Effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) On Entertainment & Tourism Industry

[UAN17]

@Scott W. Looks like the nightmare scenario is unfolding. No flight cancellations and to boot, the hotels are (for some reason???) staying open. Virgin offering a change in booking if you’re due to fly up until 30th April...we go May 2nd. Complete limbo.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Curious, why keep Citywalk open?

I have no clue, Disney Springs, DTD Anaheim, and CityWalk at USH also remain open oddly.

 

[fryoj]

Curious, why keep Citywalk open?

People still gotta eat. Probably people still staying at the resorts plus some local business.

 

[Brian G.]

Yup. Universal will close starting Monday. Hotels to remain open too.

Updates on Coronavirus and Universal Parks & Resorts

EDITOR'S NOTE: Inside Universal remains dedicated to presenting a fact-based, non-sensationalist driven perspective aimed at educating and informing our readers. As Editor-in-Chief, I was hesitant to broach the topic of Coronavirus (COVID-19), as I did not want to come across as "adding to the hyste

www.insideuniversal.net

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

Of course they can. But let’s not simplify it down to “bad faith”. Shutting down WDW/UOR in Florida is basically a death nail to their economy. It would be like banning corn production in Iowa, refining in Texas or Agriculture in California.
It’s a decision that has significantly more ramifications than something like DL or USH would have in California.

To be fair to the millions who live there, I don’t fault them for waiting until the last minute. I also wouldn’t fault them for closing up shop tomorrow. It’s a no win situation right now, unfortunately.
I have sincere empathy for the state of Florida, their politicians (of both sides on the stage and local level), and their citizens.

Yeah, this isn’t, uh . . . completely accurate. The last twenty minutes alone are proof of that haha.

I get what you’re trying to say, and I certainly respect the economic livelihood of people in working this industry as well as local Orlando residents. But right now there is literally no defensible position you can take to keep the parks open, unless you’re arguing in (like I said) bad faith. Matt Gaetz mocked the situation and ended up having to sleep in a Wal Mart parking lot because he didn’t take the situation seriously. The theme park equivalent of that would be to keep things operational because of “the economy” and having it cost some lives. Theme parks are germ farms in even the healthiest conditions. They have to shut down at least until the curve starts to flatten.

 

[Tbad556]

*glances at SeaWorld/Busch Gardens*

 

[Allison]

As unprecedented and scary as all of this is, I think it’s a good thing that the parks are doing their part to help flatten the curve as best as possible.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Similar to DL/WDW, I am happy that NBCU/Comcast are making sure that all the TM's are properly payed in these times.

Hopefully the same will be done for Six Flags, Cedar, Merlin and SeaWorld on that..

 

[rhino4evr]

Maybe they can finally fix the Yeti now...
Just kidding.
this is all just insane.

 

[Nick]

Paramount Studio Tours are "temporarily on hold".

I have no clue, Disney Springs, DTD Anaheim, and CityWalk at USH also remain open oddly.

Those will likely remain open (and mostly empty) until they are either unprofitable to keep open or the government mandates that they close.

 

[RFRees]

Even with Disney and Universal employees paid, you still have all the 3rd party stores and restaurants (on and off property) which are going to suffer significantly, with a likely inability to pay their employees. The government needs to step in to provide assistance, especially to those living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm really happy I'm with a stable company and able to work from home, but I'm worried about many others who aren't as fortunate.

 

[Nick]

Even with Disney and Universal employees paid, you still have all the 3rd party stores and restaurants (on and off property) which are going to suffer significantly, with a likely inability to pay their employees. The government needs to step in to provide assistance, especially to those living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm really happy I'm with a stable company and able to work from home, but I'm worried about many others who aren't as fortunate.

It’s unfortunate and a lot of people are gonna go through a tough period, especially in the service industry, but these are crazy times.
—————————
The XFL was to play games without crowds. Now it has officially canceled the season. Only thing left really is WrestleMania.

 

[Grabnar]

People still gotta eat. Probably people still staying at the resorts plus some local business.

My guess is food for anyone left in the resorts or for TMs still on site

 

[traveller]

This is so surreal, Its like the beginning to a Hollywood disaster movie but its happening. The economic impact will be devastating.

 

[Nick]

So just looked into it and Cirque hasn't postponed the debut of Drawn to Life yet. It's scheduled to debut March 20th. If I had to put a wager on it, i'd say this will get pushed off, along with concerts at House of Blues. Neither seem like good ideas to go forward with if the point of all of these closures is social distancing.

https://tickets.cirquedusoleil.com/wdi/#/0d103b31-48e8-404b-b996-0925cc7b04a6/shop/select?fac=cds&locale=en-US&skin=wdi

 

[GadgetGuru]

So just looked into it and Cirque hasn't postponed the debut of Drawn to Life yet. It's scheduled to debut March 20th. If I had to put a wager on it, i'd say this will get pushed off, along with concerts at House of Blues. Neither seem like good ideas to go forward with if the point of all of these closures is social distancing.

https://tickets.cirquedusoleil.com/wdi/#/0d103b31-48e8-404b-b996-0925cc7b04a6/shop/select?fac=cds&locale=en-US&skin=wdi

If this follows the trend of other states, Florida will put a hiatus for all events >x00 people and that will automatically cancel all of these shows.

 

[MatthewFair]

All ski resorts in Austria have been ordered to close for the rest of the season

 

[randompixel]

@Scott W. Looks like the nightmare scenario is unfolding. No flight cancellations and to boot, the hotels are (for some reason???) staying open. Virgin offering a change in booking if you’re due to fly up until 30th April...we go May 2nd. Complete limbo.

We're due to be flying April 25th. I don't think we're going to be able to know what's happening until 3-4 days before. I appreciate the situation, but it doesn't stop the thought of losing a $10k vacation slightly galling.

 

[Nick]

New York-based late night shows shut down. Los Angeles-based Late Night Jimmy Kimmel, James Cordon and Conan currently are going forward without audiences.

Colbert, Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee are all dark until at least March 30th.

Late-Night Shows From New York Will Go Dark Next Week (Published 2020)

The earliest return by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers would be March 30, CBS and NBC said.

www.nytimes.com

 

[BAC]

Fortunately we found out the parks were closing before we left for our two day drive to Orlando. It will be interesting to see how hard (or how easy) Universal makes the refund or credit process. We will plan on going back in June. However, the Hard Rock remains open, so I hope that doesn't bite us. We used a TA so maybe that will help.