News: Cedar Point’s mask rule ignites firestorm of fan protests on social media

Some fans upset, but infectious disease specialist says it's the right call.

https://pointbuzz.com/News/Story/3315

I dont like it but it is what it is. Its the right thing to do.

They probably had to make the rule to be allowed to open, I do not like it and will not attend until the rule is dropped. I fully support their right to make it a rule, they are a business and they must comply to open, they already had their 150th anniversary blown up and have been through enough, there is no point in complaining, they have always done what is best for their guests, and I agree 100% with their decision.

People complain with everything that the park does or doesn't do nowadays, yet those same people keep coming in droves.....

I guess there are some people that can never be made whole again no matter what you do.

Let me say first that I absolutely am in the camp that thinks that masks should be required right now, if parks plan to open. With that said, I can understand some people not wanting to wear a mask, and not being willing to go to the park because of it. That's fine, and that's your choice.

But then I saw this on Twitter, and I was sad and very concerned. Tons of people at Lagoon, no social distancing whatsoever, and I was able to spot a grand total of one mask in these pictures.

https://twitter.com/Park_Journey/status/1271098057023578112?s=20

I’m in the camp that if you don’t like the park rules, don’t go. It’s very simple. And clearly all of the Karen’s that are complaining didn’t read the terms and conditions of their tickets and passes. The park is well within their rights to implement the changes. I for one won’t go only because I don’t do well wearing a mask in the heat. But I won’t throw a fit because the park extended all passes and add ons through 2021. So my family is content with not going right now.

We're heading into a second spike and Dr. Acton resigned today because she was getting death threats. At this rate we'll be lucky if Cedar Point opens on July 9. Honestly, I don't think it will.

Bluto Blutarsky said:
They probably had to make the rule to be allowed to open, [...]

They did not, in fact it indirectly says so in the linked story...

Implied:

Armitage said he was prepared to try to convince the company to require face masks in all of its parks. Turns out, the company didn’t need to be convinced. The proposed guidelines the company shared with Armitage already included the requirement.

...and then explicitly:

Some states, including Pennsylvania, are requiring that amusement park guests, in addition to employees, wear masks, at least initially, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Others, including Ohio and Florida, are leaving it up to the individual parks to decide.

Incidentally, the situation in Pennsylvania is fluid at the moment due to legislative action.

Elsewhere...

SarahB1863 wrote:
We're heading into a second spike [...]. At this rate we'll be lucky if Cedar Point opens on July 9. Honestly, I don't think it will.

Well, that's still nearly a month away. But I don't know what data you are looking at. Nationally, case counts are up a bit. But in Ohio, the trendline on the new case counts has been falling in an almost linear fashion. Today is the first day in more than a week that the new case count was above the 7-day trend, and a closer look at the data reveals similar spikes on a regular basis. The new hospitalization numbers are much smaller, and as a result the data is much more noisy, but even through that noise, the new hospitalization trendline is still falling slowly. New ICU admissions have been extremely flat for a month and a half. What is even more interesting is that the new case count has remained so flat and in fact has declined even as testing has ramped up significantly...and now, Ohioans can get tested even without a doctor's order or identifiable symptoms.
With the increase in testing, I expect to see an increase in cases. With the protests over the last two weeks, we should start seeing the resulting increase in cases starting tomorrow. And with all the business re-openings, we should be seeing a dramatic increase in new cases shortly.
Of course this all assumes what we think we know to be true: that there is a huge number of uncounted, non-symptomatic or mild cases out there causing a sudden surge in new cases which will be picked up with new testing. Personally, I am beginning to question that assumption.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

On Twitter, I mentioned that we would go, wear a mask and follow the CP rules. I got a snarky reply of .....WHY THE **** would you go to an amusement park.

Its CPs private property, they get to make the rules. Was surprised folks needed to drop the F bomb on me. Gez, folks need to relax and go with the flow. Think that some are about themselves being above the rules.

We are in a small, rural county and two separate days lately we have had double digit increases. -not big for a big area, but for us, its big increases. Our local area has jumped by close to 25% in about a week.

RideMan said:

Bluto Blutarsky said:
They probably had to make the rule to be allowed to open, [...]

They did not, in fact it indirectly says so in the linked story...

I read it, but would they have been given the ok to re-open without the mask requirement that was in their plan they submitted to the state before the decision was made? Who knows, it seems it took a lawsuit to get the final nudge, that is why I said probably, they likely thought they would not be allowed to open without it. How long they keep the rule if it is not required by the state will be interesting.

As an Uber driver I have the pleasure of being exposed to many walks of life and seeing every inch of Monroe County. Along with the insides of many restaurants because I have to pee! It's over. People just don't care anymore. I even have customers lecture me about masks. Tell me it's a hoax without ever being asked for an opinion.

CP will not be able to enforce wearing a mask. The employees will be treated like trash trying to enforce it and then give up. It's anecdotal but I've had to do the same thing with Uber. Otherwise I would have to cancel half of my riders, get into altercations and ultimately not be able to make a living.

The CP police should enforce the rule. No mask, No service, No rides, No exceptions. And escort them to the gate. Too bad CP management doesn't have the guts!

RideMan said:

Well, that's still nearly a month away. But I don't know what data you are looking at.

This data:

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/alarming-rise-virus-case...s-n1230046

There are lots of other articles, that's just the first one that came up. Google "rise in COVID cases." You'll find lots of information.

Really Sarah, those are other places not Ohio. Very few people come to CP from other places.

It's not about CP having "Guts". If 50% of people attending won't listen you cannot enforce the rule. Sure the mask will go on upon entering the park, the queue and the train. But it will immediately come off when someone isn't there to enforce it. Think "Arms Down" on Dragster.

Policies like this rely on a majority of the public buying in and following them. That ship has sailed.

You know the park is private property, right? People want to bring backpacks on coasters, too, and somehow they're able to enforce that, too.

All of the leading indicators show we're headed toward a second wave. Articles in NYT, NBC and my favorite, Ars Technica, today explained why local community transmission rates are rising, and why they're not from increased testing. The only two things that have changed since three months ago is that the virus is already here, and we understand some basic social contacts that limit transmission. But as we've seen since Memorial Day, many pretend the former isn't true, and the latter isn't important. You really don't need to be an epidemiologist to know what happens next.

Cargo Shorts said:

Really Sarah, those are other places not Ohio. Very few people come to CP from other places.

So true. I can't imagine going to Ohio for any other reason than CP.

I'm aware of that Jeff. However that's comparing apples to oranges. A small percentage of people bring backpacks into the park and because of that it's a very easy policy to enforce. You cannot put a backpack back on while in line if it's in a locker.

The mask, social distancing ect are darn near impossible to enforce. Doesn't matter if it's private property or not. The responsibility falls on the customer for the most part. My opinion comes from anecdotal evidence I'll admit but I would argue my exposure to the average person gives me some leg to stand on.

Hopefully I'm wrong. When the park re-opens we will find out.

SarahB1863 said:

We're heading into a second spike and Dr. Acton resigned today because she was getting death threats. At this rate we'll be lucky if Cedar Point opens on July 9. Honestly, I don't think it will.

We are, but they'll still open. It'll get worse, but being the 'Mericans we are, the shutdowns are a thing of the past. No way we do it again, even if it's the right decision.