probably all ends up on the insurer's lap anyway, at which point they beg to have excluded pandemics in their policy wording.