New Covid Protocols for this season.

I thought it was a range, $12-$15?

That is what they are still advertising, not to mention $500 bonuses for returning employees.

Unless your hometown in some kind of anomaly, this is unfortunately not surprising. Hotels, restaurants, clubs...so many areas in the service industry simply cannot fill positions and are having to cut hours, options, menus, etc. because of it.

Apparently the Point is not immune to this systemic problem.

Sounds like all covid 19 health orders will be lifted June 2nd! Wonder what that means for capacity restrictions and masks indoors at CP?

The important part of this whole story is this:

"DeWine said the state will no longer require face masks and social distancing. However, individual businesses and schools, as well as Ohioans, can make their own decisions as to what is and isn’t suitable for themselves."

This doesn't mean if a business says you have to wear one, you can't say "Well I've decided I don't need to." the way most people are reading it.

It's much like the recreational pot laws being passed. You can't just smoke up if your company has a drug free policy.

I would hope people aren't reading it that way. It will be interesting to see what businesses choose to do what.

With regards to Cedar Point and other businesses like restaurants/venues having capacity restrictions and reduced hours, this is also largely tied to lack of bodies working for a paycheck, and not just Covid-19 protocols. Until that situation changes, I'm not sure I see capacity restrictions changing all that much.

I honestly couldn't care less about what they do with mask-indoor policies at this point, although relaxation of those policies is next on the table for the CDC anyway. Numbers in Ohio are currently on a Demon Drop course; let's hope it stays that way.

Many people will stop wearing masks no matter what the businesses say. And most businesses will give up trying to enforce it because they don't want their employees getting harassed or injured (people have thrown punches, spit, and even stabbed and shot employees for asking them to mask up.)

Cedar Point MIGHT try to keep the mask mandate for indoors, but my guess is it won't last long. If more people get vaccinated and the rate keeps falling, there simply won't be a need. And the employees are probably going to be tired of catching all the flak by asking people to mask up. They likely won't bother, and the managers won't do anything about it because they don't want to catch the flak either.

Judging by the attendance KI had last Saturday, the existing "cap" is very high. Saw some pics of the lot in late afternoon from the Tower and it looked Haunt Saturday packed.

Kings Island passholders are a very weird bunch. Everybody knows there are more than enough of them to make that park really crowded, but when Kings Island holds a passholder event, nobody wants to miss out...even though by now everybody knows that the park will be less crowded when it is open to all ticket holders. Go figure.

As for the mask rules...
Scientifically speaking, face coverings are pointless outdoors, useless on anyone who isn't sick, and worthless for almost anyone who has been immunized. Today, my pessimistic estimate (assuming a 70% undercount) is that the odds of meeting an Ohioan who is contagious with COVID-19 (and therefore ought to be removed from society entirely for a few days, or barring that should put on a mask) are 1:457, about what they were at the end of last June. By comparison, your odds of meeting an Ohioan who is immunized against COVID-19 and therefore is not only not spreading the virus, but unlikely (about 1:12,500) to become infected if exposed, are roughly 1:3. Putting my own issues aside for the moment*, to me those are pretty good odds, and likely to improve over the next three weeks if the current pattern holds. With that in mind, I am really hoping that most businesses in Ohio follow the State's lead on this one. As the Governor pointed out, we have reached a point where every Ohioan over the age of 11 can get immunized, thus dramatically reducing if not eliminating the risk of infection. That's a far more effective protective measure than anything else we can do. And those of us who have done that really have no reason to engage in entirely symbolic measures which do nothing to improve anyone's safety (and may in fact present a hazard to some of us).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

*Disclaimer: I've learned the hard way that I am physically? mask intolerant. I've been playing along, but trust me, you don't want to be around me in a grocery store these days. I for one can't wait for those requirements to go away, in the interest of my own well-being.

--DCAjr

Circling back to wages. My 15-year old was hired at $10 an hour for merch and can earn a $500 bonus when he makes it past July 4th. There's additional stipulations on how to earn that bonus and he's determined to get it. It would put him in the $12-$15 range depending on number of nominal hours worked all season.

This is his first job, he was shocked how easy it was to get hired. I wasn't. I think the state of things where everywhere is hiring, this is a workers' market if this is your first experience in the workforce. Since he's under 16, he could have been subject to the federal minimum wage at $7.25. But he has the opportunity to make double that. I would have killed for that when I was 15.

Wait wait wait. Back the truck up here.

He’s 15 already?!?!

the way dewine started about the cases per 100K and I did the math..I thought OH CRAP.. it could be august dropping a point per day to get to 50 from 122... then WHAMO... June 2nd woohoo!! I hope they drop the mask indoors and the reservations in june, the wife and I are vaccinated, my daughter will be (at least 1 shot in july (her Birthday is the end of june) in july, my son, not until they can do 8 and older.

T-minus 24 hours until the whining and moaning about the horrid operations and closed rides for Opening Day. It'll be good to get back that sense of normal.

Looks like the park is no longer requiring fully vaccinated people to wear masks indoors....

Which basically means everyone can go maskless indoors because I highly doubt CP will ask (and honestly don't think they legally can).

It looks like reservations are sold out for Friday and Saturday. Any chance they slashed the total number of available spots after the fiasco of the first weekend?

I sure hope so. Going for my first trip this weekend and need a nice break after a busy tax season. After reports from last weekend I predict spending more time at Breakers than the park but hope I'm pleasantly surprised.

Scott Cameron said:

Which basically means everyone can go maskless indoors because I highly doubt CP will ask (and honestly don't think they legally can).

Everyone who looks older than 12 anyway.

The first four Tuesdays and Wednesdays of June have been removed from the reservation system. Another calendar reduction incoming? Or do they think they won't need them for those days. Interesting.

Scott Cameron said:

Which basically means everyone can go maskless indoors because I highly doubt CP will ask (and honestly don't think they legally can).

They can. I mean, they won't, because pretty much everyone else is doing it on the "honor system", but they absolutely can. And they would be within their right to require masks if someone was unwilling or unable to show proof of vaccination. I'm not saying that's for sure the right way to go about it, but I feel people have a misunderstanding of how this works. Private businesses are allowed to ask, and they are allowed to treat responses accordingly.

Scott Cameron said:

Which basically means everyone can go maskless indoors because I highly doubt CP will ask (and honestly don't think they legally can).

And if the infection numbers are falling there is really no reason to. A fair amount of unvaccinated people already have natural immunity from having been infected over this past year. Immunity is immunity however you got it and the chances of any nonimmune person you encounter being a cesspool of virus waiting to shed on you keeps getting lower and lower. Unfortunately I see many people likely having a hard time letting go of this mindset.