Okay, potential silver lining time. If theme parks will have to change their operations in order to reopen during this pandemic, what's something that a park or multiple parks have been doing in the recent past that you hope goes away for good now?
What the addition-by-subtraction opportunity here? It can be from Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Six Flags... anyone.
Let's discuss.
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I’d like to see the Country Bear Jamboree pernanantley closed as an attraction (for safety purposes of course), but kept intact and operational to be used as a “penalty box”.
Guests who are caught “place saving” during parades or night shows, for members of their party who are out enjoying the park (instead of waiting around), should be subject to the rest of the night in the penalty box. Repeated performances of the Country Bear Jamboree can be shown in the penalty box.
Similarly, the groups that show up 5 minutes before show/parade time and ask a cast member to find them a prime spot, should be escorted directly to the penalty box.
Occupants of the penalty box can be released once 95% of the park occupants for the day have already walked out the exit gates....
I'd like to see far less crowding, particularly in lines for rides and eating establishments. The number of tickets sold per day should always be limited.
Also, more regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces with natural products (hypoallergenic).
And, more shady areas to sit down when you are tired...
Exit through retail.
Okay, that’s unfair. Exit through retail that sells the exact same junk as every other tourist trap, just with a different logo (I’m looking at YOU Merlin).
Retail as Universal does it - items you can’t get elsewhere - is fine.
Theme park parades...It's not that I don't like a good theme park parade, but the mishigas necessary to view one and the effects they have on traffic flow through the park are just not worth it. It drives me bananas to see guests camping out on park benches and curbs HOURS before a parade starts. I prefer the spontaneity of a "flash" parade than the hour-long anticipation and ultimately underwhelming entertainment that walks/rolls by over 10-15 minutes at a pre-scheduled time. The crowds and chaos that litter theme park paths over the hour (30-40 minutes before, 10-15 minutes during, and 5-10 minutes after) just isn't worth all the hassle, and I'd rather just see them go away.
oooooh, Controversial.
Night shows/ fireworks centralized in just one spot should disappear.
They should use all the sky and buildings around all the park as canvas for shows , projections and fireworks. Should use more drones in this shows, going around all the park.
First off, I think anything that impedes traffic on pathways should be eliminated. This ranges from parades to street shows. Fireworks are okay only if they are performed at closing and visible from everywhere in the park, as guests can then spread out and will all be moving in the same general direction afterward.
Secondly, any form of express pass should be suspended. Virtual queuing is bad enough, but if guests are told they must wander the park aimlessly rather than waiting in line for a ride, anything that prolongs that is going to cause extra frustration.
Third, meet and greets should be redesigned to small-scale shows. Guests no longer directly contact the characters, but instead participate in a personalized interactive performance from a short distance away.
Lastly, ditch anyone who is only in the park to promote an outside product. If it's not core to the park's operation, it shouldn't be there.
Sadly the main thing I would like to see eliminated from parks is the one thing they are obsessed with and will inevitably end up getting more of..."queue management" systems like Fastpass/virtual queue.
Get rid of turnstiles. With the tracking systems available today, turnstiles are useless and germ-coated relics.
And here's one more. Replace all water fountains with automatic (non-touch) water dispensers and provide those cheap paper cone cups. That will create a little more trash, but parks will have to allow for the extra labor to stock the cups, clean the dispenser, and sweep up the trash from the less considerate patrons.
Get rid of awful coasters
Eliminate the monthly payment plan for annual passes at Disneyland. There's way too many pass holders crowding the park.
Doors into Restrooms. Don't get rid of the doors on individual toilet stalls obviously. If there is some reason a door has to remain install an automatic opener, or a device at the bottom of the door that can be used with your shoe to pull the door. I used one of them at a restaurant recently and found it to be extremely useful.
Any kind of Food or Merchandise where you get to "Fill the bag" be it candy by the pound or rocks or pirate treasure. The same goes design a droid and lightsaber opportunities (Not on Batuu, but in Tomorrowland).
Big bins at restaurants that have loose condiments, unwrapped straws, and cutlery.
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For starters, if they want to maintain social distancing, they need to clear out the darn souvenir shops blocking the exits to rides.
After that, shut down or move the on-ride photo display booths.