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

[Magic Feather]

Yeah we should note that opening any parks later is rumor or speculation at best. Being said what @SeventyOne laid out are good reasons to keep Epcot closed a bit longer just based on staffing alone. DHS and DAK would be the two parks I'd open first fully, or a partial open of MK.

Purely for optics, MK would almost have to be the first to open, even if certain rides remain closed/with wonky hours (for instance, I could see reduced hours for New Fantasyland and shows ala DHS's recent "1/2 opens with the park, 1/2 opens at 10" structure)

 

[Grabnar]

Purely for optics, MK would almost have to be the first to open, even if certain rides remain closed/with wonky hours (for instance, I could see reduced hours for New Fantasyland and shows ala DHS's recent "1/2 opens with the park, 1/2 opens at 10" structure)

I'd imagine restaurants to be on a staged opening as well with QS opening first with limited seating. TS and especially signature will take a long time to get back up and running if I had to guess.

 

[Alicia]

I'm not a scientist, but wouldn't opening less parks mean that the amount of people that would be capable and willing to visit 4 parks would be crammed into less parks? I'd prefer crowds be more spread out personally.

Also, just going by Disney's past behavior, I don't see why they wouldn't just open all 4 parks with half of the attractions (especially shows) closed, rather than open half the parks. They had no problem charging full price when DHS had only 3 or 4 rides the last couple years, I think they can open EPCOT without 75% of World Showcase offerings at the start.

I just don't see WDW opening without being able to offer "4-Park" passes. They're not set up for that. The parks are either open, or not. I don't see any in between. My take anyway.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Purely for optics, MK would almost have to be the first to open, even if certain rides remain closed/with wonky hours (for instance, I could see reduced hours for New Fantasyland and shows ala DHS's recent "1/2 opens with the park, 1/2 opens at 10" structure)

Spitballing, but I imagine face characters and table service remain closed. Smaller attractions like Aladdin, Astro, Tiki, etc don't open while others like Jungle Cruise that require special training open shorter hours.

I'm not a scientist, but wouldn't opening less parks mean that the amount of people that would be capable and willing to visit 4 parks would be crammed into less parks? I'd prefer crowds be more spread out personally.

Also, just going by Disney's past behavior, I don't see why they wouldn't just open all 4 parks with half of the attractions (especially shows) closed, rather than open half the parks. They had no problem charging full price when DHS had only 3 or 4 rides the last couple years, I think they can open EPCOT without 75% of World Showcase offerings at the start.

I just don't see WDW opening without being able to offer "4-Park" passes. They're not set up for that. The parks are either open, or not. I don't see any in between. My take anyway.

There's precedent for opening parks in phases after hurricanes.

 

[Teebin]

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[Scott W.]

Pure speculation on my part, but since I floated the idea over the weekend as well:

• Locals-only crowd doesn't need all 4 parks. In fact, optics better with fewer parks with more people in them--you don't want the media showing a ghost town. The only reason I imagine they re-open DAK is because of all the sunk costs in animal care, but a couple week delay for that park wouldn't shock me.
• WDW just sent a lot of its out-of-town staff home--EPCOT particularly hard-hit because a lot of that was international CMs. The longer this goes, the more furloughed CMs are going to leave town. Going to take a while to get back up to a full work force. (For similar reasons, I expect staggering in resorts, and probably only one water park, as they come back online.) I also imagine it takes at least a few weeks to get the ICP up and running, to find new entertainment contractors, etc.
• Future World is a giant construction zone already, made worse if SSE doesn't re-open--riding M:S again not going to convince locals to come out. World Showcase isn't much of a draw without a festival and logistics probably prevent a Summer festival (even extending F&G wouldn't work, given 90-day limit on temporary buildings and rumor that can't be occupied during a thunderstorm). Not a lot of money to be made there until F&W kicks off. In the meantime, save yourself labor costs for the largest park plus the cost of a nightly fireworks show plus food costs for a lot of restaurants that don't follow the standard burger/chicky nuggets/fries menu plus save having to run the second monorail route.
• When it finally does re-open for F&W, second massive social media/real news media hoopla. Maybe throw us a bone and have Rat ready, too. Own the news cycle twice before HHN opens.

Not to be that guy but I know there will be people who bring this up.

Guaranteed that people will complain about buying park tickets and only being able to visit 5 parks and not 6 like they paid for.

 

[Magic Feather]

I'm not a scientist, but wouldn't opening less parks mean that the amount of people that would be capable and willing to visit 4 parks would be crammed into less parks? I'd prefer crowds be more spread out personally.

The underlying concern is that tis would happen, in part, due to a lack of crowds upon reopening. Sure, there will be a small local surge, immediately after park opening, but when this fear of travel continues to linger after being instilled in everyone, it becomes a question of not when, but if these same crowds will materialize.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

If their parks don't open again until Summer, which I VERY much can see happening based on whats going on and what Ive heard, id think they'd just open all 4 parks. Disney cares about $$$ a lot, they aren't going to go against the world and open when they shouldn't but once they open, I can't see them not opening all 4 parks again. Makes the most sense for maximum amount of profits. Now this is all unprecedented to begin with but in terms of predicting and knowing Chapek, I expect all 4 parks to be open.

 

[Nick]

• When it finally does re-open for F&W, second massive social media/real news media hoopla. Maybe throw us a bone and have Rat ready, too. Own the news cycle twice before HHN opens.

I doubt this happens now. I think it was on track for a Memorial day open, but tight now they haven't hired an opening team yet and then they need about three weeks or so of training once the ride is handed over to Ops. I don't see the ride opening until about a month after the parks start to open at the very least.

If their parks don't open again until Summer, which I VERY much can see happening based on whats going on and what Ive heard, id think they'd just open all 4 parks. Disney cares about $$$ a lot, they aren't going to go against the world and open when they shouldn't but once they open, I can't see them not opening all 4 parks again. Makes the most sense for maximum amount of profits. Now this is all unprecedented to begin with but in terms of predicting and knowing Chapek, I expect all 4 parks to be open.

If nobody but locals are around to go to the parks, then it doesn't make monetary sense to open all four parks at once. Honestly, to me, it makes the most sense to open MK and DHS first since those are what i'd consider the parks with their most popular rides.

 

[MatthewFair]

Plan Your Visit - Useful Information | Alton Towers Resort

Plan your visit with our Useful Information hub. Find our Opening Times, Directions & Help Centre to answer practical questions about your trip to Alton Towers.

www.altontowers.com

Alton Towers will now not open as planned

 

[randompixel]

Plan Your Visit - Useful Information | Alton Towers Resort

Plan your visit with our Useful Information hub. Find our Opening Times, Directions & Help Centre to answer practical questions about your trip to Alton Towers.

www.altontowers.com

Alton Towers will now not open as planned

The correct decision. However, Thorpe Park still seem to be planning to open on Sunday: COVID-19 Coronavirus Guest Information | Thorpe Park

 

[HalfGlass]

MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU Delayed By Universal Despite Not Arriving In Theaters Until July.

 

[fryoj]

Staffing concerns aside, isn't Epcot one of their most profitable parks due to the amount of restaurants? If they were to leave Epcot closed, what would the odds of them opening world showcase just for the shops/food options? Kind of a mini Disney Springs.

 

[Nick]

There are some concerns by analysts on whether the theater chains will make it through this:

AMC Theatres Faces Existential Threat From Coronavirus Shutdown: 'I Don't See How They Survive'

"We're witnessing the single greatest disruption of the film industry in American history," said Eric Schiffer, CEO of private equity firm The Patriarch Organization

www.thewrap.com

 

[JoeCamel]

There are some concerns by analysts on whether the theater chains will make it through this:

AMC Theatres Faces Existential Threat From Coronavirus Shutdown: 'I Don't See How They Survive'

"We're witnessing the single greatest disruption of the film industry in American history," said Eric Schiffer, CEO of private equity firm The Patriarch Organization

www.thewrap.com

I expect there to be some M&A activity after this. Screens going to go away too.

 

[Allison]

Sadly, and unfortunately inevitably, it begins...

34-Year-Old CA Man Dead of Coronavirus, Recently Visited Disney World

To anyone who doesn’t wanna click that awful site (I don’t blame you) it says he visited Disney + Universal the beginning of March, he was a high risk patient.

 

[Nick]

I expect there to be some M&A activity after this. Screens going to go away too.

I certainly wouldn't bet against it.

 

[randompixel]

The correct decision. However, Thorpe Park still seem to be planning to open on Sunday: COVID-19 Coronavirus Guest Information | Thorpe Park

They've called it quits now too. Thankfully

 

[GAcoaster]

Interesting idea re-opening at reduced capacity when they finally can re-open: The Walt Disney Company News

 

[Magic Feather]

Interesting idea re-opening at reduced capacity when they finally can re-open: The Walt Disney Company News

What I've been told is Mid-April (maybe late April/Early May) with these measures, and some others that I've learned about (Although some on that list are new to me as well). This, of course, happening as long as we've managed to "peak" by then.