Virus Impact on CP

Only one Gemini and no racing😢.

The staffing situation could go both ways. With unemployment at 14% and probably worse in Sandusky the park may have no problems filling positions.

WZNM, only one Gemini because of the hand slapping, noting to do with staffing. :)

Well, today should be Opening Day. And it's snowing.

Miller Ferry to Put-In-Bay will be restarting on Monday. The island is reopening if that can give any sort of guideline or indication for CP.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/continuing-coverage/coronavirus...fOjKsf0jik

Cartwright said:

Well, today should be Opening Day. And it's snowing.

Happy "Should Have Been Opening Day"™ to you all!

I read the comment about “most popular rides being ready to open” as they have limited staff right now so they are making sure the most popular rides are ready to roll when they open, but I figured with more to come as they are ready... Maybe I’m wrong.

A couple thoughts about reservations...

Will they make reservations non-transferable to prevent the Ticketmaster problem of people snatching up all the reservations then trying to sell them?

Will they charge a deposit? Otherwise I could see folks grabbing reservations for a solid week then waiting to see which day has good weather and just show up for that day, leaving the other reservations unused.

It actually said,

"Our team is working hard to ensure some of your favorite rides and attractions will be ready for you when the park is able to open."

If you're talking about the official statement on CP's website. The more they have open, the more they will be able to effectively physical distance, in a perfect world. The less they have open, the less theoretical capacity they would have, presumably. I agree staffing will probably be the biggest hurdle. That is, if all the stay at home, no large gatherings orders are lifted.

With today's would have been opening day, it really hit me hard, the realization of the whole thing. Obviously we all knew the inevitable, but it didn't hit me until today, looking at the webcam, where we would usually see the gondolas be placed back on the giant wheel and rollercoasters roller coasting. I keep checking the cams, hopeful to see some sort of movement besides the seagulls and waves from lake erie.

Someone above commented on being disappointed about the beach maybe not being open. This seems to be a big debate with people around the country but I don’t get it. Are people against it because they don’t think beach goers will distance properly? Otherwise the beach has a lot of things going for it as far as coronavirus: open air, sun with heat (shown to kill the virus quicker), humidity, vitamin D; not to mention the lifting of spirits. If and when CP opens I would think the beach would be one of the safest places to be on that peninsula, especially on hot sunny days.

I see the beach being open more so than CP Shores, more area to fan out, maybe a quarter mile or more of swimming area. Here in Michigan, we don't even know when public beaches will be open, or if they even will. It's a wait and see situation.

Opening Day and Closing Day are traditions for me, both the actual days in the park and what I do the night before Opening Day and then the day after Closing Day. It's beyond weird to not be doing the Opening Day end of things with no certainty in the future.

That said, this was very nice and hit the feels in all the right spots https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zVxWzzhNnHU

Maybe they would have some sort of system we could get a return ride ticket and come back; I’m not saying on a magic Wristband scale... fast pass people could walk on and GP will come back during intervals.

Of course the liability waiver Would be updated ..I think the general tickets Already say something to the fact that cedar point is not responsible and blah blah blah.

Shane Denmark said:

Will they make reservations non-transferable to prevent the Ticketmaster problem of people snatching up all the reservations then trying to sell them?

Unless its less "reservations" and more of an advanced sale option. That is what I would assume parks would push towards, similar to how Halloween Horror Nights has a chance to sell out. If you don't purchase a ticket in advance, you might not be going.

Kevinj said:

Rides with limited down-time and high reliability would have a better chance.

Steel Vengeance, Maverick, and Dragster! Wait, that's a bad idea?

^^And how would that work for passholders?

I've seen at least one park. Hershey I believe or maybe it was Europa announce their tickets were changing from open ended for the season to date specific to help limit guests. Ticket windows will not be open and if you just show up planning on buying a ticket you're SOL.

Assuming we have the technology to allow season pass holders to maybe type in the season pass numbers of the tickets they need for the day and that would give them their date specific vouchers. I could see something like this.

Either way, I am curious what the number will be set at for limited capacity. 5,000? 10,000? If CP has "never hit capacity" as claimed by the park when the complaints came out last year, I still think even 50% of what shows up on a busy Halloweekends Saturday could be a mess when trying to follow social distancing guidelines.

Also, I hope CP makes the tickets non-transferable. As someone pointed out, humans were a**holes with toilet paper when this all started, I'd hate to see what ticket scalpers try to do when things re-open. They already price gouge the re-sale ticket markket beyond what should be allowed.

vwhoward said:

^^And how would that work for passholders?

Pretty much what WolfBobs said. You would go online to pick your day and lock in that you are going to be there. The days of deciding the night before that you are going to pop over to the park for lunch are gone.

So I would imagine that scenario playing out OR... Before all of this happened the parks knew for the most part exactly how many pass holders would show up on any given day. They knew the same with day guests as well because they used projected forecasts from past years. Seeing as how this pandemic has screwed up the season I don't know if this would work correctly but they could also just block out the amount of pass holders they expect to show up. So for example if the capacity is capped at 25,000 and normally on August 3rd only 2,000 pass holders typically show up, then only 23,000 tickets will be allowed to be purchased in advanced. Maybe 22,000 just to be safe.

Reduced capacity is a good first step. So, let's say they get down to 22,000 on an average day. If they all head for Millennium Force when the gates open, what was really accomplished. I really think they are going to need to thinking about a system whereby they limit capacity in queue lines (ala a total day of ride reservations) to really be strategic about it.

If the park does what Disney is doing it won't matter if everyone heads to MF. As long as there is space in the queue to keep the 6' distance everyone can jump in line. I would guess that if the line reach all the way back to the entrance, they would simply cut it off and say to come back later.

99er said:

vwhoward said:

^^And how would that work for passholders?

Pretty much what WolfBobs said. You would go online to pick your day and lock in that you are going to be there. The days of deciding the night before that you are going to pop over to the park for lunch are gone.

So I would imagine that scenario playing out OR... Before all of this happened the parks knew for the most part exactly how many pass holders would show up on any given day. They knew the same with day guests as well because they used projected forecasts from past years. Seeing as how this pandemic has screwed up the season I don't know if this would work correctly but they could also just block out the amount of pass holders they expect to show up. So for example if the capacity is capped at 25,000 and normally on August 3rd only 2,000 pass holders typically show up, then only 23,000 tickets will be allowed to be purchased in advanced. Maybe 22,000 just to be safe.

I have been pondering how many attendees on any given day are passholders as opposed to daily tickets. I would imagine they have those numbers on a spreadsheet somewhere. However, if this was to be a "normal" operating season the passholder numbers would surely be skewed by the Gold Passes that went like hotcakes last autumn.

If the percentage on a typical day is single digit, I would say let the passholders come as they please. Of course, that's why I am not a company CEO or GM.