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Coronavirus: Impact on Theme Parks

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.

No, but all scientific evidence so far suggests a timescale of 10-12 weeks from first death to under control...

Italy’s first death was feb 21st and deaths started to fall on March 28th

Spain’s first death was March 3rd and deaths started falling on April 3rd

Chinas 1st death was Jan 23rd and less than 11 weeks later things are opening back up (though the accuracy of China’s reporting remains in question)

The government economic plan was for 12 weeks, and that was for a reason, it was based on the scientific data available :)

If I’m wrong, then great, it means they’ve been more successful at flattening the curve than they’d hoped (planned ;) ) which is a good thing for those at risk of needing hospitalisation... But I don’t think so, we’ll have to wait and see :)

(I am talking purely UK / EU here)
 
Oh I agree. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment. ;)

I do think the idea that the lockdown ends and we just snap back to normal life is a bit wishful thinking, though. 12 weeks until the lockdown ends, maybe, but expect much longer for 'normality' to return.
 
No, but all scientific evidence so far suggests a timescale of 10-12 weeks from first death to under control...
But those deaths are only falling because of strict social distancing measures being introduced. Once they stop it's pretty likely to cause the number of infections/cases to rise again, surely? Which leads to another lockdown to try and curb the spread. :(

In other news, my flight to Sweden on 29th May was cancelled yesterday so that trip is off for sure, and also suggests most countries probably aren't expecting things to recover by June. My return flight (different airline) hasn't been cancelled yet but it's just a matter of time I'm sure, and obviously I now want them to cancel it!
 
No, but all scientific evidence so far suggests a timescale of 10-12 weeks from first death to under control...

Italy’s first death was feb 21st and deaths started to fall on March 28th

Spain’s first death was March 3rd and deaths started falling on April 3rd

Chinas 1st death was Jan 23rd and less than 11 weeks later things are opening back up (though the accuracy of China’s reporting remains in question)

The government economic plan was for 12 weeks, and that was for a reason, it was based on the scientific data available :)

If I’m wrong, then great, it means they’ve been more successful at flattening the curve than they’d hoped (planned ;) ) which is a good thing for those at risk of needing hospitalisation... But I don’t think so, we’ll have to wait and see :)

(I am talking purely UK / EU here)

Ok just to make things clear, lockdown is starting to be eased off in China (lockdown in Wuhan is over but still ongoing in other Chinese cities) because they have new policies in place that if you are entering/returning to China you must spend 14 days in enforced quarantine. This is to prevent new infections entering their country. As far as I can see, this rule is going to have to stay in place until we have a well-distributed vaccine otherwise they risk the virus coming back into their country as it's still going to be spreading around the world.

Similarly, let's say Poland got back up and running in a few weeks time and lets say the parks opened in a couple of months time. Fancy visiting energylandia? Well you'll have to spend your time in an enforced 14 day quarantine in Poland before you are allowed to go to any theme parks... and if UK had any sense they would enforce the same law on people entering/returning to the UK to prevent the virus coming back into our country... otherwise we will immediately have a second spike.

This virus is past the point of control, it is not going to go away, it is likely to become a strain which is constantly around but most of us are vaccinated against at some point so there will be significantly less deaths from it. The scientific modelling is what got Spain, Italy and the UK into such a disaster with such a high number of deaths as they didn't raise the risk levels high enough and they kept telling the respective governments that it was just a mild illness like the flu, and now look, the health systems are overloaded and can't cope.

As long as this virus is spreading somewhere else in the world, the risk of any country going back to normal is too high, as it could easily cause a second outbreak/wave in that respective country which would be even more catastrophic.

Germany has dealt with this outbreak very well from the start led by a very sensible prime minister, a good health minister and the RKI. They managed to catch infection chains early, have a robust healthcare system with the highest amount of ICU beds per capita Europe-wide and they are performing 500,000 tests a week to try and "push down the curve" if you like. The German health minister has said that he believes international travel will be unlikely until 2021. I am trusting their advice the most over UK advice or Uk scientist advice because when you look at the stats the German death: case ratio is the best showing they have handled the outbreak the best out of all the major European countries.
 
But those deaths are only falling because of strict social distancing measures being introduced. Once they stop it's pretty likely to cause the number of infections/cases to rise again, surely? Which leads to another lockdown to try and curb the spread. :(

In other news, my flight to Sweden on 29th May was cancelled yesterday so that trip is off for sure, and also suggests most countries probably aren't expecting things to recover by June. My return flight (different airline) hasn't been cancelled yet but it's just a matter of time I'm sure, and obviously I now want them to cancel it!

Depends on the level of herd immunity as to how quickly and easily it spreads in the second wave, this is why the plan was (and secretly still is) to allow some spreading, and why measures were introduced slowly :)

Your flight was cancelled because all but essential travel before the end of May has been advised against by the FCO.

Like I said, if I’m wrong I’ll be the first to hold my hands up, but if I am wrong, it won’t be by far ;)
 
Sorry, I don't know if this has already been said but Fuji Q highland has now been closed down again due to covid-19 concerns after it reopened.

As far as Im concerned in China, some of the smaller parks may have reopened, but Disney parks worldwide remained closed until further notice.
 
Ok just to make things clear, lockdown is starting to be eased off in China (lockdown in Wuhan is over but still ongoing in other Chinese cities) because they have new policies in place that if you are entering/returning to China you must spend 14 days in enforced quarantine. This is to prevent new infections entering their country. As far as I can see, this rule is going to have to stay in place until we have a well-distributed vaccine otherwise they risk the virus coming back into their country as it's still going to be spreading around the world.

Similarly, let's say Poland got back up and running in a few weeks time and lets say the parks opened in a couple of months time. Fancy visiting energylandia? Well you'll have to spend your time in an enforced 14 day quarantine in Poland before you are allowed to go to any theme parks... and if UK had any sense they would enforce the same law on people entering/returning to the UK to prevent the virus coming back into our country... otherwise we will immediately have a second spike.

This virus is past the point of control, it is not going to go away, it is likely to become a strain which is constantly around but most of us are vaccinated against at some point so there will be significantly less deaths from it. The scientific modelling is what got Spain, Italy and the UK into such a disaster with such a high number of deaths as they didn't raise the risk levels high enough and they kept telling the respective governments that it was just a mild illness like the flu, and now look, the health systems are overloaded and can't cope.

As long as this virus is spreading somewhere else in the world, the risk of any country going back to normal is too high, as it could easily cause a second outbreak/wave in that respective country which would be even more catastrophic.

Germany has dealt with this outbreak very well from the start led by a very sensible prime minister, a good health minister and the RKI. They managed to catch infection chains early, have a robust healthcare system with the highest amount of ICU beds per capita Europe-wide and they are performing 500,000 tests a week to try and "push down the curve" if you like. The German health minister has said that he believes international travel will be unlikely until 2021. I am trusting their advice the most over UK advice or Uk scientist advice because when you look at the stats the German death: case ratio is the best showing they have handled the outbreak the best out of all the major European countries.
China is still imposing that restriction NOW because the whole world is still at, or close to, their peak. They also have the same issue Germany will face further down the line, which many other countries will not face, and that is no reasonable herd immunity levels...

Germany is doing VERY well at testing and isolating cases, but the more the curve is flattened, the longer it will go on for them, with a risk of the second wave.

You could be right as far as International travel goes. There will be a lot of unease, countries will be nervous of allowing foreign travellers in, and, as you say, may well impose quarantines... But I was talking about the UK / EU :)
 
12 weeks until the lockdown ends, maybe, but expect much longer for 'normality' to return.

Very much a passing comment here, but I find it somewhat worrying how many people expect "normality" to return any time soon. Once lockdowns ease off / end, we're not going to see everything go back to how it was a few days later. It will be a slow process. And by the time a vaccine comes about, who knows what the norms will become. If social distancing is actively encouraged for several months, say, how willing are some members of society going to be to just stop that? If entertainment venues start temperature-checking visitors before entering, how long will that last?

We don't know how long it will be before Covid-19 is no longer a serious concern. What's even more uncertain is the cultural after-effects of the pandemic, and how long they'll last.

(edit - just realised this isn't the coronavirus thread, so maybe this isn't the most appropriate place for this waffle. Move/delete as appropriate mods if you wish - sorry!)
 
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As far as Im concerned in China, some of the smaller parks may have reopened, but Disney parks worldwide remained closed until further notice.
The largest park reopening I know of in China is Happy Valley Shanghai, which I'd call pretty big as far as Chinese parks go! Names like Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park also reopened at the end of March

Also, the only part of Shanghai Disneyland not open is the park itself; the hotels and Disneytown reopened on 9th March.
 
Very much a passing comment here, but I find it somewhat worrying how many people expect "normality" to return any time soon. Once lockdowns ease off / end, we're not going to see everything go back to how it was a few days later. It will be a slow process. And by the time a vaccine comes about, who knows what the norms will become. If social distancing is actively encouraged for several months, say, how willing are some members of society going to be to just stop that? If entertainment venues start temperature-checking visitors before entering, how long will that last?

We don't know how long it will be before Covid-19 is no longer a serious concern. What's even more uncertain is the cultural after-effects of the pandemic, and how long they'll last.

(edit - just realised this isn't the coronavirus thread, so maybe this isn't the most appropriate place for this waffle. Move/delete as appropriate mods if you wish - sorry!)

I don’t think anyone expects things to return to normal for a long time, and if they do they’re naive. The social and economic effects of this will most likely linger into next year.

BTW you mean ‘IF’ we see a vaccine... The reason most virologists and epidemiologists say that in the long run, herd immunity is not just the best option, it could be the only option, is because we’ve never managed to successfully vaccinate against a coronavirus, despite decades of trying. (The common cold is a coronavirus, imagine the financial gain if they ever successfully vaccinate against that.) The most recent attempt was with SARS, during early testing it was found to increase the hypersensitivity to componenets of the disease itself by causing Th2-type immunopathology (this was apparently fixed, but was shelved later anyway) This very vaccine (a variant of it) is one of the options being looked at for SARS-Cov-2 / Covid 19 ?

ALSO Feel free to move my post if there is a more appropriate home for it. My original posts related to trip plans but we’ve gone kinda off topic here ?
 
To give some idea, I saw an article yesterday about Britons being allowed into Spain for holidays, and the person in the article gave September as a provisional estimate. So I'd say that those of you who've booked trips for the end part of 2020 (e.g. I know many of you have booked November Orlando trips to coincide with the Live) should definitely be OK.

To be honest, I reckon September is probably the longest I could see foreign travel being grounded for; a worst case scenario, if you like.
 
The director of the Plopsa Parks has outlined their plans for operating the park in the time of Coronavirus.

A visit to Plopsaland is likely to look very different in the future. Behind the scenes, a major plan is underway to make the Plopsa parks completely corona-proof.

Plopsa director Steve Van den Kerkhof confirms this to Looopings. For example, a large container is expected to be placed at the entrance, which visitors are obliged to pass through to have their body temperature measured. Anyone who turns out to have a fever is sent away. Groups there are also obliged to wash their hands thoroughly.

The parks will run at one third of the capacity. At Plopsaland De Panne that amounts to about four thousand people. In order to let in as many people as possible, Van den Kerkhof wants to work with two periods: from 9 am to 3 pm and from 4 pm to 10 pm. "Everyone has plenty of time to do all the attractions, because we allow fewer people at the same time." Shows In queues for attractions and at souvenir shops and catering establishments, boxes are painted on the floor, so that people can stand 1.5 meters apart. Safety bars are continuously disinfected by employees. Meet-and-greets and shows are out of the question for the time being.

When we can experience the Plopsa parks in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland in this way, we have to wait and see. "When everything is on paper, we test the plan with medical experts," says the director. Then the Plopsa Group takes it to the authorities. The parks will remain closed for the time being. "Health comes first." Social abstinence Van den Kerkhof hopes that governments want to distinguish between well-attended music festivals and amusement parks. "In our parks we have the space to respect social abstinence." He says he takes the investments required to make the parks corona-friendly. "I keep in mind that we will not be running at full capacity this summer."

 
The director of the Plopsa Parks has outlined their plans for operating the park in the time of Coronavirus.


It wouldn't be a very pleasant experience trying to maintain that 1.5 metre distance between everyone and on rides I wonder if that is even achievable. Even in supermarkets I've seen that it isn't really possible. Many people still pass by right behind your back at times. Probably easier for everyone just to wear face masks as stupid as it would look and as much as we are not used to it in the west and also cheaper for the parks just to give these out if it came to it rather than trying to police this type of approach with two opening time slots.

I think a face mask offers better protection than social distancing that seems to be arbitrary set. Here we talk about 2 metres in the UK, in Netherlands it's now 1.5 metres. The world health organisation talks about just 1 metre. That sounds more like normal distance to me. Some people have pointed out it should be closer to 4-5 metres to completely avoid droplet infection.
 
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It wouldn't be a very pleasant experience trying to maintain that 1.5 metre distance between everyone and on rides I wonder if that is even achievable. Even in supermarkets I've seen that it isn't really possible. Many people still pass by right behind your back at times. Probably easier for everyone just to wear face masks as stupid as it would look and as much as we are not used to it in the west and also cheaper for the parks just to give these out if it came to it rather than trying to police this type of approach with two opening time slots.

I think a face mask offers better protection than social distancing that seems to be arbitrary set. Here we talk about 2 metres in the UK, in Netherlands it's now 1.5 metres. The world health organisation talks about just 1 metre. That sounds more like normal distance to me. Some people have pointed out it should be closer to 4-5 metres to completely avoid droplet infection.
Personal opinion is that masks in theme parks are the best way forward. As we've discussed above, around 50% of infected people don't show symptoms and therefore you aren't going to have a fever when entering the park, however could still spread the virus. If everyone wore a mask the risk of the virus spreading is significantly reduced.

I read somewhere the other day that you need 8 metres between people! There was a scientific study which detected that droplets could infect one person to another from a distance of 3metres, however they didn't test any further distance than that, so the actual distance required between people isn't known. (but 1m definitely isn't enough!).
 
Personal opinion is that masks in theme parks are the best way forward. As we've discussed above, around 50% of infected people don't show symptoms and therefore you aren't going to have a fever when entering the park, however could still spread the virus. If everyone wore a mask the risk of the virus spreading is significantly reduced.

I read somewhere the other day that you need 8 metres between people! There was a scientific study which detected that droplets could infect one person to another from a distance of 3metres, however they didn't test any further distance than that, so the actual distance required between people isn't known. (but 1m definitely isn't enough!).

+1 for masks, but they will not recommend them here until they’re 100% sure they’ve secured enough for front line workers.

Have you seen this video?

 
Have you seen this video?

If that's the case an indoor coaster or indoor queue area is probably one of the best places to catch this virus. Hundreds of people passing through within an hour. Probably worse than an average cinema or a super market considering footfall numbers.
 
Regarding Six Flags...

It appears that Sidewinder Safari has completely vanished from Discovery Kingdom's website. It's likely that the project has been indefinitely delayed or cancelled based on yesterday's news, and the only construction update I saw of it was a tiny dirt hole. Seems as if all of the attractions that weren't far along will follow suit, like SFA's Harley Quinn(?) that is likely still a dirt patch, Adirondack Outlaw whose final location in the park was still TBD, and a number of other new for 2020 additions where we didn't hear much about. What is the status of Vipere? Looks like Six Flags' apathy towards opening new projects is padding them a bit.
 
VDFU (Association of German Theme Parks) have released this statement claiming parks can follow safety precautions and operate safely this summer should the lockdown on German society start to be gradually lifted in the coming months to reassure/convince the authorities.
Source
The member companies of the Association of German Leisure Parks and Leisure Enterprises (VDFU) welcome the measures implemented by the federal and state governments to contain the corona virus. In order to be able to provide all families with recreational experiences after weeks of limited access and isolation, should the protective measures be relaxed, the leisure parks, wildlife parks and zoos connected to the VDFU will take individual precautionary measures. In all likelihood, parks will have to struggle the longest with the effects. In contrast to the manufacturing trade, failures in the seasonal business can hardly be made up for.

The winter months are used by the mostly medium-sized and family-run parks for investments and maintenance work. The complete failure of the start of the season hit the industry hard. The extent to which the protection of guests, employees and residents is close to the operators' hearts is shown by the absolute willingness to make the visit to leisure facilities worry-free and harmless even in a situation that threatens their livelihood: "Despite all the necessity of commercial action, the Health protection priority. Amusement and adventure parks can meet this to a degree that meets the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute. Control options for containing the risks in the operation of an amusement park differ fundamentally from those in the public space, ”states Friedhelm Freiherr von Landsberg-Velen, President of the VDFU.

Visiting amusement and adventure parks carries a significantly lower risk of infection than exists within pedestrian zones, shopping centres, the use of public transport or even at a major event. As a rule, it is extensive outdoor facilities that have the best possible air circulation. Visitors do not crowd in one place (e.g. in front of the stage), but spread out on the site. Even in potentially critical areas, such as queues, catering facilities or when using fairground rides, distance regulations that prevent an undesirable spatial density of people can be implemented easily and centrally. While risk groups, such as the elderly or people with acute respiratory symptoms, are not among the classic visitor groups, technical and personal admission controls or the limitation of the number of visitors present at the same time. These in turn do not interact with each other, but only within their social group. Due to the mostly rural location of the amusement parks, you usually arrive by car - the means of transport with the lowest risk of infection. Hygiene standards for restaurants and sanitary facilities are higher than in public spaces and can be adjusted as required. Additional hygiene measures and, if necessary, mouth protection requirements can also be easily implemented.

The business model of the amusement and adventure parks is based on giving joy, enabling families to share experiences and making children's hearts beat faster. For many sections of the population, this is necessary after many weeks of initial restrictions, system-relevant work under high psychological stress or family stressful situations. If the protective measures require complete closures into the summer, many operators will no longer be able to survive them until next year. Such a failure in an investment-intensive industry in the seasonal business will not be compensated. "I can't say how many amusement parks there will be next year. The course will be set these next days," said von Landsberg-Velen.

In other German park news Fort Fun is doing a Drive In Cinema in their car park as an alternative entertainment offering.
 
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