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

[SeventyOne]

The Ritz-Carlton Orlando is now closed through May 27th. That's about when I expect everything in the area to be closed until.

I think Orlando area businesses that survive will open before then (including parks, tho I still expect a staggered opening at WDW). But I'd take this as a sign the Ritz does not expect a rush of tourists or, equally important, any conventions until Summer at best. Did the 6-feet-apart chat while picking up food yesterday with a guy who does some sort of set-up at OCCC. He said he's looking at jobs in September right now, nothing sooner.

In a way, extending APs rather than putting a hold on them is a stroke of genius. Nobody is cancelling if they have a free month or month and a half coming to them, ensuring the local base at least remains steady, even if the economy heads south immediately. Pictures of a park filled with unemployed people may not be good for food and merch sales, but it's fine for optics.

I highly doubt Universal buys them. Although it would instantly give them THREE parks to add to their portfolio in Orlando + land to build hotels on.

I can't speak to the other parks, other than BGT being in a bad part of town, but I wonder if the sum of SWO's parts isn't worth more than the park as a whole. The only successful boutique theme park in history that still routinely sells out, many local parents' choice for best water park, the IP rights to Sesame Street ... keep all that, move the coasters, sell the bulk of the land to a developer.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I highly doubt Universal buys them. Although it would instantly give them THREE parks to add to their portfolio in Orlando + land to build hotels on.

It would also dilute the Universal brand, unless they only buy the parks believing they can make a cheap buck off of them and advertise them as separate experiences. But that all seems too complicated.

 

[Happytycho]

It would also dilute the Universal brand, unless they only buy the parks believing they can make a cheap buck off of them and advertise them as separate experiences. But that all seems too complicated.

I imagine that if Universal did buy them then the SWO properties would undergo heavy improvement and rebranding into the UOR family of parks, while the other SEAS properties would be sold off or continue operating as a separate group under Seaworld and/or Busch Gardens branding.

 

[BBPH]

The question is who is in a position to buy them? Six Flags and Cedar Fair certainly aren't right now. Maybe Merlin?

Merlin have always said they have no interest in a company that has Orcas and Dolphins in captivity, also Merlin is just interested in what they can turn into Lego now

 

[Nick]

CBS All Access offering one month free trial if you want to try it out during quarantine.

 

[fryoj]

I highly doubt Universal buys them. Although it would instantly give them THREE parks to add to their portfolio in Orlando + land to build hotels on.

Will they be able to afford them after they buy the Disney parks from Apple? O.O

 

[Lucky Planet]

lol

 

[Nick]

Both The Starflyer and The Wheel have now closed. I think that’s it for attractions in Orlando.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

CBS All Access offering one month free trial if you want to try it out during quarantine.

Again, if y’all need Survivor options just lemme know. There’s 40 seasons lol so I can give a good starting point if you want to try a season or two. Just PM!

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

At this point, summer blackouts have to be lifted for passholders, right? The parks will need as many locals as possible for the rest of the year. Disney should ignore the April blackouts whenever they announce the extended closure; an extra two weeks from all non-Platinum passes could help them greatly.

 

[Jerroddragon]

If I'm a major company I am making contingency plans for this fall and next spring. That means they can execute decisions quickly, not that it is for sure something happening.

Sure but what if but if by the Time HHN comes around you build an event but people don't want to go because realistically we wont have a mass produced cure by then

Other said maybe reusing mazes...and more smaller mazes. Maybe a cheaper event or like an add on to a normal ticket or AP? But honestly with the way the president keeps wanting to re open America by April...I doubt we will be good until 2021....the more we rush this the longer it lasts

At this point, summer blackouts have to be lifted for passholders, right? The parks will need as many locals as possible for the rest of the year. Disney should ignore the April blackouts whenever they announce the extended closure; an extra two weeks from all non-Platinum passes could help them greatly.

I am also going to see how they handle this....like if they do open in summer it would be not too funny if you couldn't go and passes only had a few weeks left...be basically useless

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Sure but what if but if by the Time HHN comes around you build an event but people don't want to go because realistically we wont have a mass produced cure by then

Other said maybe reusing mazes...and more smaller mazes. Maybe a cheaper event or like an add on to a normal ticket or AP? But honestly with the way the president keeps wanting to re open America by April...I doubt we will be good until 2021....the more we rush this the longer it lasts

It's not about a "cure" aka a vaccine. It's a combination of an effective way to treat those with the virus, herd immunity, and a vaccine.

The event happens as designed or it doesn't. That's it.

 

[Nick]

It's not about a "cure" aka a vaccine. It's a combination of an effective way to treat those with the virus, herd immunity, and a vaccine.

The event happens as designed or it doesn't. That's it.

It's also about effectively social distancing to try to flatten the curve so that our hospitals don't become overrun. If the hospitals/health care system essentially breaks, then things could get really bad.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It's also about effectively social distancing to try to flatten the curve so that our hospitals don't become overrun. If the hospitals/health care system essentially breaks, then things could get really bad.

That's happening NOW not in September.

 

[Nick]

That's happening NOW not in September.

Ah, I missed the part where he stated "by the time HHN comes around".

I still think it will be interesting how the event is handled considering how densely packed the park is on a normal HHN night. Will we see the implementation of body temperature scanners here like Shanghai has put in place? This is an event not dissimilar to 9/11 in many ways in terms of a culture shifting moment in time. I think we will see a lot of changes, especially in locations where there is large congregations of people.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Ah, I missed the part where he stated "by the time HHN comes around".

I still think it will be interesting how the event is handled considering how densely packed the park is on a normal HHN night. Will we see the implementation of body temperature scanners here like Shanghai has put in place? This is an event not dissimilar to 9/11 in many ways in terms of a culture shifting moment in time. I think we will see a lot of changes, especially in locations where there is large congregations of people.

I think pulsing houses per party is going to be implemented this year. It'd be interesting for wait times, but Universal can't risk it. COVID-19 isn't going away any time soon even if the curve is flattened.

 

[SeventyOne]

Cheesecake Factory alerted their 70-odd landlords they won't be paying April's rent. Crazy to me being that they're a publicly traded company announcing that -- Jordan Belfour about to sell you on their stock after you buy 100 shares of Kodak. But if CF can't come up with the money, you think that independent place you like has a snowball's chance in Hell? Sand Lake Road and I-Drive about the be a whole lot emptier.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Ah, I missed the part where he stated "by the time HHN comes around".

I still think it will be interesting how the event is handled considering how densely packed the park is on a normal HHN night. Will we see the implementation of body temperature scanners here like Shanghai has put in place? This is an event not dissimilar to 9/11 in many ways in terms of a culture shifting moment in time. I think we will see a lot of changes, especially in locations where there is large congregations of people.

I think we'll see temp scans become a regular thing till the vaccine is widely available. Then it'll become part of the standard pandemic response.

Anyway, Touring Plans did a post two days ago about the impact of crowds depending on reopening the parks. TL;DR is there will be a few weeks of low crowds followed by spikes around the holidays as people rebook. Oddly enough early 2021 looks the most crowded in terms of rebookings.

Crowd Calendar and Coronavirus | TouringPlans.com Blog

There was an error in the update that was published March 23, at 1 pm. A second update was published at 9:40 pm to corre

touringplans.com

 

[Disneyhead]

I don't think everyone will get individually scanned. I think they will use thermal imaging tech to scan folks coming through the metal detectors to single out individuals with a high body temp. and scan them individually.

 

[Grabnar]

That's happening NOW not in September.

I think we'll see temp scans become a regular thing till the vaccine is widely available. Then it'll become part of the standard pandemic response.

Anyway, Touring Plans did a post two days ago about the impact of crowds depending on reopening the parks. TL;DR is there will be a few weeks of low crowds followed by spikes around the holidays as people rebook. Oddly enough early 2021 looks the most crowded in terms of rebookings.

Crowd Calendar and Coronavirus | TouringPlans.com Blog

There was an error in the update that was published March 23, at 1 pm. A second update was published at 9:40 pm to corre

touringplans.com

This is all assuming that we're not going to get a second wave and/or we have somehow mounted an organized response by then which I am skeptical about, particularly in the southern states. Mississippi's governor just superseded all local ordinances with an extremely lax stay at home order that declares most businesses essential.

We'll see how things shake out in the next 2 weeks, we're doubling every 3 days or so.