When Will Your Favorite Theme Parks Reopen?

Yo I think Universal Studios Japan is one of the great theme parks in the world. It beats out the other Universal parks because it has the greats, HP and the Forbidden Journey and Spider-Man. It has Jurassic Park river adventure, Minion Mayhem, Waterworld as other well regarded Universal staples. Heck it still has some classics long gone from America, Jaws and T2:3-D. The exclusive attractions are legit too. Space Fantasy is fun, Hollywood Dream (which goes Backwards too) is a major winner and Flying Dinosaur is no joke in the intensity department. Plus their kiddie area is strong. Not to mention the full version of Nintendo World that is set to open soon. Customer service is top of the line and its theming is similar but better than Universal Studios Florida. Anyway its a must do in Japan along with DisneySea.

Glad to see it reopening. So Disney... about that reservation system. People have plans. Make plans. We would like an update on when and how that will be available. July 11 is getting ever so closer.

SF Over Georgia is actually opening to members and pass holders on June 15th (Next Monday) as a preview event. Park opens to the GP on Monday the 22nd. I have already reserved my visit on the 15th and I have to admit the system was easy to use and worked on the first try. I have also reserved for the following Monday the 22nd. I have said it before; this is Six Flags' opportunity to rise to the occasion.

@davedisney...so they don't use public transit in Seoul or Tokyo?? The real killer are people like you who refuse to listen to experts. Alternative facts are not facts. Plenty of major cities around the world with huge public transit systems didn't have any problems containing the pandemic. It's really sad to see how far the US has fallen and how much the world no longer respects anything your leaders or organizations say!

@davedisney:

Thank you for your measured display of grace and humility. Also, what in the actual French Toast are you blathering on about brother? I could have sworn the topic was “When Will Your Favorite Theme Park Open?” Still trying to connect that thread to wild conspiratorial musings about mass transit. Perhaps you accidentally copied and pasted from the wrong thread into the wrong thread? Asking for a friend

davedisney is a conservative troll, please stop engaging him.

Stephen, I'm thinking about coming up to Atlanta in a few weeks to check out SFOG. Pandemic has lit a fire under me to go see more parks, you never know when you won't be able to. Would love to get your thoughts on the operation once you go!

Couple more updates for the list...

SEAS Parks Adventure Island (Tampa) and Aquatica (Orlando) also reopen June 11th.

As for top 20 parks, isn't Busch Gardens Williamsburg on that list? If so, it should be added to the list of parks with no reopen date provided yet.

@I64Trekker I completely agree about the lack of information (and inclusion) regarding Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I received a member email last week from them, which was exciting, with the plans for when they can reopen but no information about actually reopening. Living in Maryland, Busch Gardens (and Water Country) are easy drives and visits for us that we so desperately need considering our grand summer vacation to Southern California (including visits to Universal, Knotts, and DLR) has been postponed until next summer.

I don’t want to engage him, but for anyone else who might be watching

>>the quote experts have told us 5 different instructions for the same topic. WHO and the CDC said don't wear masks. you chance of infection will increase. then CDC changed their mind, but WHO did not. In the last couple of weeks, WHO finally relented and said wear masks.

This is what science does. It is self correcting It is true that at the start the start it was considered that masks might increase your risk for those reasons, and there are studies on mask use that show little protection if any to the wearer, but “weak evidence” (to quote Nicola Sturgeon) of some protection to others. The reasons for the change in advice have been clearly communicated for those prepared to listen.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/should-you-wear-a-face-mask-heres-all-the-data-we-have/

>>Then, WHO and the CDC said the virus is very highly transmissable. Now just today WHO backtracks and says transmission by asystomatic people is "very rare".

Unfortunately, Davedisney is misrepresenting the story here. I don’t blame him, it has been misrepresented elsewhere so I’ll be charitable and presume he picked this up elsewhere. The reason why it’s misrepresentation is because it’s missing a word. The study is only talking about those who are purely asymptomatic - that is to say those that never develop symptoms at all; as opposed to just “asymptomatic” which would include those who haven’t developed symptoms yet. For a disease that’s basically transmitted by droplets of mucus, this shouldn’t be that surprising. The sheer number of infected stands against Davedisneys implied conclusion that it’s not very infectious and requires no further comment

>>Mass media says public gatherings kill people. Then suddenly the last 10 days, mass media says public gathering are great and beautiful. As long as the topic of the gathering is one they approve of.

The Mass Media has also been talking about the infection risks from these gatherings.

Chad, thanks for your comments regarding the scientific process. We get better as we know more. It's not perfect but it works pretty well, actually.

Looks like CP will be open July 9 (passholders). Not sure if I'll make it on the first day but at least in the first couple of days. Looking forward to it!

Echoing Chad: There's a huge difference between asymptomatic and presymptomatic. Presymptomatic are quite contagious... and most of them don't know who they are any more than asymptomatic people.

And I also suspect that there are a great many people out there who are going about their business despite "having a little sniffle" or "some allergies" or "just a cough." (Narrator: It was Covid.)

Update: Oh, and now the WHO is walking back the claim about asymptomatic transmission. Keep your masks on, everyone.

I also just updated the post with Cedar Point's and Kings Island's opening dates. Interesting that Cedar Point is joining Walt Disney World in not opening daily ticket sales even as it reopens to pass holders and resort guests.

As DaveDisney so clearly demonstrates, right wing media trains their audience in a particular style of argument that includes placing blame, attacking expertise and, when challenged, becoming angry. It always ends with getting angry, that way you can never get through to them. And that's literally the problem with America: 35% of our population is under the spell of far-right propaganda designed to keep them in an intellectual bubble. And it works very well, as we can see--it's like in They Live. If you turned off Fox, DD and others like him would begin to see reality again.

Now: everyone on the West Coast is waiting with baited breath for Disneyland to re-open, but our risk-adverse state government--which I fully support for helping us avoid a situation like in NYC or South Georgia--is continuing to play it safe. Will they reopen before the next wave of the virus causes another complete shut-down? I don't think so.

The latest communication in the UK is that Merlin is looking at opening Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington on 4th July. The UK is far from "out of the woods" so this is pretty significant. I am unaware of the restrictions being applied but expect them to be aligned with US parks.

Robert, the WHO changing their minds so quickly on asymptomatic transmission is a reason why there is a contingent that believe this situation is being overblown.

This is what I don’t understand: why isn’t the decline in number of deaths being widely reported? Turn on your local or national news, and the only numbers being reported are new infections, especially on days when infections spike like what Florida is seeing right now. Looking at the 7-day moving average (which, IMHO, is the only stat that should be consistently looked at because all states and counties do not report everyday) Florida is currently at an all-time high of 1,154 infections. However, the number of deaths on the same 7-day moving average is 37, lower than the high of 50 a month ago.

@TwoBits - That's because "deaths" are a trailing/lagging statistic. You can't have a "death" without first having an infection (though the CDC is requesting that locales count deaths presumed to be caused by COVID-19 complications even without a positive test for the virus). So theoretically, if there was a decrease in infections mostly due to lockdowns, quarantines, social distancing, and masks, that would result in fewer deaths, but those data would not be recorded until weeks later. That's why the increase in infections is worrisome, because the concern is that the recent uptick will result in a corresponding increase in deaths a few weeks from now. Though, you can also argue that the recent increase in infections is because of more widespread testing and awareness, as well as businesses that are not allowing customers because of failed temperature screenings who then go get tested (and might not have gotten tested before). While some cases of COVID-19 have been reported as a sudden onset of symptoms followed by death a few days later, many other cases involved lengthy hospitalization and treatment prior to death or eventual recovery.

The problem with all of this is that the data are all over the place, and subject to interpretation. Then the data are then being politically charged depending on whether it supports or refutes a particular stance regarding the virility of COVID-19 and/or its mortality rate. I think the most valuable data are the regional hospitalization rates, because those data are a combination of spread data in addition to mortality (only those with the most severe symptoms are hospitalized). Total case rates are flawed data skewed by the availability of testing, while death rates are old data that only tell you about conditions weeks ago, not what the virus is doing right now.

That would seem logical, Russell, except that is not what is happening. There was virtually no change (a difference of 30) n the number of infections from the day that the highest number of deaths in Florida occurred (May 7) than two weeks prior.

Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

Look how the 7-day moving averages are dropping for all states highlighted as well as the country as a whole. Wasn’t that why we were trying to do with “flattening the curve”...to save lives?

I agree this can be a politically charged issue, and I will blame the media for that (both liberal and conservative outlets).

But again, you have to take the infection data with a grain of salt, particularly near the start of the pandemic as testing was not available. Even now, you can't simply walk to the doctor and get a test unless you're showing symptoms or want to pay for the test out of pocket. Antibody tests are even harder to come by even if you feel strongly that you may have already contracted the virus (unless you can find a study to participate in).

There also appears to be a wide range in the severity of symptoms that are based on more than just the virus alone (pre-existing conditions like diabetes, obesity, asthma, and other respiratory conditions) that tend to be more prevalent in populations/locales where residents have less accessibility to care and testing. There are so many variables that it's impossible to derive direct correlations, but an increase in cases is almost assuredly going to turn into increased hospitalizations and death, though the trend of deaths may appear stable or decreasing because more people who are not as impacted by the virus are being diagnosed with COVID-19 as testing and awareness become more widespread. Also, treatments are evolving constantly, allowing more patients to recover even from the most severe symptoms.

Ultimately, the whole point of "flattening the curve" is to prevent the virus from overrunning the population all at once, which would overwhelm resources and cause hospitals to deny care to patients due to capacity. By slowing the spread, the small percentage of the population that are significantly impacted by the virus are able to get the care needed since they are not all being infected at the same time. The question then becomes whether scientists and doctors can figure out how to determine whether a person will get the most severe symptoms if they haven't already contracted the virus or are not part of a known at-risk group, and if re-infection will trigger more or less severe symptoms. The scientific and medical community cannot answer that right now, so we're left to roll the dice on our own personal health and mortality in the face of a virus that appears to be in every public space regardless of steps taken to sterilize the atmosphere.

Needless to say, the only reason why everyone left and right (very bi partisan) alike can now begin to enjoy theme parks again is exactly because of the get back to work protesters. You can thank them for it (approx 25 percent of whom were conservative moderate democrats). It never would have happened without them.

If we could post gifs here, I would be doing so of a character laughing hysterically.

Wow... I know the virus affects all of the Theme Parks.. But this blog seems to have taken onto the political views more and more.

Not much else to talk about here, George. No special events planned nor news of new attractions. But this site has changed the last three months as well. Robert has imbedded his political biases in his articles in these recent months regarding the federal and some state and local governments (not this particular article, but in many articles prior), and the comments have followed suit. I miss the good ol’ days when the most intense arguments were whether Disney or Universal parks were best.

Europapark is open and so far it looks like a less crazy decission than feared. The region arround Europapark had a single confirmed covid case last weak. It did help of course that there were not that many covid cases anymore when the park did open in the first place. Note that does not really mean everything is splendid either. The park is not open that long and the bigger risk is probably that opening encourages cross country travel, not the time in the park itsself. I´m telling that to show that while in terms of time passed since closing Europapark was faster to open then any US park, the opposit is true in terms of the virus spread situation. Seriously doubt it does even make any economic sense to open or keep open in the case of the non Disney opeartions a theme park in Florida or California right now. Sure the cash flow should be positive since low paid opperational staff is a rounding error in the cost calculation. But what about all the other things that could go wrong. Customers dying from covid they got in the park would be one disaster szenario. Another one would be permanent re-closures or opening delays after ambitiious shedules have been put in place or anounced.