Theme Parks & Shopping Districts Reopening General Thread

[deathcab4cutie]

i think universal capicity is around 50k so i see them doing 15k at start.

 

[Andysol]

Welp- I have my flight and hotel booked for June 9-12 at Sapphire Falls.
Gonna experience this thing and see how novel or terrible it is. Luckily, cancellations are free to if the weekend June 5th-7th reviews come along and it sounds terrible, I can back out.

Opted for no express pass hotels since capacity will likely be severely cut. Truth be told, Volcano Bay is the priority for us; so we’ll probably only do a little of the dry parks here and there.

Based on my experience flying this week and at a hotel, I feel really comfortable traveling. These places are going above and beyond, and the large majority of the people seem to be considerate and respectful of any restrictions put in place. Waiting for elevators with only one family at a time per elevator, etc. You’ll get the one off, but they’re the very rare exception and not the rule.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I'll probably go to one of the passholder days because I'll be home that week. Definitely did not expect them to be re-opening with short notice. Disney's probably opening on the 15th then.

 

[Mad Dog]

With the tentative Universal opening.....all of a sudden....the world does not seem so dark.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I hope all goes well and my guess of July/August for the Hollwood park van happen.

I doubt I'll go week one but if everything seems safe for sure within the first month

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I'll wait and see. I'm hoping for a second trip for HHN 30, which would be my first Horror Nights. In all likelihood, with an upcoming surgery and a possible second wave, I'm probably looking at a trip to coincide with Velocicoaster.

 

[shiekra38]

With the tentative Universal opening.....all of a sudden....the world does not seem so dark.

Please don't be positive, this is a terrifying situation

 

[HandsomePete]

I'll probably go to one of the passholder days because I'll be home that week. Definitely did not expect them to be re-opening with short notice. Disney's probably opening on the 15th then.

I’m not that certain that Disney will be immediate to follow... the two companies are starting from wildly different status quo’s. Universal didn’t furlough and has been paying people - a limited opening may be more profitable than staying closed, but it might not actually *be* profitable (meaning that opening leads to a smaller loss).

Disney has been paying way fewer people... the cost of bringing back ops to open the parks might be higher than the revenue it would generate at current demand since you’ll be looking at a lot of locals/APs. And selectively bringing people back is going to be a nightmare for them.

 

[Happytycho]

What are we expecting for Universal's expanded virtual line program?

Is it going be like an app version of the Volcano Bay system where each ride has a ~15 min (socially distanced) physical line and anything above that gets added into a virtual queue? Or is it going to be more like boarding groups or specific reserved times like FastPass?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

What are we expecting for Universal's expanded virtual line program?

Is it going be like an app version of the Volcano Bay system where each ride has a ~15 min (socially distanced) physical line and anything above that gets added into a virtual queue? Or is it going to be more like boarding groups or specific reserved times like FastPass?

You use the Virtual Queue for Fallon?

 

[Bobharlem]

Two things from this interview, the Mayor approved Universal's request and is forwarding it to the governor in the morning, and Disney is submitting plans early next week.

 

[Clive]

What are we expecting for Universal's expanded virtual line program?

Is it going be like an app version of the Volcano Bay system where each ride has a ~15 min (socially distanced) physical line and anything above that gets added into a virtual queue? Or is it going to be more like boarding groups or specific reserved times like FastPass?

This is 100% guesswork, but my expectation would be virtual queues will be used for attractions that do not have facilities conducive to the social distance queuing that's been proposed. Luckily, Universal tends to overbuild their extended queues and will finally get some use out of them, so it's quite possible the list will be short. Of the top of my head, the virtual line candidates might include...

Rockit (limited queue space pre-metal detectors and a poorly ventilated primary queueing area; can't have too big of a backup for those checks, especially with the claustrophobic locker situation)
Hulk (see Rockit)
Escape from Gringotts (locker situation)
Forbidden Journey (locker situation)
Hagrid's (poorly ventilated caves + demand)
One Fish Two Fish (maybe... just not a lot of queue space)
Pteranodon Flyers (queue space)
Escape From New York (preexisting)
Fast & Furious (probably doesn't need it at all, but the infrastructure's already there...)

Revenge of the Mummy and Men in Black probably have some sort of queue to enter the locker area (though spacing for that could get tricky, especially for MIB). If that proves infeasible, add them to the list, I guess.

Everything else can probably operate with the socially distanced queues.

 

[Happytycho]

You use the Virtual Queue for Fallon?

So specific reserved times (IIRC).

I'll be really curious to see how well that type of system holds up in terms of capacity if a majority of rides are using it.

 

[traveller]

i think universal capicity is around 50k so i see them doing 15k at start.

At the end of April, an Orange County Economic Task Force that includes representatives from both Disney and Universal issued preliminary guidelines as the state considers a phased approach to reopening the parks. Among the recommendations: larger theme parks will operate at 50% capacity during a Phase 1 period, and could increase to 75% capacity in Phase 2.

This was from a article. Florida Governor Outlines Next Steps In Theme Parks’ Reopening Path

 

[Happytycho]

At the end of April, an Orange County Economic Task Force that includes representatives from both Disney and Universal issued preliminary guidelines as the state considers a phased approach to reopening the parks. Among the recommendations: larger theme parks will operate at 50% capacity during a Phase 1 period, and could increase to 75% capacity in Phase 2.

This was from a article. Florida Governor Outlines Next Steps In Theme Parks’ Reopening Path

The task force never approved such recommendations.

 

[GA-MBIT]

So, guess I technically called that June 1st opening date..?

In all seriousness though, I feel like the safest of those openings might be TM Previews. They might not have all the kinks worked out yet, but I think the people who have to deal with guests all day would follow a lot more of the social distancing rules than your average Karen would.

 

[Nick]

I’m not that certain that Disney will be immediate to follow... the two companies are starting from wildly different status quo’s. Universal didn’t furlough and has been paying people - a limited opening may be more profitable than staying closed, but it might not actually *be* profitable (meaning that opening leads to a smaller loss).

Disney has been paying way fewer people... the cost of bringing back ops to open the parks might be higher than the revenue it would generate at current demand since you’ll be looking at a lot of locals/APs. And selectively bringing people back is going to be a nightmare for them.

Universal did furlough Part-time and seasonal.

 

[agentj]

My concern is with capacity. I would assume that Universal Hotel guests would be assured entrance. So how would they balance Hotel guests who might arrive
at the parks later in the day if the parks are shut because of capacity. Would the room key be used to guarantee access? Even if the park is full?

 

[Yabbadabba Doh]

On the virtual queue, I’m hoping for something similar to DLRs system where you can reserve times for rides once you enter (scan entry media) a park. Will be interesting since they will have to deal with express pass and no appreciable standby queues

 

[Nick]

On the virtual queue, I’m hoping for something similar to DLRs system where you can reserve times for rides once you enter (scan entry media) a park. Will be interesting since they will have to deal with express pass and no appreciable standby queues

The issue with the virtual queues is that virtual queues will leave a ton of people on the streets waiting for their return times, making distancing harder to do than if they ran a regular queue with distancing measures.